You rarely hear me B**** about my husband, he has been (mostly) the dad I wish I had. He organizes spur of the moment kick ball games at the park, treasue hunts in the playground… Fun, fun, fun, a big child himself and a big part of my sons popularity. “Hey Scotty, wanna meet for sleigh riding, bring your dad!” Plus very maternal on top of that. He would fight me to change a diaper or give a bottle. If he could’ve nursed, he’d gladly do it. But now he brought up stopping meds for the summer. “Lets just see.” AAAAHHHGGG!
My arguement was good “What about boxing, camp, vacation bible school, the summer program (he has to learn his way around the high school!), all the social interaction at the beach/park/pool/neighborhood?”
“He doesn’t need medicine to do that!” he said
I said, “Ofcoarse not, but to do it all well, enjoy it to the fullest, feel good about it and reap the rewards he needs his mind fully cooperating. Whats the point? So you can be reminded of the old days? Did you forget the tics, the pacing, circling, talking to himself, the other planets he spent most days on?” The tics gave him pause for thought. We both felt the tics were worse than the ADD. My jaw dropped when he said “Do you really think its the med stopping the tics?” I could have screamed!
Honestly, I get a lump in my throat just imagining having to watch him struggle, not fit in, feel bad about himself all summer long, while my husband toils away obliviously at work (this is his bus season).
The Lord moves in mysterious ways; This morning Scotty woke up shaking and moaning his stomach was hurting and he was nauseous. When I said he couldn’t have breakfast he asked “what about my pill?” I said , “nope, no pill either”. A light bulb went on over my head. What a dope I am! Surely only a few days without meds would convince dad what a mistake it is. The tics alone come back if I’m even 3 or 4 hours late with the main dose. And what better way for me to reassure myself that the med is still working despite the increase in daydreaming and poor memory (I’m still blaming the recent loss of routines for that). We had a nice ramp up initially, I hope it won’t take as long, but he was getting theraputic results in less than a week when we first started. I guess this might not be so bad. And Hey! I could be wrong! (Probably not.)
Yup, he moves in mysterious ways.
I'll let Rebelmom tell you
Barb, I’ll let Rebelmom tell you the story :lol: , but Dad did not last long.
Re: Dad chiming in
Our No Strattera Day;
I worked that night (4-12) and got home DS was still awake but just getting sleepy, bed time is 8-9pm, he was quite hyped up. Unusual because he has very little of the H, normally. Dad said mood was very very very happy this evening (what I would call impulsive/hyper dad calls happy, God bless him!). When I asked him if he thought Scotty was unhappy on Strat he said no, but he seemed extra happy (impulsive) tonight. His humming/hooting tic is one of his cuter ones, but dad was disturbed how fast it came back and agreed the facial tics are probably on the way. When husband woke up today to see the facial tics, he said “maybe we shouldn’t do this, lets just try the 25 in the morning and knock off the 10mgs in the afternoon. We don’t have any organized activities at night for the summer.” I wanted to explain that it might cause moodiness, but I don’t wAnt him to feel like I’m arguing him on everything and he’s already admitted I might be right, so I clammed up. Natural consequences, right? Besides, he was on 25mg alone for the first 8 weeks and he was fine then, except for the wearing off in the afternoon. So I might be proven wrong about moodiness in his case.
I wanted to convince myself it was still working so I didn’t give him his dose with breakfast. By lunch time today I was well reminded, that even when Strat doesn’t seem to be working, it is! Don’t believe what you read about skipping a dose! Can’t be done!
We went to the little league awards this morning. And guess who got honorable mention during the ceremony? “THE BEES”! For having the most team spirit in the league! We (The Millers) brought Bee balloons to every game and I painted the teams favorite bat with black and yellow stripes, the team called it the “stinger” and they all used it every time at bat. I was the dugout mom and wore a yellow/black stripped shirt to every game. I was really just playing psychology with the kids, convinced them the bat had special powers if they really believed in it. Oh, the power of suggestion! I didn’t realize what an impact it had on the whole league. Assistant commisioner asked where the “stinger” was as he talked about the Bee’s team spirit. The kids yelled “Scotty has it!”. In his unmedded state Scotty said “What?” and I had to run it up to the poduim so he could hold it up to show everyone. They spent a few minutes to tell specific team spirit things that happened during the season with the Bees. Scotty was orbiting mars and pretty oblivious, but the rest of the team was grinning ear to ear. The recognition was great for the team, better than the 4th place trophy! I cried like a geek
He is still humming right now and facial tics are in full swing. I was happy to give him the 25mgs at lunch, but its a little late, he is just circling the house, doing a few peices of a jigsaw, stopping to watch tv, getting distracted by the crayons, then setting up the cards to play solitaire, then going back to the TV. Its all coming back to me now! But looks like we won’t be guinnee pigs this summer. WHEW, wasn’t looking forward to posting about it anyway!
Hey, RebelMom, Way to go!
You go, girl — as we have agreed, just because meds are wrong for SOME, it does not follow that ALL should avoid them!
You mention tics — is your guy TS? I ask cuz I have a hugely close friend with a TS child — just wanted to add that bit to my database under your name. Sorry if you have posted that previously and I’ve forgotten…
Said friend has also had trouble convincing hubby re meds — and it’s funny, hubby is same kind of Dad! I too sat on the fence, I’m close with both and could see both sides, but given the success of the last year for our guy, I am leaning your way. Other puzzle pieces have also helped, but maybe the meds are the MAJOR puzzle piece after all.
Anyway, keep doing what you do — you do it so well…
Re: Dad chiming in
Hi elizabeth,
Just saw your post now, I was away on an extended vacation.
Tourettes? I’m unsure. No one diagnosed him with it, but the neurologist said we could call it that if we like. He meets all the criteria. The doctors feel it’s irrelevant. I agree with them, as far as I’m concerned, a tic is a tic is a tic. I feel tics are worse than ADHD, but thats another post. I really don’t recommend stims for ADHD kids with tics, nor Wellbutrine. Straterra is the only one I would recommend. Not only is it harmless to most other comorbid disorders, it is often theraputic.
We had a great camping vacation. We kept a list of things we did and places we went and in hindsight we did a lot! I won’t bore you with the finer details. But to sum it up, we did a lot of swimming, boating, fishing, tubing and even a few rides on a wave runner. We also hiked a mountain, 2 MILES! Jumped off of a water fall called “Butter Milk” and our biggest accomplishment; we drove seven hours each way and lived to tell about it. HAH!
The boys had a fantastic time. My marriage did not, it started out great… 10 days together 24/7, enough to put anyone to the test. But I love it there, I felt like staying another week, just me and the kids with my inlaws on a beautiful lake, surrounded by mountains, 97% state land, 3% summerhomes. If I cross to the west side of the lake and just hiked, it’s near 5000 square miles of nothing but mountains and rivers and ponds and lakes and forest, I wouldn’t see another living soul for weeks! Upstate New York is one of the most beautiful, best kept secrets in the country. I thought about sending hubby back home to work and have him come back to get me next weekend. We could use a break from each other.
Know what you mean...
That’s how my vacations are too.
People at work laugh when I describe vacations with my 3 boys. That’s because I only have two children.
Re: Dad chiming in
[quote=”rebelmom” don’t recommend stims for ADHD kids with tics, nor Wellbutrine. Straterra is the only one I would recommend. [/quote]
Rebel Mom,
Although it probably makes sense to start with Strattera for a child with tics, the most recent research shows that stimulants can be safely used with most children who have tics. That is important information to have, since there are some children who will not do well on Strattera and may still need medication to help with their ADHD. Some stimulants are a better choice for a child with tics, namely those that have a slow, controlled release of the medication. My son had tics that disappeared after he began taking adderall. Of course, you are correct that for some children with tics, stimulants will make the problem worse, but, for the majority, they are not contraindicated.
Andrea
Re: Dad chiming in
Hi Andrea,
I have heard of cases where stims actually stopped children from ticcing, but this is the exception, not the rule, as I’m sure you are aware. I hoped against the odds that this was the case for my son. It wasn’t. I respect anyones decision to medicate with stims, even if there are tics and they are worsened by stims, but it goes completely against my priorities and the standards (?) I set for raising my kids. I, personally, feel stims are contraindicated for my son and his tics, it defeats almost every single reason I decided to medicate my son. Here is why;
My son has tics. Had them well before he was DXed with ADD. We tried amphets, because “sometimes it doesn’t make them worse” they told me. They did. Surprise. We gave it a whirl any way and put him on multimeds to counter the effects amphets were having on the tics. We had other undersirable side effects but it was the tics that bothered us most and affected his life the most. Soon I woke up out of the haze of ADD info I was trying to absord and the guilt of medicating my son and had an epiphany;
Why am I medicating my son?
To make him happy? No he was always happy.
To help his grades? No, grades aren’t that important. Meds for A’s? Naaaahhh!
To make my life easier? No, thats just sick.
There was better reasons;
To keep him from growing up with poor self esteem and bad feelings about himself.
To help him control himself.
To help him make friends, have relationships and enjoy the experience of school, play dates, ect…
To avoid the pain of teasing.
To help him learn, and allow him to take advantage of the brilliant mind the lord bestowed upon him.
With the exception of that last one, tics were going to hurt his world as much as ADD if not worse. Tics would undo all the good reasons (above) we were taking medication. So we left amphets behind, probably forever. If Straterra didn’t work for my son, we’d be on nothing right now. Because my husband and I felt tics were worse than ADD. I thank Eli Lilly every day.
I suppose there are children with more severe ADHD symptoms that my son’s. Children who’s tics are the least of their problems, but that wasn’t the case for my son, nor many other children, I bet. So from that perspective I have to respectfully disagree, stims are often contra indicated in children with tics. The pros aren’t worth the cons. I’m certainly not trying to tell you that you are wrong, because the pendulum swings both ways. But I wanted to tell why I feel this way and how I came to my conclusions and my decisions for my sons specific situation.
Re: Dad chiming in
Rebel Mom,
I’m glad you have found an effective treatment for your child. I’m not knocking you for rejecting stimulants and choosing Strattera. You made the choice that was right for your child and that is terrific. Still, the choice you made might not be a good fit for all children ( not that you were suggesting that it is) and I think it is important for parents to know that the current medical thinking is that stimulants can be safely used for many children who have ADHD and tics.
Some research suggests that tics may improve with such treatment, at least for a certain percentage of children. There is consensus that any increase in tics is reversible by stopping the medication. It is thought that the stimulants unmask a pre-existing tendency toward tic disorders rather causing tics. Children with tics who otherwise benefit from stimulant treatment may do well and have their tics controlled on a combination of stimulants and clonidine.
As you and I already know from our individual experiences and our quests for information, what works for a particular child is always going to be highly individualized, but we can gain useful guidance from well-conducted research. For those who have questions about stimulant use and tics, I recommend looking at these sources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11865128&dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12083990&dopt=Abstract
http://intapp.medscape.com/px/medlineapp/getdoc?ord=18&searchid=1&have_local_holdings_file=1&local_journals_only=0&searchstring=stimulant+tics
http://www.neuropsychiatryreviews.com/march02/adhd.html
http://tourettenowwhat.tripod.com/tics_and_stimulants.htm
http://www.tourettesyndrome.net/adhd_treatment3.htm
http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/231cd6.htm
Andrea
So, how did the story end? Dad get an eyefull or was it time to take a break?