Post by Anna on Sept 25, 2005 22:25:09 GMT -5
My son Conner used to be on 60 mg of Adderall XR. He would take a 20 mg pill at 7 am; a 20 mg pill an Noon; and a 20 mg pill at 4 pm. He had VERY high metabolism and NEEDED this dosage to calm down enough to function during the day.
Well about a month and a half ago Conner got a REALLY bad case of runny nose, coughing, nose sniffing, throat aching feelings. We thought (as did the doctors) that Conner had developed seasonal allergies. So as a result Conner was put on Nasonex Nose Spray in the morning and Clarinex at bedtime for allergies.
Although the nose sniffing and the runny nose went away, Conner still had NO energy and was coughing horribly. In fact, he had developed a loud cough that was pretty constant - not like his old cough. So back to the doctor we go...
Doctor says Conner may have developed Reflux due to allergies and has us add Prevacid to his daily pill intake. This does abolutely nothing. After four days of Conner STILL coughing horribly (now a loud SCREAM then a high pitched cough) we go back to the doctor. Oh...forgot to tell you that his energy level was down to NOTHING. Just sitting in front of the computer or tv. (Very un-Conner-like).
Doctor now tells us that Conner has developed a Habit Cough and that there is no real reason for the coughing to be happening. She perscribes a medication to numb the back of the throat and tells us to give it to him for 3-4 days and he should be able to break himself of this habit.
Four days passes and he is STILL scream-coughing, squealing like a pig, and clearing throat. By this time I have him down to 40 mg of Adderall because he just doesn't really need the ADHD meds with all this other medication. I schedule him to see an allergy specialist.
Allergy specialist decides to add Singular to his medication intake - tells us to stop the throat numbing medication. To give it a week to see if the new medication is going to help the coughing before we come back.
A week passes and Conner STILL has no energy and is scream coughing. So badly that he has missed three days of Kindergarten by this point because he's distracting the rest of the students - it's that constant... He's now down to 20 mg of Adderall XR in the morning.
Back we go to our regular doctor. Doctor now believes that Conner has developed a tic from his ADHD medication *rolling my eyes here* and that's why he is coughing. Requires that I make an appointment with his psychologist within two days. I'm FURIOUS by this point. I schedule the psychologist AND another visit with the Allergy Specialist for the next day.
Psychologist is flabbergasted that Conner is on so many medications and says in no uncertain terms that Conner has NOT developed a tic from his medication. He is estactic that Conner is managing to cope with just 20 mg of Adderall XR but wonders why this is possible. Asks me to follow up with allergy specialist and to see psychologist again in a month. *sigh*
See the allergy specialist who orders a chest x-ray of Conner and also schedules himfor Allergy Testing (80 needle pricks for two straight mondays).
So we go for the chest x-ray and later that afternoon I get a call from the allergy clinic. Conner has Pneumonia - has probably had it for at LEAST a month if not longer. Starts him on Augmentin immediately. *Grr*
So now we've been on the Augmentin for 11 days and Conner STILL has the cough. The doctor's office hasn't read the chest x-ray and honestly don't feel like he ever had it; but went ahead and made me another appointment to have a follow up chest x-ray for this Wednesday. *grr*
I have taken Conner off of ALL medications except for his 20 mg of Adderall XR; his Augmentin; and Clarinex at bedtime. The cough isn't quite as bad (it got HORRIBLE when he was on the nose spray) but it's still there.
I'm about to lose my mind with these stupid doctors. This has been going on WAY too long with WAY too many diagnoses. No one knows why Conner has this weird cough. It's not your normal pneumonia cough, nor your normal allergy cough. *sigh* We were told to cancel the allergy testing since the pneumonia halfway explains the cough...
On a side note... I tried giving Conner 20 mg in the morning and 20 mg at 4 pm (before gymnastics) and he was up from 11 pm until 7 am the next morning. Then woke BACK up at 8 am and was up until 10 pm. Going NON-STOP. Now I'm wondering if he's built up some type of intolerance for the dosage he used to be at?
Anna
Well about a month and a half ago Conner got a REALLY bad case of runny nose, coughing, nose sniffing, throat aching feelings. We thought (as did the doctors) that Conner had developed seasonal allergies. So as a result Conner was put on Nasonex Nose Spray in the morning and Clarinex at bedtime for allergies.
Although the nose sniffing and the runny nose went away, Conner still had NO energy and was coughing horribly. In fact, he had developed a loud cough that was pretty constant - not like his old cough. So back to the doctor we go...
Doctor says Conner may have developed Reflux due to allergies and has us add Prevacid to his daily pill intake. This does abolutely nothing. After four days of Conner STILL coughing horribly (now a loud SCREAM then a high pitched cough) we go back to the doctor. Oh...forgot to tell you that his energy level was down to NOTHING. Just sitting in front of the computer or tv. (Very un-Conner-like).
Doctor now tells us that Conner has developed a Habit Cough and that there is no real reason for the coughing to be happening. She perscribes a medication to numb the back of the throat and tells us to give it to him for 3-4 days and he should be able to break himself of this habit.
Four days passes and he is STILL scream-coughing, squealing like a pig, and clearing throat. By this time I have him down to 40 mg of Adderall because he just doesn't really need the ADHD meds with all this other medication. I schedule him to see an allergy specialist.
Allergy specialist decides to add Singular to his medication intake - tells us to stop the throat numbing medication. To give it a week to see if the new medication is going to help the coughing before we come back.
A week passes and Conner STILL has no energy and is scream coughing. So badly that he has missed three days of Kindergarten by this point because he's distracting the rest of the students - it's that constant... He's now down to 20 mg of Adderall XR in the morning.
Back we go to our regular doctor. Doctor now believes that Conner has developed a tic from his ADHD medication *rolling my eyes here* and that's why he is coughing. Requires that I make an appointment with his psychologist within two days. I'm FURIOUS by this point. I schedule the psychologist AND another visit with the Allergy Specialist for the next day.
Psychologist is flabbergasted that Conner is on so many medications and says in no uncertain terms that Conner has NOT developed a tic from his medication. He is estactic that Conner is managing to cope with just 20 mg of Adderall XR but wonders why this is possible. Asks me to follow up with allergy specialist and to see psychologist again in a month. *sigh*
See the allergy specialist who orders a chest x-ray of Conner and also schedules himfor Allergy Testing (80 needle pricks for two straight mondays).
So we go for the chest x-ray and later that afternoon I get a call from the allergy clinic. Conner has Pneumonia - has probably had it for at LEAST a month if not longer. Starts him on Augmentin immediately. *Grr*
So now we've been on the Augmentin for 11 days and Conner STILL has the cough. The doctor's office hasn't read the chest x-ray and honestly don't feel like he ever had it; but went ahead and made me another appointment to have a follow up chest x-ray for this Wednesday. *grr*
I have taken Conner off of ALL medications except for his 20 mg of Adderall XR; his Augmentin; and Clarinex at bedtime. The cough isn't quite as bad (it got HORRIBLE when he was on the nose spray) but it's still there.
I'm about to lose my mind with these stupid doctors. This has been going on WAY too long with WAY too many diagnoses. No one knows why Conner has this weird cough. It's not your normal pneumonia cough, nor your normal allergy cough. *sigh* We were told to cancel the allergy testing since the pneumonia halfway explains the cough...
On a side note... I tried giving Conner 20 mg in the morning and 20 mg at 4 pm (before gymnastics) and he was up from 11 pm until 7 am the next morning. Then woke BACK up at 8 am and was up until 10 pm. Going NON-STOP. Now I'm wondering if he's built up some type of intolerance for the dosage he used to be at?
Anna
and don't let up until they give you solid evidence that PROVES to you that they are finally looking in the right direction. 
