My son is 9 years old and just diagnosed with ADD (primarily innattentive, not hyper at all), and LD in writing. He also shows mild symptoms of dyslexia. His teachers became concerned when he was daydreaming alot, not finishing tasks, and not doing work that they felt he was capable of. Although he does average work in school, he tests way above average in all subjects except writing. We tried him on Straterra, but it caused him to vomit several times a week. He always took it on a full stomache and had snacks throughout the day but nothing worked. Now we’re wondering if medicine is the way to go for him. Some of the medicine I’ve read about can cause anxiety and he’s a pretty anxious, very shy kid anyway.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Re: help, newly diagnosed child need advice on meds
Your son sounds like mine. Dan is 13 now and was diagnosed as inattentive add when he was in second grade. We used meds, tried 3 kinds and now we are trying strattera. I would not give up on the idea of meds, you just need to find the one that works. If he gets on a good med and maybe some counseling, his anxiety may get better. I know once my son started feeling more “normal” he started to spend more time with friends, and did not seem to be so worried that he was diffrent.
Re: help, newly diagnosed child need advice on meds
Tricia,
My daughter was 10 when diagnosed with ADD (primarily inattentive - no hyperactivity). She could not write to save her soul and she could not remember what she had read immediately after reading it. We put her on low dose Ritalin the first day of middle school and the teachers couldn’t believe she ever had problems. She just took off. We put her on Concerta the following year - she is now honor roll and Natl Jr. Honor society. Her teachers really gave her praise and her self confidence grew leaps and bounds. I know there are those out there who think the meds are bad, but for us - it was like a miracle drug. Before the meds, I was lowering my expectations for her. Now, I think she can really be anything she wants to be. Hope it works for you! The only problem we had with Concerta was the size of the pill. She gave me a hard time every morning taking it and gagged on it more than once. Then one day, we both forgot her meds. She realized how much it helped her and now takes it without complaint. She doesn’t eat much lunch, but does eat well before and after school.
Good luck with your son. sharon
Tricia,
If the side effects from Strattera are too much and don’t go away in a couple of weeks or with an adjustment of the dose, you could ask your doctor about some of the stimulant medications. Has your son been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder? If so, stimulants may not be a good choice. Otherwise, anxiety is a relatively rare side effect of these medications.
Andrea