So. We had a conference with Herself's doc today. It actually went pretty well - it helps that he's been her doctor since birth, so he knows her and me, and knows that I don't suggest anything unless I'm pretty sure about it. (Herself was NOT at this conference - she's at school. I figured, no since in upsetting her - we'll deal with this as it comes. She knows she's not....."normal" is not the word I'm looking for here; she knows she's got some problems. I didn't want to add to them, especially not if the doctor disagreed with me)
:sigh: This time, it looks like I was right.....see, I've been thinking for a while that we *weren't* dealing with ADD/ADHD - at least, not entirely. The drugs have helped her focus, but we were still having meltdowns, she lacks organizational skills, she's confrontational, she lacks social skills...other ADD/ADHD parents don't have these problems. And then someone on my FL said that their child was diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder - and I went "AHA!" and headed to google to do some reading.
The probable diagnosis of Herself? Aspergers. In fact, to the doc, it looks like a classical case. He has given me a bunch of names as referrals....so I get to try and figure out who my insurance will pay. :sigh:
This diagnosis, while it makes me feel relieved, is also sad - I mean, you never want to hear that your child has a problem. Especially not one that can't be "cured". But it DOES explain a lot.
The doc also told me that you really don't always get a handle on this type of stuff until now (she's 11) - there's a lot of other things it might be. Also, a lot of ASD kids DO have ADD/ADHD, so we didn't do anything wrong by putting her on Concerta (she would have probably been on it anyway).
We did change her meds, though - we are going to try Adderall, and...something that starts with an "I" to help her sleep. (It's an old-school anti-depressant, on a VERY teeny dosage - ASD children tend to have a hard time sleeping (Check!), so you just about HAVE to put them on something so they can sleep. I was using Benedryl...but it ain't working no more. :Sigh:) When we can get in to the other doctor, her meds will probably be changed again - our doc doesn't deal with ASD - he's medical, not mental - so he didn't want to mess with any of the more typical ASD medications. I'm cool with that - I know he won't prescribe something he's not 100% sure of.
Hopefully, this'll help her cope with life. And help us deal with her better. No, I'm not happy I was right....but at least now I have a starting place to try and help her.
sad