It's probably too soon to tell...

[fiberaddict]

but it seems that the Adderall is doing...something. Herself seems to be a bit more settled...not calmer, not more focused, just more......huh. Hard to explain.

I'm watching her closely right now - the anti-depressant *is* helping her sleep, I'm just paranoid. (The pills are teeny - like, smaller than the mini-m&ms. The dosage is also small...like 25 mg each - she takes 2) She is sleeping; she seems a bit......quiet in the mornings. I'm not complaining - last week, mornings were hell, what with the yelling, stomping around, meltdowns (and all before breakfast! :shudder:); this is more "normal", whatever *that* is.

Still haven't had a callback from the doctor. I was on the phone over an hour yesterday with my insurance company, hashing out our coverage and trying to find another doc to call (the one I'm waiting on? Has night and weekend hours, he's on the insurance, and he's maybe 3 miles from the office. All big plusses. IF HE'D JUST CALL ME BACK....:sigh:)

Himself is getting a bit jealous of the attention she is getting, methinks. He knows she has issues......he just doesn't understand why she can get away with stuff HE can't. :sigh: Fun, fun, fun.......the latest problem with him? His messy room. Sweet Geek has offered to help him clean up; he finally agreed, but he's "scared to talk to him". :sigh: Fallout from the ex - sucks.

Oh, and I got notice last night that Herself is failing English. :sigh: She's such a bright child - I've told her (and him) that I don't demand straight As, but I do expect passing grades. A 68 is NOT acceptable. (It's because she loses her homework. ALL the time. Part of Aspbergers...the total lack of organizational skills...isn't this Fun? :sigh:)

Life's not all bad, though - as of noon, we had 13 eggs. Go chickens! :grin: The horses are all adjusting to being "locked up" in their 2 acre pastures, and the dogs have almost figured out that furniture is NOT for them. :snicker:

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I think I know what you mean about the adderall...is it like she's less reactionary? still gets wound up, but it takes a little more to wind her up and maybe she doesn't stay there as long? Or something like that :)
Enjay

[fiberaddict.livejournal.com]

Y...eeeeessssss...maybe. We haven't had a meltdown - yet - because I am trying to head them off. :huh: I think I need to see if it'll become a full-blown meltdown....but that's not fair to *her*, is it?

She seems a bit more.....I hate the word "normal", but that's what I'm trying to get at. More like her brother, and less like a child-raised-by-wolves. :grin:

[(Anonymous)]

while I do understand that a meltdown is unpleasant (understatement here lol) to deal with, and allowing her to have one seems somewhat like playing with her emotions for your own purposes, I don't think allowing her to naturally progress through a melt down strictly for the purpose of observing and evaluating the effects of her medication will do any long term damage. Might be better to try it on a Friday night though, not a school night. I can't remember how long she's been on adderall, but my pharmacology text says that it can take a few weeks for the full effects to be seen so you may want to give it a while too. In my limited experience with adderall, the effects that I've seen were it took more to cause a melt down, they were of a shorter duration, recovery was faster and Colby (almost my nephew, adhd and "high functioning autism") is easier to divert at all stages of his melt down. However, it took Colby nearly 3 months to achieve the full effect, although there were immediate improvements of the nature that you just couldn't put your finger on. :)

[knitterkim.livejournal.com]

Himself is getting a bit jealous of the attention she is getting, methinks. He knows she has issues......he just doesn't understand why she can get away with stuff HE can't

See if you can get the concept of "fair doesn't mean equal/same" across to him somehow; you as the parent try to provide what each of them really needs and that's not always the same rewards, consequences, etc. Being the sibling of someone with a mental illness is tough - just ask my eldest son - but this is an important concept any family, but especially when you're dealing with these issues.

It's funny - we had just the opposite reactions to Adderall and Concerta; Adderall made DS#2 more agitated and irritable and the Concerta has been way better for him. Glad there's more than one flavor of meds.