Growing up: Going off Intuniv

It has been a good minute since I've talked about this guy.
He is so precious to his Dad and I, but my goodness, the things

we have had learn since he joined our family.

He has easily been our most challenging.

The one who brought the most tears and frustration to the table.

The one who struggled the most in our homeschool.

When we had him evaluated several years ago for learning differences,

it was a relief to learn that all we were dealing with

was ADHD - Combined.
I did a lot of research and came up with all kinds

of issues we could "possibly" be working with,

but thankfully, it wasn't as big a deal as I feared.
I cavalierly thought we could manage his emotional outbursts

and terribly aggravating impulsivity issues by ourselves,

with our "magnificent" parenting techniques.
We tried so many things to bring peace to our household,

and to his inner anxieties without medication.
It was just too much with 5 other kids (the oldest with

ADHD - Type 1, and another with Type 1 Diabetes)

to handle on our own.

We researched and prayed, and decided to try a non-stimulant

ADHD medication called Intuniv.
You can read about our journey with this here.
What a terrific tool this was for our family and for our son.

He was on this medication for several years and did so well on it

that I began wondering if it was time to take him off of it.
You can read about that journey in the links above.
He just wasn't ready for it.
But he's 16 now.

He is much more mature and has had clearly better brain development

to take another look at getting off of it for good.

He sleeps much better now, and is focusing so well on his school work

that we've seen a dramatic improvement in his output.

He is much more confident in social settings,
and was even able to talk to complete strangers on a flight this summer

during our missions trip and to lead them to Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Talk about victory!!

Talk about Mama tears!!

So this summer we had a conversation with him.

I pointed out all the good strides he has made over the last couple of years,

and asked him if would consider going off of it.

He agreed.

We visited with the pediatrician several weeks later who eagerly

approved our endeavor to get him off.

We kept the leftover that we had just in case he felt he needed

to wean off slowly, but there was no need.

He went off cold-turkey with absolutely no problem.

No disruption in his sleep.

No disruption in his ability to focus on schoolwork when necessary.

We have had to remind him that his behavior

reaches annoying levels sometimes,

but he very compliantly makes the adjustment and we move on!

I am happy to announce that this marks the end of an era for our family.

No more posts on Intuniv.

It is finished.

That part of the battle is over.

And we thank God for what He is doing in this young man's heart!!

God has driven us to our knees more times than I can count begging

for wisdom in how to guide, correct, and teach our son,

and He has done marvelous things in our eyes!!!

.....and even MORE answers!!!

Here is my boy-of-all-boys!! Pardon me if I'm biased, but since birth I've thought he was a gorgeous boy!!! I'm not sure exactly how he ended up with such lovely chocolate brown eyes, but they get me every time he looks at me!! This is my high-wired, high energy guy who is as equally highly emotional! He is certainly all boy and climbs on everything. He wakes up running and jumping, and loves to play outside. He likes to play with cars, and figurines, and play games on the computer. He likes to watch TV, and he eats a LOT!!! He does not like schoolwork of ANY kind, and he does not like raw veggies of any sort either. He is so very gentle and tender with babies though, and always LOVES holding any new sibling that joins our family. He is not afraid of holding babies, and loves to kiss them and play with them too. Here you see how happy he was that baby Aryn fell asleep while he was snuggling her! He ate this up!!!
But his daddy and I have struggled so much with him for such a long time in so many different areas. He has always been much more easily angered, screams more, and cries WAY more than ANY of his 4 sisters did/do. You can't tell me that boys are easier than girls, because I just might slap ya!! EVERYTHING is a fight with him. It has taken us a long time to figure out that you have to remember (along with all the other gazillion things you have to do everyday) to give Grant some warning before switching activities or you can just plan on a big 'ol blow-up. Every time. Oh, and if you get the blow-up, which you will, don't expect a spanking to be the answer. No matter how cooled off, in control, unangered you are. We've tried. Many times. It only makes things worse. It takes an enormous amount of time, but what does work is to completely separate him from the issue, and let him cool down in his room.....alone. Then, once he's calm, you can correct his behavior with some instruction and removal of something really important to him......i.e. computer time. So does grounding from playing outside and having to stay in his room. But even so, he still has daily struggles with anger, and usually ends up screaming over something and crying. I've gotten to the point where I started when the crying is going to stop? He's 7....SEVEN!! My five-year-old GIRL doesn't cry as much as he does. And now that he's school age, the frustrations are worse. He NEVER has sat down calmly at the table when I ask him to. Never. It's always a big-ol' emotional fit throwing circus which finally ends up with him dropping hard into the chair and slamming his hands on the table. But once I start to rub his back and show him that his work will be easy for him, he will calm down and get it done. Now, I do have to set a timer or show him he only has 2 or 3 pages of things to finish and then he wants a break.
And then, there's the tick. He used to squint both eyes sometimes, and when I asked his pediatrician about it, he chalked it up to just a thing that kids have sometimes.
Well, now it's just his right eye. Whenever he is in any situation that is even the tiniest bit uncomfortable for him, his eye is a winkin'. Whether he's sitting alone with his tutor, or standing on stage with his little choir in church.....he's a winkin'!!



There are many other things that have struck us as a little unusual too, so I decided I needed to rule out my worst fears and confirm my suspicions. So Grant was seen by the D.O. at the Child Study Center this past Friday, the day after his older sister was seen. I gave the doctor an extensive history of things that have concerned us, and he tested Grant on his academic ability as well examining him for any anxiety and depression issues. They did a physical on him as well to rule out any physical problems that could be contributing to his troubles. And what he found was this: Straight up ADHD (as opposed to the Inattentive ADHD like his sister) which I was pretty sure of anyway. He also said that he showed high levels of anxiety. Not crippling levels, but higher than normal. No depression. No autism spectrum disorders, and no physical/genetic diseases or handicaps. He also said that he looks to be a "slow learner." Not learning disabled, just "slower". So, in a nutshell, we're looking at a precious boy who has many anxieties about things, much of which being because he struggles being able to learn quickly and to interpret and conceptualize what is going on around him. So things worry him, which cause him the upset stomachs, the crying, the anger. The doctor did not want to recommend medication for him because of his higher anxiety levels. He didn't want to see the medication exaccerbate his anxiety into depressive/suicidal thoughts. But he DID recommend counseling for Grant. To help him learn how to understand what he was feeling and why and how to work through those things in a calmer, more constructive manner. The doctor also suggested we get more comprehensive educational testing from our public school district to determine exactly what he needed educationally. Hmmmmm.......have to think through all this!!!