Parents of Children with ADHD Support Group
This community is designed as an open forum where the parents and guardians of children with ADHD (Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) can give and receive support, as well as discuss ideas, techniques, concerns, surprises, and challenges they may face with their children.
My son has been said to have a add, odd and he has been diagnosed with a reading disability. He is 12 now. He can't take stimulants. He has had super high blood pressure and heart rate with stimulants. He is on strattera, respidone, intuitive. I don't see any of it helping much but the intuitive. I really believe his biggest problem is concentrating and anxiety. He stresses so bad aabout everything. He either gets really upset or cries about some things. He is better than he use to be though but I really thinks he has major anxiety. Even his pencil breaking while doing homework can make him really mad or break into tears. He still has the odd with attitudes but he is so stressed and worries about everything. Just wanted some opinions. Thanks!
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There are several things to consider. First, the symptoms of ADD/ADHD are comorbid with ODD, which means that they share common symptoms- one of them being impulsivity. Therefore, is important to differentiate ADD and ADHD. If he genuinely has ADD, then symptoms may include ignoring speakers when spoken to, doesn't follow directions, avoids/dislikes activities that require extensive mental effort, among other symptoms. So if we were to look at these symptoms it can be easily mistaken as ODD. Also, because ADD/ADHD causes children to often have behavioral issues at school, these behaviors can also be interpreted as ODD. To give you a clearer picture, the symptoms of ODD include constantly being in trouble in school, not following directions, doesn't follow adult's requests, etc. Therefore, symptoms can be very similar, so it is important to distinguish if the child genuinely has ODD or symptoms corresponding to ODD are due to the inability to focus/concentrate. A clear sign that your son may have ODD is if he is revengeful/spiteful, loser his temper constantly, blames other for his mistakes, and argues constantly with adults. In addition, you mentioned that your son may have anxiety and he even cries for minimal things like a pencil breaking or might get very upset. This could be a sign that he might have trouble with change, including routine change, which could be a sign of Asperger (now identified as a high functioning type of Autism). Children with Asperger can have normal intelligence, but they may have issues with socialization, eye contact, routine change, among other symptoms. Anxiety in the other hand, shows symptoms as trouble concentrating, fatigue or restlessness during daytime, excessive worry, irritability, and trouble falling sleep. Although these disorder can be the result of problems with executive function in the brain (see this for more information: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/7051.html), these symptoms can also be attributed to past or current trauma such as emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, neglect, exposure to drugs in the utero or after, environmental traumas/stressors (i.e. death, bullying, divorce, domestic violence, lack of a parental figure, relocations.) Therefore, it is vital to understand if symptoms are genuinely the result of neurological problems or due to some type of trauma/environmental stressors. One way that this can be identified is if the medication that are given do not work to control symptoms even after changing doses, then it is likely not the result of neurological problems. Hence, it is the result of a psychosocial trigger. Hope this helps. PS. This is no medical advice.
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