JRA/Depression and ADD | Arthritis Information

I am a mom with a teen with JRA, Depression and ADD. She is having problems with her medicine for ADD. Took Adderall and then Concerta both cause Headaches and dizziness. Anyone dealing with this? I would appreciate any help. My daughter takes Enbrel injections, Lexapro for depression and we are looking for ADD medicine without the headaches. My daughter went from an "F" student to an "A+" student in one week! She doesn't want to go back to the way she was without the ADD medicine. She has gone through so much with everything else! Any input would be appreciated! Thank you, PatMy son was on concerta and adderall. The adderall caused a lot of problems and we went off of the meds last May. He is doing much better, but still struggles somewhat in school. He has now been diagnosed with Polyarticular JRA and we are in the process of deciding a treatment program. They want to put him on Methotrexate, but we are very concerned about all the side effects. Have you had any experience with this. How is the Enbrel working for your teen?

Audrey, My daughter is now taking 5ml of adderall instead of 10 and is doing much better. Her grades are still good and she made the honor roll. She took methotrexate but it made her feel "funny" so she is now on enbrel (2 yrs.) and she only has a small problem with her hand and if she over does it she might have a problem for a short while. It gives her much more energy than the methotrexate. she has poly jra also. When my daughter first went on mexthotrexate it was like a miracle, it was the first time that she felt good in a long time. But then she felt "funny" and so her dr. changed to enbrel. Having jra and add would be a bit much for anyone to handle but I am thankful that so far things are now going o.k. I wish your son well! Pat

Hi Pat,

I am new to Jra but an expert in ADD. I am a middle school teacher who has worked with hundreds of kids with it. I have it and so does my son. My close friend is a child psychiatrist who deals specifically with ADD.

My opinion is to take her off all ADD meds. Notice I said my opinion. Your child like mine has enough meds in their systems and enough to worry about. I would bet money that after a few months of taking her off the stimulants that you will also see the depression start to improve. See your doc about how to ween off the stimulants. You don't want to stop abruptly.

If stopping the ADD meds is definately not an option you should ask your doctor about switching to Straterra. It is not a stimulant and works on the brain in a different way. Another thing that might help is Flax seed oil. I have had many students including my son show improvement with this.

I hope this info is helpful

Teech738730.8287615741I am the mother of a son who is ADD, bipolar, nonverbal learning disorder and now juvenile spondyloarthritis...He is on Risperdal for the bipolar issue, on nothing for his severe ADD and Relafin for the arthritis. He complains that the ADD is worse, and I don't know if it is his arthritis...as Spondyloarthritis may cause this symptom...which was just diagnosed...BUT I was intruiged by the use of Flaxseed oil for ADD. I too did not want to introdyuce more meds into his system...I have also read that 20 milligrams of zinc used for 3 months in a clinical trial of young aduls substantially imporved concentration, ability to learn...I am thinking of trying that but I would certainly use flaxseed oil as it appears to be nontoxic...

Risperdal and relafin both can definately increase the lack of focus. 20 mg of zinc is not a high dose. I take 40 a day myself. Zinc gives me a noticeable feeling of well being, which in turn can help concentration. It is the only vitamin that I can actually feel working. Purchase the flax oil from a reputable health food store. The real stuff will be refrigerated and have a shelf life.

Has anyone heard of fruit juice called mangosteen? I know a guy who has Bursitis and swears that this stuff works. He gave me a bottle to try for my son. It does cost a bottle and only last 8 days. If it works at all it might be worth it.

Teech738697.6602777778

I wanted to let you know there is a supplement called "Attend" by a company called Vaxa. My non-JRA children have ADHD, and this has really helped them. We have used it over the past 10 years with great success. The company has some scientific information that explains how it works. Apparently they studied kids from several places in the world with ADD symptoms, and found they were missing micro nutrients. Attend supplies these. It works and there are no negative side effects. I hope this helps!

Becky

Fish oil has also been known to help.

Is there a link between JRA and depression?

My daughter is 13 with JRA (diagnosed at 11 months). Her JRA is fairly mild, compared to other stories, but none-the-less, impacts our lives. I look at all her doctor's visits, tests, surgeries compared to my other kids who don't have chronic illness. There is just no comparison.