Adhd Meds - De Kalb Junction,NY

Hello V.-

I completely understand!!! When I was a Nanny my 5 year old charge was put on ADD meds. She did not grow over a year. She wore her same boots from Kindergarten to 1st grade. She would not eat & had huge mood swings. The Mom & I researched other options and developed a plan. She is now 13, 6 years off meds and in 3 AP classes in middle school.

Today, I'm a parent coach and one of my focuses is medication free treatments for ADD/ADHD. As you know, being a ADD Mom, ADD is not a disease to cure, but a different way the brain functions, learns & interperts information.

Many people need medication to HELP them through the day, but ADD people also need to learn tricks. Some I've used is:
* Protein Rich foods for breakfast, snack & lunch. Protein helps the brain work better
* Omega 3 & Flax oils. Great for the brain!!!!
* Teach organization skills- Use binders, notebooks, sticky notes, electronic organizers what ever helps
* Break homework into sections. ADD kids get overwhelmed by all they need to do. If you help him learn to break it up, he can learn to manage his time better.

Next, every book, article & information piece I've read about medication & ADD is that if your child has major symptoms, (like losing 30 pounds!!!!), you need to reevaluate the meds. If your doc won't get a second opinion.

Below is a link to a great magazine I receive about ADD/ADHD. I really enjoy the articles and hope you get some helpful info.

http://www.additudemag.com/

Good Luck!!

R. Magby

3 moms found this helpful

One thing that most people don't realize, is that heavy metal overdose in
the body has the EXACT same symptoms of ADD/ADHD, to a tee.
NCD zeolite is said to help ( I am not a distributor). I have done a lot of research on it but have not ordered it yet.
http://zeoliteautismstudy.com/1-dr-p-clips-audio-420.htm

People think Heavy metal poisoning is hard to do but it is not. Iron is a heavy metal and the food producers load processed foods with added iron. Children cannot leach Iron from thier bodies, hence, it builds up in tissues.
Mercury from shots also can build up in bodies and fillings add mercury to the body too. Processed foods have high amounts of toxins in them.

Also, a magnesium deficiency can impart many of those symptoms as well. ( especially *hyperexcitability*, confusion,anxiety,apathy, compulsion, IQ loss, depression, aggitation, innatention, headaches, frequent sighing, lack of appetite, tourettes, tics, and much more.) You can try magnesium citrate and also try magnesium oil on the skin at the same time.
Magnesium also rids the body of some metals.

Even food allergies can impart behaviors .In short I would say there is some kind of toxin overloading his nervous system probably along with a major nutritional deficiency. (you will get nutritional deficiencies anyway because many drugs block the absorption of several vitamins and minerals)

A few other things I would try is Cod liver oil daily, and also fulvic acid (not folic- fulvic) which is an ionic blend of 60 + trace minerals and elements. if he drinks a LOT of milk, cut it back.

Have you considered homeschooling>? It really isnt that hard. The teachers manuals are scripted with everything you need to say. Don't let the schools bully you into drugging your child. After a while those drugs can damage his nervous system permanently. (lookup serotonin syndrome).

Good luck. Keep looking for answers. Those drugs are not the answer.

2 moms found this helpful

V.,
I can help you with some natural supplements if you want to contact me.
Good luck and God bless
V.

2 moms found this helpful

My daughter took medication for 8yrs and lost a ton of weight she was on task, listened and finished all her work when she took her meds but she was never hungry and lost ALOT of weight she looked anorexic and you could see her collar bones. I finally took her to another doctor and he changed her meds she gained wieght and looked very healthy after a month she was not happy about her wieght but she looked normal to her she looked fat, but she was at her right weight. You need to change doctors this doc is only focusing on the child to be stabilized not the weight issue, please dont let this go on you need to switch doctors to someone that is interested in the childs best interest.

2 moms found this helpful

I don't know about about medications but there are a couple of other things you can look into. The book, Disconnected Kids by Robert Melillo, DC or his Brain Balance centers may be helpful. Also Kenneth Bock, MD wrote a book called Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, Asthma, ADHD and Allergies that may be helpful. Both approaches would have you look into food sensitivies which is IgG blood testing. Lots of companies do the but the least expensive one I've found is Alletess ($85). BTW, the school can't force you to use meds for your son.

My almost 6 year old has been on ritalin for over a year and is doing great. She has always been a small eater. I dont give her her morning pill untill after breakfast (7am). She usually will only eat a little lunch. By snack time its wearing off (2:30pm) so she is hungy. She usually gets a large snack. Then at (3:00pm) another pill. By dinner (5:30-6:00pm) it is wearing off again and she will eat a full dinner.

#1. I would suggest trying giving his medication after he eats so it dosent supress his hunger so much.
#2. I would talk to his doctor about this concern and let him/her know that this may be a normal side affect for the medication but it is NOT ok with you and ask for other options.
#3. If that Doctor does not want to give you other medication options, find another doctor! You have the right to do what you feel is best for your son and if this current medication is not working for his weight needs you have the right to get it changed.

There are MANY medications out there for ADHD. There are also many other treatment options, weighted vests, ADHD balls for the chair at school to get out energy, diet controll, etc. I waited as long as I could to medicate my daughter. (she was 4 when we started her meds, I know that really young) It just became unsafe for her with out medication. I litterly had to have her in my sight durring her entire waking hours. (I am a mother of 4 young children so this was quite a challenge) She had absolutly NO impluse controll. My home is very secure, tot locks on all cabinets, all sharps, medications and cleaners locked. All doors and windows alarmed, fruniture teathered to the walls. 7 baby gates! But some how she would always find something dangerous to do. One time while I was using the restroom she climbed the baby gate to the upstairs and climbed ontop of the pony wall surrounding the top of the stair case to try to get a better look at the hanging light! I was only in the bathroom for less than 1 minute! Thankfully I calmly climbed the stairs and snached her down!!

We ended up having to cut her bed room door in half and lock her in at night from the outside to keep her safe while we slept in case she woke before we did. That worked untill she got strong enough to move her toddler bed matress and lean it aginst the door to climb out...

I remember having to yell constantly, dont do that, NO NO NO, stop!! Her attention span was like a nat. She litterly could not even sit to color for more than 30 seconds. She always seemed aggitated.

Since being put on her meds. I rarley find myself yelling at her. She is able to focus and really seems to be happier. It must feel so good to her to be able to sit and enjoy things. Im guessing your son feels the same way. We went through 4 medications before we found the one that worked for her and that did not have anyside affects that I found unaceptable. I hope my story helps you know you are not alone in the struggle of a child with ADHD and that there are options. A mother is her childs best advocate, you have other options. best of luck!

My husband and my son are both on Adderall and don't eat much during the day. I make sure my son has a hearty breakfast before the meds kick in and make him drink an Ensure when he gets home from school for the calories. He snacks throughout the evening, but his "dinner" is an enormous bedtime snack when the meds wear off around 8pm. My husband and my son both just go back and forth from the table to the kitchen for close to 30 minutes because they are sooo hungry. Some of this may work for you, but your son's weight loss is very dramatic and I would recommend going to the dr. I also agree that you could not give him the meds on the weekend and he can chow down to make up some calories.

Please, get a second opinion for the sake of your child. I am a psychiatric clinician and realize with this amount of weight loss, the obvious nutritional demands of the body, especially the brain, are lacking. Then, the child not only is presented with the challenge of delayed growth, weight loss, many times in this situation, you will see and observe the child demonstrating even worse behaviors, than prior to the medications, because directly, the brain is not attaining or being allowed to be fed the vital nutrients that it needs to function optimally. Then, you will observe, I know that I have seen and observed other peers of mine, will want to immediately increase the medication for some reason they will give, such as: becoming immune to the medication, so need to go up on the dose, want to add an additional stimulant to the child's regimen because the provider will use the excuse that the one drug is working, but not optimally any longer, so, we'll add another and the second will augment the first, compensate where the first one is lacking, or change to another stimulant saying that we'll give this one a try to see if it has the propensity to dull the appetite, as the other one did. Then, we will re-evaluate how it is performing in six months at your child's next visit. Well, by the time that the next visit happens, your the child has lost another ten pounds! First, it is not a bad idea to stop the medication, under the supervision of your medical provider, and re-assess if this type of intervention is even still a necessity and maybe has improved, not saying becomes perfect, but improved enough that he can function without having to take the medication. Of course, this is the optimal situation and should be one that all clinicians have as a goal for their client that that they can be functionable and meeting their daily responsibilities without dependent on a pill. Anyway, sorry for standing on my soap box! After a trial without the medication, what we call 'a med wash,' and child still necessitates some type of intervention, there are other medications, which are not stimulants, that could be utilized. The first non, stimulant ADHD medication, Strattera, works like an antidepressant, not quite as intrusive as the stimulants, not as likely to cause supression of the appetite and not as likely to cause weight loss. However, I have seen it cause weight loss just as the stimulant group; therefore, in those situations, the strattera is not any more beneficial than the stimulant was. When in a situation such as or similar to yours, as you have described above, using a medication from a different class, what is known as 'a second line ADHD medication' such as Wellbutrin SR or Buspar, with the Wellbutrin SR working particularly well. Of course, and not meant to be last, there are the talked about natural remedies, such as but not limited to, CLA, ALA, Omega and Essential Fatty Acids, DHA, Well balanced diet, DMAE, and others, of course these shoud be only utilized under the supervison of your medical clinician or checking prior with your pharmacist to ensure that there are not any interactions with anything that you maybe already taking. Several web sites that you may find helpful are the following; I use them a lot for references:
1. www.healing-arts.org
2. www.psyweb.com
3. www.drugs.com (has an excellent drug interaction checker)
4. www.doublecheckmd.com (another excellent drug interaction checker)
5. www.patient.co,uk
Hope that some or any of this part helps, good luck!

Get him to a doctor asap. Is he eating? Can he be anorexic?

Get a second opinion quick. That is a big jump in weight, especially for a boy that isn't normally boney. Also, take him to a psychologist to look for alternate ways to control his ADHD and to make sure that nothing else is wrong. I'm sure meditation or marital arts/yoga, especially kung fu, would help a great deal since they require a lot of concentration.

Gifted children are the most misunderstood children. Trust me, I know from experience. My son is 11 and is taking college course as well his school working with him to keep him from zoning out or causing any distractions. They've skipped him a grade, put him in high school for math, 8th grade for social studies, and high honors science to try to keep him challenged. (The science has a lab which is great for curious students, so it's not just lecture.) It is very important to keep them challenged, so they don't get bored. It's when they get bored, they start acting up. He also does origami and unbelievable drawings to help occupy his time as well as looking up the latest scoop and stategies for Yu-Gi-Oh and Bakugan. He's even designing his own Transformer. I really think you need to think out of the box with your son and find things to keep him busy. I know it's hard, because simple toys are not enough...They have to have some kind of complexity to them. Even the books they read need to be books they can identify with or are full of imagination.

V.-
You are right, that is a dramatic weight loss. My son who is 11 just went to a higher dosage of his medication and I have noticed my "human garbage can" is eating a whole lot less. I understand the difference on school work D/F to A/B for my son. If I were you I would consult my ped and ask if he can come off the meds on weekends and just let him eat and eat. A lot of us ADHD parents do it because we can handle our kids, right? (Or at least we think we can.) I also let my son eat almost anything he wants as long as the healthy stuff is eaten first. My son plays sports too, so on weekend sports days-- big b'fast, pill, sports, stay up late and wolf all the food he can. By the way, most medications should wear off by early evening. My son is on a time released medication so he only takes it once a day. You might also ask your physician about a lower dosage or several small doses throughout the day. Also, my son loves smoothies, so I just put a bunch of protein powder (calories) in them.

Lastly, depending on how tall your son is, is there a chance he was carrying some extra weight? So, to you, he looks "sick" but is well in the guidelines for his height? My son is only a year younger and weighs only 73 lbs, but he is on the shorter side.

This is sooo hard. Tomorrow call the pediatrician and get him seen and be demanding about your options.
Good luck, keep us posted. If you need to message me privately, feel free.
S.

I totally agree with contacting your doctor asap! You might also want to look at the level of minerals in his diet. Our foods are very depleted these days and hence the need to supplement - you may notice that everything in the supermarket is "fortified"...

I can recommend a couple of products that have high levels of minerals in them and they really shift brain chemistry. I'm happy to talk to you about it more if you contact me.

A.

I don't know which medication your son is on. Definitely talk to the doctor (psychiatrist, presumably). If he is on something long acting or time release maybe you can talk to the doctor about a shorter acting formulation so he can only take it part of the day for school. Maybe a different medication completely might be better for him. Hopefully you are working with some type of therapist who can help you with behavioral interventions. Ideally you may eventually be able to manage without the medication and just with the behavioral stuff.

I know that adhd drugs can seem like a life saver but they should be a last resort after cognitive behavioral therapy. Somtimes you can help a child change habbits and if you can figure out how they learn then you have a big key in helping them. I am not knocking any of you moms who are using meds to help your child, after all we are all just winging it and trying to do our best, but drs. can be quick to prescribe theese days. Did theese kids sit and take the 3 hr cognitive test before being diagnosed? or is the diagnosis based on opinion? The reason for the weight loss is because ritalin (methelphendate) is a stimulant drug. as in speed. as in the poor mans cocain. It is one of the most highly abused drugs among teens. I have adult add and am on a very small dose and on days where I don't have alot to pay attention too i skip it. It can be really helpful but there are many risks to way and out of experience I just like to recomend alternitives to parents going thru this - please get a testing done and don't let a dr perscribe based on opinions from teachers soley, look at behavioral therepy and non stimulant drugs first before you use anphetamines in your precious childs body - they should be a last resort only if things are really bad.They are a harsh serious drug and somtimes we are so used to trusting that a Dr. knows what they are doing we can't imagine them giving our kids somthing harmful. Also these drugs should be prescribed with a specialist working with your child not your pediatrition. Some meds should only be a bandaid to help get thru a certain period of time where the child is learning new skills with a behavioral therapist.

Please be carful with your babies and good luck to all of you struggling with this!

Please contact your doctor ASAP. That's a tremendous amount of weight for your son to lose. My 12 year old son started taking Concerta about 6 weeks ago. His school perfarmance is ony marginally better (his probelm is focus and concentraion, not hyperactivity). My son is already very thin and losing weight was my concern as well. Although he has had some reduction in appetite, the biggest problem for him is headaches. I'll see my pediatrican this week to contemeplate a different med or stopping altogether. Does your son have accommodations at school? It is the schools job to teach him. Don't let them convince that he needs to be medicated. Its a cop-out on their part. I hear your desperation. Trust me, I feel it , too. But there are other meds (and natural remedies, supplements, diet) that you shoudl be looking into as well. Please check out www.Feingold.org for info on a very effective diet plan. Goggle "Dr. Amen" about diet support and supplements, esp. fish oil. There is plenty of info out there on alternatives that may safely help your son. But do call your doctor TODAY about his dramatic weight loss. Good luck!