Thread 31 Covid Cohort - Hopping through Easter and Revision

[OrangeCinnamonCroissant]

This is a thread for supporting all young people post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting. It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, please don't within this thread. Please also be sensitive when responding to threads about grades.

Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this will continue.

Our DS/DD may go down various paths (such as employment, apprenticeships, higher ed) We have decided for anyone interested they will most likely find us within the Further Ed board.

previous Thread 30

I've made this one a little bit earlier as things are so busy, at home and on thread, so please feel free to use up previous thread first

Ds's exams are all 9am. It says he must be there 15 mins before. He usually leaves at 8.45 to get to school for 8.55am he used to leave at 8.30am when he first started driving. But has gradually got later. It was 8am when he caught the bus. He really isn't a morning person. So getting up earlier won't go down well. He may as well get used to it as his summer job will start at 8am.

Just checking in with congratulations to those who've pressed the button, and commiserations for those with disappointing news.

Hope you've all had a good Easter. We've had a very quiet break as obviously DD1 is doing full-on A-level revision now, while DD2 has Y9 exams straight after the holidays so has also been working hard.

In between revision stints we've been trying to get to grips with finance stuff and life admin (passport renewal, provisional licence application...) - tedious but necessary.

It's all starting to feel very real now

I can’t decide if DD is just making the best of it - she’s prone to insomnia so I thought she’d want lie ins, but (linked to insomnia) she gets anxious so sitting around all morning might be worse.

I can imagine myself getting into that ‘not sleeping at night’ I get when we have to be up early for a flight during exams. Dates on phone, on calendar and on a spreadsheet….

i could literally cry tonight.
Ds took a short acting adhd tablet tonight and is covered in the most dreadful allergic hives.
So the months we've spent getting the right dose is all for nought. Without the meds hes not going to do well 😢

Oh no @Cantonet I’m so sorry 😢 Can he take a break from them and see if he can then restart before the exams without the reaction? How long has he been on the meds and when did the hives start?

i think hes been on them about 5 months now. The reaction started a coup!e of weeks ago but we attributed it to flea bites.
The last few days we realised he was allergic to something but we didnt know what until night.
The problem is he's got pretty severe adhd and cant concentrate without it. Hes literally been doing so much better with meds.

Cantonet that is not good. What can you do next? Phone GP today?

Oh @Cantonet what annoying timing! Can you get into the GP ASAP and start exploring other options? Grasping at straws I guess better to discover it now than in a few weeks time….

The gp can't initiate these drugs, so it will have to be the ADHD clinic. There is another drug he could be switched over to I think, but it takes weeks to titrate up to the right dose. He's on the maximum dose of the current one.

It just wouldn't have been so much of a problem any other time. But it's such a crucial time. DS needs to revise & finish off a couple of assessments that contribute to his grades.

Without these pills he literally sleeps all day. He sits in classes & his eyes start closing.

@Cantonet I am sure you have done loads of research, but could you try combining with antihistamines? Or look into whether cutting something like dairy might help? The other things which cause reactions might be acting with it. Hope you find a solution.

I know its the ADHD clinic that you need, rather than GP, but actually getting anything actioned by ADHD clinic soon enough, is improbable isn't it?

I don't know about ADHD medication but my first thought was would it be ok to also take an antihistamine? Would a pharmacist be able to advise about that? They might say, oh yes this is quite common, just take this antih alongside or something? But apologies if that is all rubbish, it is obviously very complex. I hope you find a solution quickly.

I have contacted the clinic & have an online appt. tomorrow.
I've also checked whether its ok to carry on with an antihistamine.
I have been giving him a one a day non-drowzy one the last few days.

Thank you for the comments all. My tablet is very glitchy so my typing may be dodgy.
I'm very lucky they have an appointment free tomorrow as they're normally fully booked.e

Good luck with it all @cantonet. I know how hard it is finding the right meds, so this is the last thing you need.

@Monkey2001 - that sounds like a tough 2 weeks! Fingers still crossed for your DS re Newcastle - surely he must hear soon!

Cantonet I hope they find a solution. Drug allergies are no fun and I can imagine you must be beside yourself.

Good luck @Cantonet and apologies for my ignorance on adhd medication routes - great that you’ve got a clinic appointment so fast.

That sounds horrible for him, Cantonet.
So, am I understanding correctly that he’s been on this medication for 5 months but the allergic reaction has only been in the last fortnight?
Has he changed anything else that might be interacting with his ADHD meds to cause a reaction?

Could he change to a longer acting version of the same meds?

I totally empathise with not wanting him to come off his ADHD meds entirely at this point - that would be a disaster for him.

Hope you can get some positive action tomorrow @Cantonet, what luck that they have an appointment tomorrow. Fingers crossed that you get a viable solution that can be ramped up quickly.

On the plus side, you don't have fleas!

@wheresthebeach i was definitely beside myself last night. It was at the back of my mind that it might be drug induced but i was trying to think of the least worse options.
@isthisjustnormal i didn't know anything about these drugs until a few months ago. Now dh estimates weve spent ~ £10 000 on the Adhd clinic. Of course we're very lucky that we can afford to do this. But i'm really not feeling very lucky today 😪
@alwaysplayspiccolo yes thats about right. Ds is on a daily slow release dose of the same drug that caused last nights rash. Because its slow release the rash is just in patches & hes not covered in it. But he's spent so many nights this holiday scratching - not ideal when he's trying to revise.
The clinic have very kindly phoned up today & told me to stop the short acting one. Try & persist with the other in association with antihistamines.
Moving drugs would be highly disruptive and the other alternative is not as effective as the one hes on and he may end up having the same issue anyway.
They will review this after his exams.
They didn't want to charge me for an appointment tomorrow.

Cantonet Glad the clinic phoned today, and nice that it means you don't have an expensive appointment for tomorrow. Hopefully the hives will subside.

Cantonet so sorry to read about your DS's allergic reaction, how very worrying for you all but great you have an appointment tomorrow. Am I right in understanding that he has always had a small allergic reaction to the slow release ones but when coupled with the quick acting one the rash intensified? Is he the only one of your DC to get this rash? I believe they all take the same med but different doses.

Just checked DD's exam timetable and can now see the timings for each exam and she has a 9am start for all but one which is a 1pm start. She's happy to get them over and done with each morning but I just hope her hayfever meds kick in quickly enough in the morning before each 9am exam. She has no clashes luckily but 3 in the first week on 23rd, 24th and 26th.

@Cantonet What unlucky timing. Hopefully it will calm down with the antihistamine.

Well that's half term over. DD back at school tomorrow. Her asthma is still acting up after Covid so still tired and a bit under the weather. She has two mocks on Thursday which is a shame. I hope they aren't going to go too crazy on testing for the next 4 weeks.