Sunday, December 13, 2009

The Strattera® Chronicles (part 2)

*WARNING: This will be a long blog entry as it contains a 10-day log of Joseph’s reactions to Strattera®.  It was started to identify any reactions he might have experienced.  I did not want to post it as a daily log.  I was going to wait the full 30-days, however I have found a 10-day log is still educational and will continue my 30-day log and will update every 10 days.*

Read about the first 10 days here.


Day Eleven
Joseph was picking on Sam and Joshua this morning.  Joshua was picking on Sam too.  We were busy packing to go home from Sedona.  We gave Joseph his medicine a bit early (picking on his brothers reminds us that he’s back.)  Afterwards he did pack up his things.  When they were done and had eaten we sent them out to play until we were ready to go.


Day Twelve
I was not home today (at work) so my experience was Joseph wasn’t working on his school work so I said we should give him his meds.  I asked Joe how the day went and he said after he took his medicine he stayed on task more.  Joseph did not finish a spelling assignment or a Literature assignment


Day Thirteen
Since I was at work again today, most of this is based on Joe’s assessment and my grading his schoolwork.  This morning was the same as yesterday.  Joe says after taking his medicine, he thinks it didn’t really make a difference.  He was off and on today when it came to doing his schoolwork.  He did not complete the Spelling assignment for today, however he finished the one from yesterday.  I cannot tell at this point if he completed the History Lesson.  I can see he worked on it, but I don’t know if he did the writing part as I don’t see it anywhere.  He completed yesterday’s Literature assignment, but not today’s.  We print out the weekly list so he knows where he falls behind and has to make up by the end of the week or work on Saturday.  I asked if Joseph did Math (his favorite subject) and Joe said he started it but then when it was too much he stopped working on it.  They did have fun with Science today studying motion.  In fact, they measured the weight of the centripetal force that an item created by attaching it to a scale.  That wasn’t part of the lesson, but they did it anyway.  He really enjoyed working on science.  He did not work on Art either. 


Day Fourteen
Joseph had difficulty staying on task and did not get enough work completed to account for a full day.  While he wasn’t able to get enough lessons done the last 2 days, he was able to get enough hours in.  He needs to make up hours he is behind so completing everything on his list is imperative.


Day Fifteen
It was as if Joseph didn’t take any medication today. He picked on his brothers whenever possible (chasing them around the house, doing things that would purposefully annoy them, etc.)  He didn’t stay focused on his work and didn’t get enough hours in to even account for a full day.  Today is the last day of the reduced medicine pill.  His pill today is equal to about ¾ of a full dosage.


Day Sixteen
Joseph had a hard time getting focused and getting work done, however once my parents called at 7pm to say they’d take the boys for the night, Joseph did get busy and got many assignments done in the next three hours before they got here.


Day Seventeen
Joseph was at my parent’s home most of the day so I am not sure what to report for him.  He told me he spent about an hour reading his book (for school.)  When I came home he was already home and acting normal like his brothers.  


Day Eighteen
I wonder if his Primary teacher noticed a difference in him today.  It’s getting near the end of the year.  He has difficulty with change and usually causes problems for his new teachers. 


Day Nineteen
Joseph had a great day today in regards to schoolwork.  He was able to complete multiple assignment and put in enough hours to help catch up on his hours.  I was at work so I was not able to observe his behavior.  I can only see the product.


Day Twenty
Today was like yesterday.  Lots done, I couldn’t observe his behavior.


Recap of the last 10 days:  It seems like the first part of the 10 days when he was on the 3/4 dosage that he didn't maintain focus on getting his schoolwork done, however when we switched to the full dosage he was more focused.  He's recently started reading more.  He's always been able to jump into a book and read, however now he is reading not to waste time but as something to do when he's done working.  I also found that since I was back on work I could not observe his behavior and therefore, had to rely on the observations of others or on merely what had been accomplished during the day.

No comments: