Navigating the Medication trail once again.

[Heather]

I brought my daughter, who was diagnosed with ADD last fall, in to discuss the possibilities of trying medication about two weeks before school started. The doctor put her on Ritalin. She got severely agitated/ irritated, acted depressed was highly emotional. (even more so than her usual emotional self). So we took her off that after less than a week. Now she is on Adderall which seems to be working much better. We are still in our two week trial period however.
To all the the complication a few months ago she started experiencing tics. Eye blinks, head jerks, noises in her throat, things like that. This started before the meds. so I know it's not the fault of the meds but now we have to watch to carefully to be sure the meds don't make the tics more severe. I know there are alternatives to medication and that they do not work for all people. I am really hoping something will work for her that is realistically doable for our family. She has only been on the Adderall about a week and already there is a huge difference in her ability to focus. She will sit through an entire homework assignment and she will read to me now, something which a year ago was pure agony. I'm not saying it's perfect, or that she will do it unattended but it's much better.
Of course talking about homework like this sound like she is in high school. She is in 2nd grade. Homework at this age is not supposed to be agony.

[DANA]

Heather, every individual reacts differently to medications. It is all trail and error. What I have learned from my 3 kids who have ADD/ADHD, that whatever method of treatment that works well for one of my kids does not always work well for another child in the same family.

My son used to take Concerta and he did pretty good on it for many years, but his youngest sister did not have a good response to Concerta. When she tried Concerta, it caused huge issues with insomnia and she always seemed to still have distraction. What works well for my youngest daughter is Ritalin.

My son used to take Ritalin before he tried Concerta. The Ritalin caused my son to become very irritable, moody, impatient, agitated and miserable. Once the doctor changed his stimulant from Ritalin to Concerta, there was a BIG difference! He was so much nicer!

After my son was first diagnosed with ADHD, I suspected that I had ADHD, too. After much persistence, I located a professional to receive an evaluation in which I was diagnosed with ADHD. When my psychiatrist suggested I try Ritalin, I decided to try it. For me, this stimulant was a complete NIGHTMARE! I became extremely agitated, irritable, angry and depressed.

My husband immediately noticed the difference in my behavior so he suggested that I call my psychiatrist. Once I contacted the psychiatrist, he told me to discontinue the Ritalin because I was probably too sensitive to this medication. After this negative experience, I did not try stimulant medication for at least 11 years. I used many natural supplements to treat my ADHD symptoms.

In June, 2009, my new psychiatrist decided to prescribe Adderall, which has been a much better experience for me. Thankfully, I am more energetic, self-motivated and happy to have no complaints!

Did the doctor start your daughter on a very low dose of Adderall? If the ticks, head jerks and noises began with the Ritalin, does the doctor think that this will discontinue? What are her options?

I pray that this new medication works out well for your daughter. Try to keep a journal on all of her symptoms, behaviors and anything that stands out about her. It helps to track symptoms to see if they increase or decrease through time. Consider having her school teacher to watch her and communicate to you if anything serious changes with her attitude, behavior, concentration or ability to stay on task.