Week 2 of medication

OK,

Week two on the Biphentin, 2 pills. There isn't any anger issues with this medication...No rage. Which is a huge relief. But I'm not seeing a huge improvement on focus, to be fair I don't see her in school. She did tell me this morning that she was feeling calmer as we were driving to school. Fingers crossed.

 Maybe I'm hoping for a magic pill which makes her a calm child, but that isn't Nicole. She will never be calm. She will forever be a creative and energetic child, which has a lot of benefits.

I was reading blogs from Totally ADD written by Rick Green last night and he has some great pointers. He himself has ADHD and has struggled with it through school. I read these to Nicole and she was screaming "That's Me" the whole time. She can totally relate. So thanks to him she is encouraged to reach our to people and share her experiences as well.

I would encourage anyone who has trouble concentrating and focusing, who is very impulsive, who is overwhelmed by the simplest of things( at least that's what your friends say) and is overly sensitive. Has the energy of 10 people and a million thoughts racing through your head. If coffee seems to help you calm down and get s%it done, don't hesitate to get evaluated by a Psychologist. Not a family physician. Our first trip to a specialty doctor just verified what I already knew, Nicole was smart to the point of gifted (strong language skills, this girl uses words sometimes I don't know what they mean, and if she doesn't know what it means, once you tell her she remembers and uses it) The doctor made her read 2 grades above her level, and said she can read, she is fine, she is just a little busy. I told her I know she can read, she does not have a learning disability, she can not sit still. This was grade 3 when she was hitting children and yelling out answers and had to stand at her seat. She could not sit through reading time and EVERYTHING was boring. (to be fair everything still is to her) 

We continued for a couple years and then her anxiety started. She had separation anxiety and would not go to grade 5 with out screaming and having belly aches and headaches all day, refusing to go to school. It was a nightmare. So we reached out to several mental health places, IWK and started a 8 week program, parenting the anxious child, through the strongest families institute. This was great. It helped my husband and I learn to parent a child with anxeity and helped us understand it better. But it did not help 100%. So we went another route( this was after she had broken her collar bone and sprained her ankle a few times, and numerous other injuries, because she would not stay off things) We were finally referred to the mental health program through the IWK that lead us to a team of psychologist and therapist. They evaluated her in a room with me and them by herself and then with a group of peers. They also had me come in for a meeting and discussed her childhood, how she was growing up, friendships, how she was with others. They took her report cards and did a full evaluation. They also gave us rating scales that we all had to fill out, including her teachers. 

This process took about 6 months, but man was it worth it. I was finally told what I already knew. She had adhd and would have it her whole life. Now she has adaptations in place at school and is finally seeing a pediatrician who is trying different medication to see which one is the right one for her. Maybe none will be. We don't know yet. But we didn't give up. I knew what she had and I wanted her teachers to give her a fair chance to succeed, not be pushed through without the proper tools for school.

Thanks for reading and have a great day
Julia