My son was diagnosed with ADHD about 18 months ago. He started out on 18 MG of concerta when he was 6 years old. He is now 7 and was upped to 36 MG about 5 months ago.

He has good days and bad days. Some days are VERY bad and other days he is just fine. I can handle his bad days just fine, and would prefer to keep him busy rather than have him taking medication but since he is in school now he needs to beable to focus while he is there and do his work instead of distracting other children.

He has TERRIBLE hygene habbits.

Most of the time when I get up I find he has stolen something out of the kitchen that he isn't supposed to eat and has made a big mess of it in his bedroom. He knows he is doing something wrong because he tries to hide it. I find old food under his bed, empty cans of soda, a bottle of Hersheys chocolate syrup dumped into the carpet, etc.. It's always food he knows he wouldnt beable to have without asking first. I always let him have it in moderation when he asks, but he wants the whole thing so he just takes it and hides it.

He also has a horrible habbit of urinating all over the place. Last night I was making dinner and opened the cabinet in the kitchen and pulled out a pot and realized he had urinated in the cabinet. I asked him why he did it and he said he was watching TV and waited too long to go to the bathroom. This doesn't make sense to me because it is just as far to walk to the kitchen as it is to walk to the bathroom. He also urinates on the floor in his room instead of going to the bathroom and thismorning I went in his room and found he had urinated on the wall onto a electrical socket and smoke was coming out of it.

I've tried so many things. I've tried making him go to the bathroom every other hour. I've tried rewarding him for using the bathroom, I've tried restricting him from tv/gamecube when he doesn't use the bathroom. Nothing seems to work.

He could have burnt our house down today. I just don't know what to do. I almost started crying because his whole room reeks of urine no matter how much I clean it and how many times I clean the carpet. His little brother who is a toddler won't even go in there anymore because the smell is so bad. I have to keep his clothes on a shelf in the laundry room so that he doesnt urinate on them and he will have clothes to wear to school. I don't want either of them to be in there anymore because I'm afraid it is unhealthy. I'm going to find out about getting the carpet replaced this week.

I'm nearly in tears. I don't know how to help him. Is this normal for an ADHD child? Should I take him to a therapist or something? What is causing him to do this?

Kristin,

First of all, welcome to the forums. Sounds like you have been working really hard with your son and I know how tiring and frustrating it is.

It sounds to me like there is more than just ADHD at play with the urinating, though. I would suggest going to his pediatrian first to make sure that there isn't anything physically wrong and then discuss what do with him. It could be that it is a defiance issue which the sneaking of food would fit into. Therapy is the best option, I think, if that is the case.

Hang in there and keep us posted.

Kim

I would say maybe your son is a bit autistic or some other medical fault because this does not sound like AD/HD but although I admit when I was young me and my bro used to pee in the corner og the lounge room but it is difficult to explain what your son is doing.

Kristin, welcome to the forums!

I've wanted to help you, but I don't think I can. Just advice you to get professional help for it.

I can tell you though that I know that my uncle would leave poo rolled up in toilet paper in drawers etc. for a period during his teenages. He lived at some kind of school at this time I think. My mother thinks that he did this cause he didn't want to have the fuss with going to the bathroom, and that he wasn't able to see this behaviour as others would. He was diagnosed as having autistic traits. I think he may have been ADD too, and I know he was bipolar, but I don't know when that broke out. I think the autistic traits is what's significant in this case.

Maybe your son doesn't really realize that there could have been a fire from his urinating on the electrical socket just as my uncle didn't realize how it would be for people to find poo in the drawers. Maybe he's not really aware of what he's doing, how people in general see it.

I don't know, maybe you could try to ask your son what's happening the moments before he does it. What's going through his head? Is it like an impulse? Is it something he choses to do for a reason that may seem logical to him?

I hope things get better soon for you!

Sounds like he needs to be monitored more closely. You sound exhausted so you need help from others. It is in his free time that he does the wacky stuff.