some answers about tristan!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2003
some answers about tristan!!
2
Thu, 12-16-2004 - 1:22pm

ok, AWESOME news!! we went to the behavioral/developmental ped this morning and he was INCREDIBLE!! seriously, he's the best dr we've seen yet. he totally knew his stuff and was dead on with all of his observations, he was so clearly an expert. and tristan acted exactly like himself during the eval, wasn't freakishly 'good' or absurdly crazy, just his normal incredibly hyper, defiant, agressive self. i feel like the dr got to see the 'real' tristan, so i have a lot of confidence in what he said.

this dr knew all about Spirited Kids's (just very intense active kids), said he has studied a lot about the difference between personality and clinical disorders, and also the interactions between them. ie, the difference between a SK who's very active, a non SK who has ADHD, and a SK who has ADHD. he actually sat there for an hour and pointed out the difference to me, like: "see how he's jumping on the table and singing 'jingle bells' and hitting the wall with the nerf bat? that's just a very very active SK. but see how he's gotten out 8 different toys and played with all of them for 30 seconds before he jumps to something else, and even HE'S frustrated by not being able to concentrate for more than a second? that's ADHD." he had this puzzle that he was trying to get tristan to do, and it was just hysterical. trist would pick up a peice, go to put it in the right place, then get distracted and pick up anther peice, then drop that one and reach for the stethescope, then pick up the first peice and go to put it in again, then have an itch that he had to scratch, then throw the entire puzzle on the floor and scream b/c he was frustrated. the dr pointed out that tristan actually WANTED to do the puzzle and was intellectually capable of doing it, he just couldn't concentrate for the 20 seconds it would take him to put it in right. so that was a real eye opener, i've wondered what the difference is for a long time and someone finally spelled it out to me using my own kid, so that was really cool.

to make a very long story short: he said tristan certainly has ADHD, no doubt about it, and probably an agressive disorder and an anxiety disorder as well. he said that first line of treatment is to treat the hyperactivity and no impulse control problem, and then
see if the other behaviors go away or diminish. he said that he didn't feel comfortable with a stimulant med since they can sometimes make agression worse, so he put him on Clonodine 4 times a day. he said he expects a 40% reduction in the hyperactivity and
perhaps a 20% reduction in the aggression with this med, and if we don't get that he will try a different med. he also wants us to continue with the BT and OT, but said (and i feel) that those therapies will only work if we can use meds to enable tristan to control himself. he said what i've said a million times, that no amount of behavioral mods will have any effect if tristan really can't control his behavior.

i can't tell you how happy i am right now!! this is the first time i've really felt like a dr was LISTENING to me (caps intended!) instead of just assuming or jumping to conclusions or pulling out their own pet diagnosis. this is the first time i think they've really gotten to see a complete view of tristan's strengths and weaknesses and make a conclusion based on that. usually they either get to see 'completely insane growling screaming tristan' and they go off on the aspergers tangent, or they get 'perfectly normal well behaved tristan' and think i'm crazy, lol. this time they just got tristan, and i
really think the dr GOT it. i'm scared to start the meds but i really think that that's what we need right now, so we're going to give it a shot.

anyway, that's my news!! i'm so happy and for the first time in a year i feel like we're getting some answers re tristan.

Avatar for jennyberm
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 12-16-2004 - 3:41pm

Oh Clarity that's wonderful news! It must be such a relief to be so secure with the doctor and his diagnosis. And thanks for the wonderful description of the difference between SK and ADHD. You just reassured me that my ds is just a very active SK. I can't tell you how many times he's been simultaneously jumping on the couch, singing Jingle Bells, and pounding something against the wall this week, lol. Of course he's three, but still. ;)

Here's hoping the meds work like they're supposed to.

Jenny

Proud Mommy to Cameron (8/4/01) and

Cassia (7/15/03)



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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2004
Thu, 12-16-2004 - 3:56pm
That is great news.
I am so glad to hear that the dr is helping you and has listened to your plea for help.
Good luck and I hope everything starts to calm down for you soon.





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