I have 2 new medically diagnosed disorders

Cheri said:
Okay, the reason I was asking because my son may possibly have ADHD and was recommended to have him evaluated such as testing being done by the doctor to rule out lead poisoning, blood sugar and thyroid problems which are medical disorder that can have similar symptoms to ADHD. His blood test turned out fine. My son appeared to have some difficulties in school, I wasn't so concerned back then because I thought he was just a kid being a kid, but then I was struggling in trying to get him back on track with his grades as he had some much trouble focusing. Then his teacher had send notes home frequently commented about his inattention and disruptive behavior in the classroom, then I noticed that he can't seem to sit still nor pay attention when doing homework with him. Recently in the begin of March or so he was moved into a new classroom, and he intends to stay out of trouble, but he's still having problems focusing and doing his school work. He does have good days and bad days. And yes he is currently seeing a Psychiatrist he only met her twice, and she's real nice, the testing of evaluation isn't completed yet, until his teacher send in the papers that she was asked to fill out and return to his Psychiatrist. I'm paying for this, because I want to help him with whatever he has. ;)
Click to expand...

Anytime one is being assessed for any kind of mental disorder, the first thing we do is rule out a physical cause for the symptoms. The symptoms of many mental disorders can be actually caused by physical problems. We don't want to label a kid as having ADHD, and put them on meds and through treatment if something else is causing their symptoms. You are doing the right thing by ruling out a medical reason for the symptoms first.
 
jillio said:
Anytime one is being assessed for any kind of mental disorder, the first thing we do is rule out a physical cause for the symptoms. The symptoms of many mental disorders can be actually caused by physical problems. We don't want to label a kid as having ADHD, and put them on meds and through treatment if something else is causing their symptoms. You are doing the right thing by ruling out a medical reason for the symptoms first.
Click to expand...

Thank-you. His previous teacher was telling me that my son DOES have ADHD during the IEP meeting, and that they wanted to put him on medication with or without my permission, I told them how can you be so sure he has ADHD without proper testing to ruled out that he does has it. I had to fight tooth and nail with the Board of Education to prevent the school for making that kind of decision for my son.
 
Cheri said:
Thank-you. His previous teacher was telling me that my son DOES have ADHD during the IEP meeting, and that they wanted to put him on medication with or without my permission, I told them how can you be so sure he has ADHD without proper testing to ruled out that he does has it. I had to fight tooth and nail with the Board of Education to prevent the school for making that kind of decision for my son.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Teachers are not qualified to diagnose ADHD. Too many times, doctors will put kids on meds they don't need just to shut a teacher or a parent up. Its wrong. A kid should never be put on these kind of meds unless it is absolutely necessary. Their brains are still developing, and these kinds of meds can cause all kinds of problems with that if they aren't necessary.
 
Cheri said:
Thank-you. His previous teacher was telling me that my son DOES have ADHD during the IEP meeting, and that they wanted to put him on medication with or without my permission, I told them how can you be so sure he has ADHD without proper testing to ruled out that he does has it. I had to fight tooth and nail with the Board of Education to prevent the school for making that kind of decision for my son.
Click to expand...

is that even legal???
 
Jiro said:
is that even legal???
Click to expand...

I don't think so, I don't really know. Teachers aren't doctors, they have no business making that kind of decision involving medicine.
 
Cheri said:
Okay, the reason I was asking because my son may possibly have ADHD and was recommended to have him evaluated such as testing being done by the doctor to rule out lead poisoning, blood sugar and thyroid problems which are medical disorder that can have similar symptoms to ADHD. His blood test turned out fine. My son appeared to have some difficulties in school, I wasn't so concerned back then because I thought he was just a kid being a kid, but then I was struggling in trying to get him back on track with his grades as he had some much trouble focusing. Then his teacher had send notes home frequently commented about his inattention and disruptive behavior in the classroom, then I noticed that he can't seem to sit still nor pay attention when doing homework with him. Recently in the begin of March or so he was moved into a new classroom, and he intends to stay out of trouble, but he's still having problems focusing and doing his school work. He does have good days and bad days. And yes he is currently seeing a Psychiatrist he only met her twice, and she's real nice, the testing of evaluation isn't completed yet, until his teacher send in the papers that she was asked to fill out and return to his Psychiatrist. I'm paying for this, because I want to help him with whatever he has. ;)
Click to expand...

OK. I'm sorry. I thought you were referring to bipolar disorder in your above question to Doug. Testing for ADD (which is what I was dx'ed with) and ADHD is usually done by a psychiatrist, but I have also heard of the teacher making recommendations for testing. However, back when I was first diagnosed with learning disablilities (the technical term back in the 70s, ) I was tested by the school. Testing for ADHD/ADD is now done by a psychiatrist, I believe. At any rate, what Jillio said is spot on as well. Physical illness is ruled out before any psychiatric diagnosis is made. I was also tested for thyroid and various other things before I was diagnosed bipolar.
 
Thank you all! You're allright in my book :thumb:

Thank you Kailei, Oceanbreeze, Reba, Cheri, Sharky, dogmom, Bottesini, Nov Gypsy and Jill.

I will post any questions I have. So far its the way I feel taking these drugs- don't fee like myselft anymore.
 
jillio said:
Nope, but school systems bully parents with that statement to get them to comply all the time.
Click to expand...

I thought so. If I ever find out that school puts my kid on medication without my expressed permission..... expect shitstorm from me. and yes expect some heads to roll. :mad2:
 
hohDougRN said:
Thank you all! You're allright in my book :thumb:

Thank you Kailei, Oceanbreeze, Reba, Cheri, Sharky, dogmom, Bottesini, Nov Gypsy and Jill.

I will post any questions I have. So far its the way I feel taking these drugs- don't fee like myselft anymore.
Click to expand...

I know it sucks, but you do get used to the meds. Please give them a shot and don't tinker with your dosage. Please let your pdoc make any adjustments that may be needed.
 
Oceanbreeze said:
OK. I'm sorry. I thought you were referring to bipolar disorder in your above question to Doug. Testing for ADD (which is what I was dx'ed with) and ADHD is usually done by a psychiatrist, but I have also heard of the teacher making recommendations for testing. However, back when I was first diagnosed with learning disablilities (the technical term back in the 70s, ) I was tested by the school. Testing for ADHD/ADD is now done by a psychiatrist, I believe. At any rate, what Jillio said is spot on as well. Physical illness is ruled out before any psychiatric diagnosis is made. I was also tested for thyroid and various other things before I was diagnosed bipolar.
Click to expand...

A teacher can make a recommendation for further testing, but that is as far as they can go with it. They cannot demand testing, they cannot demand meds, etc. A clinical psychologist can also test for ADD and ADHD, but unless a child has been medically examined to rule out any physical illness, and then given the battery of tests to determine whether they have ADD or ADHD, the diagnosis should not be made. Too many times, teachers will try to lable a child as having ADD or ADHD based on nothing more than the fact that they are high energy and appear to have a short attention span. The fact is, many kids are very active, and have a short attention span because the teacher isn't a very good teacher and is boring the crap out of them.
 
hohDougRN said:
Thank you all! You're allright in my book :thumb:

Thank you Kailei, Oceanbreeze, Reba, Cheri, Sharky, dogmom, Bottesini, Nov Gypsy and Jill.

I will post any questions I have. So far its the way I feel taking these drugs- don't fee like myselft anymore.
Click to expand...

Yes, the initial days of the meds can be hell. Especially during the period that they may be doing dose adjustment, or trying different combinations. Its not easy, but once you have adjusted to the meds, you will see that things will be much easier for you. Just don't let the aggravation of adjusting make you think that going off meds might be a good idea. That is the number one reason that Bi-Polar patients stop taking their meds. All that does is make you have to start the process all over again. But then, given your profession, I'm sure you already realize that.
 
hohDougRN said:
Im pretty say- but just another part of life. I just spent 3 weeks at the University Psychiatric Institute. It was a very very diffiecult admission. I have been here for 3 straight weeks. Its good to be out finally. Allthough I could use any support by those of you whom suffer frm Bipolar disorder or ADHD. Im having severe reservations of competently completeing my employment with my newly diagnosed problems :(
Click to expand...

my apology for hijacking your thread. I completely forgot the main theme of this thread. first - welcome back, my man. Kudo to you to do everything you can to overcome your disorder. most importantly - you recognize and accept that you have the disorders because many people treat it with self-denial.
 
jillio said:
A teacher can make a recommendation for further testing, but that is as far as they can go with it. They cannot demand testing, they cannot demand meds, etc. A clinical psychologist can also test for ADD and ADHD, but unless a child has been medically examined to rule out any physical illness, and then given the battery of tests to determine whether they have ADD or ADHD, the diagnosis should not be made. Too many times, teachers will try to lable a child as having ADD or ADHD based on nothing more than the fact that they are high energy and appear to have a short attention span. The fact is, many kids are very active, and have a short attention span because the teacher isn't a very good teacher and is boring the crap out of them.
Click to expand...

:gpost:
 
Jiro said:
my apology for hijacking your thread. I completely forgot the main theme of this thread. first - welcome back, my man. Kudo to you to do everything you can to overcome your disorder. most importantly - you recognize and accept that you have the disorders because many people treat it with self-denial.
Click to expand...

No worries Jiro- I am nor angy. Thank you so much for the xomment

I don't think I'll just strop taking the medes, heard pleanty of stories in the time I spent in the mental
 
jillio said:
A teacher can make a recommendation for further testing, but that is as far as they can go with it. They cannot demand testing, they cannot demand meds, etc. A clinical psychologist can also test for ADD and ADHD, but unless a child has been medically examined to rule out any physical illness, and then given the battery of tests to determine whether they have ADD or ADHD, the diagnosis should not be made. Too many times, teachers will try to lable a child as having ADD or ADHD based on nothing more than the fact that they are high energy and appear to have a short attention span. The fact is, many kids are very active, and have a short attention span because the teacher isn't a very good teacher and is boring the crap out of them.
Click to expand...

I thought so, that's why I asked the board of education to place my son in a different classroom; because in his previous classroom, there were so many times he had been suspended, had served a couple after school detentions, and one out of school suspension just because he was crawling under desks, shouting out answers, leaving the classroom, not following directions. I'm thinking having detentions really made a differences?

Now that he's in a new classroom he hasn't been suspended, and it has been almost two months now. :hmm:
 
Cheri said:
Thank-you. His previous teacher was telling me that my son DOES have ADHD during the IEP meeting, and that they wanted to put him on medication with or without my permission, I told them how can you be so sure he has ADHD without proper testing to ruled out that he does has it. I had to fight tooth and nail with the Board of Education to prevent the school for making that kind of decision for my son.
Click to expand...

Wow..the school and the teachers were wrong to do that. The schools and teachers are only responsible for making recommendations for any children to get them tested but not diagnose them.
 
Cheri said:
I thought so, that's why I asked the board of education to place my son in a different classroom; because in his previous classroom, there were so many times he had been suspended, had served a couple after school detentions, and one out of school suspension just because he was crawling under desks, shouting out answers, leaving the classroom, not following directions. I'm thinking having detentions really made a differences?

Now that he's in a new classroom he hasn't been suspended, and it has been almost two months now. :hmm:
Click to expand...

Sounds like maybe it was a teacher problem more than a student problem!:hmm:
 
Back
Top