I posted here about a month ago about my ADHD/ODD difficult child

[fabfive]

http://www.conductdisorders.com/for...isorder-odd-difficult-child-40096/#post424302

We have visited our Behavioral pediatrician. three times since then. First time he wanted to try Intuniv. What is it about him and the Intuniv? He wanted our 6 year old on it and even offered it for our 10 year old. We tried it for 2 weeks- no change. Now he is beginning to think that this is an issue K completely has control over- meaning to get attention, mimicking behaviors that he seems in difficult child#1, etc. He is also wondering if this is the same thing that is going on with our easy child/difficult child#3 who I am on the fence with about an ADHD diagnosis. What am I supposed to do if that truly is the case? I have seen a decrease in K's behavior which is good but difficult child#1 is not completely out of control.

School has been out a total of 9 days and so far summer vacation is NOT going well for difficult child#1. The tantrums are lasting for hours at a time. He wants to break everything we own. I find the other kids' toys hidden in his room- broken, of course. It's not fair to them, easy child#1 spends most of the day in her room because she just can't stand to be around him. Sadly, I don't blame her and wish I could spend the day hiding out in my room. I feel bad for saying that but my entire day is devoted to him. He takes Risperdal and Luvox 2x a day but at this point I really have no idea why. He is still just as aggressive and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) as when we started the medications. He has already been in an inpatient treatment center and they assumed some other mood disorder was going on along with Autism. I am starting to wonder where to go from here.

 

[gcvmom]

My difficult child 2 has BiPolar (BP) and was thought at one point to be borderline aspie. But despite that diagnosis being tossed out, he still has some quirks that make me wonder if he isn't actually straddling the spectrum.

That said, we are familiar with the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) type behaviors and the nuclear meltdowns. I had those chalked up to the mood disorder, because in reality, his dad (who is undx'd) had those issues as well. The obsessiveness really took a turn for the better once we got him on a mood stabilizing AE (anti-epileptic). In difficult child 2's case it was Depakote, and we no longer had him trying to hoard animals (lizards. At one point we were up to 16 living in a large cage in the garage). Or rocks. Or Pokemon cards. For husband, he had to take Trileptal for seizures, but it definitely improved his tendency to get stuck on things.

Perhaps some questions for your psychiatrist are in order -- ask about whether the combo he's on is really the right one, or if something more or even different is needed. And if you just aren't convinced this psychiatrist has enough experience dealing with your particular concerns, look for a second opinion.

 

[BusynMember]

Has he gone to a neuropsychologist?

Sounds extreme for simply ADHD and ODD is a sort of "throwaway" diagnosis...every child on this board could probably meet the criteria for it. It means "defiant child." However, it doesn't explain why he is defiant.

I'd get both kids re-evaluated by a neuropsychologist. There is a computer test for ADHD/ADD as well. I like it better than just Conners, which is simply the opinion of who does the scoring. To me, they hand out stimulants too much and too fast and they hurt as many kids as they help (or maybe even hurt more than they help).

Good luck and keep us posted