Update: "have to give up the meds:

[mommy007]

You have all been so wonderful.

I have come "out of the fog". My DS discontinued the Adderall XR and the clonidine. He is only taking the Clonizapem for the night terrors, anyone else have a child with Night terrors???

The school nurse asked to speak to me, she wanted me to know that when my DS came to her office upset, his concern was "he was afriad he would do something bad" and break some rules.

The principal in passing went in to see him and because he was upset and disoriented called a "code 12" which I find out is when a child presents a danger to himself or others.

Now I sent the email expressing to the school staff and principal that if something happened I was to be contacted, which I was, but in the mean time they took him out of this confortable environment and drilled him with lots of questions, causing him to become more emotional/disoriented.

The school nurse felt it was totally mishandled.

However the principal is doing what he is expected to do being responsible for the rest of the children.

My DS is his old loud/hyper self. Not depressed.

I was not aware of the clonidine causing manic like symptoms in some children, it seems all the meds may have been effecting him. The itching was from the adderall xr, so the nuro thinks. We are still waiting for a call to get an appointment.

I just want you all to know how good it was to know you are with me. sometimes it's a lonely place to be.

[dfp]

If it's helpful, here's a link that mentions auditory hallucinations as a possible side effect of clonidine.

www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/clonidin_ad.htm

I will also mention that adderall xr caused my son to become psychotic also, and that he started telling me how his brain was actually standing in the room with him.

And the voices he heard (that we attributed to an increase in Tenex) last week told him to hurt his brother and that it was ok.

My son also has had itching.

And as for night terrors, my son will wake up from his nightmares. But if he goes back to sleep the bad dreams continue so he's very very anxious about going back to sleep. And when he tells me about them they are very very dark and awful dreams. Truly terrifying. And he's only 7.

It sounds like you really are thinking about this clearly. I'm so sorry for your son to have such a disorienting experience, but I'm glad you're able to put it in perspective.

In a way, it's far better to be having hallucinations because of a bad medicine, rather than it being one's own regular self.

By the way, we have had a great deal of sucess with Tenex. Has Tenex been one of the drugs that you've tried? We have found that Tenex calms ds's impulsivity and frustration and some distractibility. It has also helped enormously with the sleep issues, with few side effects (until our dose got too high).

Hang in there, we're with you.

-dfp

[mommy007]

dfp

Thanks for the link, I was hoping you would post a link for the infomation.

Yes we have tried Tenex - it had no effect.

We have used: adderall, adderall XR, concerta, tenex, clonidine, strattera.

All stimulants cause additional movements. Stratera caused Major depression. Tenex did nothing, and the clonidine we think was causing the confusion/disorientation.

It just seems so hopeless, after 5 years and "many" doctors -

Last night my DS went to boy scouts, when he and his father got home my DS was so upset, he can't handle boy scouts anymore, too unfocused - this has been such a terrible week for him.

[dfp]

mommy007,

all I did was do a Google search for 'clonidine adverse effects'. So if you're looking for more info, that's what I did.

I have a question re: the clonazepam. It has been shown to cause confusion and all kinds of nervous system side effects. I found them here:
www.mentalhealth.com/drug/p30-r04.html

Could it be a problem with your son? He seems so sensitive to most meds, that I would point a finger at it.

That being said, my son also has awful nights and when we have awful nights AND awful days it makes for an even worse home life. But last week we discovered something interesting:

My son has woken up with hives a few nights in a row, so we gave him some Benadryl. He had beautiful sleep those nights. Then because of his hallucinations, we started decreasing the Tenex and he started to get manic. In desperation I gave him a bit of Benadryl again, because I know it's frequently used in hospitals as a mild sedative. Again, GREAT night of sleep. I ran it by our psychopharmacologist and he said that sometimes it causes kids to be groggy in the morning, but not in our case-- heck we're all more groggy when we've been up all night!

I'm relieved too because Benadryl's a very safe med.

I don't know if that's helpful or not, but it was kind of a liberating experience to get relief from something NOT on prescription.

You are walking such a hard road right now. I'm familiar with it and hope that you find a way to get through.

Hang in there.

dfp

[Amsmom]

dear mommy007,
have you ever gone the route of depakote or similar mood stabilizer? I see you have listed many of the stims, which my son also cannot take. although not 100%, it is better for my ds than the others.

I had a horrible child psychiatrist on the first try,then i was lucky to get a wonderful one who really listens and knows his work. does your pediatrician know of anyone good? is there a children's hospital nearby? they should have a psych unit where you may be able to get a good referral.

My ds8 also could not handle boy scouts. we never even made it past the first mtg.

hugs to you and your dear son

[mommy007]

My DS takes Clonizapem every night. In december when he got the flu he started having night terrors.

The clonizapem lets him sleep without night terrors - otherwise it seems to do nothing more.
I have read that it can cause even "less" concentration.

This is just worst week. The Neurologist cannot move the appt up so we will have to wait until April 27th to talk to him.

I am so glad next week is spring break.

When my DS want to go to the bathroom now he has to have another child go with him, the teacher calls the nurse and they go to the nurses office. They want to be sure he is safe.

He must feel like everyone is watching him.

[dfp]

UGH! I really feel for you guys. And it's going to be agony waiting for that appointment at the end of the month. I'm so sorry.

Hang in there.

dfp

[mommy007]

The effects of the drugs seems to have settled, my ds is his old hyper self. the nurse at school spoke to the principle and the social on my DS's behalf and afer the break he is free to use the regular bathrooms ALONE.

Why the school did not call 911 is beyond me. If I never saw this behavior and it was not typical of a studen AND I was aware of med changes that's what I would do, at least check his pulse rate. But no they have to drill him for information, upsetting him further.

We will be fine until we see's the doctor. He is a strong young man.

It's just been such a week - I am hoping the sun will shine tomorrow and I can clean and mulch the garden - gets out the stress.

Summer, that's when I get to recharge. It can't come soon enough.


But . . .then there's the summer homework . . .