5yr old w/ ADHD, OCD, ODD and Anxiety

[Sue438]

My five year old son was diagnosed with ADHD, OCD, ODD and Anxiety last year after he was BAKER ACTED for saying he wanted to kill himself. They started and currently have him taking Zoloft 25mg and Metadate 10mg, they are not working. When he takes the two together whether at the same time or at separate hours he is worse off then when we started. It seems like they counter act each other. If I give him just the Zoloft, then he is fine, his anxiety is down and less violent, but climbs the walls and has to be given a benadryl to calm him down. If he is only given the Metadate then he is not as hyper, but very dangerous to be around when he "snaps". He was suppose to start Kindergarten this year, but because I don't feel he is safe to be around or even ready I have chosen to home school him instead. The psychiatric that he sees won't give him anything other than Zoloft and Metadate...though he did mention Ritalin (which from I read could make him more violent). I need to know of what other meds are out there that might help him so i can at least suggest them to the doctor at our next appointment.

[kindaworried24]

I am sorry to hear about your son. I have OCD as well, and I know it can be difficult. I have to say that I think you are doing a great job helping your son. It is always easier when you have people that love you around for support. I really think that your son will be ok. Unfortunantly, I really cannot give any advice on medication, but I wanted to give you some support.

Hope everything works out.

[jdtm]

I don't think that I can help much but do note that OCD and ODD are both anxiety disorders. Often children who suffer from extreme anxiety display ADHD symptoms, but in fact, do not have ADHD/ADD as severe anxiety can mimic this disorder.  It appears the Zoloft works - which is a SSRI used for anxiety disorders.  I googled the drug "Metadate" and it appears to function similar to Ritalin so I suppose there would not be any reason to change to this drug.

I'm wondering if there is more to this diagnosis than anxiety - has the doctors suggested anything else as a mood disorder?  Sometimes the diagnosis of ODD is given to "cover" for another disorder as some mood disorders are not "diagnosed" before certain age levels.  I might suggest you consider posting on the "Ask a Doc" forum to see if you can get a better or more accurate response.