Need some direction...

I'm not really sure if this is the right spot to post this, but ADHD is the one thing my daughter has been diagnosed with....so I'll start here.
I'm a little concerned about my daughter. I don't know how much is normal age appropriate behavior, how much may be related to life experiences she's had so far, and how much may be ADHD.
Let me start with the basics. She is 10 years old, very sweet, active, a good girl. I started noticing some ADHD tendencies in kindergarten, but she wasn't diagnosed for awhile because she's not your typical, can't sit still, hyperactive ADHD kid. She's inattentive, she's the girl who will be staring out the window wondering about the birds and butterflies when she’s supposed to be taking a test. She’s always losing things, forgetting her homework, flute, etc. We started her on Adderall, then changed to Vyvanse. We stopped the meds this school year, because she felt funny on them and asked if we could try without. She has been doing really well (A’s and B’s), we do a lot of charts, reminders, etc to help keep her on track and they do seem to help.
So, that’s a little background…but now I’m wondering if something else is going on….maybe she doesn’t have ADHD at all. She has a lot of anxiety, this is something I’ve noticed for as long as I can remember, but it has gotten much worse over the last year. Her father did pass away a little over a year ago, so I’m sure that plays into this too. She did not live with him, but did see him 1 or 2 times/week. She has become super attached to me, which is to be expected to some degree. She has to tell me goodbye multiple times if I’m leaving for work and will stand at the window and wait for me to get home. She gets very upset if I’m going to be gone for anything unexpected or if I’m 10 minutes late coming home from work. Her anxiety does trickle down to all facets of her life. If we’re late for dance class or if she forgets to do a homework assignment, she has a meltdown. If she thinks she’s in trouble for something, she gets all upset. It’s almost like she’s trying to be 100% perfect.
There are some other things that go along with all of this. She cannot stand loud noise, she gets “headaches” and has to cover her ears. But, this doesn’t stop her from loving ballet where she can listen to the classical music and dance. She has no problem being on stage for productions or even auditioning…as long as there is classical music. She actually decided to stop playing the flute because the noise from the other instruments gave her headaches.
She’s also very obsessed with routines. She gets really upset when things do not go according the plan or are off from what we normally do. This doesn’t usually cause a huge meltdown, but enough to be disruptive.
The other thing she has done her entire life is become fixated on things. She will go through phases, which I know is normal to a degree, but she is intense about it. It has been anything from Wizard of Oz to Disney World. For example, right now she is very into Back to the Future and Michael J Fox. She watches the movies constantly and can recite all of the lines. She can also tell you anything you want to know about Michael J Fox, date of birth, shows he’s been on, health issues, etc. I went to her class yesterday and I saw her trying to talk to some of the kids about it and they just roll their eyes…even the teacher came over and said to me that they’ve had to ask her to stop talking about him or the movie.
She does have friends and is social…a little awkward at times, but not sure it’s totally out of the ordinary.
So…I didn’t expect this to be this long…just have some concerns that she might need to go back on the medication or it’s not just ADHD at all. I’m concerned about an anxiety disorder, OCD, or something else…any insight or help you can offer would be greatly appreciated!!

denily wrote:I started noticing some ADHD tendencies in kindergarten, but she wasn't diagnosed for awhile because she's not your typical, can't sit still, hyperactive ADHD kid. She's inattentive, she's the girl who will be staring out the window wondering about the birds and butterflies when she’s supposed to be taking a test.

She sounds like a typical case to me. Most young girls with ADD are like this (maybe it's the lack of testosterone; not sure), and teachers prefer it because they're quiet and don't disrupt class.

denily wrote:She gets very upset if I’m going to be gone for anything unexpected or if I’m 10 minutes late coming home from work. Her anxiety does trickle down to all facets of her life. If we’re late for dance class or if she forgets to do a homework assignment, she has a meltdown. If she thinks she’s in trouble for something, she gets all upset. It’s almost like she’s trying to be 100% perfect.
There are some other things that go along with all of this. She cannot stand loud noise, she gets “headaches” and has to cover her ears. But, this doesn’t stop her from loving ballet where she can listen to the classical music and dance. She has no problem being on stage for productions or even auditioning…as long as there is classical music. She actually decided to stop playing the flute because the noise from the other instruments gave her headaches.
She’s also very obsessed with routines. She gets really upset when things do not go according the plan or are off from what we normally do. This doesn’t usually cause a huge meltdown, but enough to be disruptive.
The other thing she has done her entire life is become fixated on things. She will go through phases, which I know is normal to a degree, but she is intense about it. It has been anything from Wizard of Oz to Disney World. For example, right now she is very into Back to the Future and Michael J Fox. She watches the movies constantly and can recite all of the lines. She can also tell you anything you want to know about Michael J Fox, date of birth, shows he’s been on, health issues, etc. I went to her class yesterday and I saw her trying to talk to some of the kids about it and they just roll their eyes…even the teacher came over and said to me that they’ve had to ask her to stop talking about him or the movie.

Hmm...kind of reminds me of me when I was a kid, and I've been diagnosed with OCD. I could just be stuck on myself here, though.

denily wrote:So…I didn’t expect this to be this long…just have some concerns that she might need to go back on the medication or it’s not just ADHD at all. I’m concerned about an anxiety disorder, OCD, or something else…any insight or help you can offer would be greatly appreciated!!

Could be ADD+OCD with anxiety, could be something else. ADD medications do tend to worsen anxiety, from what I've been told (I've never been bold enough to try them myself) and metabolic disorders can mimic ADD. One 12-year-old girl was thought to have ADD, but it turned out to be, of all things, Graves' disease. Who knew? Here's the full story if you're interested. If you decide to get her tested for metabolic abnormalities and get a positive result, I think you should repeat the test just to be sure before you get treatment (unless the result says it's urgently important), since being treated for a metabolic disorder she didn't really have would probably make her a lot worse. But I'm not a doctor, so I can't be sure. Good luck!

The obsessiveness with routines and the fixation/learning down to the smallest detail are symptoms of autism spectrum disorders, though as Twinkling_Butterfly said it could also be a combination of ADHD/OCD. I'll also agree with Twinkling_Butterfly about your mention of ADHD symptoms in kindergarten - while some girls do express their hyperactivity in the same manner as boys do, most girls tend to fall on the inattentive side of ADD/ADHD.

I think it's worth looking into further, and the suggestion of getting her tested for metabolic disorders is a good one. I hope this helps!

Dear Dinley,
My name is Zevik Farkash and i'm from Israel.
I've just read what you've wrote about your daughter and my friends son is the same.
They have tried everything from methylphenidate to psychotherapy but nothing helped.. A few mounts ago they came across an amazing technology called "AgeLoc Vitality" that help to maintain concentration and made from natural ingredient.
Their son started using this technology about 3 mounts ago and the results are amazing! The kid is concentrate in his school and stopped using any other things that where supposed to help him and didn't really did the job.
If you want some more information i'll be glad to help..

I hear signs of autism as well. Anxiety is such a tricky creature, because I think it is so often what I think of as a 'subsymptom', the direct result of other 'main' symptoms and the problems they cause. I had extreme anxiety a kid and I was a pleaser; upsetting others, doing things wrong, FORGETTING something CONSTANTLY plagued my mind. I was either hyperfocused or inattentive. I think you need another, more in depth assessment of your daughter's behaviors. Sounds like alot has come to light since starting and stopping the meds. That information, along with your observations, will be very helpful to her doctor in his/her assessment and treatment of your daughter. Good luck!