Monday November 23rd i felt like my world callasped i took my child to his Developmental Specialist appointment for the visit i had requested.
A little background on my 5 yr old, when he was born i knew he was different i knew he was special. I thought and so did a few family members that he was autistic. I took him to his pedi dr who said there is no way that he is and said maybe we should set you up to get him tested with the developmental specialist. The first three appointments we had with her it was determined that he has ADHD. Ok i can deal with that as i have a 15yr old with the same thing. Then things started to happen with him that i thought was really strange. He started to pull his ears, constantly run his hands through his hair and then down his face and started to blink more often, then the coughing started which turned into grunting.
After he started kindergarten these symptons started to get worse and i just thought it was just his way of getting attention, Now the blinking turned into scrunching up his face, licking his lips more and now his arms are moving like he is strecthing but he is not.
I called the Developmental Specialist and basically told her i think you have mis-diognosed my child and i want him to be retested. After having meetings with his teachers at school in which they told me my son needs a full IEP and needs some OT we were off back to go see this doctor who i had just yelled at.
After she reviewed all the paperwork that myself and the school had filled out she gave me the news. He has ADHD AND he also has Taurettes after she explained what that was i was like holy crap this explains all of his behavior and everything that is going on with him.
She has put him on 10mg of Ritalian to help him focus in school and it seems to be working BUT i have noticed that the more he stresses and the more upset he gets the more his taurettes comes out.
I have told all my family members what is going on with him and they really did not believe me UNTIL they saw for themselves what he does. My mother and step father said to me we knew something was wrong with him when he was 2.
I don't know what to do to help my child, i don't know the first thing about this. I am trying to put on a happy face when all i want to do is cry and climb under a rock.
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May God Bless You.
Have you had his vitamin D checked? I would do this immediately. If it is less than 40 ng/ml, read my profile, look at the "tips to take to your doctor" section, and get him to your doctor for immediate treatment. This could be being caused by a vitamin D deficiency.
First of all, the Ritalin my help his attention, but stimulant type medication like Ritalin will actually increase the symptoms of taurettes. There is not an approved treatment, that I know of, for taurettes syndrome. I am strongly against Ritalin and other amphetamine based medications, because they are very highly addictive and can cause serious cardiovascular problems. These types of medications have been links to heart attack and stroke. The dose your son is on is a very low dose, however his body will begin building a tolerence to this medcation and he will then require higher and higher doses. These amphetamine based medications have also been linked to an increase risk of becoming a Methamphetamine addict later on in life, which is a very sad and horrible addiction-I know because that is exactly what happen to me. I was on Ritalin and later Adderall as a child for ADHD and I ended up as a methamphetamine addict in my teenage years, quitting meth was the most difficult thing I have ever had to do and most of the people who develop that addiction are unable to stop using it.
If your son has ADHD and needs help concentrating in school you should try a medication called Strattera, it is the only non-amphetamine based ADHD medication currently on the market and it has been shown to greatly reduce the symptoms of ADHD. I would strongly urge you to try something other than Ritalin or Adderall for your son's disorder. Seriously, Ritalin is like giving him the street drug "speed"(methamphetamine) and no child should be on that intense and addictive of a medication- unless they have already tried everything else and nothing else worked. Ritalin should never be the 1st drug that is used! Taking that type of medication will inevitably shorten his life span as well, because it increases heart rate so much. The risks in this case may totally outweigh the benefits of this medication!
Just a thought, have you ever thought to ask if he may be having seizures? My son for years would have the eye blinking, and face scrunching thing going on, we wrote it off as a nervous behavior. However at the age of 15 we found out he had been having seizures for many years. I do not mean to upset you, but it is just a thought.
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