No news is good news?

I haven't updated lately mostly because things seem to be going well. We have adjusted John's medication a few times and hopefully have it in a good place.

We have been dealing with a few side effects. We increased his Ritalin dose and he started to have tummy aches every morning and night. He also started to become easily agitated and angry. He would almost hyper-focus on his sister annoying him. It was like he couldn't let it go- whatever it was. Without the medication he would get irritated, blow up at her, but he could be distracted away, or he would actually be more absorbed in the act of throwing the fit. He would be consumed in the emotion of it. With the increased dose it was (and still is, to some degree) like he fixated on the fact that she was humming to herself. It was difficult to distract him or give him something that would decrease his anxiety about it.

Another side effect we started to notice after the dose increase was that he would pick his fingernails and toenails. He picked them below the quick and continued to obsess about the skin surrounding them. He would occasionally bite them, but more often it was picking. I watched him in line for the slide at the pool and he was totally engrossed in his fingers-- to the point that he didn't notice the line moving on more than one occasion.

We changed medication all together since he learned to swallow pills. The effect seems to be the same except I think he has diverted his focus on his nails to some degree. He still wants to pick at them, but not all the time.

When he had picked two fingers on his right hand to the point of making it so painful that he couldn't write with that hand he decided to color with his left hand. I was so impressed when he sat for a good 45 minutes struggling to color with his left hand. I think that shows he is able to focus and relax, but is it enough to get through the daily struggle of social situations at school?

I don't know. Now I wonder if we are treating the right issue...