Tough day! :(

March 2, 2005

My 5 year old foster son who we are in the process of adopting had a tough day today. He has been diagnosed as autistic, ADHD & bipolar. He is on Adderral, Trileptal & Clonidin (sp?). He has shared a room with another foster child who we have now adopted for almost 2 years now. I have suspected that he was climbing in the crib but never "caught" him. Today I did - he was jumping up & down in the crib & slapping the 2 year old in the face at nap time. When I opened the bedroom door he jumped over the rail of that crib in .2 seconds so it was obvious to me that he's done it a million times before. I had noticed him hitting & pushing the 2 year olds more the past week or so & have been keeping a very close eye on him when he is around them. Took him to the psychiatrist tonight (just happens he had an appt. for med refills) and he increased the dosage on all his meds. He advised me to remove the crib from the room IMMEDIATELY (which I had already planned to do) and not leave this child with another child that he could potentially harm AT ALL. This has me very nervous as I have two 2 year olds (one is his bio sister) and although I will not leave him with them unattended I am in fear for him - with this much anger at 5 what is to come in the future for him? Any suggestions as to what I can do to help him understand he cannot hurt others??? Thanks for letting me vent - it's been a tough day!

L-

L-A-J-C-R-C

March 3, 2005

Hi Denise,

You didn't say how long your fs has been taking his meds but I'm assuming at least a month if he had to go back for a "refill." Our dd was just diagnosed bi-polar and ADHD, she's 3-1/2. She is on Clonidine and Ritalin, extremely small doses according to the psychologist. Anyway, he told me that finding a medicine that actually helps them may take some time and we may need to change her meds a few times as some can actually make her symptoms WORSE instead of better. Our dd has become slightly more aggressive since starting her meds 3 days ago but I'm waiting another day or so before I ask for them to be changed.

If your ds has increased aggressiveness since starting his meds, I would sincerely suggest you talk to his doctor about CHANGING his meds, not increasing the dose.

Michelle