If you're one of my regular followers, you already know what a challenge we've been faced with in dealing with Iraq's issues. It has been an 8-year, uphill battle filled with endless tantrums, meltdowns, whining, crying and property damage. We have counted ourselves very lucky to get her into a public school that is wonderful about providing extra help and attention for her, and dealing with her kleptomania. We are lucky to have been able to move to a state (VA) that provides more assistance than TX did. We have been blessed to find a doctor who knows more about girls with Aspergers than most psychiatrists, and is willing to work hard to try to help us. Yet with all the great help, the days have been something akin to traversing Iraqi mine fields and the evenings have found us exhausted both mentally and physically... when there seems to be no end in sight, it can take a toll on a family.
Two weeks ago we had one of Iraq's monthly visits with her psychiatrist. On this visit the doctor asked (again) if we were interested in trying a medication like Abilify to see if it would help ease some of her symptoms. We have avoided this family of medications because it is known to have a number of serious and permanent side-effects like shrinkage of the white brain matter, twitches and tics that don't go away when the medication is discontinued, and weight gain.
Iraq is a skinny little thing, so the weight gain wasn't a big issue, but we feel she has enough issues without developing some lovely little twitches and tics to go along with her outrageous behavior. And brain matter shrinkage? I can't say I'm a big fan of that idea, honestly.
Yet in the throes of desperation, in the last few months I concocted my own theory. On that day I got up the nerve to bring it up with the doctor.
ADHD medication - namely Concerta. That's what Broadway is on. Why? (Hey - great question!) Well, my theory has been that if we can slow down Iraq's impulse control by just a beat, perhaps she can get a handle on her out-of-control behaviors including her kleptomania. It's a bit of a stretch, but I'm just crazy enough to come up with something like that and think it might work. I'm also desperate and unwilling to use my 7-year-old as a guinea-pig for a brain shrinkage and bodily twitching experiment.
Our fantastic doctor (after warning me at length that these types of stimulants can cause a plethora of other negative issues for children in the autism spectrum) agreed to let us try it. We started with good, old fashioned Ritalin. It's a short-acting medication so if we encountered any adverse side effects, it would wear off sooner. She was a bit skeptical, but said if it worked, she was willing to prescribe Concerta which is a timed release form of the same drug. One of Iraq's doctor's biggest concerns about trying this medication is that many children loose their appetites and loose weight - not a great thing when your child is skinny from having so many food-related dislikes.
So... On April 9th Iraq received her first dose of Ritalin.
I didn't hear angels singing or have a vision of any winged apparitions coming "unto" me, but a miracle still happened! Since Iraq started the medication (we have now progressed to the long-acting Concerta) we have had a total of 1 (one) meltdown, and it lasted 7 MINUTES! Suddenly my anxious, whiny, temperamental, Mount Vesuvius-like child is... well... so much more like a "typical" 7-year-old.
Only 2 weeks ago if we had asked Iraq to please go clean her room, the request would have been met with a whiny response that quickly morphed into a full-blown freak-out. Now, our beautiful little 7-year-old responds with a simple, "OK."
Who are you and what have you done with my daughter? On second thought, who the heck cares? Please stay a while!
It is not my intention to give anyone false hope. What works for one child may not work for another. The message I would like to share is that parents should follow their instincts. In many cases the answers are not obvious, but must be stumbled uponafter years of misery after diligent effort and consideration.
Now - on a different subject, Easter was lovely! We went to Mimi and Pop's house where we enjoyed egg coloring, egg hunts, a boat ride and a delicious Easter dinner! Yum!
I have created a slide show of the photos so as not to make this post a million miles long.
See Slideshow here
For those of you who don't want to deal with the slide show, here are some highlights from the day:
I hope everybody had a Happy Easter, and that you all see miracles in every day things!
Two weeks ago we had one of Iraq's monthly visits with her psychiatrist. On this visit the doctor asked (again) if we were interested in trying a medication like Abilify to see if it would help ease some of her symptoms. We have avoided this family of medications because it is known to have a number of serious and permanent side-effects like shrinkage of the white brain matter, twitches and tics that don't go away when the medication is discontinued, and weight gain.
Iraq is a skinny little thing, so the weight gain wasn't a big issue, but we feel she has enough issues without developing some lovely little twitches and tics to go along with her outrageous behavior. And brain matter shrinkage? I can't say I'm a big fan of that idea, honestly.
Yet in the throes of desperation, in the last few months I concocted my own theory. On that day I got up the nerve to bring it up with the doctor.
ADHD medication - namely Concerta. That's what Broadway is on. Why? (Hey - great question!) Well, my theory has been that if we can slow down Iraq's impulse control by just a beat, perhaps she can get a handle on her out-of-control behaviors including her kleptomania. It's a bit of a stretch, but I'm just crazy enough to come up with something like that and think it might work. I'm also desperate and unwilling to use my 7-year-old as a guinea-pig for a brain shrinkage and bodily twitching experiment.
Our fantastic doctor (after warning me at length that these types of stimulants can cause a plethora of other negative issues for children in the autism spectrum) agreed to let us try it. We started with good, old fashioned Ritalin. It's a short-acting medication so if we encountered any adverse side effects, it would wear off sooner. She was a bit skeptical, but said if it worked, she was willing to prescribe Concerta which is a timed release form of the same drug. One of Iraq's doctor's biggest concerns about trying this medication is that many children loose their appetites and loose weight - not a great thing when your child is skinny from having so many food-related dislikes.
So... On April 9th Iraq received her first dose of Ritalin.
I didn't hear angels singing or have a vision of any winged apparitions coming "unto" me, but a miracle still happened! Since Iraq started the medication (we have now progressed to the long-acting Concerta) we have had a total of 1 (one) meltdown, and it lasted 7 MINUTES! Suddenly my anxious, whiny, temperamental, Mount Vesuvius-like child is... well... so much more like a "typical" 7-year-old.
Only 2 weeks ago if we had asked Iraq to please go clean her room, the request would have been met with a whiny response that quickly morphed into a full-blown freak-out. Now, our beautiful little 7-year-old responds with a simple, "OK."
Who are you and what have you done with my daughter? On second thought, who the heck cares? Please stay a while!
It is not my intention to give anyone false hope. What works for one child may not work for another. The message I would like to share is that parents should follow their instincts. In many cases the answers are not obvious, but must be stumbled upon
Now - on a different subject, Easter was lovely! We went to Mimi and Pop's house where we enjoyed egg coloring, egg hunts, a boat ride and a delicious Easter dinner! Yum!
I have created a slide show of the photos so as not to make this post a million miles long.
See Slideshow here
For those of you who don't want to deal with the slide show, here are some highlights from the day:
The lake has become a nesting ground for Osprey.
My husband temporarily confiscated my camera. Note the "look of death" I'm giving him.
I hope everybody had a Happy Easter, and that you all see miracles in every day things!
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