Hello! I have been lurking for a bit now and decided to join youi all. My 8 year old DD was diagnosed at the end of May this year. We had quite a year in school. She gets up 10 times a day to use the bathroom, lots of unfinished work, TERRIBLE handwriting etc...

Anyway, my question is about her responses to me. Before meds she would seem really loud in general but not when she would respond to me when I asked her to do something. I thought maybe her hearing is bad so I had that checked. Its fine. Now that she is on meds she is still loud but in a different way. When I ask her to do something she yells back at me loudly and in a tone that seems to say "You have asked me 1000 times, Okay.. I will do it." When actually its the first time to ask her to do something and my tone and volume is normal. Is she feeling uneasy about the task so she feels like she needs to vent some away? I don't know... just an opservation I have had lately.

Good luck to all of you parents of ADD/ADHD. Its been a rollercoaster for sure for us!

Maybe her meds make her irritable, I know that some stimulants have that effect on people.

Jayhawk9, what is your daughter's response when you ask her to use a more pleasant tone of voice?

What med are you using? What are the affects besides the loudness?

Maybe it is just that she comprehends/processes what you are requesting quicker and more thoroughly than before. Since she is not used to it, maybe it overwhelms her a bit. I am going out on a limb here.

She is taking 27mg of Concerta but am upping it as soon as I can get back to the pharmacy to pick up the meds. I don't really see it doing a whole heck of a lot besides making her grouchy.

When I ask her to use a nice voice when she says "okay" she'll usually agree to do that but then time passes and it happens again. its like she forgets to be nice or that something inside of her is more powerful than her knowledge to be nice, if that makes sense?

She is taking 27mg of Concerta but am upping it as soon as I can get back to the pharmacy to pick up the meds. I don't really see it doing a whole heck of a lot besides making her grouchy.

When I ask her to use a nice voice when she says "okay" she'll usually agree to do that but then time passes and it happens again. its like she forgets to be nice or that something inside of her is more powerful than her knowledge to be nice, if that makes sense?Yes it makes complete sense! During the early years when she was unmedicated she no doubt missed a lot of social cues involving how lower her voice or modulate it.

Actually, her snapping when you ask her to do something may be an indication that she is able to maintain some degree of clarity while on them.

"You have asked me 1000 times, Okay.. I will do it."
Did you have to repeat yourself a lot before the meds? If so she may just be venting off old frustration.

Crazy :cool:

I totally agree with Crazy...and to add to this...

play play play with the meds....but I will let you know...if the behavior doens't level out in a week or so..and the groucy stays...see about putting her on another stimulant.

I had a really bad time on Concerta. But did/do well on the Adderall XR.
I still get a little grouchy on it, esp when it first hits.. but after awhile it subsides....excessive aggitation is not a good sign.

And we are all so different here, even if we have the same diagnoses...we use different cocktails ..it's all trial and error.
Some it's good the first time..some it takes a long time.
I am an Adult add'er and am a mother to 3 of them! So I know by the time we get them in and medicated we just want a normal , easy to deal with kid but hang in there a while longer...there is not perfect pill fixer, but when you get it right...she will be "better" and feel better about herself...improving the self esteem alone makes a lot of difference!

Good luck and no more lurking...we understand..and are not here to judge anyone...we love to help others like us,,,,or who live and love those like us!


:)

Crazy's theory sounds good! She's finally able to focus and getting her attention interupts her "new toy"-concentration. Many of us are naturally irritable as well. I've found that if I'm in deep thought or have more than one thing on my mind and someone interupts my train of thought, I can respond in a less than nice way and then feel bad about it later. Just hope is also right about the concerta. I responded exactly the same way and when rebound hit it was even worse. I'm on focalin xr now and it's fantastic. Good luck.

The two posters above me made some good points I can underscore yet again :D the Kid and I both react with extreme irritability when rebounding (we are both on Concerta and both had to titrate waaaaaaaay up to gain maximum relief) and it always could be that another med would work better for her. Med trial and error is something many of us have to deal with. Don't lose hope!

Crazy :cool: