My 12 yr old son - I need help

[fox24]

My 12 year old has congenital heart defect, heart murmur AND sinus arrhythmia. He's been on Adderall XR since he was 5yrs old for severe ADHD. We recently moved and are now seeing a new doctor for his medications. She says due to all his heart issues, he needed to be taken off the Adderall XR and should NEVER have been on it to begin with. So long story-short, she lowered his dose from 45mg a day to 15mg's in 2 weeks. I believe he is having withdrawl now. He is very angry, violent, screaming fits, detentions for not following directions in class, defient, lying etc. I havn't seen him like this in a lOOOOOng time and im very upset. I checked into other medications he can take for ADHD and apparently he can't take any??? Does anyone know of any medications that can be taken by a child with heart problems??? I called his doctor and she says they can put him on Ritilan. I dont want him on THAT, and the internet says he can't take that one either. Why would she take him off something that actually worked for him and now we are miserable, and outa controle to put him on something else that will mess with his heart too? Doesn't make sence.
I appreciate any information please -I am at my wits end - - - thank you.

[fox24]

UUUUGH! It's been a week and a half and im gonna go crazy WITH my son. I dont like this plan of droppin him off the meds like this. I get calls everyday from the school, detentions, kicked outa classes, can't focus in class, etc. He's actually more impulsive towards me and his sister. I dont get all this. He has an appt on monday wish me luck.

[grendslori]

Keep us posted on how you are doing, fox, and definately go back and talk to his doctor. It doesn't seem right what you and he are both going through.

[fox24]

thanks for your insight. He had a birth defect where his main subclavian artery grew at the bottom of his heart instead of at the top. When he was 10 (almost 2 yrs ago) dr's went in and removed his main artery because for 10 yrs it coiled around his trachea and esophagus and was choking him. Now he has no pulse in his rt arm and has Subclavian Steel Syndrome. He's on strict restrictions for activities and gym etc. He was diagnosed with murmur 3/6 in December and Arrhythmia in April 09. Noone knows if it's stemming from the surgery or not. Im going to try and get his dr to put him back on the Adderall since he hasn't had problems with it since he started age 4 and half. We'll see what happens. Thanks again.

[grendslori]

The hard part here is that you are not saying  what type of CHD your son has. A heart murmur, unless caused by a large hole, isn't that important and a Sinus Arrhythmia is actually a normal type of arrhythmia. What type of CHD does your son have? I would go back and speak with this doctor and ask her EXACTLY why he cannot take this drug that was working. Heart problems can cause a mess when trying to find drugs to take. You have to consider that when you are reading about drugs on the internet, the individual patient is never considered. If a drug says: if you have heart disease you should not take this drug does not mean a person with a heart condition can not take it. The internet doesn't seperate one from the other. Also, many drugs can be taken if there is a drug to control the heart problem as well and if your son is taking heart medicines, that may be why the doctor says that he can take Ritilan. You are understandably very upset with all of this; go back and sit at that doctor's door and vent to her about how you feel about all of this. I'm guessing your son is seeing a pediatric cardiologist; they tend to understand a parents fears. Go vent.