15 yr old girl diagnosed three separate times since 2nd grade with adhd. Has been on adderall, strattera, concerta, strattera again, adderall again and occasionally on no meds at all. On meds slight improvement in beligerent attitude but thats about it. Has to take vistiril to sleep with or without meds. Current adderall 25 mg xr morning and 5mg adderall evening dose. Fair improvment in symptoms but now showing elevated liver enzyme and increased heart rate. Seems more combative when heart rate is up! I believe she also has odd! Also has marked weight gain over the past several years - more than 50 pounds - improved eating habits and exercise do not seem to help - don't know if related. Looking at possibly tryign wellbutrin or clonidine. Please help.
Q: ADHD with ODD. Standard meds have no success and harmful side effect. Any thoughts?
Thank you for your question and welcome to ADHDCentral.com.
I am not a medical professional and would not be able to provide medical advice. However, I can share with you certain things I have learned through my own experience. I know you have stated your child has been diagnosed several times with ADHD, but it is very important to make sure you are dealing with an accurate diagnosis. You don't mention who has diagnosed your daughter. You may want to start at the beginning and have your daughter re-evaluted. Talk with your medical doctor and ask for a complete physical to make sure there are no underlying medical causes, such as thyroidism.
(See: 10 Medical Conditions That Share Symptoms with ADD/ADHD)
In addition, you may want to have a complete evaluation done by a psychiatrist to make sure you have an accurate diagnosis. For example, many coexisting conditions, such as depression, bipolar disorder or anxiety have overlapping symptoms with ADHD. Medications for ADHD can sometimes aggravate or worsen symptoms of other disorders, if not accurately diagnosed and treated.
For more information:
The Importance of an Accurate Diagnosis
You also mention ODD:
I hope this information helps. Please let me know how it is going.
Eileen
my son is also 15 yrs old. he also is adhd and odd. one thing that has helped us is resperidal. it helps with overactive thinking. or raceing thoughts. it gives or son the chance to think before reacting. this does not mean it will help your child but you should look into it. our son was embarrased by haveing to take meds. with him to his friends, and we found out he would not always take the meds. even when he took them with him. the resperidal comes in a shot every 2 weeks. now he has no problem with takeing it.
We have wo adhd kids. Our six year old has very clear adhd and on methylphenidate he does great. His teachers can't believe it's the same little guy. Our 12 year old daughter is adhd and odd. More complicated case. Vyvanse helps, she's also on a small dose of zoloft and a mood stabilizer. Even with all those still struggling to manage impulsiveness... and aggression. One thing to remember is that ther are six or seven types of Add/adhd not just 1, 2 or 3 like many family physicians think because that's how it's documented in their medical bible. If you treat 4 types with just a stimulant you make it worse. It's critical when there's a complicated case that does not just respond to a stimulant that you get a higher level of help. Makes sense doesn't it? The impact on the child, their learning, their social development, how they feel abou themselves, their relationship with everyone else in the family and the impact on the parents and their relationship should be enough motive to seek out SPECIALIST help.
If after enough experimentation you are still not seeing a major improvement (including after counseling for the child AND the parents for at least parenting skills, since you can't parent this like you parent more typical kids) you can pay the money to go to one of the Amen Clinics around the country. They at least can tell you which part of the brain is over or under active and typically how to treat the combinations of these issues that your child's brain scan reveals. That doesn't mean you'll necessarily have a perfect fix, because what a brain SPECT scan won't tell you is how your child will react to the specific med options. What can also be helpful though is that the AMen Clinics have done 40,000 to 50,000 scans, many of which have been on kids with adhd and other things going on. I read that the typical person/child going to the AMen Clinic has already seen an average of 3.5 psychiatrists and and has 3 or more "things" going on. The simple adhd/add cases usually get handled.
Hope this helps. Best to you.
Important:
We hope you find this general health information helpful. Please note however, that this Q&A is meant to support not replace the professional medical advice you receive from your doctor. No information in the Answers above is intended to diagnose or treat any condition. The views expressed in the Answers above belong to the individuals who posted them and do not necessarily reflect the views of Remedy Health Media. Remedy Health Media does not review or edit content posted by our community members, but reserves the right to remove any material it deems inappropriate.
Featuring Content From:
By using this service, you accept our Terms of Use. Please read them. The consumer health information on is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions. You should promptly seek professional medical care if you have any concern about your health, and you should always consult your physician before starting a fitness regimen. Copyright © 2012 Remedy Health Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
