New member & I have seen more helpful information here than I’ve been able to find anywhere else!
To start, my son is 6 and we have started the medication journey & it’s been nothing short of eventful. Focalin XR low dose increased to 15 mg and then 5 mg at lunch, worked for a week and then the wheels fell off and his anger issues were terrifying. Switched to Vyvanse and that made anger even worse. Now we are trying the non stimulant route with intuniv 1 mg nightly (insert bed wetting) & no real change of hyperactivity or emotions.
My son is ridiculously smart, actually being tested in the gifted and talented group this week at school. But, his roller coaster emotions, impulsiveness, angry outbursts, and arguing are getting the best of us.
Sorry for the long post, just was wondering if anyone has had any luck with the non stim route or just has any light at the end of the tunnel stories.
Sincerely,
One tired mama.
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Boymama2023
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Hi! We chose non-stim from the start, along with play therapy, feeding therapy (now graduated) and OT. I can't say all of the success was medication, but it definitely took a few clips off of her wings.
Interesting! This may be a silly question, but what is feeding therapy? My son is ridiculously picky and it’s a chore to get him to eat anything but junk! He refuses to try anything new without having a massive meltdown
It's with a speech therapist. Mine had pickiness, but partly due to chewing and swallowing issues, as well as pocketing food in one cheek. Working on food variety; types, colors, textures, etc was part of it. She's the same age as your son, so the tricks may work with him also. "How many colors are in your belly today?", was a weekly question, and gave her something visual to consider. We had a crunching contest to see who could be the loudest with raw carrot sticks or macadamia nuts. Some things were purely strength related, like using a straw to slurp yogurt or pudding, but also fun for her. Since it was in an office with tons of fun play to earn for time worked, it was easier to bribe her there than at home. Definitely check out speech therapy in your area and see who offers feeding, ours also offered a free consultation. My girl's attitude and behavior was not great at first, because she hated eating in general, but it got a little better each week, then poof, she decided to try new things 🎉 She is still not trying food at school, but that's a whole different anxiety inducing experience that will improve eventually. The nightmare years of eating at home was turned around in a few months of weekly visits (and medication on board). I hope some of this helps you!
That is fantastic!!! What a great concept!! Thank you for explaining in such detail, I greatly appreciate it!! I’m glad to hear your sweet girl has made such a major improvement, it’s such a great feeling to see our children thriving.
Hi there. I just joined this group looking for support. I can totally relate. We started our 6 year old son on Ritalin and it's been a journey to find the right dose and the right time for him to take it. We just got ready and dropped off at school today and it's been a difficult morning. He is so emotional, doesn't like his clothes, can't pay attention enough to get dressed, and it basically a hot mess in the mornings. I do like the Ritalin though once it has it's full effect (which usually isn't until we are on the way to school). It is a stimulant but it seems to work pretty well for our boy. I know you were looking for non-stimulant solutions, but Ritalin has been a good solution for us.
Thank you for your reply! What you are dealing with sounds all too familiar! It’s so nice to feel like I’m not alone in this. I’m not against stimulants, I actually loved our one week that the focalin worked. It was the best week ever!! Model student! It was like my son shining through again. But then it was like a switch flipped and it took a turn for the worst. I’m open to trying a different stimulant, I’m just terrified of that side of him coming out again.
I totally know what you mean! We had a rough few weeks where we were trying to find the right dosage (I'm not sure we are even there yet, but have settled on a dosage currently). It was so sad! He was so moody and out of it, I was like oh my goodness what have I done to my poor baby. Even now, it's like it works but it doesn't work all the way, but if I increase it it changes his personality entirely. Ugh, the struggles. Of us moms, and our poor little ones.
My step kids mom refused to try stimulant route (even though it’s been helpful for dad). So they tried Guanfacine and because it was a blood pressure med, stepkid feinted after feeing lethargic for a week.
Hello, the meds works in a different ways for all, but its important to let know all the details to his psyquiatrist, with all the details they can try another meds, maybe the stimulants are not for him.. but all is try and mistake… the adhd is 24 for hours condition and the non stimulants have a long coverage, i Saw Good feedbacks about Guanfacine and now about qeelbre both non stimulants. My daughter is on Aderrall XR 15 mg and paroxetine with weekly teraphy, she is doing well but with swings moods.
Hi Mom, I totally understand about feeling exhausted. If the current medication is not working well, ask your child's doctor to try a different medication. There are many different medications out there. Don't feel you are stuck with what was prescribed if it is not working well.
My son was diagnosed with ADHD at age 5 and started medication trials at age 7. I tried about 9 different medications until there was the best fit. There were still side effects.
He is now 16 and has been off medication since age 12. The mood swings, inappropriate reactions to situations, anger outbursts, arguing and aggressive behaviors have escalated since puberty. It is hard to cope with it. We all just want one peaceful night at home!
I'm considering having him re-evaluated and put back on medications. Hope your situation improves. God bless!
Ugh, I am feeling all of your pain, my son is almost 10, and pre-pubescent moods are in full swing! He's not on any medication, as I am looking into and trying some natural things first. I feel pretty confident a stimulant will have him with bigger mood swings, anger and irritability. Perhaps I'm wrong... but I'm just not ready to go there until I've exhausted other avenues....(ha! like the "exhausted" pun?). I'm trying to choose my battles here, but hopefully someone has some non-stimulant suggestions, because my stress levels are through the roof!
We’ve taken a non-medication approach and had a lot of success with my 10 yo son. He was disregulated, irritable and explosive a year ago. He’s now happy, flexible, and much more cooperative. I used Finally Focused by Dr. James Greenblatt as my guide.
Of the supplements he takes, nutritional lithium made the biggest, most immediate difference in eliminating his explosions. The second biggest benefit for him was a high potency B vitamin and iron supplement (EnLyte). We started it because my son’s genetic testing indicated a mutation in the MTHFR gene , which makes it harder for him to use folate to make neurotransmitters. It’s a prescription and is a bit pricey but it’s completely shifted his baseline from irritable to happy.
I’d be happy to share more details/info if you’re interested.
Yes, please! One of the things I keep wondering about when people mention certain natural supplementation is whether there's a form that is easy for kids to take (ie, gummies, drops, etc), so if you have any recommendations, please do share!
My son takes Lithium Orotate liquid from KAL. He doesn't love the flavor so he "chases" it with a zinc and Vitamin D gummies. My son also likes his chewable probiotic, Ther-Biotic Kids (25 million CFU).
He is able to swallow pills so he swallows the EnLyte multivitamin and his Omega-3 supplement - both are small pills. I haven't found a chewable multivitamin he (or his sister) like but Renzo's Picky Eater multi is pretty good.
I just discovered that Mary Ruth's kids gummy multivitamins have folate as methylfolate. I bought some this past weekend and my daughter seems to like them (fingers crossed) The organic and multivitamin + probiotics have higher amounts of folate than the regular multivitamin.
Finding the right medication is difficult. The first one we tried made my daughter almost suicidal.
I've had a pretty strict emotional regulation regimen from birth for my kids. I knew before pregnancy it would be a problem because my husband struggles with it. Anyway, emotions are fine, totally allowed to feel them but they must be expressed appropriately. So, we have physical ways of expressing and controlling them like jumping jacks or stomping circles. We have deep breathing. We have a track they can run around. If none of that works they can go to their room and feel all they want but we don't need to see it. Sometimes my daughter will start screaming loudly in her room at which point she's sent to run the track whether she likes it or not.
We have done the non-medication route after having tried methylphenidate for about 1 year. My son presented as impulsive and hyperactive and of course, he had difficulty staying in his chair at school. We placed him on the stimulant about halfway through 1st grade and things improved. Then we were forced to school at home because of the pandemic which is when his prescription lapsed.
During that time period we completely stopped the meds and enrolled him in the Brain Balance program which promised to help his symptoms. Please know I get nothing for saying this as I am just a parent fighting to help my child with ADHD, but the program was a life saver. We did a four month program including nutritional counseling and today my child is in control, happy, and thriving at school. I do have accommodations in place for him as well as an emotional support para for guardrails just in case, but she has given me daily reports that say he is problem-free. When things come up, they have nothing to do with ADHD ~ they are just "kid" things. Because he has the benefit of the support para, he is learning how to respond to situations and advocate for himself in a way that is not overly reactive and won't place the target on his back which is actually a great skill for anyone.
Today his biggest crime in class is occasionally calling out an answer. We remain vigilant about the food he eats, his bedtimes are non-negotiable, his screen time is controlled, and we continue to do post-program activities. The payoff is he is medication free, easy to deal with, and happy.
My seventeen year old grandson has anger issues too, and believe me through the years there's been lots of changes.Currently he is on intuniv with Straterra. One medication alone has never been enough for him.
We also do counseling. He is the most stable he has been in years but we still have bad days where he just goes off the rails.
Every child is so different. We thought of doing the non medication route but you had to take so much of the supplements. I knew he could never do that.
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ADHD meds might have made my son worse? 
Exhausted Momma 
Exhausted, worried, single mom
ADHD 9 year old son - angry, impulsive, explosive, blames everyone, at a loss...
