When to give in and medicate an explosive child?

amother

Sapphire

Wed, Jan 04 2017, 1:12 pm

For years it has been suggested with a question mark.

When do you say that it is time to put an explosive child on ritalin?

It would help his anxiety and ability to focus on his studies (slight add..).

We are working with him ... working on ourselves...he sees a social worker.

Please tell me if you have a similar sounding child to mine and how he reacted to meds.

Please note ...we are really against meds and have been pushing it off for years. If it can really help .... then I think we are ready to give in if it will make him a happier child.

mha3484

Wed, Jan 04 2017, 1:20 pm

I have a six year old ds. We did half a year of behavior modification before even discussing medication. We did not actually start medicaing until school started so close to a year of just behavior mod and when we started, it was a very low dose and we have slowly increased it.

DH is really against meds and I am mixed. We found that he is responding well to a non stimulant medication called Tenex. It is helping him control his impulses and combined with therapy we see improvement. Neither of us had ever heard of it before until we saw a neurologist last spring. She never even discussed ritalin with us. You can see a Psychiatrist or neurologist and discuss all the choices without giving the meds immediately but its good to know what the options are.

33055

Wed, Jan 04 2017, 1:31 pm

5*Mom wrote:

A neuro-developmental evaluation by a pediatric neuropsychologist to reach a differential diagnosis, or equivalent. A social worker's assessment is not thorough enough.

I want to add the evaluation should only be done by LICENSED professionals. I think a pedatric psychiatrist is also qualified. If you have questions, ask your pediatrician for recommendations. It is preferable to have one familiar with the norms in the frum community because the day is so much longer for children than in secular society.

Please don't go to some of these so called experts who are not LICENSED for advice on whether to medicate.

5*Mom

Wed, Jan 04 2017, 1:35 pm

Squishy wrote:

I have found ped neuropsychologists to conduct the most thorough evaluations for the most complete picture, more so than psychologists. They just cover more.

33055

Wed, Jan 04 2017, 1:50 pm

5*Mom wrote:

I have found ped neuropsychologists to conduct the most thorough evaluations for the most complete picture, more so than psychologists. They just cover more.

Clearly you know the field. Are psychiatrists not as well trained?

My concern is there are practitioners in the frum community that try to cure this with diet or chiropractic means. They "want to dissolve 'the blockage' ".

We both agree that a licensed practitioner is the way to go. Once a child is evaluated by a neuropsychologist, then what is your recommendation for medication? I would recommend a pediatric psychiatrist who specializes in medication for whatever the diagnosis is to be followed by the child's own pediatrician.

5*Mom

Wed, Jan 04 2017, 2:11 pm

Squishy wrote:

Clearly you know the field. Are psychiatrists not as well trained?

Psychiatry is a specialty field. It's not broad enough for a complete neuro-developmental evaluation. As a general rule, an evaluation should be performed by the professional with the broadest range of expertise so as to be able to consider the entire range of possibilities, and treatment should be provided by a specialist in the required field. Evaluation=broad; treatment=focused.

Squishy wrote:

We both agree that a licensed practitioner is the way to go. Once a child is evaluated by a neuropsychologist, then what is your recommendation for medication? I would recommend a pediatric psychiatrist who specializes in medication for whatever the diagnosis is to be followed by the child's own pediatrician.

If the neuropsychologist identifies a condition that can be treated successfully with meds then I agree with your recommendation. The psychiatrist will probably (and should) conduct his own focused evaluation to determine if meds would be appropriate in this specific situation. If the professionals are qualified, have been thorough and can explain their findings and recommendations clearly, I would follow them.

amother

Olive

Wed, Jan 04 2017, 4:14 pm

I have ADHD and anxiety. I only started taking ritalin at age 11. It changed my life. I was having so many problems because of my issues and they were giving me more issues - my self esteem was non-existent, I had been depressed as early as 7 years old because of how hard it was for me to function in a normal school environment), I was obviosuly wierd and that led to bullying, I had almost no friends, and by 11 my aniety became so bad that I could barely function. Ritalin got rid of my anxiety, allowed me to focus in school, helped me better regulate my moods and meltdowns. I didn't realize (a) how much I'd been suffering before the ritalin, and (b) how happy and functional I could be in life. My parents didn't realize before how calm thigns could be in the house and how much less stressed out they were because I wasn't so hard to deal with anymore.

Imagine what my life would have looked like if I had been given ritalin earlier - school wouldn't have been bad, I would have had more self-confidence, I would have come off less weird, I could have been teased less and had more friends, I wouldn't have had to suffer through years of depression and anxiety. I was suffering all that time. And I didn't have to suffer.

Ritalin was great for me, allowed the inside of my head to have some quiet (whcih I had never experienced before) and suddenly everything else in my life was easier without all that headnoise in the background. I had no side effects from ritalin, aside from that it mildly suppressed my appetite, which is common. It wasn't significant enough to stop it.

The best part is, I only took ritalin for about 2-3 years or so, during which I saw a great child psychologist who taught me thte coping skills I needed in terms of impulse control, paying attention, organization, coping with anxiety, and more. Because ritalin allowed me to have the headspace to deal with my problems, I was able to learn tools and strategies for the skills I didn't have, and that changed my life, because I still use those tools today. And I have never taken medication since age 14.

If your child is still having a hard time, don't wait for him to hit bottom before trying medication. Your child could be happy, functional, and calm, and so could you as parents and the rest of your family. Don't let your child suffer - this is up to you. Ritalin could change his life and yours for the better.

amother

Magenta

Wed, Jan 04 2017, 4:25 pm

The first step is you need to stop thinking about it as "giving in". Medication is part of an array of options and anyway only works in conjunction other treatments. If you don't medicate, it should be because child development specialists have determined it is not needed right now, not because you're holding out until you have no choice left but to give it a try. If you do medicate, it is because those professionals have determined that it is a necessary component of the treatment plan, not because it's your last resort.

amother

Black

Wed, Jan 04 2017, 5:24 pm

amother wrote:

Thank you for this post. I'm not the op but am also considering medication for impulsivity and you have me chizuk that it is ok to try it for the child.

seeker

Wed, Jan 04 2017, 8:20 pm

I don't view medication as a first-choice treatment, but here are some situations that I believe call for it (of course this is all AFTER taking the steps others mentioned to make sure the recommendation is appropriate - I.e. medication has been recommended by a doctor after a proper evaluation; not that the school says your kid needs drugs [/pet peeve]):

1. You attempted other valid interventions and they were not effective enough.

2. The child is in crisis or approaching a crisis situation and you need the swiftest, surest intervention possible (you can still step back and try other things when it's not as critical. For example, nutritional changes can take a while to yield results but if the child is stuck in a behavioral downward spiral that's getting worse by the day, you need to balance short and long term efforts)

3. You are truly unable to attempt other valid interventions. I.e. medication is a better alternative than doing nothing. You want to try a few months of behavior mod/vitamins/chiropractic/xray vision goggles/whatever before heading for medication - fine. But if you want to talk about all these other methods for a few years without really having the energy available to pursue them - just go with medication, you can't just let your kid's problem get worse while you dream.

JMHO.

ectomorph

Wed, Jan 04 2017, 9:00 pm

amother wrote:

you can't lose by trying for one month.

amother

Sienna

Wed, Jan 04 2017, 9:56 pm

I have 2 sons on medication. One of the good parts of these medications is that they are like advil. It only stays in the body for a few hours and starts to work within minutes. What is great about it is that there are no long term affects and you see the results immediately. If the dose is too low or high- you can tell within the first hour. You don't need to try it for weeks to see if it is helpful. Basically, it's a win-win situation. You try it. If it works good, and if not, you need to find other options. Personally, we asked a Shaila a few years ago and were told to try it. We have had amazing results and are so happy we did.