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Juniper · 05-22-2009, 01:36 AM

Wow, that's really rough! LL is lucky to have you.

A friend of mine has a kid with ODD/ADHD too. Her son can be wonderful - absolutely charming and fun, and in fact my daughter (who is 13) thinks that this kid (who is 11, her friend's little brother) is absolutely COOL! But I've seen other sides of him and his behavior can be nightmarishly hard to manage. He argues about things you wouldn't even think needed argument. Funny how that works.

I find it really interesting what you said about the Singulair. My son took Singulair for about 3 years to control allergies; he took Zyrtec also. Now, we're very fortunate that my son has never had any major behavior problems; in fact, he's very sweet and easygoing most of the time. Our problem with Chris has been serious underachievement at school. The brains are there, but the performance ain't happening. He tested as gifted. Teachers couldn't figure out why he was so unmotivated.

Well, he had been complaining about taking so much allergy medicine. It made him tired, he said, so we had him take it before bed. Mornings were still draggy and he wouldn't eat. He understood that it was a decision between allergy misery and whatever the medicine made him feel, but that was really sad. I understand. If I take Benadryl in the evening to help me sleep, I'm groggy all day too - they say it wears off in 8 hours, but that's not necessarily so.

Last year, he just stopped taking the stuff. We let him be responsible for it and he made the decision, without telling us, that he would quit. I figured that, heck, it's his nose, right? Apparently he's outgrown those allergies to some degree because they don't bother him as much.

This year, his teacher suggested we get him tested for ADHD. Not only is he under-performing, he's over-acting too! He's the class clown. He can't sit still. He's still a sweetie and everyone loves him, but damn, charm will only get you so far!

This year, I'm afraid, was a wash-out. Bad grades. Bad test scores. No more gifted/enriched class; he's back to the average for 6th grade. I was blaming him, but you know, that story gets me thinking -- it could be the Singulair. Now that he's had it out of his system for a few months, his moods are beginning to normalize a bit and he concentrates better. I know this is the opposite of what you report, but I wonder if the hyper stuff Chris experienced was sort of a backlash?

We really need to be more vigilant about what goes into our kids' bodies!

I wish you the best of luck -- you'll get it figured out, I just know you will! Keep us updated.

05-22-2009, 01:36 AM	#13
Juniper I know, right? Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 1,539	Wow, that's really rough! LL is lucky to have you. A friend of mine has a kid with ODD/ADHD too. Her son can be wonderful - absolutely charming and fun, and in fact my daughter (who is 13) thinks that this kid (who is 11, her friend's little brother) is absolutely COOL! But I've seen other sides of him and his behavior can be nightmarishly hard to manage. He argues about things you wouldn't even think needed argument. Funny how that works. I find it really interesting what you said about the Singulair. My son took Singulair for about 3 years to control allergies; he took Zyrtec also. Now, we're very fortunate that my son has never had any major behavior problems; in fact, he's very sweet and easygoing most of the time. Our problem with Chris has been serious underachievement at school. The brains are there, but the performance ain't happening. He tested as gifted. Teachers couldn't figure out why he was so unmotivated. Well, he had been complaining about taking so much allergy medicine. It made him tired, he said, so we had him take it before bed. Mornings were still draggy and he wouldn't eat. He understood that it was a decision between allergy misery and whatever the medicine made him feel, but that was really sad. I understand. If I take Benadryl in the evening to help me sleep, I'm groggy all day too - they say it wears off in 8 hours, but that's not necessarily so. Last year, he just stopped taking the stuff. We let him be responsible for it and he made the decision, without telling us, that he would quit. I figured that, heck, it's his nose, right? Apparently he's outgrown those allergies to some degree because they don't bother him as much. This year, his teacher suggested we get him tested for ADHD. Not only is he under-performing, he's over-acting too! He's the class clown. He can't sit still. He's still a sweetie and everyone loves him, but damn, charm will only get you so far! This year, I'm afraid, was a wash-out. Bad grades. Bad test scores. No more gifted/enriched class; he's back to the average for 6th grade. I was blaming him, but you know, that story gets me thinking -- it could be the Singulair. Now that he's had it out of his system for a few months, his moods are beginning to normalize a bit and he concentrates better. I know this is the opposite of what you report, but I wonder if the hyper stuff Chris experienced was sort of a backlash? We really need to be more vigilant about what goes into our kids' bodies! I wish you the best of luck -- you'll get it figured out, I just know you will! Keep us updated.