ADHD, ODD Daughter - ADD / ADHD Message Board

DMatt · 11-15-2003, 09:00 AM

My daughter, who's under 10, was dia. ADHD a few yrs ago. She has been on Ritalin with some sucess. However, she has become very defiant & will not mind anyone else but me. She is getting into a lot of trouble at school & she had to be physically restrained yesterday. I have taken her to counseling & she's now on her 2nd psycologist. They all want her off the Ritalin. They tried to put her on anti-depressants, which made her happier, but made her more defiant & actually less remorseful for bad behavior. Her new Dr. put her on stratera which seemed to help at first, but she's still taking 1/2 her previous dose of Ritalin in the a.m. just to be able to focus at school. The dr then upped to dosage of stratera from 18mg to 25mg & she's gotten worse going back to the really bad ODD. However, she does seem remorseful this time. Almost as if she just can't control herself. We stepped back down to the 18mg but things don't seem to be improving. I'm at my wits end & wish we could find the answer out there to help her. This disorder is hurting her academically & socially. Contrary to what the dr's think, the school or I are not trying to control her through meds, but trying to help her control HERSELF. She simply seems unable to focus & follow instructions. I would love any suggestions.

delrae4753 · 11-15-2003, 12:25 PM

my granddaughter just turned 10 she also is add adha, depression, ptsd, odd,ocd, and emh she is on concerta and zoloft that seems to work quite well, i understand that the concerta and the stattera are very effective, she was in tolerated to ritalin good luck i know you need it because my granddaughter is aat times the devils advocate................................ uuugh

320 · 11-16-2003, 08:14 AM

A big red flag you mentioned was that your daughter seemed to not be able to control herself. My 15 yr old daughter has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She had some symptoms of depression and anxiety at age 14 and was prescribed Celexa and then switched to Lexapro which are both antidepressants. She was better for a couple of months, but then started acting completely out of character. She not only was hanging out with the wrong crowd, but was becoming out of control and violent at home. We also had to physically restrain her several times. After taking her to a wonderful group of psychiatrists, they performed a six-hour evaluation on her and found her to have bipolar disorder and add. They explained that antidepressants for depression and stimulants for add intensifies an underlying mood-disorder. There is a whole spectrum of mood disoders. The doctors immediately took her off the Lexapro and started her on mood stabilizers. Once the mood stabilizers are on board, an antidepressant and/or stimulant may be able to be tolerated. Actually, my daughter still adversely reacts to the antidepressants and stimulants. It takes a long time to get the meds right, but for now, she is doing wonderful. Try reading the book, The Bipolar Child by Janice Papolos and Demitri F. Papolos, M.D. Good luck.