Reply to New psychiatrist recommending Lamictal for 9 year old

Forum Index » Kids With Special Needs and Disabilities

Reply to "New psychiatrist recommending Lamictal for 9 year old"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]Hi everyone. I posted a few weeks ago about difficulties we're having with my ADHD/anxiety fourth grader, and I am so grateful for all the helpful responses and support I received. Yesterday, we saw a new psychiatrist who came highly recommended, as we felt it might be time for a fresh approach and reevaluation of his medications. He currently takes Adderall XR 20 mg and Zoloft 50 mg. The main difficulties we are having currently are over-reactivity, argumentative attitude, inflexibility, difficulty with losing or getting "out" in a game, and emotional regulation. He does things like yell and overreact when asked to brush his teeth when he'd rather be reading/playing, claiming it is unfair, I must not like him, he "never" gets to have fun, he would rather his teeth rot, etc. His outbursts are mainly at home, but he has increasingly had trouble at school complying with teacher requests, putting effort into tasks he doesn't like, and having an argumentative attitude with the teacher when things are not going the way he would like. He has a lot of trouble accepting responsibility for his behavior, although he feels remorseful after the fact. He does have a few friends, but I see him being inflexible about rules of games, etc. and I worry he will push them away. He is not generally physically aggressive, but has on occasion angrily pushed/pulled on his younger brother when they were arguing. When he is not having an outburst, he is generally a pretty pleasant kid, although we deal with the other difficult aspects of ADHD like lack of organization and focus, etc.

The new psychiatrist would like to wean him off the Zoloft, and I agree with that - we have seen signs of increased impulsivity/lowered inhibitions when we have tried dosage increases, and the doctor feels that an SSRI just isn't a good fit for a kid with my son's profile. However, before we start the weaning process with Zoloft, he would like to add Lamictal, in addition to Deplin, which is a "medical food" folate supplement. After reading about Lamictal, I am just not sure this is the route I want to go. Lamictal is a mood stabilizer, and I understand the doctor's intention with regard to my son's over-reactivity, but I am nervous about what feels like a "heavy duty" drug when we are dealing with issues that, while serious, are not necessarily extreme. Of course, I am worried that things will get worse, and that as he gets older and moves on to middle school, the consequences will be increasingly serious if he cannot regulate his emotions in an age appropriate way. Part of me would love to wean him off the Zoloft first, see where we are with anxiety and emotional reactivity, and then figure out if and/or what he needs in it's place. Of course that is scary too. I also just started reading the Explosive Child book, and I'm curious to see whether that approach might help us, but I have not yet implemented it. There is also talk of adding Vayarin to see if it increases/extends the efficacy of the Adderall, but not until we address the Zoloft piece.

Has anyone had a child with a similar profile try Lamictal, and how did it go? Is this a reasonable option, or too extreme? I admit I am very hesitant about this medication, and the potential rash side effect is scary too. But I want my child to be the best he can be. Any advice welcome.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics