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Original poster

dyspraxia, adhd, girls and drugs - concerta/ ritalin

34 replies

Mousie · 31/01/2008 19:27

Ok a demanding title to try and pull in as many experiences as poss. Have posted in special needs but thought probablya good idea here too.

My dd, 7, is dyspraxic and has adhd - recently diagnosed. i have been prescribed concerta - basically ritalin,a nd will start thsi weekend probably. she drives us insane at home - yet is immaculate, if struggling at school. has no friends but doesn't act up - is just a bit of a misfit. I want to knwo if anyone has found taking meds has really improved their lives. I cannot dare to hope this really mgiht be the answer - still in shock and obviously I hoped it would never come to this, but recently her frustrations and violence out of school are becoming totally insufferable. experiences please...

OP posts:
Original poster
Mousie · 31/01/2008 20:58

bump, please

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Original poster
Mousie · 01/02/2008 17:42

bump...

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Lulumama · 01/02/2008 17:43

my friends DD has been on concerta for a number of years due to ADHD, she also has dyspraxia and Asperger's syndrome. she tells me it changed her daughter , although not a cure, obviously, it has made a significant difference to their lives.

Original poster
Mousie · 01/02/2008 18:58

that is what I want to hear - though obviously all cases different. I am just utterly at the end of all my powers..

thank you Lulumama

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evenhope · 01/02/2008 19:01

My DS is 18 and has been on meds since he was 7. It made a huge difference to him. I didn't think he'd get to 18 TBH the way he used to act- for us it was a godsend.

Original poster
Mousie · 01/02/2008 21:14

and was the effect immediate or did it take time for you to see a change? I am so scared of them working and not working if you see what I mean - seems such a big step but I am fairly sure an essential one now.

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expatinscotland · 01/02/2008 21:20

bumping

my daughter is also dyspraxic, but although she is only 4.6 she is 'easily distracted', so drugs might be in the future.

evenhope · 02/02/2008 10:31

The change was immediate. Ritalin wears off, so it is always obvious when he has forgotten to take it. It really is quite miraculous and he always said he felt so much better too- it wasn't just the effect on everyone around him.

Original poster
Mousie · 02/02/2008 13:09

well we started this morning - 18mg, slow release, concerta. she went wild for an hour or two - which was very scary - wilder than usual that is - lots of hitting and crying. now she seems same as normal, maybe a bit more tearful - but none of the imrpovements i was hoping for. feel very depressed and uncertain, though of course it is early days.

seeing the psychiatrist again on friday so assume we should continue untiil then at least..

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Original poster
Mousie · 02/02/2008 18:50

sems disastrous, she has almost (not quite, there has been a slight consciousness to it) had fits and has been hugely extreme and tearful - a massive parody of her normal difficult self. Clearly very over emotional and uncontent in everything. I am tempted not to have another go tomorrow, assumign that this really isn't going to help at all...

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evenhope · 02/02/2008 21:00

That's not right. Sounds like concerta doesn't suit her. I would go back to the doc and get it changed. There are lots of alternatives- doesn't mean that if this doesn't work nothing will.

Original poster
Mousie · 02/02/2008 21:45

my dh feels we need to give it one more day - she has certainly been more articulate about her woes - but that is not necessarily a good thing. I had so hoped today would be a momentous turning around..
thanks evenhope for responding.

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Aero · 02/02/2008 22:02

Oh mousie - that sounds terrible. Your OP could have been mine re dd and I wasn't ven thinking about meds (if they dx her). If things don't settle aftr a day or two, then it's likely that they need to try something else. Obvs, only experienc of dd to go by and we've not got as far as you down that route, but hopefully a bump or two will keep this in active convos for you. Did you look at the adders site? Loads of experience with meds there.

Original poster
Mousie · 03/02/2008 13:34

no have failed to get on to the adders site succesfully - do you have a link?

in the end didn't persist with the meds today - we have a further appointment on friday with psychiatrist so I will run it all past him then. won't rule out drugs but I just instinctively feel this one wasn't right - I am sure a day or two to settle is to be expected but she was so extreme and agressive and tearful that I just couldn't do it to her for today, not until i have a bit more info.. thanks for posting Aero

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Aero · 03/02/2008 13:41

Adders I had trouble registering too, but it all takes a few days as is run by volunteers and they've had trouble with spamming so you can only view the boards if you join. I emailed them in th end and they sent me asy to follow instructions about joining successfully. It's not as easy to us as mn, but worth the effort as everyone thre has experience of AD/HD etc.

Aero · 03/02/2008 13:42

Aplolgies for missing 'e's in my posts - it dosn't work half the time.

Original poster
Mousie · 03/02/2008 14:11

ok have had another bash at adders and emailed them.
remind me how old your dd is aero?

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Aero · 03/02/2008 16:35

She's 7.5. I'm on there as Aero too, though mostly lurking atm, but have posted a fw tims and introduced myself.

Original poster
Mousie · 03/02/2008 17:02

my dd is nearly 7 - funny how this year it is all sort of fitting into place (though not quite) in terms of more people actually realising there is a problem, until this year I was just told it was a phase or that I was imagining things (basically just made to feel I was a crappy mum and didn't have control).

Oh it is difficult when your child isn't totally mainstream. I have always enjoyed the unusual and off beat until now - now I just want totally utterly NORMAL. Bad word, sorry.

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Aero · 03/02/2008 19:46

Well, in this case, 'normal' would make their lives much easier in terms of their social and emotional welfare. It's only this year also that we feel things cannot be explaind away on account of her age and the gap is widening betwen her and her peers. Of course, we lov them and wouldn't change them, but what parent wouldn't want their dcs lives to be easir to cope with, and not to be forseeing bigger emotional problems several years down the line, which is a really big worry. Age 7 is definitely a defining age.

Aero · 03/02/2008 19:48

Meant to add, no need to apologise. One good thing for us though is that the weekend has been fairly relaxed and dd is at least willing to go to school in the morning.

Original poster
Mousie · 04/02/2008 09:33

she is back to awful today (monday) having been calm yesterday, and ever so thirtsty. wish I was a medic and understood all this. whatever backlash she got yesterday suited her extremely.

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Aero · 08/02/2008 16:45

How's it going now mousie? We had our initial assessment on Wednesday. Link

discoverlife · 20/02/2008 23:59

My DS is Dyspraxic, and was tried on Ritilin. It was horrible, he turned into a depressed, frightened wreck after only 1 week of medication. It took 2 months to flush it out of his system.

MissChief · 28/03/2008 04:03

Wondering how it's going for you now, mousie. Just had same diagnosis for ds (same age) not seen anyone on "medical" yet other than GP for referral to paed but had 2 ed psych reports done now and both indicate same conditions. It is so hard, isn't it? Are your family supportive at all? How's the medication going? I know what you mean about enjoying the offbeat etc myself and thinking how unusual and interesting I must be but now this smacks me in the face and I'm cryinh out for normal now!b Looking at his parents though, it's not a surprise!
Has yr dd been referred for physio at all, might that help?