We've given Sweet Pea two doses of Ritalin and I am hopeful (kind of). She seems to be doing okay on the medication--no upset stomach, loss of appetite, and no insomnia. Her only side effect so far is that she is extremely emotional; crying at the drop of a hat. This is a known side effect and will hopefully diminish over time. If it doesn't, then Ritalin probably isn't the right drug for her.
I am cautiously hopeful that it is working...we went to the Nutcracker yesterday and she was more still than I have seen her in a long time (or probably ever) and she was also very still at church this morning. Sweet Pea doesn't have the hyperactivity component of ADHD, however she is hyper-focused or hyper-aware of her surroundings. Where you and I may notice if something is new in a room or if we have a tag in our shirt, she notices these things and fixates on them to the point that she can't concentrate on anything else. I describe her as one of the reasons that they invented tagless t-shirts. I have to buy her a particular brand of sock (sold only at Target) because all the other ones are "too tight" and she can't concentrate with them on. She got in trouble a lot in kindergarten for messing with her socks* before I figured out what was actually going on. Tomorrow in school will be a better test and I'm curious to hear what her teacher is going to say.
I've decided to talk to Mr. X about my alternative proposal tomorrow. I would prefer to talk to him only, since it will be less intimidating, but if I have to talk to everyone, then I'm talking to everyone. I've got the wording for almost everything worked out and I keep telling myself that I'm no worse off for trying than I am right now. I will be bringing some Ativan to work to ward off any bad anxiety. I do hate the fact that my body and mind is such that I need drugs to calm everything down, but if it will give me an edge to stay on top of everything tomorrow, I will take it. Incidentally, Mr. X told me that he takes medication for depression when I was telling him about Sweet Pea's ADD drugs. I did not volunteer the fact that I am bi-polar. It feels like one more thing that could be used against me.
Wish me luck tomorrow. Sweet Pea is going to put on a Christmas show now.
*Because her teacher was Satan here on earth
Good luck today!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that you mention Ativan. It's one of the few drugs that my mom's new skinnier self couldn't get rid of after cancer. Saturday she was annoyed with my dad, and offered him one to "take the edge off." Gotta love sharing.
I hope everything works out with Abby. It's best to start treatment when little, so it becomes routine. My niece is having so many problems that I think every kind of therapy is going to be used: behavioral, occupational, phameceutical... you name it, she'll get it. It's hard watching kids go through things like this, but at least we live in a time when there is help.