KKaren

Hi everyone My son (14) has struggled in main stream school since year 8, now in year 10 I've had to take him out due to aggression, fear, one thing after another - the education board have offered home tutoring 4 1/2 hours per week based in his school - of course he has rejected this I am trying to get another venue as school is not an option at the minute. I was stressing out big time about him being out of school and missing his education - I would just like to hear from anyone in the same situation - what does the future hold for him if he can't go to school I doubt he will be able to go onto Tech? or will he will he mature as he gets older and be able to manage his life ? any advice would be great. Thanks K

Hi there the Millennium Falcon has over 1000 small pieces and is put together by following a manual page by page two booklets approx 83 pages in each not just your normal lego there was in my day!! anyway when he asked for this I thought waste of money but hey hes started and 4 hours of concentration later hes managed to get the base build I'm amazed!!

How can a child with ADHD sit for 4 hours at a time and build lego? Starwars Falcon ship hundreds of little pieces? Is this another incorrect diagnois?

Hi Guys Thanks for your advice matt has a statement and also has 27 hours classroom assistant - unfortunatley the school is very large I think if it had been smaller he would manage better - I'm going to send him back in January and go from there - I don't think I would be able to home school myself too difficult to get him to do any work! I like the ideas of a smaller unit attached to school so will investigate this - the problem being with Matt he hasn't be diagnosed with ASD the doctor has referred him to great ormond street for a second opinion he thinks it may be schiophrenia, however I've had counsellors who thinks its Aspergers I myself can see a lot of traits it could take months to see a specialist doctor and thats if it goes ahead until then we are left in limbo with the psy trying out all sorts of different meds - which dont' work - i've also asked for CBT and behavioural therapy another wait - thinking of going private to get the therapy started - waited over a year for an MRI scan to be told the psy hadn't even referred him to the mri unit. So you can imagine I'm not too happy with the Cahms unit. At least now hes out of school we can have a peaceful Christmas! Until January comes around!! Thanks again everyone K

My son 13 goes to mainstream school but doesn't seem to cope - He has just got a full time classroom assistant and still he is getting into trouble with other children. His school is quite big and has some "rough" kids - he seems to be drawn to them and then they pick on him and he becomes aggressive. I've had to take him out now until January as he refused to go to classes after a few incidents with other kids. What to do if he can't manage to stay in school in January? anyone been in this position or have any advice we don't really know what to do for the best. thanks

Hi there My son was on this for a few months at the start it seemed great but the down side for him was depression a lot of crying and getting worked up over nothing so I decided it was best he came off it although worth a go as everyone is different... good luckx

Hi there everyday creates a new problem but you just have to keep your chin up and keep going.. My son M 14 okay in the house with me school creates serious problems - anxiety goes through the roof can't go to various classes because they don't feel right - not a week goes by were I am not on the phone constantly with school or picking him up early. Doc put him on lustral which is helping keep him a bit calmer takes a bit of the anxiety away - he also has ocd and skin picking / hair pulling tendencies.. He was able to go back to football this year which he had been out of for over a year so you think little steps of progress but then alas a step back - can't do this or that too frighten - then plays up and becomes aggressive.. and sometimes I look at him and think hes a lovley boy why isn't he just like my sisters boys? But he is who he is and we just have to help them along the way and make life as easy as we can because inside their minds they are probably fighting an ongoing battle feeling like this everyday must be so tiring.. you just have to do what you can to make it easier! and try to keep smiling along the way

Hi Kat Matt is only on .25mg and I have found it is helping him (I think) its taken a while a few months but he is not just as aggressive and has been able to go back to his football which he withdrew from so quite positive so far - I give him it just before bedtime as it does make you tired. I found with the other med respirdol once I increased the dose he became much more anxious than normal so I'm hoping to keep him at a very low dose and keep encouraging him to do more things - we will see what happens when he goes back to school as it is always a challenge. He did not experience any nauseous - try taking it at bedtime. He is also on lustral and I have been able to reduce the 150mg down to 100mg - this also helps with anxiety. K

Hi There My son 13 suffers with extreme anxiety - I found sertraline was helpful took away a lot of worries of course not all but it did help him. Hope you get sorted. k

hi there I've found it helps Matt with his anger issues although hasn't made much impact for his anxiety. How are you getting on.?

Hi Sarah My son is on Lustral 150mg which is the same as sertraline and also the Aripiprizole - the sertraline I found myself is very good took a lot of worries away but his dose had to be upped I'm hoping 150mg will be the last - wondering if the Aripiprizole isn't strong enough to be making any changes and if we put this one up the anxiety will increase as it did with Rispiridone - although finding now the tamtrums have stopped so thats a bonus! K

Hi Sky not sure if you got my last reply? I was just saying Matt has got a bit more aggressive as he has got older and also found it really difficult in secondary school - huge difference to primary - going into year 10 in September and good classroom assistance set in place for him to make him feel more secure. Hes doing okay on the arapiprazole one week on and no tantrums so fingers crossed - I have notice a rise in appetite and am hoping he doesn't start to gain too much weight. K

Thanks Sky - Matt was on Risperdal first .25mls then up to 5mls - his anxiety didn't go it seemed to make it worse - he also put on some weight not as much as some kids have had, although not having any effect on his anxiety I decided to take him off it. He takes 150mg Lustral this is to help with his OCD which is mostly complusive thoughts and therefore creates anxiety - a nightmare circle really - I think if we could get something to ease the anxiety (miracle drug!!) it would help him become more independent he can't do anything without me or his dad present this includes things like going to other childrens birthday parties.. He also would become quite aggressive and have tantrums frequently especially if we try to make him do things he is not comfortable with. Did you find any relief with the Arapiprazole from anxiety?

Hi My son 13 has just started taking Arapiprazole 2.5mg - he has very bad anxiety and just won't do anything which makes him nervous - this can include going to school staying with granny simple things. has anyone had any success with this med for reducing anxiety??

Thank you Philipo for sharing your story with me. Things are very difficult at the moment as M is very up and down everything even simple things are a problem he is off risperdal but taking lustral, at the minute I'm just taking one day at a time and hoping things will get better - wishing you good luck for the future..K

Thanks - I have decided if it comes to it we will go down the hospital route hoping that the outcome can give matt some peace and release from his worries... thanks for your advice. K

Thanks for your advice much appreciated at the moment Matt is very unsettled I'll be glad when we get to the end of June and are out of school for a few months hopefully things will settle a bit as most of his anxiety is based around school.. thanks again. Kx

Hi JSMum The Doc who suggested the assement is a psychiatrist - hes tried so many meds that haven't worked - he is wanting a second opinion the hospital will be a child psychiatric unit and is a new build all mod cons - I would have to go and visit it if we decided to go ahead. His doc thinks there is a possibility he has a serious mental health condition - ie schizophrenia but would like to make sure this is the correct diagonis anyway its very daunting when you have a baby I didn't imagine anything could go wrong with their brain at this stage of life ie hes 13 the joys of parenting! Thanks for this website i'll have a look at it. Karen

Hi Jeanne Thanks for the advice I have been following Glens progress, I think it will probably come to Matt going in for a few months if the outcome helps him then so be it. It will be difficult he will not want me to leave him I'll probably have to sleep in the chair beside him.. but we will cross that bridge when we get there. Thanks for your advice and I hope life gets easier for you. K

I was wondering if anyone has any views on being an "inpatient" in a physiatric Unit. My sons Doc has asked me if I would admit my son into hospital for 6weeks to 3 months to have a full assessment on him as he can't seem to get anything which helps him. He is 13 and suffers with extreme anxiety and paranoia which seems to be getting worse as he gets older. He also thinks he has OCD / ADHD in the mix I'm worried if he goes in will he ever come back out - will they just give him a cocktail of drugs? I also don't think he would be able to cope without me being there full time as his anxiety would take over. any views welcome.. Thanks Karen

Thanks I will try this and hopefully move forward!

Thanks people I've decided risperdal isn't going to work and so I'm weening him off the drug - does anything work to take away worries ie change in routine - your not coming to pick me up - going to get left in school overnight ??