4 year old son with new ADHD dx, on Strattera, mama needs support! - Page 2

[karne]

Evolvingmama, your ds is fortunate to have a sensitive and compassionate advocate in you. I am glad that you came back to post. Please know that many of us here are dealing with ADD and ADHD in our kids, and working very hard to help them. I completely understand how momentous it can feel when someone offers you an idea of what you might be dealing with, and the sense of relief that there might be help available. I hope you feel welcomehere to ask questions or ask for support. This is not an easy journey.p

[EvolvingMama]

Thank you, Karne! All of our children are so different, and all blessings and give us so many opportunities to learn.

[KelliFrazier]

I was having a hard time deciding on whether or not to do Medication for my 4 1/2 year old. But I also think that I don't want to be switching medication and dosage while he is in school because that won't help either, in fact it will just make things worse for him. So the psychologist suggests that we use the next year before school starts to work with our pediatrician and play therapist to continue our play therapy and get dosage and medication correctly. He is already far behind in writing and we try so hard to sit down to help him write/draw but he just does not have the attention span to sit down for more than a minute (he has medium-severe adhd). I don't like the idea of my child being on medication for his school life, but I can say that because I had no trouble in school, I don't know what it's like for him. I can only imagine what it is and will continue to do to his self esteem, for him to observe his inability to perform academically like his peers. I see the frustration and the hurt that he just can't focus on it like they can, and that's just in preschool. Over something he can't control. It's just how the neurotransmitters work in his brain. How can I expect him to be ready for school next year (He's older so he will be almost 6 and one of the older classmates) if we don't give him to appropriate help. We've spent the last 6 months working on food sensitivities, and therapy with hardly any change. I know medication for children under 6 is controversial and I have concerns, naturally. But those concerns aren't as big as my concerns for my son's emotional well being as he is becoming more and more aware of the difference between himself and his friends. He's becoming hard on himself and it hurts me to see it. How can I not do EVERYTHING in my power to help him in that, including medication.
 

[Smithie]

Here's my perspective: I have an 8-year-old, he has suffered terribly and the whole family has suffered with him from ADHD-related symptoms since he learned to walk and talk. He was DXed at 5 years old by a developmental pediatrician, but has not been medicated for the disease until about a week ago - because trials of medications made the symptoms worse, or produced new symptoms that were more troubling than the ones he naturally manifested. This current trial seems is going well so far, but I'm not confident yet that he's ready for medication. Ask me again in a month. 

If Straterra prescribed by a nurse practitioner successfully controls the violence and impulse-control deficit at age 4, then the OP and her son are very lucky. I don't care if it was prescribed by a witch doctor or Santa Claus - the question is, does it work? Is her child better when he is on the meds?

BTW, we did the ECG and it was a total waste of time and money - we saw the exact same healthy heart we'd seen on the third-trimester ultrasound. I think that there are some cases where ECGs are a smart choice before starting ADHD meds - but they are edge cases, where there is no prenatal history and/or a suspected physiological issue in addition to the neurological issue.