Dealing with ADHD

[kblank83]

  About a month ago my oldest Oscar started taking strattera in the mornings and clonidine an hour before bed every night.  I'm new to this and have very little information other than his diagnoses.  Anyone that has any input or advice is welcome to comment I'm open to everything.  Since he's started his meds my family and I have seen a great improvement in his fidgeting but I know there is a long way to go.   Keri

[BLMoretti]

Wow I love his name! Oscar, he looks like an Oscar. I am glad you are having a good go with the Strattera. You will not see the full effect until 6 weeks after you reach the full dose. It does not seem to help everyone but those it does help seem to like it. Most ADHD kids have trouble with self esteem. Imagine always being the one who can't sit still and gets in trouble. I bet if you made a chart of the good things they hear about them selves and the bad things it would be way off balance. So I started trying to be sure to notice the good things about my sons to try to help their self esteem. It is something to think about, and then you don't want to be "good jobbing" them to death so you need to find real things to say about them that are good. Then I saw that I was constantly saying don't do this and don't do that... so I tried to turn this around and instead of saying "don't get on the counter" I would say "feet go on the floor". It is a subtle change but the plus side is that ADHD kids have a hard time remembering the rules so if you stay calm and just tell them what to do instead of what not to do it helps their chaotic brain. Just food for thought. B

[kblank83]

  Thank you so much for replying.  It's gave me alot to think about.  I'm just learning about ADHD, I've never known anyone with it before so while I've heard about it this is all new to me and the rest of my family.  Again Thank you so much B it's much appreciated.  Keri

[kaylaboobear]

I am going to second BL's advice.  Asking your child to have "feet on the floor" is so less negative than "get off the counter".  Also remember that your child is probably about two years behind in social development so you will want to work on the social skills.  Medicine helps calm BUT they still need to learn the skills.  Additionally, set your expectations small and be happy when he meets them.  

Good Luck!

[cna_mom]

I am pretty new to this too, Just wonder what is the differnce between the two meds?

[momamoore]

I have several children in my home with ADHD. One is on meds and the others are going through the diagnoses process. My 8 yr old also takes clonidine. He takes half of one before he goes to school. It is a med to help them sleep at night but if they are very wired in school it just takes the edge off so they can function calmly. That would just be something to think about if your child is still having problems staying calm during the day.

[BLMoretti]

Clonidine is kind of like a blood pressure pill and is really helpful to slow things down and in some kids it helps with sleep. Intunive and gunafacine are similar medications to the clonidine and both are helpful with hyper activity and even stress. Strattera is a non-stimulant ADHD medication that helps with Focus. It worked really well for one of my sons until puberty then it made him really anxious.

[kblank83]

Thank you all for your replies, when we last saw Oscar and Josefs therapist she had some what the same suggestion about reminding Oscar about rules and punishments. Since we have put up signs with drawings to remind him of the rules in the house. So far so good :)