Wednesday, February 22, 2012

New Med...

Our pediatrician has been regulating Logan's medications for over a year now. About a month ago we went back to our ped because Logan's aggression has been getting worse by the day/week and we are very concerned. We explained to the ped that Logan has started to bite himself and others (including myself) on a regular basis, the hitting and kicking have increased, and life in our house has been pretty hairy lately. Dr.T decided to try him on Adderall XR 5 mg. We gave it 3 weeks before we threw in the towel. I guess increased anger and aggression is a common side effect with Adderall in ADHD children that have an aggressive demeanor. It was bad! So we made an appointment with a child behavioral psychiatrist.

The psychiatrist, Dr. B, seemed pretty right on with her train of thought and her analyzation of Logan. She talked with him, and then with myself, and then she explained what she thought he might have going on. She thinks that on top of the ADHD there is also the possibility of a mood disorder such as Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) or Bipolar Disorder...she is NOT labeling him with one of these, but says that this is a possibility. She is going to treat him for a mood disorder and ADHD. She is taking somewhat of a different approach with the medications. She is increasing his Risperdal by .5 mg in the evening so that he will be at a steady dose throughout the entire day; it was 1 mg in am and .5 mg pm previously and now it will be 1 mg am and 1 mg pm. She also prescribed a medication called Trileptal (which is normally used in seizure patients...but has been successfully used as a "mood stabilizer" in children with severe mood disorders).

Today has been his first full day of being on the medication... He is VERY crabby, cranky, and TIRED. Luckily I knew what to expect... I knew that the combo of these 2 meds would make him a little tired initially...and when he is tired...he is a GROUCH (aren't we all?!?!). So we will take each day one day at a time.

Praying that the medications will help him to control his anger, or at least bring him to a level where we can intervene and help redirect him more easily. I want him to know more than anything that we love him! This has been a LONG journey and I am sure we still have a LONG journey yet to travel, but as long as we have prayer...I think we will be good! Trying to stay optimistic! :)

Thanks for taking the time to keep updated!

Autumn

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