Comments | saffster: Hormones and failure

saffster

Hormones and failure

Feb 04, 2007 11:12

My daughter has been having a hard time in school this year, particularly in honors math and honors language arts classes. She has ADD and OCD takes medicine for it, but the work has been piling up and now it is a roaring avalanche of paperwork that threatens to smother her until the end of this semester ( Read more... )

Comments 10

b3zsgirl February 4 2007, 17:55:32 UTC

Could the meds themselves need to be adjusted? If she has been taking the same type for several years and having body chemistry changes it may be that they are not working anymore.

I used to do the not try because guaranteed failure you could control; real failure you couldn't. It was completely a control issue for me.

saffster February 4 2007, 18:44:33 UTC

We have been in and out of the doctor's office and her ADD meds have been switched back to Ritalin LA twice a day. She was on the patch, and it seemed to work at first, but now it isn't. So she has to go back to twice a day dosing, which she hates because she doesn't want other kids to know she is taking a medicine.

Your right on the body chemistry changes causing this and it being a control issue. My daughter is very obstinate and controlling, and it has been worse this past year. Her moods fluctuate constantly since starting her period last year, and some days are tearful, others are barely "happy". Most often she is in the tearful, moody, "I'm not listening to anyone" phase.

When and how did you conquer the control issue during your teen years? I worry about my daughter failing and repeating grades, and I am at a loss on what to do for her. We have tried counseling, meds, behavioral therapy, heart to heart talks, taking away privileges....nothing seems to help.

b3zsgirl February 4 2007, 19:54:44 UTC

I did and I didn't. I did fail and have to go to summer school in Jr. High so that made me keep at least some level of performance not to have to do that again. I finally got it into my head, about my Jr. year that I would have more control over my life if I went to college. I therefore had to get my grades up and kinda kicked it into gear on my own. Though I never really got it under control totally. I still have control issues, and have to watch them.

My psych dr. makes me take a diuretic 7 days before and during that time of the month. I just get the 12 hour over the counter one. She says that excess water retention can be linked to mood, kind of a wet brain slowing down thought thing. It seems to help me so you may want to try that if you think that it happens with her cycle.

b3zsgirl February 5 2007, 23:22:08 UTC

Interesting idea about the diuretic, I will run that one by her psych at next visit.

Hopefully my daughter won't completely destroy her chances of graduation to even make it to college!

Thread 5

jzsfreak February 5 2007, 00:24:47 UTC

For what it's worth, I will always remember 7th grade as the worst year of my life. I never felt like I fit in, I was teased in school everyday (I was overweight and harassed REALLY bad), and I got to the point that I was so depressed that I asked my parents for counseling and they said no because they thought I was going through normal teenage stuff. I had suicidal thoughts and never wanted to wake up in the morning. I'd make every excuse not to go to school and I felt like I was in a black hole with no one there that understood. I'm sure part of it was hormones, and a bigger part was the way I was treated at school and the lack of love and support I felt from my family. I will say that 8th grade was definitely an improvement and by high school, everything was great and I had made a lot of friends. I think the one thing that I wished my parents would have done during that time was to make me feel beautiful inside and out and to show me acceptance and be people that I could talk to and they would actually listen. They brushed ( ... )

jzsfreak February 5 2007, 23:29:27 UTC

A lot of girls go through this during 7th grade, it seems to be one of the most painful experiences they can have.

I try to be there for her, but she shoves me away and hates me for trying to help her, but when I do not offer to help, she hates me even more. I am damned if I do and damned if I don't, and I have no idea how to help in a meaningful way if she never listens to us. She pushes us and pushes us until we explode and I know that isn't helping either!

iheartiheart February 5 2007, 18:23:22 UTC

This may be a crazy oversimplification, and feel free to say so... but, is she getting enough excersize? It tends to helps with anxiety, depression, mood swings, appetite, focus, skin blah blah blah.

iheartiheart February 5 2007, 18:23:57 UTC

ah-hem... excercise that is.... (monday morning spelling)

iheartiheart February 5 2007, 23:34:43 UTC

The only exercise she gets is at school or when she rides her bike here. She rarely has an interest in athletics, and because her ADD is so bad, we can't have her doing sports a lot, secondary to her needing extra time to finish assignments. When summer comes around, she does get more exercise because of no school, usually swimming and other outdoor stuff.

She loves to swim, so I might sign her up for the swim team when it is offered.