Posted by SLynn on January 23, 2003, at 12:31:17
In reply to Re: Strattera -- 9 year old starting meds » SLynn, posted by catmint on January 23, 2003, at 0:28:00
> >>My son is also very nervous, high anxiety, a "worry wart", is constantly paranoid and has mood changes/depression.
>
> Hi,
> I'm not clear on your son's symptoms. Is he like this normally, or on stims? If so....
> I'm no expert on ADD but are you sure that is the corrrect diagnosis? Has he been having these symptoms for all that time?
> Is he possibly bipolar? Often, especially in childhood, ADD and BP are very similar.
> Has he been to more than one pdoc?
> I hope you can get him on the right meds soon.
> What, may I ask were his symptoms when you first sought help three years ago?
> Take care,
> Amy
Hi Amy,At first, my son only showed symptoms of ADD. His first grade teacher brought his symptoms to my attention, however, she was unaware of what the problem was. He was currently taking speach classes so I spoke with his special ed teacher. She suggested that he be observed by a counselor. The counselor watched him in the classroom and suggested that he possibly had ADD and asked if we would agree to have him tested. This counselor had over 25 years experience, so I agreed. We had him tested by a child psychologist. He tested positive for ADD with no hyperactivity. All of these other symptoms-- worrying, paranoia, etc., etc. did not begin until late 2nd grade into 3rd grade. At least they were not severe enough to be noticable until then. After much reading and many doctors, I do agree with their diagnosis because the medication does work. However, the stimulants are causing other problems....no sleep, moodiness, tics, etc. I am beginning to think that the few years he has been on the stimulant medication has "made" him this way. We are currently seeing a child psychologist about all of this. He is wanting to try the Strattera to get him off of stimulant medication. I am also going to keep him in counseling....none of my doctors have ever told me that he needed counseling. I am angry about this as I feel that ADD/ADHD is very emotional and difficult on children and they need help dealing with it. I advise anyone who has a child with anything similar to provide him/her with counseling. My son really likes this guy and is opening up to him very well about his frustrations. I would hope that the Psychologists we have seen have considered bipolar as well as anything else he could possibly have. It is frustrating because you rely on the doctors so much and it is hard to "hit the nail on the head" when it comes to diagnosing these things and providing proper medication. We are in a waiting game and will have to see how it turns out. Has your son been diagnosed? What does he take for meds (if any)?
Take care,
SLynn
poster:SLynn
thread:137050
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030119/msgs/137190.html