ADHD Child at age 5 on Focalin XR and Paxil. Having Manic tendencies... Please help
My children both have ADHD. My 5 yr old is great acedemically, but has a horrible time with behavior. My 9 yr old is the exact opposite.
Doctors are trying to help my daughter b/c we can't seem to get behavior corrected at all! Last month, they added Paxil 10 mg to her meds thinking that the stimulant in the focalin was causing her to be more aggressive and act out. It has had the opposite effect. My daughter is now displaying almost MANIC episodes! Examples are
- Hitting/Kicking Teacher
- Hitting students
- Lying continuously (even when no reason to lie)
- Escalating in her lies to get attention (grand/elaborate for her age)
- Picking at sores, ears, etc
- Fixated with things - like shoe laces, etc
- Destroying school property and other people's things
- Picking on people just to make them mad
- Defying authority - blatantly (teachers, principal, mom, dad)
- Huge outbursts that are unprovoked. Gets OUT OF CONTROL - rages
- Scratching herself and others when frustrated
- Says, " I can't help it", when angry and raging
- Says things like "I can go live with God and then I'll be a good girl", "I should just die", "I want to kill someone"
- Seems to lack the ability when in a rage to understand cause/effect. Afterward very remorseful
- Struggle with rules/authority
- Knows the limits, but still pushes beyond them with the same consequences each time. Doesn't learn from punishment
She has always been a Defiant child, but it has gotten crazy! Almost makes me think she is bipolar.
Any thoughts? I called the psychiatrist and we agreed to take her off everything until we can figure out what is going on. I'm scared for her!
Thank you for your question and welcome to ADHDCentral.com.
It is good that you are working closely with mental health providers to determine what can best help your daughter. I am not a medical professional and would not be able to provide you with medical advice.
Sometimes, it takes a while to find the right medication and the right dosage that will work best. Everyone reacts to medication differently, so what works for one may not work for another.
There is some additional information on the site that may be helpful to you:
How Do You Know if a Treatment is Working?
What is Multimodal Treatment and Why is it Important?
When Treatment Isn't Working - The Importance of an Accurate Diagnosis
Creating a Discipline Process at Home
Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
I hope this information helps
Eileen
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I am currently reading a book by Kenneth Bock called "Healing the New Childhood Epidemics" Autism, ADHD, Asthma and Allergies. I got it from our library or you can purchase it. It was released in 2007. It is an awsome information source and the symtoms you have listed are in a sinerio I just read about. PLEASE look into it, I believe it could give you a lot of insight and hope. It discusses finding the root cause and most are related to food sensativities, toxins, vitamin deficientcies and embalances. Hope you find it helpful.
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