Explosive Tantrums

[toniosmom]

I have a special needs child that has explosive tantrums. He is ADHD, ODD, may be bipolar -- we still don't know for certain because he is only 5 and doctors are reluctant to diagnose at this age. We haven't yet found the right cocktail of meds for him, so he is not what I would call stable.

Just the two of us are going to be at WDW the first week of December and my biggest fear is what to do if he has one of these explosive tantrums in the park (or anywhere outside of our hotel room). In the past, he has run away from me in a crowd or has gotten violent to the point where he hits me.

Has anyone dealt with a situation similar to this? If so, is there anyone (perhaps a cast member or security) who can assist me if I am unable to control him? Who do I go to for help if I am unable to control him?

TIA!

 

[livndisney]

I have a special needs child that has explosive tantrums. He is ADHD, ODD, may be bipolar -- we still don't know for certain because he is only 5 and doctors are reluctant to diagnose at this age. We haven't yet found the right cocktail of meds for him, so he is not what I would call stable.

Just the two of us are going to be at WDW the first week of December and my biggest fear is what to do if he has one of these explosive tantrums in the park (or anywhere outside of our hotel room). In the past, he has run away from me in a crowd or has gotten violent to the point where he hits me.

Has anyone dealt with a situation similar to this? If so, is there anyone (perhaps a cast member or security) who can assist me if I am unable to control him? Who do I go to for help if I am unable to control him?

TIA!

As far as controlling him no a CM/Security will not assist(in most cases). If your son runs away they will assist to help look for him. If he disappears go to the nearest CM and they will call it in.

Do you know what his triggers are? Does a "break" help to prevent the meltdown? There are lots of quiet out of the way areas we use to "calm". You can also visit the BabyCare Center and First Aid (If those would help you).

 

[jmartinez1895]

I know some people that use a harness to keep a child with them, if these do not bother your child maybe you could use one so that he can go a short way from you, but will not be able to take off. Also, is he small enough to still fit in a stroller, if so this might help create a buffer zone for him if things get to much for him to take. If he has a complete melt down that you can not handle, then the medics or police can be called, but this would be a worst cases situation because it would need to be a very bad situation for them to get involved. I hope that with a little patience and pixie dust the two of you will be bale to work around his triggers and have a great trip.

 

[toniosmom]

Thank you for your advice. Unfortunately, my son is explosive, so anything can set him off at anytime and the reaction is almost always much bigger than the cause. It could be something so simple and I can't always see an explosion coming. It's a situation where he is violent (hitting me) and I have to restrain him to prevent him from running away, so it would be helpful if there was at least one more person who could help me catch him before I lose him in the crowd. He is very difficult to restrain -- he is quite strong for his age -- and it is difficult for just me. I'd like to think the sight of me appearing to wrestle a 5 year old in order to prevent him from pulling my hair out of my head would be serious enough to prompt assistance from a CM, but I understand why they won't assist unless he runs away.

I do have a great stroller that we have used on previous trips, but he stated he doesn't want to use it anymore because he is "not a baby". The GAC helped us dramatically on our last trip, so I plan to request that again. On a positive note, it's just the two of us on this trip, so we can do whatever we/he likes for the entire week. The trip will be all about him and what he wants, so I'm hopeful that will keep the peace. I've given up on dining out, so I will have groceries delivered and prepare our meals in the villa, which helped a lot the last trip.

Thanks for the pixie dust!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Cast Members are prohibited from touching Guests to assist them, even if they make the request. And any CM getting in a fight, whether on or off duty, is subject to termination. And attempting to physically control a child could easily be construed as getting involved in a fight, even if the parent asks for help.

 

[LilyWDW]

Thank you for your advice. Unfortunately, my son is explosive, so anything can set him off at anytime and the reaction is almost always much bigger than the cause. It could be something so simple and I can't always see an explosion coming. It's a situation where he is violent (hitting me) and I have to restrain him to prevent him from running away, so it would be helpful if there was at least one more person who could help me catch him before I lose him in the crowd. He is very difficult to restrain -- he is quite strong for his age -- and it is difficult for just me. I'd like to think the sight of me appearing to wrestle a 5 year old in order to prevent him from pulling my hair out of my head would be serious enough to prompt assistance from a CM, but I understand why they won't assist unless he runs away.

I do have a great stroller that we have used on previous trips, but he stated he doesn't want to use it anymore because he is "not a baby". The GAC helped us dramatically on our last trip, so I plan to request that again. On a positive note, it's just the two of us on this trip, so we can do whatever we/he likes for the entire week. The trip will be all about him and what he wants, so I'm hopeful that will keep the peace. I've given up on dining out, so I will have groceries delivered and prepare our meals in the villa, which helped a lot the last trip.

Thanks for the pixie dust!

Please, don't take this the wrong way, but maybe going on a trip with just the two of you is not the best of ideas. You say that you may need help restraining your child if he has a reaction or that he may run from you. This is not safe for you, your child, or the people around you. CMs are not allowed to physically touch other guests and thus would not be allowed to help you do so. So, you would be faced with a situation where you may not be able to safely restrain him.

Perhaps you should look into bringing someone with you. A family member or a friend that understands what is going on, can help if there is a reaction, and can also assist in dealing with the after effects.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

My DD7 is bipolar. She is probably also ADHD, but that is secondary to the mood disorder at this point.

When DD and I went to WDW for her 5th birthday, it was before she was diagnosed. I had to deal with multiple explosions while we were there. Some of these occurred in our room. The biggest one occurred outside the MK. She physically assaulted me multiple times. By the end of the week, I was covered in bruises.

The difference I guess is that I was/am able to physically restrain her. And I didn't worry about her running away from me. You can't count on someone else being able to assist you. If you are unable to restrain your son yourself, then it would be prudent to ask a friend or relative if they could travel with you. Or maybe postpone the trip until his mood is more stable. For my DD, the fall is the absolutely worst time of the year for her. Spring and summer are much easier for us.

We went back to WDW in August for a week. There were multiple mistakes I had made on the last trip that I vowed not to make this time. And we were able to do an 8 night/9 day trip with only one minor meltdown. I took a much slower pace. We would go to the parks for a few hours in the morning, go back to relax at the hotel and swim, then some days we would go back to the parks for a few hours in the late afternoons/evenings. I kept her bedtime as close to normal time as possible. For the most part, I let her pick what to do and when. I was flexible with our schedule. On the morning of a day I'd planned for us to go to Epcot, DD woke up and announced she wanted to go to Blizzard Beach. Instead of insisting we go since we had an ADR for lunch there, I called and cancelled the ADR and we spent the morning at BB and had a blast.

DD has a lot of sensory issues that contribute to her meltdowns. She is very sensitive to sound so I purchased noise reducing headphones for her. I carried them with us everywhere and they really helped. I also had a stress ball that she could use when she started to get upset about something. The ball took the abuse that I used to.

I carried water with us and insisted she drink often to stay hydrated as that can affect her mood. I also carried some of her favorite snacks in our bag and those averted meltdowns on a few different occasions.

With these modifications, we were able to have an incredible trip.

If you haven't yet, I'd highly recommend you read The Explosive Child by Ross Greene.

 

[bookwormde]

First thing is that if your clinicians are giving you an alphabet soup of diagnosis and is relying primarily on medications at that age, there is about a 100% chance that they have completely missed the underlying source of the difficulties. Find a new clinical group who is more competent.

For those of us who have kids who are aspergers or HFA, what you describe is common when their needs are not well understood and supported or in the moment get ignored. Taking the time to really understand what it raising the anxiety level to the point where they need to act out this strongly is what is important. WDW is the perfect place to observe since all you need is to focus on is your child.

WDW is a magical place for our children and since they can be much more themselves the opportunities for progress, both from what they are comfortable with (or at least willing to try) and our abilities as parents to gain insight into the specialness of our children is exceptional.

Just so you know the vast majority of the kids who have not had environmental trauma and exhibit the co morbidities you describe end up having major component characteristics of ASD
identified later when they find a competent clinical group and many receive a formal HFA or Aspergers Diagnosis. They are able to begin to receive the supports and skills that they need at that point, but many opportunities have been missed and there is significant clinical damage that cannot be fully undone. The good news is that for these children, once they are properly clinically supported, the turn around a quite dramatic most of the time.

bookwormde

 

[disneymami]

I see you are in NJ. Have you tried taking him to the McCarton school in Manhattan? they are quite thorough and will find the right diagnosis as well as the right approach (which may not be just meds but perhaps, with a concentration on behavioral therapy.)

My DD9 had only one explosive meltdown on our trip last year.
Keeping her calm took some meds (risperidone) and always having her noise cancelling headsphones. keep the stimulations to a minimum. You may not be able to pull a full day at the park. You may just be able to do a few hours and that will have to do.

But I would plan a visit first with the McCarton school first if you are willing to see what they say. Also there is another find organization, the Carbone Clinic in Rockland County that shouldn't be too far for you either.

Good luck

 

[toniosmom]

Thank you all again. I have been told by every single professional I have seen that my son is not autistic. However, I'm smart enough to realize that anything is possible. I have heard bi-polar and mood disorder from several doctors. Since DS5 is now in Kindergarten, the school district is going out of their way to help us. I already have a behavioral therapist, a counseling therapist, and a psychiatrist in place.

Regardless, something is happening to him. He explodes and appears to have no control (and demonstrates that he has no interest in getting control) of himself. Afterward, he is extremely remorseful and becomes the "perfect child". It has been a long road so far and I know we still have far to go.

disneymami: I'll look into the McCarten school. Is it a school or a place where I can bring my son for a diagnosis?

Maggie'sMom: Yes, I have read The Explosive Child a couple of times already. It's a great book. I'm curious -- why is the fall the most difficult season for your daughter? I believe it is quite possible that my son may be bipolar and I have heard of seasonal issues, but don't know much about that part of it.

As far as our trip goes, we don't have the option to bring anyone with us. We had a trip two years ago that was just us and it was great. We went to the parks in the mornings and got back to the villa in time for lunch. The rest of the day was spent at the pool (my son loves to swim) and he never wanted to go back to the parks in the evenings. We'll probably do much of the same on this trip, except there will be a few days where we will only go to the parks in the evenings (MVMCP, Osbourne Lights, etc.) We never do full days -- it's just too much for the both of us.

I'm really looking forward to our trip. I'm hoping the weather will be warm enough to swim.

Thank you again for your support and advice.

 

[Inkmahm]

I don't have a child much less a child with any kind of issues. I just wanted to add that the DIS constantly amazes me with the help that we can get just by asking our fellow members here. I"m so impressed with all of you that deal with the challenges of these children. I try to remember this when I am in the parks and I see kids having meltdowns. In my mind, there is never a reason to blame the child. Kids aren't "bad." They may have issues or they may just be overtired from a long day in a park and way past their bedtime.

Anyway, good luck to the OP and I hope you have a terrific trip with your son. I'll share my allocation of pixie sues with you, maybe that will help!

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Regardless, something is happening to him. He explodes and appears to have no control (and demonstrates that he has no interest in getting control) of himself. Afterward, he is extremely remorseful and becomes the "perfect child". It has been a long road so far and I know we still have far to go.

Maggie'sMom: Yes, I have read The Explosive Child a couple of times already. It's a great book. I'm curious -- why is the fall the most difficult season for your daughter? I believe it is quite possible that my son may be bipolar and I have heard of seasonal issues, but don't know much about that part of it.

Are you really sure that he has no interest in getting control of himself? Could it be that certain things are just so far out of his control that he's just given up trying? Before DD's diagnosis, I really thought she just didn't want to control herself. I kept upping punishments (more and longer timeouts, taking away more toys and privileges for longer periods of time) thinking she'd eventually learn to control herself in order to avoid the consequences. But it had no impact on her behavior. One of the things that really struck me from The Explosive Child was the statement that "children do well if they can." Now that we've been treating DD for the mood disorder, and she's experienced some periods of stability, it's become obvious that she really does want to control her behavior. She will talk about how much it upsets her when she loses control. When she was younger, she would say to me "mommy, I really didn't want to do that but my bones made me do it." I'd get so angry with her and I'd tell her "You control your bones. Don't tell me they "made" you do that." Once I started reading up on mood disorders I realized that she was describing to me, in the best way a 3 or 4 year old could, what it felt like to not be able to control herself. (DD was diagnosed when she was 5.5, but her symptoms showed up much earlier. We started working with a psychologist just after she turned 4, but waited until she was 5 to go through all the testing needed for the diagnosis.)

In regards to the seasonality, starting the fall when DD turned 1, there are a drastic change in her behavior every fall. Her first rages appeared about a week after she turned 1. I joked that terrible twos were starting early for us. Then things evened out a bit in the spring and summer, but a couple weeks after her 2nd birthday, her behavior took another drastic downturn. And the same thing happened every fall since then. The change was so drastic it was like someone flipping a switch on DD's moods. I didn't put it all together until DD's psychologist recommended I start reading up on pediatric bipolar disorder. I remember reading just the first couple chapters of "Raising a Moody Child" and having my jaw just drop open when I reached a part that described the seasonality component of bipolar disorder. I felt like the authors had been sitting in my house, observing DD, and then wrote a book about her.

The seasonality of bipolar is related to sunlight and the length of days. In the fall, the shorter days bring on depressive episodes. Many people with bipolar also experience increases in manic behaviors in the spring when days are getting longer. For DD, she doesn't have nearly the amount of problems in the spring as she does in the fall. Her rages increase in the fall. Last fall was the first time she's made what I will call suicidal statements. She hasn't come out directly and said "I am going to kill myself" or "I want to kill myself", but she made multiple comments about "I wish I were dead" and "I don't want to live". It scares me to hear her talk about that. In the spring, she might experience some difficulty sleeping and be a bit more hyper, but those symptoms are much more managable.

We started using a lightbox last fall and it seems to help. There are days when DD starts out in a cranky mood in the morning, but after she sits in front of her lightbox, she's much happier and at peace. We are also using Omega 3 and Vitamin D supplements. Both are supposed to improve mood.

You mentioned that your DS is ADHD and "may be" bipolar. Since you listed the ADHD first, I was wondering if your psychiatrist was trying to treat that rather than the potential mood disorder. If your DS is prescribed stimulant ADHD drugs, it's highly likely that will have a negative impact on his behavior if he is truly bipolar. The mood disorder needs to be treated before the ADHD because the ADHD meds can make the bipolar symptoms a hundred times worse. Once the mood is stable, then you can try introducing ADHD drugs. If your DS is currently on ADHD meds, please talk to the psychiatrist about taking him off that and trying him on a mood stabilizer first.

 

[bookwormde]

95% of clinicians are not compitent to evaluate and quite honestly any clinician who says that they are sure that your child is not ASD/Aspergers or is nnot impacted by the characteristics, in that statement provided the best indication that they lack compitnecy.

The other good was to tell is if they have used the currnet diagnostic tools like the Western psycological society social responsiveness rating scale WPS SRS (you would know because you fill our one of the questionares), done a full sensory profile, had an audtory processing evalution done, as well as an iq test which is adaqute to idenetify significant sub group differntials, if they have not they do not have any basic compitency in ASD. If most of there work has focused on behaviors without analisys of underlying skill differentials then they do not have currnet training also.

I talk with dozens of parnets each year who for years went through scores of clinicain who discounted ADS/Aspergers but once they found a major medical center like Kennedy Kreiger (John Hopkins) in Baltimore or an experiance clinical group found out that it was ASD genetics all along and they could begin to make real progress.

Bookwormde

 

[toniosmom]

I shouldn't be, but I am always amazed at how kind and informative my friends on the DIS are.

Maggie's Mom: I remember that part of the book "children do well if they can" and I try to remember that during a crisis. I say that my son doesn't want to control himself because I remind him of various coping strategies when the difficult starts (before it goes full blown), but he says flatly refuses -- "No, I'm not going to do that." I have often said that my son can't control himself and was chided by the various therapists we have been working with to not say that in front of him because I would be giving him "an excuse" to misbehave. I have a very smart boy who, when he is not in a rage, is wonderful, loving, affectionate, and sweet. I refuse to believe that he wants to say the things he does -- he often tells me that he wants me to die, wants to kill me, etc. Afterward, he is extremely remorseful.

I have read all about bipolar and understand how ADHD drugs can make a bipolar child more aggressive. We had that experience when we tried Focalin and Dextrostat (?), so I thought we were pretty much assured a bipolar diagnosis. The psychiatrist we have been dealing with most recently doubts that diagnosis and is not even sure about the ADHD. However, he does acknowledge DS's impulsivity. For that, he is on Intuniv. When that didn't seem to help with the impulsivity, we tried Vyvanse. That seemed to work at first and then didn't appear to be doing anything. I worried that we would have an increase in aggression like we did with the other stimulants, but that didn't appear to happen. So, now he's off the Vyvanse and I am watching for an increase in the impulsivity.

I had put my son in an out-patient hospitalization program called "For Keeps", which he went to every single day from 9-3. It backfired on us, unfortunately, because it was just too strict for him (he wasn't even 5 yet) and he came out of there with a high level of anxiety. He wouldn't walk from the living room to the kitchen without me. He was also prescribed a long list of meds over a five month period -- if something didn't work right away, they would switch to another med. I don't believe we got anything out of that program. I have now been recommended to bring him to a hospital so that they can run tests on him. However, I think I may try a pediatric neurologist first. It's so hard when there isn't a test or bloodtest that can tell me that he has _______. This is all an exercise of elimination -- rule various illnesses out before you get to the final diagnosis.

I live within an hour of NYC -- a great metropolitan area where we have some of the best doctors and hospitals. For example, if I had cancer, I would go to Sloan-Kettering. Right now, I'm not sure what kind of doctor to go to any longer. I have seen several psychiatrists, psychologists, a developmental pediatrician, a behavioral therapist. It's exhausting. We are now scheduled to meet with the school psychiatrist next Wednesday to hear yet another opinion.

bookwormde: My son had an occupational evaluation a little over a year ago and was found to have multi-sensory processing and some auditory processing issues. He gets twice weekly OT sessions at school and I met with the therapist last week who acknowledged the sensory issues. She said he has made some progress over the past two months. I met with an ENT that specializes in auditory processing (since he has it himself) and he doesn't recommend testing until age 7. I agree with you that there are so many clinicians out there that are unable (or unwilling) to diagnose. My biggest obstacle toward a diagnosis is my son's age. Some of said they "think" he has _____, but feel he's too young for a definitive diagnosis. It is so frustrating.

On a side note, I didn't say this before, but I adopted my son as an infant. He was born drug exposed (Cocaine) and it is highly likely that his bio-mom took drugs her entire pregancy, since he was not her first drug-exposed baby. I know that she had no prenatal care at all. There is also the possibility that there may be some mental illness in the family that I don't know about. The bio-mom comes from a family of addicts, so who knows what's there.

I welcome all of your advice and really appreciate your obvious concern and compassion for my son's well being.

 

[bookwormde]

It makes it extra tough when you do not have a good biological family history. I have found that in many families (including typical families and investigating the biological parents history) what was diagnosed as a primary mental illness in that past was when you dig deeper actually a co morbidity of ASD characteristics which went undiagnosed and unsupported in prior generations. If you ask in terms of the 3 primary characteristics of sensory differentials, executive function differentials and social skill/Theory of mind deficits often information is more forthcoming since it is not a diagnostic label.

Just keep learning and questioning, it takes time but is the best path to helping your child.

Bookwormde

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Maggie's Mom: I remember that part of the book "children do well if they can" and I try to remember that during a crisis. I say that my son doesn't want to control himself because I remind him of various coping strategies when the difficult starts (before it goes full blown), but he says flatly refuses -- "No, I'm not going to do that." I have often said that my son can't control himself and was chided by the various therapists we have been working with to not say that in front of him because I would be giving him "an excuse" to misbehave. I have a very smart boy who, when he is not in a rage, is wonderful, loving, affectionate, and sweet. I refuse to believe that he wants to say the things he does -- he often tells me that he wants me to die, wants to kill me, etc. Afterward, he is extremely remorseful.

I too am very careful never to say anything in front of my DD about her not being able to control herself. I've told her the meds she is taking are to help make it easier for her, but she is responsible for everything she does. There are days when she is having a rough time and she will tell me "the medicine isn't working today." I respond that it just means she has to work a little harder on those days. But if there are a few "harder" days in a row, I'll be on the phone with her psychiatrist trying to work out an adjustment to her meds. It's so difficult with little kids because they grow so fast and the dosages have to change often to compensate for their growth.

We've been working on coping strategies with DD since she was 4. It's only been in the past couple months that she's finally been able to use them effectively. It didn't matter that I would remind her of what she was supposed to do. She'd yell the same things at me that your DS yells at you. I think it really takes a certain level of mood stability combined with being at the right age/maturity level for the coping strategies to work.

I have read all about bipolar and understand how ADHD drugs can make a bipolar child more aggressive. We had that experience when we tried Focalin and Dextrostat (?), so I thought we were pretty much assured a bipolar diagnosis. The psychiatrist we have been dealing with most recently doubts that diagnosis and is not even sure about the ADHD. However, he does acknowledge DS's impulsivity. For that, he is on Intuniv. When that didn't seem to help with the impulsivity, we tried Vyvanse. That seemed to work at first and then didn't appear to be doing anything. I worried that we would have an increase in aggression like we did with the other stimulants, but that didn't appear to happen. So, now he's off the Vyvanse and I am watching for an increase in the impulsivity.

Have the doctors suggested any of the atypical anti-psychotics? Risperdal, Seroquel, Abilify? We started DD on Abilify first (this was about a year and a half ago), and it worked wonders for several months. Then we hit late summer/fall last year and things started to fall apart again. We tried adding Lamictal (anti-seizure med that's also used as a mood stabilizer) but we didn't have much success. Next came Intuniv which was a disaster. DD had a paradoxical reaction to that. It was supposed to help control her aggression plus the impulsivity. Instead, it increased both. I stopped that without even consulting the psychiatrist because it was so bad. Then we added Seroquel. The idea was we would slowly up the Seroquel while backing down the Abilify until she was only on Seroquel. Things were improving until we totally stopped the Abilify. At which point, all H E double L broke loose. We went back to a combination of the Seroquel and Abilify, made a minor dosage adjustment, and DD is doing wonderfully.

I had put my son in an out-patient hospitalization program called "For Keeps", which he went to every single day from 9-3. It backfired on us, unfortunately, because it was just too strict for him (he wasn't even 5 yet) and he came out of there with a high level of anxiety. He wouldn't walk from the living room to the kitchen without me. He was also prescribed a long list of meds over a five month period -- if something didn't work right away, they would switch to another med. I don't believe we got anything out of that program. I have now been recommended to bring him to a hospital so that they can run tests on him. However, I think I may try a pediatric neurologist first. It's so hard when there isn't a test or bloodtest that can tell me that he has _______. This is all an exercise of elimination -- rule various illnesses out before you get to the final diagnosis.

Yikes! I would be very concerned about how quick they were to switch from one med to the other. Some of these can work rather quickly, but most need a little time to build up in the system before their effectiveness can be evaluated. Given what you said about your DS's bio-mom and her family, I think you are right to try a pediatric neurologist next.

Hang in there. You are doing everything you need to be doing for your son.

I hope you have a great trip to WDW.

 

[disneygourmet]

from me.

DD has a lot of sensory issues that contribute to her meltdowns. She is very sensitive to sound so I purchased noise reducing headphones for her. I carried them with us everywhere and they really helped.

I am looking for good ear muffs or head phones for my son who is highly sensitive to noise. Would you share what brand or style works for you?

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I am looking for good ear muffs or head phones for my son who is highly sensitive to noise. Would you share what brand or style works for you?

I purchased the Peltor Kids earmuffs based on recommendations I read here on the Dis. They were very comfortable, and DD enjoyed wearing them. Below is a link to the pink ones, but they come in other colors.

http://www.amazon.com/Peltor-90553-...ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1289831366&sr=8-1

 

[toniosmom]

We've been working on coping strategies with DD since she was 4. It's only been in the past couple months that she's finally been able to use them effectively. It didn't matter that I would remind her of what she was supposed to do. She'd yell the same things at me that your DS yells at you. I think it really takes a certain level of mood stability combined with being at the right age/maturity level for the coping strategies to work.

I'm sorry you had to deal with this too, but it makes me feel a little better that I'm not the only one. I agree, there is a level of maturity that will help him cope, but we're not there yet.

Have the doctors suggested any of the atypical anti-psychotics? Risperdal, Seroquel, Abilify?

We've tried them all, except Seroquel. He has been on Ability, Risperdal, Geodon, Focalin, Dextrostat, Clonidine, Zypreza, Depakote, Invega, Lamictal, Vyvanse, and is now on Intuniv and Zoloft. Whenever I see this list, I get sick to my stomach. In most cases, they either didn't work well enough to warrant an increase in dose -or- the side effects were impossible to live with. Waaaay too many different meds for a 5 year old. The doctor mentioned increasing the Zoloft dose, but hasn't done that yet.

I'm going to try those earphones you recommend. I don't think it's so much the sound level, but the fact that there is noise around that bothers him. Perhaps the earphones will help. Thanks for posting the link.

 

[livndisney]

I'm sorry you had to deal with this too, but it makes me feel a little better that I'm not the only one. I agree, there is a level of maturity that will help him cope, but we're not there yet.



We've tried them all, except Seroquel. He has been on Ability, Risperdal, Geodon, Focalin, Dextrostat, Clonidine, Zypreza, Depakote, Invega, Lamictal, Vyvanse, and is now on Intuniv and Zoloft. Whenever I see this list, I get sick to my stomach. In most cases, they either didn't work well enough to warrant an increase in dose -or- the side effects were impossible to live with. Waaaay too many different meds for a 5 year old. The doctor mentioned increasing the Zoloft dose, but hasn't done that yet.

I'm going to try those earphones you recommend. I don't think it's so much the sound level, but the fact that there is noise around that bothers him. Perhaps the earphones will help. Thanks for posting the link.

Something you may want to consider, (It helped us) is a little MP3 player with music your son likes. We have used an MP3 player to help avoid meltdowns in crowded (stressful) areas. With the music on you can't hear the noise as much and the music is also a distraction.

We started with the Fisher Price MP3 player (because is it gets dropped it is still ok) and just "graduated" to the Disney one. With the Fisher Price one, you could also download stories to it and it has the foam headphones.