The RX Route...Kinda Sad but Hopeful

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-17-2005
The RX Route...Kinda Sad but Hopeful
16
Mon, 02-06-2006 - 4:18pm
You all have seen me post here alot about 14 y.o. dd and all the trouble, since last summer when I found out she was cutting. She's in private therapy every other week, group therapy every week. We have a meeting to discuss her IEP and testing results this week. Therapist thinks dd has learning disabilities as well as depression. Recently her art has become very dark and I found a note in one of her sketch books that sounded like a suicide note. It was just in the book like it was never intended for anyone to see. With that information, therapist recommended a visit to the psyche (M.D.). Naturally, she (M.D.) has prescribed an anti-depressant, believing that dd suffers from depression and possibly ADD as well. DD is on board with taking it. I just hate that she has to do this, but I'm hopeful maybe it will make a difference in dd's attitude. She just has zero motivation, or interest in anything. On the upside, it seems that she and H. may be drifting apart (recall that H. basically dropped out of school and her parents have let her, rather than face a student study team meeting for her failing grades...go figure her parents, I know I never will). DD has a new friend, hoping she's a better influence but not entirely sure. Anyway, I know meds are sometimes definitely needed, and often a blessing. It doesn't mean she'll have to take them forever. I took Elavil as a teenager for a short time for depression, so it may run in the family.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-05-2004
Wed, 02-08-2006 - 2:57pm
Oh no, I appreciate just knowing that other people are experiencing similar problems with ADD meds. Its such a balance: is being an academic superstar worth looking like a skeleton? I'm not sure. I do REALLY enjoy being able to concentrate on school (and I mean REALLY concentrate), but I'm not sure how much of my physical

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-17-2005
Wed, 02-08-2006 - 2:58pm

Thanks to all of your for your support and good wishes. It means alot. I will certainly keep you all updated as to how things go. Of course I wish this were a "magic little pill" that will solve all our problems, but alas, I know that is not to be. She is still, after all, a teenager. LOL.

This morning before taking her meds, dd said to me, "Will this hurt me? I'm afraid." It was said in a joking manner, the way she likes to communicate all serious issues with me. On the way to school, I asked her more about it and told her that if it makes her feel too different and weird and she does not want to take it anymore, she doesn't have to. I feel the dr. did not go over it very well in the office with her about what the meds would do and how they work because she didn't have many questions for her (and dd has told me she doesn't like this dr.). The dr. did make her pull up her sleeves, and she said she did this because she is not going to have a "therapy" relationship with her. This was probably not the best approach for dd, but hey, she wouldn't have like her anyway.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-05-2004
Wed, 02-08-2006 - 3:20pm

To add: I know Concerta isn't quite as habit-forming as Adderol (the ADD super-drug), but I've got a

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-02-2006
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 9:30am
My son is 17 and a junior in high school. And after many fights and tears we have found out he is ADD. The doctor just put him on Adderall XR 20mg. Zach says it makes him feel sick. Is this normal and is there something out there that won't make him feel sick?His grades are bad. I'm in fear he won't be able to graduate.
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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 9:42am

I'd love to know how you felt on Adderall. DD was diagnosed in the 4th grade ADD Inattentive and she is to a "T". I couldn't stand her on Adderall. The thing that stuck out in your post was feeling like a Superhero....dd had feelings of "omnipotence" Like she could save the world and that just totally freaked me out, even more so than the fact that she would not eat and crashed HARD. She was on the lowest dosage.

I've struggled since that maybe I'm not helping her reach her potential since she isn't on any med's but she seems to be handling well so far. We shall see I guess.

But yeah the superhero statement really made me curious.




iVillage Member
Registered: 01-20-2005
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 11:33am

No one here seems to have discussed Strattera. DD is on it and she doesn't seem to be experiencing any of these problems. She has not had trouble with her appetite. If anything, her rebellious nature seems to have calmed some (of course, that might have something to do with her total dislike for washing windows), her grades have improved tremendously, etc. She was a little nauseaus while they were trying to figure out her dosage but once that was stabilized she was better. We also had to change the time of day that she took it. She took her birth control and vitamins at night b/c they make her nauseus and she could sleep through it but she has to take the STrattera early a.m. b/c taking it at night kept her awake.

If Adderall and Concerta were causing side effects, I would go back to the doctor and discuss those side effects and see if there were other options such as Strattera.

Good Luck to all.

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