Is this a real problem?

Question

My daughter started taking Ritalin for ADHD two years ago, and seeing a psychiatrist regularly. Since then, she's become irritable, suspicious, dumped her boyfriend who loves her, continually angry with me, and blames me for all kinds of problems she doesn't even have! She's 26 and lives 3,000 miles away so I have little oppportunity to do anything to correct this. She doesn't even communicate any longer except for occasional long angry emails, and won't answer the phone when I call her.

She used to be a sweet (if slightly ditzy) wonderful girl whom I always treated as if she were a little angel. You could say she was spoiled because she got anything she wanted, but she never behaved badly at all and never asked for very much. She was and is beautiful, an outstanding student and athlete.

Is this common? Should I just go away because I didn't get her medicated sooner or let her run the streets like she says I should have?

Answer 1

I hope it's not the reason but she is at the age where schizophrenia symptoms usually appear. If I were you I would send a letter to her psychiatrist telling her or him what you've observed. Sadly, as you said, there is probably little you can do given her age and location. Best wishes...

Answer 2

sounds like she is on more than Ritalin. I hope she is still under a Dr's care. Be nice to her and see if she will tell her if she is on any new meds. sometimes Dr's prescribe new meds without discontinuing the old ones, the different meds could be fighting in her head causing her to be irrational. or she could be having side effects from 1 particular med.
since you live so far away you will have to rely on her to tell you, but if your not accusing/fighting and just conversing with her she may tell you.
she either has some mental issues going on or is into drugs.
Don't give up on her, you may be her only lifeline since she is alienating everyone around her. To be her mom and support her emotionally is not enabling!
Is there anyway you could take a trip and visit her? You never know she may have quit seeing her Dr. and needs too!
Good luck to you and god bless
do not blame yourself for not medicating her sooner, this has nothing to do with it, because she was doing OK and had a great boyfriend, something else has changed

Answer 3

I have a son 22 years old has ADHD since early childhood, he took Ritalin and several other meds. He didn't like them. He said they made him calmer but otherwise didn't help. He now takes Stratera and says it's like turning off the ADHD. He is not without problems but is doing much better as long as he takes the medication. He recently graduated from Junior College. My drug book lists a lot of side effects from Ritalin as it is similar to amphetamines . I think more information is always better. Maybe you could just send her by e-mail or the old fashioned way whatever you can find that might help.

Answer 4

My son took Ritalin for awhile too, and it brought out mood swings, aggressiveness, anger, and irritability. He stopped it himself as he realized he didn't like the side effects either. There are other drugs out there for ADHD. My son is now on Adderall XR and he's much calmer. Ritalin turned him into a mini-devil. I strongly feel your daughter is getting her personality problems from her meds. And who says this doctor she's seeing is any good? I went to a psychiatrist once and he got me addicted to tranquilizers, which I had the strength of personality to wean myself off of, but I learned a valuable lesson. Just because someone has MD after their name, doesn't guarantee they're any good!

Those with ADHD also have a very high incidence of developing either bi-polar disorder or depression. Your daughter sounds borderline bi-polar to me. I don't know, but if there's any way you could investigate the track record of that shrink she's seeing, I'd check it out. I don't think he's doing a very good job of guiding her. Something is really wrong! Good luck!

Answer 5

Wow. Do you know anyone that lives where she does? Does the boyfriend have contact with you? I'm wondering why she seems to have "gone off the deep end" . . . . Has she every been diagnosed with bipolar? Unfortunately, at her age and with her living so far away from you, there is not much you can do. Are you able to get in touch with her psychiatrist and let him know that you are concerned about her?

I have a 15 y.o. son with psychological problems. It's so hard not to question what you've done or not done, however, at some point it becomes HER life and HER choices. I'll pray for you to have peace of mind about your daughter and I'll pray for her safety and for the softening of her heart.

Answer 6

I am sorry to ask you this but do you think she is possibly using drugs??? I too am a mother. I too have a daughter of whom is spoiled, had anything she wanted and she does not act like this towards me. I think she is running you all off for a reason. I believe if this was my daughter I would have to sneak there and check it out with my own eyes. I wish you the best. Does not sound like a good thing. This is a pattern she is following for drug use. She may be A.D.H.D. and taking Ritalin, but this is to help her, not to make her act crazy. I am so sorry for your daughter.

Answer 7

Now I'm not trying to make you think of the worse but she could be experimenting with drugs. Don't jump to this conclusion but lots of drugs have these exact symptoms. If you can have her take a drug test of some sorts. Don't try to force her just say that you feel she might be doing things that make you worried and you want to make sure that your fears are just thoughts. Don't try to force her into anything. If she yells at you for something the best thing to say is "I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you mad it's just that I want to help because I love you." She should be fine if you show that you care and you aren't doing it to simply make her angry.

Answer 8

Well I've gotta say that starting Ritalin at that age would have a serious negative affect. It is a drug still, from what I've seen and experienced myself the label of kiddy cocaine is pretty accurate, and reading the description you've given there's some definite drug addict attitude seemingly there.

Answer 9

Ritalin is a drug that will effect your behavior. I'm by no means an expert on brain chemistry and mood altering drugs, but it is real. If you are concerned, it's probably for a good reason.

YA is probably not the best place to get answers on this subject, I'm afraid...

Answer 10

well Ritalin is a stimulant and can cause all of the side affects that you are stating my best guess is she needs to see a new Dr or get on some other type of medication... Ritalin is very bad when i used to be on it i would have horrible mood swings and alot of paranoia and it obviously isn't the right medication for her..