Adhd???? - Saint Charles,MO

My son is 5 and is kind of the same. He is very "busy" and has to be doing something all the time or he hits, throws and is all together bad. My husbands cousin was the same way when he was youger so I asked her for advise since we were not going to medicate under any circumstances. She took everything out of their house that had any kind of artifical, manufactured or un-natural ingredients in it. In essence the entire family went to a 100% all natural diet. They didn't eat anything that had coloring or unnecessary sugar in it and made a lot of their own chips and snacks. His cousin is now 21 and just fine. He stays busy on his computer or video games. We did this with our son as well, on a limited basis. We don't let him have a lot of coloring, no soda, only certain kinds of juices and controlled carbs. We also burn as much energy off him when we can. Even if it is not easy or convenient we go outside and let them run, ride bikes or jump on the trampoline (that's takes a lot out of him). I hope this helps. Since he is in school and has to sit for prolonged periods of time I taught him to twiddle his fingers and twirl pencils to keep busy. I talked to his teacher and she is ok with it since it will keep it in his seat. Medication is hard to do. My husband and I both agree that we will never put either child on it. The worst part of it is that most adhd meds are controlled substances. Once someone is on a controlled substance it will stay with them forever. When they try to get a job later in life and that somehow shows up on his records they can legally deny him that job. Even the military will do this because it makes them out to be unstable. I hope this helps. A company called WellnessOne offers nutrition classes relating to adhd.

I don't know much about the medication side of it, but I'm wondering if you brought him to a psychiatrist (a doctor who prescribes medication) or a psychologist (not able to prescribe medication but clinically trained to do counseling and make diagnoses). It sounds like the person he's seeing now is a psychiatrist, whcih may be a necessary part, but before doing too much with medications, I would suggest putting him in reqular counseling with a licensed professional counselor (LPC) or licensed clinical social worker (LCSW who specializes in children with behavioral problems. No matter what you do with medication, the counseling should be a help, both to him and to you. Good luck!
T.

Hello L..
I would encourage you to look at this website:
http://www.erinelster.com/ConditionsDetail.aspx?Condition...
upper cervical doctors have seen tremendous results with this condition. If you need a referral for your area, please let me know where you are located.
J.

I'm no expert or anything but out of curiousity, what kind of activities do you do with him to burn the extra energy? I know my son (6 y/o) is a nut when he's bored. Kids, especially boys, this age really need to have activities to keep them occupied, walks, bike riding, roller skaing, playground, basically anything that gets them moving.

I hope you find the answers you need!

You may want to google ODD I think it means oppositional defiant disorder, A long time ago a lady wanted to hire me to watch her daughter but told me first that she has O.D.D and then explained what it was and what her behavior was like,
it sounds alot like your son.
My heart goes out to you and your children.

L., I'm so sorry that you're going through this! My son is having some issues, too. He hasn't been diagnosed yet, but we are starting to have him evaluated. As for your son-I have a friend whose son was diagnosed ADHD. He was put on medication and while it helped the ADHD, his mood was depressed and surly. He was always grumpy. They tried him on several different meds and one day her son came to her (at 6) and told her he wanted to die. She took him to his therapist and they finally diagnosed him as ADHD and Bipolar-the medication he was on was causing the Bipolar Disorder to become worse. Not saying this is what your son is going through-just a thought. I hope this helps!

L. i can feel your pain. i have a 4 year old son who is constantly in a rage or cying. he has some other issues but his therapists have narrowed his diagnosis down to 2. he is either bipolar or mildly autistic. he didnt start talking till he was 3 and that was with very very aggressive speech therapy. i have not let them put him on any medication until it is determined what his diagnosis actually is. however with your sons behavior not getting better with the medication i am wondering if he does not have some underlying depression. depression in children is dramatically different than it is in adults. the child may get hyper and not sleep or may sleep alot but be very aggressive towards others. i would get a second opinion before i proceeded with another medication. and do not tell the new physician what your thoughts are until they have given you their "diagnosis". hope things calm down for you soon i know it is hard. if you need to talk you can email me at ____@____.com anytime. good luck ~S.~

I understand what you are going through. I have a 9 year old son that has ADHD. He IS on a medication that works wonderfully. The thing is you have to try more than one medication. We tried 3 different ones before this one worked. They all had difference affects on him. If he truly has ADHD the medication WILL help him if you find the right one that works for him (and that takes a lot for me to say because I was soooo opposed to medication for him at such a young age....he was 4) Unfortunately just planning extra activities for him to keep busy does not work (I tried that as well before we decided to try the medication)
Do what's best for him as I know you will!!

Hi L.,
Fourteen years ago, I was in your shoes. I know things have sure changed since then, but let me give you some good advice anyway. First of all, it is rare you get the medication right the first time with any disorder like ADHD. Did the psychitrist do any kind of testing with your son? Before giving your son medication, there should be some tests done right there in the office. Simple ones that can give the doctor ways to evaluate your son and observe him. Also, and this is so very important. Some medications require tests ran at the hospital before a child is put on them. These tests include, but are not limited to, an EEG and a EKG. Some medicines also require to have the childs level tested in his blood once a month. These are all things you need to discuss with his psychitrist. There is all kinds of help available to you. I've heard of a ADHD kit you can order to keep track of behavior things to see if your child has ADHD or not. I want you to know that you didn't sound like a bad parent. You sounded like a frustrated parent who only wants to help her son. If you should need any other help, please email me at; ____@____.com
I'll be glad to help if I can.
Good Luck!
D.

I would definitely take him to another therapist (a child psychologist or counselor) for another opinion. Maybe it really is ADHD and he was on too high a dose of the medication, or maybe he has something else (you want to rule out autism and other disorders) that requires a different medication and/or
some kind of therapy (like talk therapy, art therapy, play therapy, or music therapy). Also, when did this behavior start? I'm so sorry you have to deal with this, it sounds really upsetting. Regardless of what you do to try to help your son, make sure (as I'm sure you are) that you tell him and show him (through hugs and kisses whenever he'll let you) that you love him very much. Good luck, and please let us know what happens.
-A.