I'm back again and need to know what your experiences have been, good or bad! Thanks in advance!

Angela has had everything:

Ritalin
Straterra
Adderall
Prozac
Chlonidine
Guanfacine
Risperdal

There is something about kids with DS that causes them to have unusual reactions to these types of meds. It's very common for them to respond very well to a medication, or combination of meds, for a period of weeks to a couple of months, then suddenly they stop working. Like, for Angela, one day she wakes up and it's like overnight her body decides to not respond any more.

I thought I was crazy and that there was something really wrong with my child (or me?) that this was happening. But in Atlanta, when I got to stand up in front of a 100 people, crying because my child was so out of control and these meds stop working and I'm loosing my mind (really, I felt like a basket case as I was explaining this to him) he said it's TYPICAL for kids with DS to have responses like this! OMG, you have no idea how much better I felt! Right then and there I sudden felt like I wasn't alone and I really could do this!

He went on to tell me the best combination is Risperdal with a very small dose of Guanfacine (also known as Tenex) Angela has been on it since 2 days before Atlanta, and she's a totally different child. There have been a few incidents at school, but NOTHING like last year where I was ready to throw in the towel and start homeschooling. (and believe me, I have to be desparate to get to that point!)

Anyway, Straterra didn't do much for Angela. It made her kind of sleepy for a couple of weeks (so it slowed her down, which was sorta-kinda good) but once the sleepiness wore off, her aggression was WORSE than before we tried it. Problem? One of the side affects of Straterra is aggition and anxiety. If you child is prone to anxiety, Straterra can make it worse.

Ok..I am not pulling a Tom Cruise here but I wanted to chime in. Alex was put on Ritalin in Elementary School, basically by the teachers who stated he seemed to have trouble focusing in class. When we moved into middle school, again the teachers kept telling me to get his dosage increased. And because of the behavioral forms the school filled out my pediatrician prescribed ritalin.

When it finally hit me, when the behaviors continued and were random ..it's not his lack of attention but the lack of modifications and his way of getting out of doing things was to zone out. I removed him from all meds about 1.5 years ago.

We set a very strict but thorough behavioral plan (thank you to my contact at the special ed office)

Now I know all kids are different and I am not against these meds when neccessary but I totally believe they blame everything on DS and are too quick to put kids on these meds.

I could kick myself for having him take them at all. I am hoping down the line medically they didn't harm him.

LOL Nicol, I would love for you to meet my Angela. We have the most extensive positive behavior plan I've ever seen....There is a very high incidence of psychiatric disorders among kids with DS. Angela is a pretty prime example of it.

Again, stimulants (like Ritalin) are NOT for kids with DS. They often make the problem worse!

I don't want this to turn to a debate about weather or not meds are good or bad for our kids. As you know, it is an EXTREMELY difficult decision to make as a parent, that doesn't need to be made more difficult by those who feel meds are just not for kids.

What is always interesting to me, is what an ADULT needs meds, it's no big deal. Why is it when a person becomes an adult, suddenly meds are OK? That adult was once a child who probably had the same problems either undiagnosed, or diagnosed and untreated.