Anyone else's ADHD child do this

[TheDinosaurMum]

DS has ADHD, it's not medicated we (me and the specialist) decided parenting tactics, routines and understanding were probably the better route right now. All fine with me.

So DS can be a spritely energetic fidgety child but on the whole manageable. Time outs work, discussions about behaviour, warning scale.

But...

Every now and again what I can only describe as mania sets in. For about a good 2/3 days now and again.

He is literally uncontrollable, highly strung, could probably run a marathon back to back, dismissive/refuses to listen.

Anyone else's child have these type of days?

Any ideas why? Is it just over excitement perhaps as we are due to go on holiday, end of school term sort of thing and he can't contain it maybe?

Any tips for managing the manic days massively welcome also 😳

DS (who also has ADHD, and isn't medicated - he's also on the autism spectrum but high functioning) becomes more manic the more tired he is. He doesn't sleep much at the best of times but if he's excited about something he sleeps even less and then, yes, mega mania....

Yes. My daughter had a day like this a fortnight ago. Lots of tears and very emotional and just beside herself. She also hadn’t taken her medication that day.
Solution was a water fight to burn off energy. A long bath, alone time and her sister forbidden from going anywhere near her for the rest of the evening as she winds adhd daughter up even more.

@Puffykins

DS (who also has ADHD, and isn't medicated - he's also on the autism spectrum but high functioning) becomes more manic the more tired he is. He doesn't sleep much at the best of times but if he's excited about something he sleeps even less and then, yes, mega mania....

Thank you so much! I feel I'm not alone so much now. DS is also a atrocious sleeper. I put him to bed early tonight for poor behaviour at 6pm and he was fast asleep by 6:30 with no complaints. So perhaps you are right tiredness + excitement = mania.

I might try and get him to sleep more when I know something exciting is on the horizon for him.... I mean I'll try but then again blood from a stone may be easier 🤣

In terms of managing it I'll try to find something he can do to ride it out - maybe watching a film of something. Swimming used to be great before all the pools shut and now need booking ages in advance. Or I just take him to a large playpark and take a book with me..... a lot of it is just being aware he's manic and isn't going to be able to make sensible decisions, and trying to exhaust him physically so that he'll sleep.

Yes we always found my DS (now 14 recently diagnosed ADHD) would get increasingly harder in the run up to exciting events, birthdays, Christmas, holidays etc. Anything that would make him beyond excited would cause harder to manage behaviour. No amount of punishments made it any better so we in the end went with picking our battles as we knew he wouldn’t / couldn’t change until the event was over.

@MissM2912

Yes. My daughter had a day like this a fortnight ago. Lots of tears and very emotional and just beside herself. She also hadn’t taken her medication that day. Solution was a water fight to burn off energy. A long bath, alone time and her sister forbidden from going anywhere near her for the rest of the evening as she winds adhd daughter up even more.

Burning off energy is a must I agree.

Sometimes I take the dog to the park and throw a tennis ball for him, and then deliberately hoof a football about halfway across the field to get DS to run after it and bring it back. And it's repeat, dog get ball, DS get ball 🤣 multitasking at its finest!

Mine is like that when he's feeling stressed/under pressure/tired. It's like the adrenaline forces him in to overdrive.

Yes my son has anxiety issues and on the spectrum, he doesn’t have adhd. His behaviour can be very manic . Xmas for example, Too much hype from early on in December or beforehand causes him to get hyperactive. He doesn’t like surprises, so we’ve managed things like birthdays and Xmases knowing what he’s going to get beforehand as his main present.

The Father Christmas charade is only magical if your kids can cope with it.

Lots and lots of exercise, a healthy diet and if necessary a break away from screens until he’s calmed down. Much easier now he is a bit older, ages 2-6 were hell!

Thank you for all your replies.

I just couldn't put my finger on it till this evening, and was after some reassurance that perhaps it could be over excitement and or anxiety.

DS has separation anxiety but the behaviour he displays for this tends to be "clinging to me physically" "having a tantrum if I try and leave the house without him" (don't worry I'm not leaving him on his own, with grandmother's) constant worry about my health and safety. If I fall or hurt myself the poor boy gets distraught.

But I'm glad others have stated it can be triggered by excitement about events.

I think as a PP said I'll pick my battles, understand why it's a manic time and just ride through it best I can.

I'll definitely try to tore him out/burn more energy and therefore hopefully he will sleep more during these periods.

Parenting is a joy isn't it 🙄

Our DD isn't diagnosed yet but clearly is adhd and possibly asd (on the pathway to diagnosis but I ha e to complete the stupid ppp parenting course first, whilst being assessed for adhd myself ) but this explains a lot if it is an adhd thing! I hadn't even connected it to adhd. We frequently describe DD1 as a puppy who needs at least one walk a day to burn off energy in order to function! She sleeps well from around 7-6 thankfully, but she is unbelievably full on from the moment she wakes to the moment she goes to sleep. I've worked with kids for 10+ years in their own homes and have never felt so overwhelmed by one child's behaviour as I do with my eldest!

@QueenOfCatan

Our DD isn't diagnosed yet but clearly is adhd and possibly asd (on the pathway to diagnosis but I ha e to complete the stupid ppp parenting course first, whilst being assessed for adhd myself ) but this explains a lot if it is an adhd thing! I hadn't even connected it to adhd. We frequently describe DD1 as a puppy who needs at least one walk a day to burn off energy in order to function! She sleeps well from around 7-6 thankfully, but she is unbelievably full on from the moment she wakes to the moment she goes to sleep. I've worked with kids for 10+ years in their own homes and have never felt so overwhelmed by one child's behaviour as I do with my eldest!

It can be overwhelming at times I agree, but don't worry you can and will get through it. ☺️

I'm not ashamed to say I've locked myself in the kitchen before with my back holding the door shut whilst I sit on the floor and cry because it genuinely felt like I had a Tazmanian devil living in my house with me. He was manic, throwing things, jumping around the sofas, screaming at me, banging on the kitchen door....but it passed!

Yes. Dc 1, who has adhd and is medicated, has days where he's all over the place. As others have said, it's when he's more tired than normal and/or excited about something. We buy him a new book (he hyperfocuses on reading) or force him outside (for one so active he hates exercising) and are more firm than usual re. behaviour.

My DS (now 20 but diagnosed age 6) used to 'bubble' along quite nicely until we would notice his bubble about to pop. Sometimes we would induce that popping by finding a safe space and causing it. This could be as simple as playing a physical game (anything competitive would pop his bubble).
We found as he reached puberty this mania became more often and more violent and we ended up medicating at age 10. As he's got older his mania has became fewer and less explosive.

Yes. When he's like it we get constant noise, either talking or making strange noises like beat boxing, clicking etc. He's also very highly strung, the smallest thing such as telling him that dinner is ready can cause a meltdown.

We haven't worked out what causes it yet. He is generally harder to handle at the start of a new school year, if he's overwhelmed perhaps by lots of homework, if he's excited about something like Christmas or the football!

Lots of people notice it's linked to a full moon?!