Chest Pains

Nathan had tried a new medication at the end of the school year. It was an autism drug, but it was also a blood pressure medication. It really helped him a lot, to calm down and stay focused, and there were very few meltdowns. It seemed to have few bad effects on his behavior or personality, but it seemed to have two apparent side effects that frightened us. One was headaches. They weren't as bad or as frequent as when he was on the ADD medication. And it's possible the headaches were simply caused by overstimulation, and not the meds. He does seem to get them whether he is on the meds or not (though they were much worse and more frequent on the ADD meds). The other side effect had us scared half to death. He complained of chest pains. (The med is a blood pressure med, with the possibility of lowering his blood pressure too much.) Frightened, I called the doc and he was taken off all meds.

But then his behavior started to worsen. He was losing control at daycamp. He wasn't aggressive, thank goodness, but he was certainly out of control: silly, wild, almost drunk on overstimulation. Dh and I knew this would never fly at school. (Camp was definately struggling with his behavior, and they have far more patience with him than the school does. If he behaved like this at school, he'd be dragged out of the classroom, restrained, and sent home. ) But then we started to notice something else...

He was still getting the headaches. And the chest pains.

A month later, and he is still complaining about chest pains. Now I know this couldn't still be from the meds. Dh and I started to wonder if the chest pains were really chest pains at all. What if they were indigestion, or something of that nature? (I have an ulcer in my esophogus, as does my brother. My mother used to have a hiatal hernia, with terrible heartburn. It certainly runs in my side of the family.) We noticed that every time Nathan had complained about chest pains, it was right after eating. It was never after any kind of physical exertion or anything like that. And like I said earlier, he does get headaches when overstimulated, so they might not have been related to the drugs.

We called the psychiatrist, who gave him the meds, and asked if we should start him back on the other pills again, but this time monitor him very closely with a blood pressure machine, designed for kids. Being the cautious doc that he is, he wanted Nathan checked out first. I like that. I took him back to his pediatrician. While we still had a concern about the chest pains, we both had a pretty good idea what the real culprit behind the chest pains was.

I picked up Nathan from camp, and the camp counselor told me he had another good week! He had some struggles at times, but used a break, and he coped just fine. Yay! He even did well on this week's field trip. It was definately good news. I knew it was hard for Nathan, and much harder for the camp, but it was all working out.

(Too bad I can't take these people to the school, and have them show the IEP Team how to work with my son.)

We headed off to the doc. Sure enough, the doc said Nathan had reflux. He prescribed meds for that, wanting to wait and see the results of the meds were, before considering any other types of meds. Fine with me. And having serval weeks where Nathan is able to function successfully in a highly stimulating environment, completely without the aid of behavior influencing medications, will give me some ammo to use against the school when they tell me his isn't capable of dealing with the overstimulating environment of the school.

I don't know if meds will be the way to go. They may make it easier for him to learn, if they can help him control his impulsiveness without any major side effects, and without doing damage to his health in any other way. But I don't know if we would even be able to find that right combination. What if he is just too sensitive to meds, to give anything? And I sure as hell don't want to hurt his health, just to make the school happy.

I was hoping he would be able to deal with the huge group of kids at camp, and all their activity. But that's not going to be as easy as I hoped. I see him struggle, and I want so badly to help him, but I don't know the right way yet. I would consider meds, if they didn't effect him negatively, or downright hurt him. So far, we haven't found that yet. Poor little guy.

And I'm so proud of him! Without meds, he hasn't had any major meltdowns. He's trying to self regulate, and he's being cooperative when the staff steps in and encourages him to take a break (if Nathan's self regulation isn't enough). I imagine the staff is stepping in a lot, and is truly more responsisble for his success than Nathan's self control, but at least he's not resisting them as he has in the past. He's not spinning wildly out of control, to the point of nuclear meltdown. This is certainly better than last semester. He's trying to control himself! That's so wonderful!

I just wish everyday life didn't have to be such a struggle for him.