Re: Just joined today--need medication help!

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 10/6/2003 6:31:16 PM Eastern Standard Time,

steph_jeffhunt@... writes:

We

have recently tried adderall and zyprexa which worked for her anxiety

tremendously but increased the behavior problems. Then we tried

adderall and remeron. Which after a week seems to have done

nothing! I suggested to the doctor that we try taking Concerta

instead of adderall and start there. I read one of the postings that

said it was like Ritalin (I think thats what it said?) My daughter

did have and adverse reaction to ritalin at age 4. After describing

some of our problems does anyone have any ideas. I really think her

meds need to be changed as she has taken them since age 4 and we have

only increased the dosages by a small amount. I don['t think they

are working! What about Strattera? I have not done research on this

drug? I would welcome any suggestions!

It sounds like she needs more help with how to behave in general. There is

more than just " academics " involved with school. A person can know a lot but

be unable to relate to others, making all that knowledge pretty useless.

Knowing and using are two different things. I would suggest she get evaluated

for

pragmatic language issues and try to find a social skill program, individually

or group, whatever you can swing.

As for meds, many meds take more than one week to be effective, if they will

work at all. You have to talk to the doctor about the medications she is

taking and ask him/her how long it will take to know whether it will help or

not.

Sometimes it can take weeks. Don't rely on the meds to solve the problem

entirely. I think she sounds like she needs a lot of therapy to go with it.

JMHO

Roxanna ö¿ö

Autism happens...

[Guest guest]

You are totally right about needing therapy. We had an in home therapist work

with on issues we needed help with from age 4 til age 7 1/2 She got

to talk and use her words instead of grunting. She got her to finally

ride her bike at age 6 1/2. She tried to help with our issues at that time and

did so well that the therapist felt that she no longer needed her help.

did well for about a year and then it seems like we are starting over.

Her doctor thinks that it may have to do with hormone changes. We do not have

even one pshychiatrist or pshychologist within 76 miles of us that takes our

insurance which changed to Cigna POS as of Jan 2002. So has had no help!

We are currently looking into some different programs but everything is so

expensive and we have our youngest son who was born premature 6 years ago and

has alot of medical needs that constantly need taking care of so our Medical

cost with ins. is thru the roof!! My son is having

surgery in 30 days on both legs so he will be wheelchair bound for 6 weeks, so

we are waitng till that is finished and hopefully by then our 2004 benefits

program will be given to us an hopefully the mental/behavioral ins. is better

than it currently is!

kneeleee@... wrote:In a message dated 10/6/2003 6:31:16 PM Eastern Standard

Time,

steph_jeffhunt@... writes:

We

have recently tried adderall and zyprexa which worked for her anxiety

tremendously but increased the behavior problems. Then we tried

adderall and remeron. Which after a week seems to have done

nothing! I suggested to the doctor that we try taking Concerta

instead of adderall and start there. I read one of the postings that

said it was like Ritalin (I think thats what it said?) My daughter

did have and adverse reaction to ritalin at age 4. After describing

some of our problems does anyone have any ideas. I really think her

meds need to be changed as she has taken them since age 4 and we have

only increased the dosages by a small amount. I don['t think they

are working! What about Strattera? I have not done research on this

drug? I would welcome any suggestions!

It sounds like she needs more help with how to behave in general. There is

more than just " academics " involved with school. A person can know a lot but

be unable to relate to others, making all that knowledge pretty useless.

Knowing and using are two different things. I would suggest she get evaluated

for

pragmatic language issues and try to find a social skill program, individually

or group, whatever you can swing.

As for meds, many meds take more than one week to be effective, if they will

work at all. You have to talk to the doctor about the medications she is

taking and ask him/her how long it will take to know whether it will help or

not.

Sometimes it can take weeks. Don't rely on the meds to solve the problem

entirely. I think she sounds like she needs a lot of therapy to go with it.

JMHO

Roxanna ö¿ö

Autism happens...

[Guest guest]

Just to build on what Roxanna said, one of the most effective things we did when

my

son was first diagnosed (he was 10, but I think this would be effective at any

age)

was to hire a " big brother, " This was a man in his late 20s, early 30s, who used

to

work as a psych tech with 's psychiatrist when they both were in the Navy.

This

guy was great. They played using the Greenspan's floor time model, and sometimes

went

in the pool. Sometimes he brought his kids, who were one year older and one year

younger. Just a thought.

Liz

kneeleee@... wrote:

> In a message dated 10/6/2003 6:31:16 PM Eastern Standard Time,

> steph_jeffhunt@... writes:

> We

> have recently tried adderall and zyprexa which worked for her anxiety

> tremendously but increased the behavior problems. Then we tried

> adderall and remeron. Which after a week seems to have done

> nothing! I suggested to the doctor that we try taking Concerta

> instead of adderall and start there. I read one of the postings that

> said it was like Ritalin (I think thats what it said?) My daughter

> did have and adverse reaction to ritalin at age 4. After describing

> some of our problems does anyone have any ideas. I really think her

> meds need to be changed as she has taken them since age 4 and we have

> only increased the dosages by a small amount. I don['t think they

> are working! What about Strattera? I have not done research on this

> drug? I would welcome any suggestions!

> It sounds like she needs more help with how to behave in general. There is

> more than just " academics " involved with school. A person can know a lot but

> be unable to relate to others, making all that knowledge pretty useless.

> Knowing and using are two different things. I would suggest she get evaluated

for

> pragmatic language issues and try to find a social skill program, individually

> or group, whatever you can swing.

>

> As for meds, many meds take more than one week to be effective, if they will

> work at all. You have to talk to the doctor about the medications she is

> taking and ask him/her how long it will take to know whether it will help or

not.

> Sometimes it can take weeks. Don't rely on the meds to solve the problem

> entirely. I think she sounds like she needs a lot of therapy to go with it.

> JMHO

>

> Roxanna ö¿ö

> Autism happens...

>

>

[Guest guest]

Your both right! needs some therapy. She had an in home

therapist from age 4 to about 7 1/2. They taught her to talk instead

of grunting, they taught her to ride her bike at age 7, they took her

out with one other disabled kid at a time to teach her to share and

take turns. She did very well in almost all areas except some of the

socialization skills. They felt like they had done about all they

could do at that time and dismissed us from the program. Until this

last year she was doing pretty good! But as you know they don't like

changes and we moved from the only home she had ever known---- plus

we lived 3 doors down from her grandparents. This started disaster!

The doctor thinks changing hormones are playing apart. She will be 10

in November. She started Strattera today! Her pshychologist has

moved to California (we live in Texas ) So she has not seen anyone

in quite awhile. We are looking into some different programs!

>

> > In a message dated 10/6/2003 6:31:16 PM Eastern Standard Time,

> > steph_jeffhunt@y... writes:

> > We

> > have recently tried adderall and zyprexa which worked for her

anxiety

> > tremendously but increased the behavior problems. Then we tried

> > adderall and remeron. Which after a week seems to have done

> > nothing! I suggested to the doctor that we try taking Concerta

> > instead of adderall and start there. I read one of the postings

that

> > said it was like Ritalin (I think thats what it said?) My

daughter

> > did have and adverse reaction to ritalin at age 4. After

describing

> > some of our problems does anyone have any ideas. I really think

her

> > meds need to be changed as she has taken them since age 4 and we

have

> > only increased the dosages by a small amount. I don['t think they

> > are working! What about Strattera? I have not done research on

this

> > drug? I would welcome any suggestions!

> > It sounds like she needs more help with how to behave in

general. There is

> > more than just " academics " involved with school. A person can

know a lot but

> > be unable to relate to others, making all that knowledge pretty

useless.

> > Knowing and using are two different things. I would suggest she

get evaluated for

> > pragmatic language issues and try to find a social skill program,

individually

> > or group, whatever you can swing.

> >

> > As for meds, many meds take more than one week to be effective,

if they will

> > work at all. You have to talk to the doctor about the

medications she is

> > taking and ask him/her how long it will take to know whether it

will help or not.

> > Sometimes it can take weeks. Don't rely on the meds to solve the

problem

> > entirely. I think she sounds like she needs a lot of therapy to

go with it.

> > JMHO

> >

> > Roxanna ö¿ö

> > Autism happens...

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Hi. I grew up in Ft Worth!

Anyways you can make straight As and still need special ed. Just as

you can be gifted yet still have a need for special ed. How's her

behavior overall now at school? Has it changed since all these

changes occurred? If so you can request help from school.

As for meds we all want to know what works. Sadly you'll never know

til you try. Each individual reacts so differently. For instance my

ds bounced off the walls while on Prozac. He had no emotional change

on Zoloft, but lost weight in a very short time span. Strattera

seemed most effective for his ADHD behaviors. However we had major

meltdowns that started at the same time. Don't know for sure if it

was the Strattera or not. He still had them after we stopped all

meds, but it has gotten better. I hope you find the right combo for

your dd.

Also have you considered finding a new psych. or a developmental

specialist?

And we just found a social skills group that my oldest really enjoys.

He likes people, but has trouble communicating. And more than that

now that he's older he can be hard to get along with. His way or the

highway. He wants friends, but isn't willing to work that hard at

it. I think the older he's gotten that the need for friends has

lessened somewhat. He also thinks of many peers as friends, but they

are not friends...atleast not the way I have friends.

If anger is an issue and my ds showed alot of anger over the past

year. Never had before. And it has lessened slightly in the past 2

months. They do have anger management for kids. I think generally

it's for teens though.

Hope that helped, paula

[Guest guest]

Boy did you describe my daughter to a tee! We have the same

friendship issues. She can meet them once and they are her best

friend even though they don't know it! We have started looking for a

new psych. As you know good reputable ones are hard to come by!! THe

main problem is our insurance does not even have one psych on its

list of acceptable providers!!! At least none with in 75 miles!

Meaning everything will be out of pocket. Our insurance is Cigna POS

in the Dallas area. We are looking at different alternatives. My

youngest son Brady was born premature 6 years ago and along with that

came alot of physical medical needs. So our medical costs each month

is thru the roof! He will be having surgery in a month on both legs

and will be in a wheelchair so we are putting off any real help for

til the first of January when his crisis is over and hopefully

by then our new insurance packet will show that we have a different

insurance carrier. It will change as of Jan. 1st. You are so right

about meds being a trial and error thing. I guess I was spoiled to

having the same meds work so good for so long. I guess it truly is a

hormonal issue. The older she gets the harder it is to get along.

Like yours...... It's her way or the highway!

-- In , " rybabysmom "

<rybabysmom@y...> wrote:

> Hi. I grew up in Ft Worth!

> Anyways you can make straight As and still need special ed. Just as

> you can be gifted yet still have a need for special ed. How's her

> behavior overall now at school? Has it changed since all these

> changes occurred? If so you can request help from school.

> As for meds we all want to know what works. Sadly you'll never know

> til you try. Each individual reacts so differently. For instance my

> ds bounced off the walls while on Prozac. He had no emotional

change

> on Zoloft, but lost weight in a very short time span. Strattera

> seemed most effective for his ADHD behaviors. However we had major

> meltdowns that started at the same time. Don't know for sure if it

> was the Strattera or not. He still had them after we stopped all

> meds, but it has gotten better. I hope you find the right combo for

> your dd.

> Also have you considered finding a new psych. or a developmental

> specialist?

> And we just found a social skills group that my oldest really

enjoys.

> He likes people, but has trouble communicating. And more than that

> now that he's older he can be hard to get along with. His way or

the

> highway. He wants friends, but isn't willing to work that hard

at

> it. I think the older he's gotten that the need for friends has

> lessened somewhat. He also thinks of many peers as friends, but

they

> are not friends...atleast not the way I have friends.

> If anger is an issue and my ds showed alot of anger over the past

> year. Never had before. And it has lessened slightly in the past 2

> months. They do have anger management for kids. I think generally

> it's for teens though.

>

> Hope that helped, paula

[Guest guest]

<<<<<<<<< My son is having

surgery in 30 days on both legs so he will be wheelchair bound for 6 weeks,

so we are waitng till that is finished and hopefully by then our 2004

benefits program will be given to us an hopefully the mental/behavioral ins.

is better than it currently is!.>>>>>>>>

wow, you have some full plate right now.......... sending your way healing

thoughts :-)

F

[Guest guest]

I have several contacts still in your area. I'll see if I can find

out where a good pysch can be found. If you need testing done I hear

the ish Rites is excellent.

We have Cigna too. Not too great, but I hear most are like this.

I have to constantly juggle the needs of my two kids. Ok this year

I'll let Hunter have private speech, next year it'll be 's turn.

(kinda joking, but it feels like that!)

It sounds like you have alot on your plate. Just remember baby steps.

Hang in there!

Hugs, a

> Boy did you describe my daughter to a tee! We have the same

> friendship issues. She can meet them once and they are her best

> friend even though they don't know it! We have started looking for

a

> new psych. As you know good reputable ones are hard to come by!!

THe

> main problem is our insurance does not even have one psych on its

> list of acceptable providers!!! At least none with in 75 miles!

> Meaning everything will be out of pocket. Our insurance is Cigna

POS

> in the Dallas area. We are looking at different alternatives. My

> youngest son Brady was born premature 6 years ago and along with

that

> came alot of physical medical needs. So our medical costs each

month

> is thru the roof! He will be having surgery in a month on both

legs

> and will be in a wheelchair so we are putting off any real help for

> til the first of January when his crisis is over and

hopefully

> by then our new insurance packet will show that we have a different

> insurance carrier. It will change as of Jan. 1st. You are so

right

> about meds being a trial and error thing. I guess I was spoiled to

> having the same meds work so good for so long. I guess it truly is

a

> hormonal issue. The older she gets the harder it is to get along.

> Like yours...... It's her way or the highway!

>

>

>