Re: Changes for the better at school

January 27, 2009

Wow that's great! Thanks for sharing!

--- <thecolemans4@...> wrote:

> Hi all-

> My 9yr old restarted meds in August. Homework (and

> all things school in general) has always been very

> taxing - very unpleasant, usually dissolving into

> frustration and anger after well over an hour of

> struggling to keep him on task.

> He seemed to be doing well enough that I wasn't

> really planning on treating him other than the SSRI

> and Tenex (for financial reasons and because his

> labs still looked good).

>

> Tonight (and maybe the last 2 weeks?), he sat

> leisurely on the couch, with plenty of distractions

> going on around him, comfortably focused on his

> math, doing a complicated worksheet, without having

> to be reminded to stay on task once. In at least 2

> weeks, he has barely protested starting his

> homework, we have not had one fight, and it has been

> no problem keeping him on task at all. What has

> been a nightly hell for as long as I can remember

> has suddenly become a great opportunity to spend

> time with him.

>

> And then I went thru his takehome folder. We just

> received a bunch of his tests. ... all A's except

> for 2 B's. He was a C & D student this and previous

> years (well he's only in 3rd grade so he's just

> starting to get grades, but comparable).

>

> I really just can't believe the transformation. We

> went thru a rough spell because he reacted badly to

> his allergy med (Allegra, and once before, Zyrtec)

> and he was very oppositional. The antifungal

> brought him out very early and made me decide to

> stick to having him on meds, because he was soooo

> much more agreeable - he even asked me a few weeks

> into the Nizoral: " Mommy, can I stay on this new

> medicine forever? It is so much easier to be good

> now " . (Then everything tanked when I requested to

> switch him to Allegra because of the low copay.)

> I'm thinking the few months that have passed on the

> antiviral and some minimal diet tweaking (he's cut

> back more on carbs and snacks now w/no trouble) is

> the only thing I can pinpoint that could possibly

> have done this!

>

> It's like he and his brother have swapped bodies.

> Now poor little brother has taken on all of the

> difficulties, and I need to figure out how to help

> him.

>

> Just wanted to share! (and rejoice)

>

May the Lord bless you and keep you!

Visit my blog

http://bloominwhereyourplanted.blogspot.com/

January 27, 2009

Woohoo!!!!

Excuse my French, but it just sucks that it boils down to $$ ;-( No kid

should have to suffer because what he/she needs costs too much.

SOOOOOO glad you shared your successes, though! I'm so happy for you!

We, too, experienced a BIG shift in my son's ability to focus and attend

when his Tenex was increased last November (however, previous attempts to

increase it were not successful and made him a whiny/screeching/crying

mess).

Kristy

From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of

Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 7:33 PM

; Charisse Jennings

Subject: Changes for the better at school

Hi all-

My 9yr old restarted meds in August. Homework (and all things school in

general) has always been very taxing - very unpleasant, usually dissolving

into frustration and anger after well over an hour of struggling to keep him

on task.

He seemed to be doing well enough that I wasn't really planning on treating

him other than the SSRI and Tenex (for financial reasons and because his

labs still looked good).

Tonight (and maybe the last 2 weeks?), he sat leisurely on the couch, with

plenty of distractions going on around him, comfortably focused on his math,

doing a complicated worksheet, without having to be reminded to stay on task

once. In at least 2 weeks, he has barely protested starting his homework,

we have not had one fight, and it has been no problem keeping him on task at

all. What has been a nightly hell for as long as I can remember has

suddenly become a great opportunity to spend time with him.

And then I went thru his takehome folder. We just received a bunch of his

tests. ... all A's except for 2 B's. He was a C & D student this and

previous years (well he's only in 3rd grade so he's just starting to get

grades, but comparable).

I really just can't believe the transformation. We went thru a rough spell

because he reacted badly to his allergy med (Allegra, and once before,

Zyrtec) and he was very oppositional. The antifungal brought him out very

early and made me decide to stick to having him on meds, because he was

soooo much more agreeable - he even asked me a few weeks into the Nizoral:

" Mommy, can I stay on this new medicine forever? It is so much easier to be

good now " . (Then everything tanked when I requested to switch him to

Allegra because of the low copay.) I'm thinking the few months that have

passed on the antiviral and some minimal diet tweaking (he's cut back more

on carbs and snacks now w/no trouble) is the only thing I can pinpoint that

could possibly have done this!

It's like he and his brother have swapped bodies. Now poor little brother

has taken on all of the difficulties, and I need to figure out how to help

him.

Just wanted to share! (and rejoice)

January 28, 2009

How much Tenex are you giving? I recently reduced my son's Tenex to 1/2 pill in

the a.m. and 1/2 pill in the pm. I'm wondering if that was a mistake; he's very

stimmy and agitated. We just ended a very brief trial with Strattera (3 days)

because he wasn't sleeping at all.

Just curious what your magic dosage is?

TIA,

Robyn

> From: Kristy Nardini <knardini@...>

> Subject: RE: Changes for the better at school

>

> Date: Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 8:43 PM

> Woohoo!!!!

>

> Excuse my French, but it just sucks that it boils down to

> $$ ;-( No kid

> should have to suffer because what he/she needs costs too

> much.

>

> SOOOOOO glad you shared your successes, though! I'm so

> happy for you!

>

> We, too, experienced a BIG shift in my son's ability to

> focus and attend

> when his Tenex was increased last November (however,

> previous attempts to

> increase it were not successful and made him a

> whiny/screeching/crying

> mess).

>

> Kristy

>

> From: [mailto: ] On

> Behalf Of

>

> Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 7:33 PM

> ; Charisse Jennings

> Subject: Changes for the better at school

>

> Hi all-

> My 9yr old restarted meds in August. Homework (and all

> things school in

> general) has always been very taxing - very unpleasant,

> usually dissolving

> into frustration and anger after well over an hour of

> struggling to keep him

> on task.

> He seemed to be doing well enough that I wasn't really

> planning on treating

> him other than the SSRI and Tenex (for financial reasons

> and because his

> labs still looked good).

>

> Tonight (and maybe the last 2 weeks?), he sat leisurely on

> the couch, with

> plenty of distractions going on around him, comfortably

> focused on his math,

> doing a complicated worksheet, without having to be

> reminded to stay on task

> once. In at least 2 weeks, he has barely protested

> starting his homework,

> we have not had one fight, and it has been no problem

> keeping him on task at

> all. What has been a nightly hell for as long as I can

> remember has

> suddenly become a great opportunity to spend time with him.

>

> And then I went thru his takehome folder. We just received

> a bunch of his

> tests. ... all A's except for 2 B's. He was a C

> & D student this and

> previous years (well he's only in 3rd grade so he's

> just starting to get

> grades, but comparable).

>

> I really just can't believe the transformation. We

> went thru a rough spell

> because he reacted badly to his allergy med (Allegra, and

> once before,

> Zyrtec) and he was very oppositional. The antifungal

> brought him out very

> early and made me decide to stick to having him on meds,

> because he was

> soooo much more agreeable - he even asked me a few weeks

> into the Nizoral:

> " Mommy, can I stay on this new medicine forever? It

> is so much easier to be

> good now " . (Then everything tanked when I requested

> to switch him to

> Allegra because of the low copay.) I'm thinking the

> few months that have

> passed on the antiviral and some minimal diet tweaking

> (he's cut back more

> on carbs and snacks now w/no trouble) is the only thing I

> can pinpoint that

> could possibly have done this!

>

> It's like he and his brother have swapped bodies. Now

> poor little brother

> has taken on all of the difficulties, and I need to figure

> out how to help

> him.

>

> Just wanted to share! (and rejoice)

>

January 28, 2009

Hey Robyn,

Re the Tenex, I'll give you the details on that, but it isn't the Tenex that has

brought about this change (I don't think) because he has been on it for at least

a year or more, maybe two. He is 9, weighs 60 lbs, and right now is only taking

1 mg at night. He can't take it in the a.m.... it makes him sleepy at school.

He has also been taking 1/2 of a 25 mg Zolft for a long time too (can't get the

dose up, don't want to switch around just yet after the last trial of Paxil

failed).

I am certain that it's the Nizoral and the Famvir and a few months for it all to

kick in. The diet has gotten a little cleaner, and he doesn't beg for cookies or

candy anymore like he used to (the lovely benefit of antifungals). The Nizoral

brought incredible gains in his mood, but I think the timing of this suggests

the antivirals are having a positive effect. Really, I think it's a combination

of a lot of things, but no matter how well things have been going, no matter how

clean the diet, no matter how little tv or how much fun-time or the happiness we

had going, he was never able to sit down and focus on his homework without

constant redirection every minute, or without having to detail every step and

read every problem with him. At any distraction, his attention focused to it,

and he'd yell if anyone spoke or made a sound, saying we were distracting him.

To see him lounging back with his books in his lap, doing his work while we move

about and talk and his brother chatters, and the house is noisy and active etc,

is just nothing short of extraordinary.

I don't mean that he doesn't need any help ... but wow. I can say I didn't

expect to see the day. (I'm on the antivirals and antifungals as well as

doxycycline too, and my focus at work has exceeded where I've been over the last

few years by far lately with the undertreatment I was getting for the 3+ years

before.)

I don't mean that kids can't improve without the meds - they can, and they do

with just the SSRI and diet control in many cases. But this has been so worth

it! And here he is 9, and he can make such progress.

Thanks for listening,

________________________________

From: Robyn & Greg Coggins <rngcoggs@...>

Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 5:56:12 PM

Subject: RE: Changes for the better at school

How much Tenex are you giving? I recently reduced my son's Tenex to 1/2 pill in

the a.m. and 1/2 pill in the pm. I'm wondering if that was a mistake; he's very

stimmy and agitated. We just ended a very brief trial with Strattera (3 days)

because he wasn't sleeping at all.

Just curious what your magic dosage is?

TIA,

Robyn

> From: Kristy Nardini <knardini@roadrunner .com>

> Subject: RE: Changes for the better at school

> groups (DOT) com

> Date: Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 8:43 PM

> Woohoo!!!!

>

> Excuse my French, but it just sucks that it boils down to

> $$ ;-( No kid

> should have to suffer because what he/she needs costs too

> much.

>

> SOOOOOO glad you shared your successes, though! I'm so

> happy for you!

>

> We, too, experienced a BIG shift in my son's ability to

> focus and attend

> when his Tenex was increased last November (however,

> previous attempts to

> increase it were not successful and made him a

> whiny/screeching/ crying

> mess).

>

> Kristy

>

> From: groups (DOT) com [mailto:groups (DOT) com] On

> Behalf Of

>

> Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 7:33 PM

> ; Charisse Jennings

> Subject: Changes for the better at school

>

> Hi all-

> My 9yr old restarted meds in August. Homework (and all

> things school in

> general) has always been very taxing - very unpleasant,

> usually dissolving

> into frustration and anger after well over an hour of

> struggling to keep him

> on task.

> He seemed to be doing well enough that I wasn't really

> planning on treating

> him other than the SSRI and Tenex (for financial reasons

> and because his

> labs still looked good).

>

> Tonight (and maybe the last 2 weeks?), he sat leisurely on

> the couch, with

> plenty of distractions going on around him, comfortably

> focused on his math,

> doing a complicated worksheet, without having to be

> reminded to stay on task

> once. In at least 2 weeks, he has barely protested

> starting his homework,

> we have not had one fight, and it has been no problem

> keeping him on task at

> all. What has been a nightly hell for as long as I can

> remember has

> suddenly become a great opportunity to spend time with him.

>

> And then I went thru his takehome folder. We just received

> a bunch of his

> tests. ... all A's except for 2 B's. He was a C

> & D student this and

> previous years (well he's only in 3rd grade so he's

> just starting to get

> grades, but comparable).

>

> I really just can't believe the transformation. We

> went thru a rough spell

> because he reacted badly to his allergy med (Allegra, and

> once before,

> Zyrtec) and he was very oppositional. The antifungal

> brought him out very

> early and made me decide to stick to having him on meds,

> because he was

> soooo much more agreeable - he even asked me a few weeks

> into the Nizoral:

> " Mommy, can I stay on this new medicine forever? It

> is so much easier to be

> good now " . (Then everything tanked when I requested

> to switch him to

> Allegra because of the low copay.) I'm thinking the

> few months that have

> passed on the antiviral and some minimal diet tweaking

> (he's cut back more

> on carbs and snacks now w/no trouble) is the only thing I

> can pinpoint that

> could possibly have done this!

>

> It's like he and his brother have swapped bodies. Now

> poor little brother

> has taken on all of the difficulties, and I need to figure

> out how to help

> him.

>

> Just wanted to share! (and rejoice)

>

January 29, 2009

,

We have seen similar changes recently (Connor is ten). Although we are not on

the exact same meds, (we have started imunovir) I have read from other parents

that hormone changes can be helpful and I remember some of my older siblings

outgrowing environmental allergies at about this age. Have any other parents

seen focus improvements at 9-11 that can not be attributed to med or therapy

changes? Is it possible that at ten some of these kids become less susceptible

to food allergies?

Bill

________________________________

From: <thecolemans4@...>

Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 9:35:32 PM

Subject: Re: Changes for the better at school

Hey Robyn,

Re the Tenex, I'll give you the details on that, but it isn't the Tenex that has

brought about this change (I don't think) because he has been on it for at least

a year or more, maybe two. He is 9, weighs 60 lbs, and right now is only taking

1 mg at night. He can't take it in the a.m.... it makes him sleepy at school.

He has also been taking 1/2 of a 25 mg Zolft for a long time too (can't get the

dose up, don't want to switch around just yet after the last trial of Paxil

failed).

I am certain that it's the Nizoral and the Famvir and a few months for it all to

kick in. The diet has gotten a little cleaner, and he doesn't beg for cookies or

candy anymore like he used to (the lovely benefit of antifungals) . The Nizoral