Help!! What to do about meltdowns.. | Autism PDD
I would love to try SKylar on Adderall or Concerta, but he can't swallow pills. We have tried Ritalin because I could crush it up and give it to him with a spoonful of applesauce. Right now he is on Focalin XR, which is a capsule that I can break open and sprinkle the little beads onto his applesauce. I had asked his psychiatrist before about trying the Daytrana Patch, but he told me that it wasn't going to benefit Skylar at all. I would have him go ahead and switch to the Adderall XR, if I knew that giving it to him with applesauce, he wouldn't bite down on the pill.
Any suggestions as to how I can get a 4 year old to swallow a pill without biting into it??
SORRY to hear what you're going through...
I gather you must be talking about your youngest boy Mason. Handling meltdowns in ADHD kids and ASD kids may be different though they present similar tantrums...
But maybe you might want to try this when he meltdowns again... JUST HOLD ON TO HIM...HOLD HIM TIGHT to your body...NOT too tight that he feels choked... but firm enough to keep him from getting agressive with his arms and legs. He may swing them for a while...and look out for the head-butts...
After a while, he'll calm down... throughout the holding stance, keep talking to him... calling out his name... you may even sing a song... or hum a tune.... SCOLDING HIM NOW IS NOT GOING TO HELP !!! In fact it may exarcebate the tantrum.
Wait till he cools down. Get his feedback...."Do you want mommy to let go?" Keep on repeating...each time emphasizing that you'll only let go if stops his kicking and screaming....
WHEW !!! LET ME KNOW if it works.... It worked for my Daniel when he was 4-5 yrs old.... Now we RARELY get a full-blown temper tantrum...
ALL THE BEST.... and PRAY HARD....
P.S. Ooops!! Mason isn't the youngest...it's Skylar.. Mason was going through this when his psych put him on ritalin a few months ago...we tried it for little over a month before the dr decided it was probably him "coming down" from the med...she told me it wasn't worth the problems even though we were seeing some good during the day...so she switched his meds. I know thinking about another med change is hard, but if it is the meds doing this he can't keep going through this...I would definitely talk to his doctor...but some of the other suggestions are worth trying too! Good luck! Mandy Stimulents can cause the crash and burn effect you are describing when they wear off. I never found anything that really helped except to keep ds's environment as non stimulating as possible and to interact with him as little as possible until it passed. I don't have him on stimulents right now b/c he is way to mean on them. My ds takes other meds that work fairly well. Have you talked to your Dr. again? They tuned up my son's meds a little when this happened and it worked for a while. I've been told its not uncommen for our kids to react more to the stimulents. My dd who is VERY adhd, but not asd, is on adderall XR and she does not crash like this. If you're starting to cook dinner at the time of his meltdowns, I'd suspect a sensory reaction to cooking smells -- my son has a problem with cooking smells. Below is my list of meltdown resources, but it sounds like the problem is severe enough that you might want to consult a professional (I think they're called Behavioral Analysts?) http://www.jambav.com/modules/specialneeds/specialneeds.php? id=8 - Temper Tantrum Report (for documenting and analyzing meltdowns) http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=iv -ppiep&msg=2462.1& an article called "Thoughtful Response to Agitation, Escalation and Meltdowns in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders." http://www.isec2005.org.uk/isec/abstracts/papers_m/myles_b.s html - "The Cycle of Tantrums, Rage, and Meltdowns in Children and Youth with Asperger Syndrome, High-Functioning Autism, and Related Disabilities" which is an article by Professor Brenda Smith Myles, with a list of 7 strategies you can use in the rumbling stage (ie agitation and escalation towards a meltdown/rage). http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=16187&am p;am p;KW=inside+scoop - " 'Meltdowns': The inside scoop (or rant)" which is a popular topic on our forum started by Stickboy26. Good luck with everything. I am always glad to share the resources I've found, and I am so glad that they've worked out so well for you! mandyanthony Sounds to me like his meltdowns have more to do with him coming home form school stressed. Either School is not going well or he spends so much time concentrating and trying to learn that he comes home and blows off steam the only way he knows how. Try not coming directly home , but instead going to the park or some preferred environment, give him time to de stress and then bring him home. Don't make any big demands on him until he is your usual sweet boy. My son was coming home from school stressed last year and was not himself either. This year not so much, but sometimes all he needs is a half hour with a therapy ball or to poiund some play doh to take the edge off. Don't crush if it says not to, you'll release too much drug at one time. You can't crush Adderall ER. It may come in a short acting form, but it is sounding like the ups and downs of the short acting meds are becomming a problem for you. Risperdol helped my child a great deal. We started when he was age 6, raging constantly and basically non-functional. It is used frequently now in children with ASD and having issues. Risperdol comes in a liquid form too. "They" say it has a 24hr. effect and can be given once daily. My son does better with am & pm dosing. He also takes tenex to help with the activity part of the ADHD. Dear Mandy, I used to crush the pills when they were much younger, and over time they can swallow pills now-I'm so sorry to say I can't really remember how they transitioned to that-they just did, but they were probably a little older, more like 6 or so. I can fully relate to how hard it is with a child with ADHD so young and so severe, my dd was the same way. 
You don't know how big of a relief it is just to simply have someone else say that they are having the same problem. I don't feel so alone. Now if we can just get some input on this subject, that would be even better.
My son is having meltdowns also.. Not near as severe.. But Id like to hear some suggestions also!
can they help you figure out the trigger but show you step by step what
to do. We are trying Behavioral Therapy with our second therapist, and so far....no luck.
I can pretty much figure the stressors that causes these outburst, but they happen so quickly that there is way to stop him from going straight into Rage Mode.
The things that causes this for him, are the few things that he TRULY enjoy. If he makes a mistake and closes the browser on his computer, it sets him off like fireworks. And there have been many times that he goes off for no apparent reason at all. There has to be a happy medium somewhere, just have to find it.
THanks norway mom for the links- I too have been having meltdown problems with my ds and I just printed everything out- it looks really good!
This happens to my little guy EVERY afternoon of his life. He is taking Focalin XR for his ADHD and it starts to wear off between 3:30-4:00 pm, thats when it all begins.
He goes from sweet little angel to OMG WHO IS THIS CHILD!! Needless to say, I spend my afternoons in tears. He is so full of rage, throws back to back tantrums, screams at everyone, throws toys, flips over chairs and ottomans, slams doors and that is only the beginning. I have lost the ability to tell if its just the "coming down" from the meds, or if this is some other issue. We have simply tried everything. Nothing works, and it just can't be healthy for him, me or my poor furniture. Does anyone have any tips/tricks to help him get through this phase in the afternoons? Am I missing something? Any tips on ME getting through this? Before the adhd meds, he was taking Risperdal, but we didn't see any changes (but we were looking for changes in his hyperactivity), so his Psychiatrist pulled him off of that and tried Ritalin, which didn't last more that 2 hours, so we moved on to the Focalin XR, and during the day it is a blessing. At about 7pm he takes .1 mg of Clonodine, which within an hours time, knocks him out cold. He does sleep through the night with no problems 99% of the time. So I can't help but feel that these meltdowns are somehow related to the withdrawal of the stimulants, but without them I cannot even take him to the grocery store or to the Doctor's office.
Any suggestions??
Skylar's psychiatrist did put him back on the Risperdal a week ago, and it has worked wonders with my little man!!
We have had NO outburst or meltdowns in 9 days!
For all of those here that have posted about their child being on Risperdal, I want to thank you! I was simply at whits end. I did not know where to turn next, and then after reading here, I thought about his first round with the Risperdal and how it did not work, and realized it was because we were looking for it to CALM him. The Focalin XR took care of that, so by putting him back on the Risperdal, we took care of the outbursts.
My little guy has been soooo wonderful, I have been able to enjoy him more in the last 9 days than I have in a very long time.
I like to take my dd to the park or beach after school to help her blow off steam, it does seem to help. Best of luck.
You said he doesn't start school until late Aug. Is he home all day? My dd gets bored on the weekends around that time if we don't go out. I find that running them around alot at the park/beach in the AM helps to keep her a little more mellow in the PM.
I just don't understand the sudden change, although I welcome it with open arms.
Could the Risperdal have worked on him so quickly yesterday and made the major change in his attitude yesterday?
That would make total sense, except for the fact that he doesn't start school until August 27th. But at least this gives me a heads up on what to expect after school, and I will definately take your advice and try the park or something fun right after school to help him de-stress.
I would love to be able to avoid him and myself from going through the meltdowns after school, I do not want him to ever think that school is the reason he feels the way he does. So again, I will gladly take your advice after school does start.
The meltdowns have ALWAYS started in the afternoons, no matter what we had going on during the day. But like I said, we have had 3 awesome afternoons in a row.
KEEP EM' COMING SKYLAR!!
We have had three awesome days with NO meltdowns.
His psychiatrist put him back on the Risperdal yesterday, and I do have one question about it.
Within about 1 hours after giving him the Risperdal yesterday afternoon, I saw my little man transform. His speech slowed down a bit, and he just crawled up in my lap and loved on me for more than an hour. This is so unlike him, especially in the afternoon. Could it have been the medicine?
Whatever it may have been, I spent my afternoon with my sweet and loving little angel, the one that I knew was trapped inside that little body. It could not have been a better day. My heart just melts when I think about it.
I know with the Concerta it says on the bottle DO NOT CHEW OR CRUSH. But I don't know about the Adderall.
From what I understand Risperdal is supposed to help with the aggression, is this true??
I just put in a call to his psychiatrist to ask him about trying it again on top of the FocalinXR and the Clonodine that he takes at night to help him sleep.
I would like to think that after all that we have tried, that the Risperdal would actually work now, stopping the aggressiveness and rage spells that he has in the afternoon.
Will let you know how it goes. Thanks
NorwayMom, I just wanted to give you an update. The links that you posted in this thread about the tantrums...I have read over and over! I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, it has been 2 1/2 days with NOOOOO meltdowns!!
I used the tips on what to do at each of the stages (rumbling, rage etc.) and they do truly work. This is the longest time that we have ever went between meltdowns. They have always been a daily occurrence and even a few times during the day.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!
It sounds like he is really into the things he enjoys. The computer example sounds familiar. He is so into what he is doing on the computer that closing it out unexpectedly is overloading him. In other words, when he is on the computer, essentially his entire world is contained in whatever program he is using. When it suddenly cuts off, he doesn't have a secondary comfort zone to fall back on, and so the trigger is pulled. He has to regain his bearings before he can calm down.
If he is always doing this in the afternoons, you might want to pay attention to what he does while he is calm/perseverating. If you can figure out what games he plays and why he plays them, you might be able to more quickly restore order when he freaks out, because these tantrums are most likely happening because something does not go the way he expected it to, and he does not yet know how to compensate and get his senses back in order when it happens.
And the more you can do to prepare him for sudden activity/schedule/environmental changes, the more smoothly the transitions will go.
Copyright Autism-PDD.net