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Question: ODD & ADHD
| Gena79
- Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:33 pm |
My son is 6 years old and was diagnosed with ODD and ADHD. He has problems controling his temper and has been removed(Kicked Out) of 3 daycares in the last 4 months. His DR. put him on Straterra for his ADHD, and has recently uped his dosage. He is having problems losing weight. He is now 15 pounds underweight. I get him for weekend visitation, as his father has custody.
I could see all of his veins this last weekend and he used to be very muscular and healthy. His father refuses to take him off the medication, even though I personally see no change in his behavior. His father says its just because his new dosage has been raised and it hasnt kicked in yet.
Im very concerned about him and his health. What should I do?
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| Dr. K. Eisele
- Wed Mar 28, 2007 3:45 am |
 Gena79:
If I were you, I would take him to see a doctor myself. There are doctors who have office hours on Saturday. If there are none around you, take him to an urgent care clinic or emergency room. All you have to say is that your son appears to be very ill and you'd like to have this looked at. They will ask you when this started, to which you would reply, "he looked like this when I picked him up this morning," which would be true from what you wrote.
Any medication that causes a great deal of weight loss (>10% of body weight) in a period of less than 6 months deserves attention and aggressive management.
Strattera can cause loss of appetite, but then the other medicines for his condition can also. If his behavior is unmanageable without medicines, then I would suggest that a different medicine be tried, or advocate for an additional medicine to help him regain his appetite.
There is also the possibility that there is something else wrong with your son's health. There are many physical illnesses that can present just like mental illnesses, but that are not discovered because the behavior is assumed to be due to mental illness.
Good luck to you and your son. Please come back and let us know how things go for you.
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