STRATTERA IN THE TOILET

and boy I can relate… What about going for a walk with her and doing something she wants to do? Can you tell when she is going to lose it? My son gets like this sometimes…and when he does I have to back off because if I try to reason with him when he is being unreasonable things just escalate…down hill and fast…and then he ends up destroying something…Last time it was guitar strings on his guitar and he felt awful after he did it too…But at the time he was angry and impulsive…

I try to head things off at the pass before they escalate by doing what I call…”Put your kids name here” maintenance…Which in other words is I spend one on one time with my kids on a saturday or in the evening.

We will just go for a walk, sit around and talk, play a game, sit on the swing outside, go out to eat, go walk around the mall and window shop…and I listen and they just ramble…

It is a sacrifice for me as I don’t have time to spend as I am so busy but I have found if I take just 30 minutes to an hour on kid maintenance… I am able to reinforce the good behavior..and avoid the meltdowns…

I did try doing that by getting her to put her ankle weights on and then going downstairs to the basement to “swing” her on her platform swing (we were doing SID therapy then at this point)….I truly didn’t think about her glasses and her taking them off and destroying them in a matter of seconds.

After she did that I took her upstairs myself and drew her bath - w/ epsom salt - to calm her.

I hope tomorrow is a brand new day.

Loves,S

Wow! I can relate to those crappy days! I guess we all can. I’m hoping today you guys will have a much better day! I haven’t started my son on strattera yet - I’m trying to fiqure when the best time would be. I appreciate you and others posting your experiences (both good and bad) to help me make my decision.

I do have a question about a bath with epsom salt. What does that do? Does it seem to calm kids down? If so, how often can/should this be done? Any help you or others can give me on this would be great.

Hang in there - it seems we’ve all had some tough, tough days and sure-enough there will be more to come. But knowing others are out there with solutions that have worked for their kids gives me hope. Please keep us updated!

You guys have a GREAT weekend!!

Tom

Thanks Tom for the uplifting post.

I can’t tell you for sure but can certainly get more info for you…epsom salt baths have something to do w/ the magnesium and the way it soaks into your body…it’s a def calming effect and most definitely worked on her last night.

You can do them at your leisure…once a evening once a wk, whatever your childs needs are.

Loves :)
S

What I am trying to say is catch her doing something good while she is in a good mood..and then just say..”I was thinking about going here or doing X? Would you like to do x with me?…or what would you like to do today?”

Eventually she will learn to ask you on her own…by saying…”You know I want to do x today…can we do it? Or I was thinking about doing X today…what do you think?” You want her to initiate some positive interactions with you and the beneift is your example and listening ear will teach her how to interact positively with her peers and your patience and listening ear will teach her empathy and how he can listen…

The catch here is you can’t put her off if you make a date to do something she wants to do..I know if I say I will do something and I put her off too long she escalates….When we make a date to do something I keep my word…this builds trust as welll.

I have found if I sacrifice some of my time and spend it with her the rewards are 10 fold…in the positive direction…. I liken kid maintenance to charging their positive batteries to avoid the negative meltdowns…I can’t do this when they are escalated..I have to do the catch them doing something good when she is on an even keel…As a consequence, I have gotten really good at picking up non-verbal cues and heading things off at the pass…

not really sure how this was related to my original post but thanks for the thoughts.

We do things together just one on one but they are few bec I have 3 girls to tend to, one of them being only 1.5 yrs old.

Trust me - she gets positive reinforcement when she acts well….I really make sure to pick up on it and tell her how wonderful she’s being or happy I am to be w/ her when we’re getting along well.

This festival she wanted to go to last night - was only sprung on me the very afternoon of the night it was to take place. Upon seeing her notebk w/ not so great remarks from her teacher - there was NO WAY she was going to be allowed to go.

Loves,
S

Gosh, these med trials can sure be a pain! It surely seems more like an art than a science. I have heard plenty of negative things about Strattera. Well, I think it’s about 50-50 good vs. bad that I have heard. I have also heard it takes a couple of weeks to get going. We are not trying it yet. We’re still Adderall sr for now. I guess the good part is at least you can say you tried it!

As far as the festival. I probably would not have used it as a punishment since you were trying out a med that obviously wasn’t working. I tend to sympathize with my son as he tries out different meds and it throws him one way or another. The one time he got sent to the office (it was last year) was the 3rd (and last!) day of a med trial. I didn’t punish him at home for it. I certainly don’t tell him he’s excused from bad behavior while we try out meds bec I don’t want him to blame behavior on meds but I empathize with him and tell him different meds can affect people different ways and we will keep trying to help him.

Granted my son is not typically a kid who has send-to-the-office-type behavior (but he certainly isn’t perfect!!) and had he been on his regular meds I feel quite sure he would not have found himself there that day.

I’m sorry you had a crappy day! Does your kiddo have ODD as well? Also, check out conductdisorders.com bec many folks over there are trying Strattera with mixed results.

Thanks for your sweet thoughts.

Maybe I shouldn’t have used it as punishment not to let her go - but at the time it seemed like a good decision. Can’t go back in time. All I can do is what I feel best at the time - my decisions aren’t always the best, it’s very hard.

I feel the same and have heard from the Dr as well that Strattera right now is 50/50 for people….

Lauren had a lot of “tummy pains” complaints and she’d also stopped eating lunch and dinner. She only weighs about 53 and was down to 50 w/ just two wks on it.

Now my Psych was funny - he did say this would be a great diet drug if it didnt’ work out for ADHD for people LOL!

Loves,
S

We used to have alot of these really bad days.

My son did interactive metronome and it has made a huge difference. We went skiing with our very good friends who have known my child since he was a baby. We only see them a few times a year now but they know my son very well because we used to live close.

They both commented on the changes in him. He used to be very difficult and is now very much in control. We were having dinner and he and his two friends wanted to sit at the 3 counter stools. My little guy felt left out and cried about this. Our friend asked the 3 boys if any of them would give up their seat for the little guy. My son said, “Sure,” and went and sat at the table.

I fell coming off the lift because my ski got tangled in his snowboard. He was so concerned about me. He kept asking, “Mom, is your knee feeling ok.” He is very mature and in control.

I also use the techniques Patty mentioned which you already do.

My son is not on meds.

Can someone please tell me the difference between dexadrine and strattera? I know that it is not a stimulant but what exactly does that mean? What are the pros compared to the stimulants? Thanks

Dexedriine is a stimulant and Strattera isn’t a stimulant.. Strattera was originally designed to work on people with depression but they found that it worked well for people who were ADHD. We didnt’ have a good experience on Straterra as our sone got depressed on Strateraa…..Dexedrine was good compared to the Strattera but that is just our own personal expereince. He is now off all meds and we are coaching and modifying his behavior..

what is interactive metronome

and your son sounds like a dream…..to have him be concerned and compassionate about others is also my goal for Lauren….I’m so glad that what you’re doing is working :) And w/out meds - even better!

Loves :) thx for sharing :)
S

Go to www.interactivemetronome.com

It seems to work better for some more than others. It was a godsend for us.