Medication and impulse control

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I've spoken before about how great Eldest's teacher is, but it's reaching the point that even she is having a hard time dealing with him. He literally CANNOT stop calling out and interrupting. More and more, he's flatly refusing to do his school work, and bursting into tears when he's called on this.

She genuinely likes him, a lot, but it's clear that she's getting really, really frustrated with his behavior issues.

We've reached the point of wondering if medication might help.

All we want is for him to be happy, and able to perform to the best of his abilities. But Eldest is doing these things, and then is genuinely unable to explain the WHY of it. Calling out is a fine example; he knows that he's not supposed to do it, but he cannot help himself. He's unhappy, he's starting to convince himself that he's a "bad kid", and I've mentioned previously that this is impacting his relationship with his peers, as well.

Medication is not THE answer, I know that. Or even AN answer; it's a PART of an answer, at best. But if it'll help him, even a little, then it's worth trying.

I hate seeing him this unhappy, and I know that he doesn't like the things that he does. Things seem to be getting worse, and next year is not going to be one whit easier for him.

I will readily admit that I know next to nothing about this subject, and that I need to educate myself. But if there's anyone here who's had experiences with medication and impulsive behavior, be it good or bad, I'd appreciate hearing it.

if the impulsive behavior is related to ADHD, methylphenidate can help. other drugs that may help with impulsivity are lithium, valproate, and carbamazepine. all these drugs have side effects. you can check them out on WebMD.

My son has such good attention skills, that I didn't realize how much his hyper/impulsive behaviors were affecting school. He has only been on medication for about a year. We are using a non-stimulant medication - KapVay or extended time release clonidine (?) and have had good results. My son reports it is easier to hold his hand up and wait. He doesn't bug others with his constant movement. He noticed the most dramatic improvement in reading and writing tasks. Side effects - sleepy in the morning, so we take it the night before. The psychiatrist didn't want to use a stimulant, because his anxiety was already through the roof and she didn't want to exacerbate it with a stimulant med.

That's our story, but each kid is different.

DS7 is really helped by the meds he takes. The improvement in focus is the most noticeable, but I do think his impulse control is better, too. The good news about stimulants is that they are out of the body quickly if there are unacceptable side effects. At the right dose they do not change the core personality.

He takes both a stimulant and a non-stimulant. We did see a personality change when the non stimulant was too high. He became spacey and slow moving. Once we reduced the dose, he was himself again.

[Back to add some more detail]
The improvement from the stimulant is the most obvious because we can literally see it take effect and wear off -- he just seems to lose the urge to go jump on the couch within 20 minutes after taking it in the morning, and the jumping urge returns around 4pm. The non-stimulant takes about 3 days to build up or clear out of his system (we've gone from 0 to 1mg twice, and from 1mg to 2mg twice, and back down). Shortly after he began the non-stimulant, we went to Costco and realized he didn't run away once. He hasn't been completely off it for over a year now, so it's hard to say what his impulse control would be like now without it.

DS's doctor takes a "low and slow" approach, so it took about 4 months to reach a dose that made a dramatic difference, and about 9 months of trial and error to find the optimal combination and dosage of meds.

He's also taking a low dose of Risperidone. We original tried it when the 2mg of the non-stimulant was unacceptable, hoping to reduce his very aggressive behavior at school. It didn't do much for the aggression, but it made a dramatic reduction in his perseveration (I didn't realize just how bad it was until it went away) so we kept it.

Ultimately, we had to take him out of public school and pay privately for a non-public school for kids with AS. The way they have the school set up, with lots of breaks and a behavioral program used for all the kids (earning and losing "preferred time") is working like a charm for him. He comes home with glowing reports every day. The director mentioned there was one child there with ADHD who the parents choose not to medicate, and DS tells me that kid gets more "quiet minutes" than anyone else there. DS's doctor wants to try reducing the Risperidone and possibly the non-stimulant now that school is going so well.

My son uses a 10mg Daytana patch every day and it helps tremendously with reducing his hyperactivity. It slows his impulsiveness, but does not stop it. His sensory issues become less seeking and more avoiding though. He becomes possible to work with for teachers and such on it. He also only kicks/throws toys without it, but with it he enjoys sorting them, which is progress in my opinion if not everyone's.

This is very individual for the child, but this is what has helped for us.

The parenting forums at http://www.addforums.com are a good place to read about other parents experiences with meds.