Adhd

Have you tried soothing music with them? When my son is having a 'meltdown' or is too energetic, transitioning him with music seems to help. He is also using the Theraputic Listening device that his therapist has him on - it is specially designed music through headphones twice a day for 30 minutes. He has ADHD and Aspergers.

Hello I also have an adhd he is now 13 I have had him on everthing riddilin,concerta now he has been on adderall for almost 4 years he is doing well, I took him off at christmas to see how he would do without it for 2 weeks. He literally climbed the walls hes emotions where like a roller coaster he was happy one minute then sad the next, I will keep him on adderall for now untill it seems not to work anymore.

There is a website that is helpful for child, parent, teacher alike . . . I hope you find it useful too :)

http://www.adhd.com/index.jsp

Good luck!

I raised one daughter with ADHD and one son with ADD. I am an educator as well so I have done much reading and research on the topic. Because my son's reading ability was affected, I went back to college to certify as a Reading Specialist. It was a long hard road but here are a few things I learned:
1. ADHD affects the brain it seven different ways, it is a neurological disorder. Therefore, you need to see a pediatric neurologist who knows about ADHD to get help.
2. Any materials you can get by Dr. Larry Silver would be of help. I heard him speak and he described my two children perfectly as well as my ex husband. He fully understood the disorder and the situations it creates in our homes.
3. The pediatric neurologist that I took my children to was Dr. Walter Robinson in New Orleans. He has since retired and moved to Florida. He pointed out that children are born with ADHD or ADD so they have a history of it since birth. The signs don't just show up overnight. It also never goes away. They will always have it. The connectors in the brain don't meet in the way they should so medication is often necessary. The medication either needs to speed up the processors (dexatrine) or slow down the processors (ritalin). The secret to the medicine that he discovered is to begin with very small increments of the medication and build over a period of time. He said many people would get mad at him when he wanted to put them back on the same medicine they had tried before and had problems with. However, by doing it his way with the small increments, it would work. He proved this to himself with many of his patients. He started my son on 1/8 of a 5 milligram pill in the morning. After 4 days, we added 1/8 of a 5 mg pill at noon. After 4 days, we increased the morning dose to 1/4 of a pill. After 4 more days, we increased the noon dose to 1/4 of a pill. We continued in this way until my son took 1 five mg pill in the morning and 1 five mg pill at noon. He never needed any more than this to function properly, even as an adult, and had no side effects because we did not overdose him. Your child sounds overdosed. How many milligrams did they start him on - 10 or 20? Way too much. Dr. Robinson also said that there is no need to take the child off the medication. These medications do not build up in the system. After the 4 hours they are gone and totally out of the system and that is why they need another dose at noon. When my son had big tests to study for or to take his drivers ed test in the late afternoon, he took a third pill that day only. Communication is a 24 hour process. Even when we are asleep our mind is working. Without the medication, their little processors don't work right so we are inhibiting their communications.
4. Behavior therapy is just as important as the medications. These children need to be taught organization and provided structure in order to reduce their confusion and anxiety. They need to have the knowledge of the disorder to know when they need to ask for help (in the case of severe depression like my daughter has)and to understand how they can have self control. Teach him to get set up before doing any task, project or assignment or to be ready to pay attention in class. Teach him to pay attention to details.
5. Focus on his interests. These children usually have a strength that stands out. Build on it. My son loved cars and trucks so I began subscribing to magazines for his Christmas presents. He would sit for hours and I thought he was just looking at the pictures. It turns out he was piecing together his dream truck and he was reading the details. Today he is a very successful diesel mechanic and is so good at it as he pays attention to detail. What are your childs strengths? When they succeed in one area it spills over to others.

Hope something in this list can help. God Bless.

I've been listening to a book on cd called "music and the mind" and it talks about how much listening to classical or baroque music can help in cases like that. And also learning to play an instrument helps them, too. He said that Einstein was told he was stupid and should just quit school, AND he had dyslexia. He played the violin and when he did, he said it helped him think more clearly. And that's how he came up with his famous theory. :)

I don't know if it'll actually work, but it's worth a shot. Just try putting on some classical music like Handel's "Water Music." Or see if he wants to learn how to play an instrument. Who knows?

Good luck!!

My kids are older, but we struggled with grades in school for years until we found out about Adderall. After starting the meds their grades went from C's and D's to A's and B's. We have never had problems with the Hyperactive part but the Adderall so far has been a lifesaver. Maybe your Doc can try different kinds of medications at different dosages until He/She can get it adjusted just right. I hope you find the answer you need, just don't give up. You and they deserve to have a life without all the strife. I only wish I could've found my answer a really long time ago, it would've saved alot of tears and emotional distress for everyone involved. Oh and by the way, don't let anyone tell you what you can and can't do to try and help yourself and your children. I let family influence me against medications years ago when I should have followed my own instincts. As they say, hindsite is 20/20 and I could kick myself for not standing my ground. I wish you the best of luck.

I know this isn't easy for you! I grew up in large family and the 3 youngest are all diagnosed with ADHD. They are all 3 on meds and I hate it. i did ask one of the boys how it made him feel when he was on his meds and he did say that he could think more clearly. That was the only thing good I saw about it.
Try to ask your boys how they feel when they are on meds compared to off. Why do they act the way they do - do they feel out of control,can't think right,or are they just making poor choices, etc. Let them help influence the decision! Also talk to the Dr. and see if very small doses could work or even a Compound Pharmacist might be able to help! They make compunds specific to each persons needs - they may even be able to just give advice.
Good Luck!

You tried eliminating sugar, caffeine, salt and all additives or artificial anything and trans fats (or at least really limiting them)? Then you need to make sure they get plenty of protein, omega 3, magnesium and zinc. My 10 yr. old sister is ADHD and we stopped meds for the same reasons and did some research. After the dietary changes she is a new person. Still high spirited but at least tolerable.

My name is Sharon Miller and I am from Lake Charles, Louisiana. My youngest son is now 23 and was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 7. It is very real and you do not outgrow it. He was put on medication, councsling, and some resource classes as they were needed. It took a lot structure, routine, love and patience, but he has truly made remarkable progress into his adult life. The weight loss is going to happen. It will pass. You can use many substitutes to help them gain weight. Instead of using milk for mashed potatoes and mac and cheese, use evaporated milk. It has tons of calories in it. My son lost 20 lbs. in a month and gained it all back in two months. If there is a lack of participation in life, it could be depression, not necessarily the meds. Ask the doctor to reevaluate the dosage of the medication. It sometimes takes four to six weeks, maybe more, to get good results from the medications and constant searching for the one that is really going to help.

Children with ADHD need help. They cannot always slow the brain activity down. It is not that they want to be hyper,they are just kids, and do not know how to do these things. I feel so blessed that my son did and still does take medication to help him function on a daily basis and be successful.

I hope you can find the help that you need. We also did all those test, sugar red dye,diet, etc. Only the meds were his answer. He only takes medicine once a day, everything is time released.

Sharon Miller

if he truly has adhd, then you have to medicate. you just have to find a doc that is willing to help you find the meds and medication levels that are right for him.

true adhd is a brain chemical imbalance and can no more be treated by diet and exercise, than serious depression could be treated by sunshine. it just doesn't work because it doesn't get at the root of the problem.

my advice would be to ask for opinions about child psychiatrists in your area. you can turn to professionals at your department of education for help. generally they know who the best and who the quacks are. ask to speak to someone in special education (don't be scared of it, gifted/enrichment kids are under that department too). ask your doctor to point you to a qualified psychiatric professional. but help your kid. overmedicating him is not good, but no medication will severely hamper his school performance, which affects his whole life.

I raised my 2 nephews, when they came to me they were 6 & 7 years old and failing in school. I did a lot of research on ADHD. I drastically changed thier diets. I made everything from scratch that I could, grew my own produce to get the chemicals out of thier diets. I also cut refined sugar out of thier diets, and stopped using boxed dinners. No koolaid either, I made fresh squeezed juices. I did all this during the summer, when they were not taking ritalin, (they had been taking it 1 before school and one at noon). When they went back to school, it was without the ritalin. They became straight A students.

Hello K.,

You might be able to find something helpful at this site. They are very good with raising kids and helping parents with a lot of things. You can even subscribe to a free magazine and read all past issues and current online. Just a try. It's www.nogreaterjoy.org.

V.

Hi K., I have a daughter with it and we never put her on meds because I simply hate medication, not to mention I just feel there are usually better ways to deal with things. I didn't know what I was doing and pulling my hair out too and about ready to ship her off when a neighbor had a teenage boy with it and she had it. Come to find out, it is genetic and I had it too (which explains a lot haha) Unlike my duaghter though, it was just my brain that was hyper, not the rest of me, where as she is hyper all over! So I understand your stress. Anyway, what really helped us out, and this is so simple it is almost too good to be true but not, we cleaned out her whole bedroom and made it extremely sparse in there. She has four bins that sit on a big shelfing thing I got from Lowes, one has soft toys, one has dress up clothes, one has hard toys and the other books. These are very small milk carton sized bins. She has one dresser with a few outfits and a bed. I informed my entire family as well as my husbands to no longer send toys that have many pieces in them or to just send her outfits because kids grow so fast. That alone improved her behavior and if you know anything about ADHD you know why. We also kept her on a more regular schedule and got her into soccer because that child runs non stop. Every day is not perfect, but we went from throwing huge fits, never sitting still, always defying us and even pant and bed wetting to a pretty typical, less hyper but still active child. Ohh one last thing and this is very important, caffeen is ok but sugar is NOT. NOOOOOOOO Sugar and even limit the wheat. If you are interested in all the science behind it, let me know, I will send you my email or IM and we can talk about it. I am a psychology student and though that hardly makes me an expert I learned to do a lot of research and it has helped me out a lot. Good luck and good for you for going off the meds, there is light at the end of this tunnel I swear.

K.,

I have been dealing with three children as well with ADHD for 19 years now, the oldest was my stepdaughter who was held back in k-5 put on meds in 1st grade and taken off of meds in 4th grade by her mom who did not want her daughter to have to take meds she is 25 now has an education of a 7th grader, she truly gave up when she was so far behind and quit school at 16 in the 9th grade. My 16 year old has been on meds. since he was 6 and I have had all the problems you are talking about, lack of appetite, lack of participation, all the above. I talked to my Dr. and tried another med. We have to change about every 18 to 24 months because their body gets immune. Lost appetite is better than no education any day in my opinion. My nineteen year old had all of the same problems, and Dr. just changed med.fortunately he grew out of it.

Good Luck,
T.

You might check out a book called "A Mind at A Time," by Dr. Mel Levine. It points out a lot of different learning styles. Instead of labeling everything ADHD, he looks deeper into what areas of the brain may just be wired differently and how to make adjustments. It helped me a lot. My son is not officially "diagnosed,", but has a lot of distraction issues, which also tend to make him very observant. He notices things others never even think about. That ability just doesn't serve him well in a traditional school setting. Dr. Levine also wrote "The Myth of Laziness," which I am currently reading. Hang in there! JM

Karen, i'm with Julie on this one...the red dyes are a major issue....also, maybe they put your kiddos on to strong a dose of the medication...i'm not an advocate of meds for kids but if they TRUELY have ADHD i know kids that have been helped a lot when the meds are the right levels....and if the dr diagnosed BOTH of your boys, sounds to me like he was just giving drugs to "settle them down" rather than really taking a look overall....maybe another dr. check around, maybe you know someone that has this issue where the dr and adjusted meds to the right level....but check into the red dye issue...my oldest was Hyper but not ADHD the red dyes were a major part in him being able to control the hyperactivity...good luck...R.

I'm not sure if this works or not but I saw a commercial on tv about chiropractors being able to help with adhd. It might be something you could check in to.

Hi K.,
I can only offer advice based on my own experience with an ADHD son. If your son really does have it, then taking privleges away won't help much, because he can't totally control his behavior. We tried what semed like everything also before going on meds. I would suggest trying different meds until you find the right one for your son. I have a friend who had to try 3 before finding the one that work best for her son. My son doesn't have bad side effects on concerta or adderall. His appetite does go down, but he eats like a horse on the weekends and school holidays, when he doesn't take it. My son is 11 1/2 now and he isn't quite as irritating when he doesn't take it as he used to be. Age has mellowed him a little. You are not alone in this struggle! Talk to you dr. and try a different medication.
Good luck,
D.

You really need to work with the doctors on this one. It takes awhile to get the meds at the right dosage. If it was too much, let the docs know and they will change around the meds or the dosage until you get it right. Once it's right, it may change every few months. That's just the way this goes. Diet & exercise are important too. But if they aren't functioning without the meds, please work with the doctors. The boys will feel so much better once they are on the right meds/dosages and they will be a joy for anyone to be around.
Also, and I know this sounds crazy, Mountain Dew and sugar-free peanut butter tend to help calm ADHD & ADD down a little. It works in my classroom with kids that I have...the sugar-free peanut butter works wonders.

K., I am so sorry your family is going through such a difficult time! It must be very stressful and I hope somewhere on here or elsewhere you find the answers that will help your family.

Who diagnosed your boys? If it was a dr. who did not observe/test them or a school without a licensed physcologist/physchiatrist, I'd try again with someone more qualified. It also sounds like your 10 yr. old's meds were too strong - there are other medications and other doses. On the other side, he may not have ADHD at all...

Ahem - now on to my soapbox! I used to teach K-8th Grade music before I began raising my own kids and was amazed at the number of kids diagnosed with ADHD! Now, I hope I don't make anyone mad here, I'm just sharing my experience and my observations. I am not a phsychiatrist, just a mom/teacher. There were truly only two children out of the 42 "diagnosed" with ADHD that, in my opinion, truly had it. You know these kids: sweet boys, kind heart, cannot sit still to save their life (even with meds), cannot roll with changes in schedule very easily, cannot focus unless given the right challenge. These kids were amazing to me because they opened my eyes to the true disability that ADHD is for those who really have it.

In the meantime, I highly recommend reading "The Strong Willed Child" by Dr. James Dobson. I bought this book to read because, by golly, I was going to fix my 2nd daughter. I was going to figure her out and bring her around, etc. When I was 1/2 way through the book, I realized it was my third daughter that was the strong-willed one and my second was just reacting to her!!! Great book with a great approach to helping our kids.

The last thing I want to say it this: my brother (age 52 now) was a hyper kid - drove my parents and his teachers absolutely crazy. However, he has turned into an amazing man - he's a great dad, has a great job, he's smart, and loves taking care of his house and fixing things, etc. He's just not a person who sits. He's creative and independent and funny and one of the coolest people I know. AND we have tons of great "John as a little boy" stories to tell at family gatherings. Perhaps your 10 year old is just like my brother and with your love and guidance, he can find a way to embrace the way God made him and become a wonderful adult who has learned to put all that energy to good use!

K., I hope all goes well for you and you find answers for your son and peace for your family.

I know it is hard but the 10 year is just a boy full of energy he need to be outside running in sports or just riding a bike for long amounts of time and extra cores is what I did for my boy. How does he sleep at night? When my son wasn't sleeping he was more hyper and my life more crazy.

Karen, I work with students who are also diagnosed with ADHD. Most of the time, medication is the only option. However, some years ago it hit closer to home. My niece(who was about 8 or 9) was diagnosed as ADHD and I was the babysitter. Wow! That was an experience of a lifetime. Well, to cut things short, I simply began to spend a lot of time praying for God to slow down her adreneline and revamp her nervous system(nicely put:). After a whole summer of doing this, I want to tell you that the young lady who is now 26 years old was taken off of the medication that summer by her mom and has never had it since. I know it sounds crazy but, it worked. Wish you well.

Merry M.

I have a 17 year old son recently diagnosed with ADHD. We always thought he was difficult and underachieving. I just ordered and received (but have yet to read) four books. Parenting Children with ADHD- Ten Lessons that Medicine Cannot Teach by Vincent J. Monastra, Ph.D; The ADD Answer by Dr. Frank Lawlis; Teaching Teen with ADD and ADHD by Chris A. Zeigler Dendy, M.S.; Helping Adolescents with ADHD and Learing Disabilities by Judith Greenbaum, Ph.D & Geraldine Markel, Ph.D;

One of the things I have read so far is that classic punishment used on non-ADHD kids is not going to work for the ADHD kid-you might want to research Russell Barkley's tips on behavioral strategies. We are feeling so guilty about not having caught this earlier, I wish I could go back 7 years and be starting out with my 10 year old rather than a 17 year old. Another thing I have read is that medicine alone is not going to do the trick. You may want to explore counseling with a counselor whose practice has people with ADHD on their caseloads. I am raising the class clown, and I think part of that is due to his frustration with learning and he can save face with his buddies by making them laugh. Good luck.

I never have had this problem personally, but I see it a lot in my line of work...there have been some excellent results with changing the quality of nutrition with these kids. The problem is that even if you cook and eat healthy all the time, the nutrition you need is not in our foods as the soil is depleted of needed minerals, trace minerals and ultra trace minerals...there is a liquid supplement called VEMMA that has all the vitamins AND minerals needed to give your body what it needs...try it...you will see a tremendous change in concentration and mood...website is www.myvemma.com/mtuttle Cost is about $75/month, just give it a try, you will be surprised....M. T
PS FOr older ones there is an energy drink by same company called VERVE...same nutritional supplement included without the sugar (also sugar free available) May be a little more used friendly that the Vemma....

K.,
I, too, have a son with ADHD and the medication he is on is a godsend! I wonder if, maybe, the meds you tried were just not the right ones. It took a little over a year to find the right one for my son, and now we have "peace" in our home. I wouldn't reccommend taking him off the medication at all! Have you tried going through Children's & Family Services? They are wonderful and not only have the child's best interests at heart, but the family's as well. I should also mention that my son also suffers from RAD (we adopted him and his sister four years ago from the DHS foster/adoption system), and he is starting to "come around", which I also credit to the ADHD medication. Good luck, my prayers are with you and, I'm here if you need to talk.
D. C.

My just about 9 year old has ADHD and life is tough at times here. She is onAdderal right now but we went through alot to find the right med for her. Her grades in school went from failing to passing with all a's. We had to up the dose for s short time due to the standardized testing going on . She just could not get through the practice tests but seems to be doing OK on the real tests now.

ADHD is not fun at all. Good luck to you my friend I hope you can find the help you need. If you use Four County Mental Health they have a great program called Quest for the kids you should check in to that

W.

If you have not seen a child psychologist, it is a great first step. They can create behavior modification interventions to help with the behaviors and discipline problems. These can carry over into school as well if they are having problems there. You may need to get a referral from the pediatrician for your insurance to cover it, but most insurance will cover the visits.
Good luck.

i work for a company started by a single mom who had children with adhd, juvenile diabetes, allergies and more!! her son who has adhd could not be medicated b/c he also has a heart condition. she dealt with through diet - he could not have things like msg, food dyes, additives or preservatives. long story short - the food she was making out of necessity became wanted by all as it was better for everyone! please feel free to ask me any questions and check out www.jenwarr.mywildtree.com for more info. i offer mamasource specials too!!
J.

I know what you're dealing with. I couldn't get any answers out of our ped for my 4 yr. old whom I suspect has ADHD but they don't want to test at her age. My MD told me to try coffee with her. 100 mg of caffeine (about 1 cup of coffee) has the same effect as 5 mg of ritalin, which is the starting dosage for kids. I give her a cup of coffee once in the morning and once in the afternoon and it seems to be working great. I put hers in a sippy cup with 1 C coffee, 1 C milk, and a little sugar to taste. She loves it and it really does the trick! It's much cheaper and has far less side effects than traditional meds.

K., we have tried several different ways to handle our daughter who is now 15. She was diagnosed when she was 5 as having adhd. There are many different kinds of medications that you can try that don't keep them zoned out. The weight thing is something that all adhd children have and you just have to get them used to eating high protein diets with lots of snacks. As I have said, we have a 15 year old that is severe adhd and she stands almost 5'5" and we have just finally got her up to 101 pounds. Lots of patience, stick to your guns and always when you need them to focus on what you are saying to them, remove them from the stimulated environment, look them in the eye, make sure they look you in the eye, keep their hands to their sides, tell them that you need them to focus and really listen to what you are saying, if they go to moving about or not looking you in the eye, stop the conversation until you have their full attention, this may take some time, but once you have talked to them have them tell you what it is that they have heard.
But I can not imagine trying to do all of it with out the aid of medication. Good luck.

i think you should try different meds until you find the right dosage.when you change the meds watch for any signs of the child picking at sores consistantly or biting nails until puss comes out- these are signs the meds need to be changed again. also most adhd meds do not give kids an appetite so they are put on appetite pills and most of the time the appetite pills do not help you will have to make sure to have your child eat and make sure you tell the teacher to make him eat at least half of what is on the plate. your child should not be a zombie. you may have to change meds often until you find the right one.

My son has ADHD also and I refused to put him on medication due to several different issues including the ones that you cited. I read that some kids with attention span difficulties have a lack of certain B vitamins. I did find a vitamin that is called Buried Treasure Added Attention. I give it to him twice daily and it really helps. He sleeps better and has a much better attention span.

Wow I cant help you but I'm new to this ADHD boat. My son, Samuel has had the "signs" all along that I've been ignoring (tsk tsk tsk). He was diagnosed maybe in Feb.'08. He's really a good kid with a big heart but he has ALL the signs or symptoms of ADHD. He was on concerta but it didn't seem to be stroung enough for him so I just tried ritalin for the first time yesterday. He took that pill fine but today he actually saw the 'horse pill' & fought for life against taking it. Even though ADHD is common I know no one else who has children w/ it to understand why I'm stressing. A LITTLE ABOUT ME NOW I'm 32 I've been married to my husband for 9 yrs. We have our son Samuel who is 6. Seventh birthday is July 15th. We have a 19 mo old son, Joseph who also has his issues!!! I'm stressed & my hubby is gone a lot due to work & school. S.

There is a program out there..med free. Called PCIT (parent child interaction teaching) it teaches the child and you how to cope with the problems that come along with ADHD. I'm going through the program right now with my son and ohhh I cant tell you how happy I am with this program. He has done a total 360 we can actually take him in public and have family fun time again without the total melt downs we use to have. I would recommend this program to anyone with these problems.

again...take them OFF RED DYE. everyone is so gung ho to stick them on drugs. I'm not saying it will cure the problem but I bet it will certainly help. Might also have them checked for allergies. My best friends son was hyper, they later found out he was allergic and was actually itching inside.

Karen, you say you have altered their diets, it is not just about sugar, look for food that has NO Red food coloring, granted most do but if you want to see a difference take out 99% of the foods they eat with Red food coloring. Go to book store, I like Barnes and Nobles because they have the best selections I have found so far and get a couple of books on dealing with ADHD, you will be amazed at how much you learn. Good Luck

Hi Karen,

I'm a mother of a son (now 15) who was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 5. We spent the first year trying vitamins, minerals, aromatherapy (works mildly), color modification (stay away from reds - works moderately), music therapy (calm music works until they out grow it). you name it we tried it. Wasn't all that effective and I spent more time at his school than I cared too...responding to a minor crisis or something.

At age 6 we finally tried medication. The normal (ritalin, concerta, etc.) didn't work but when we had him put on Clondadine (patch method) we saw a huge difference. Don't give up the medication route...it's a trial and error method to find out what works for each individual. Too many people who aren't in our shoes say that medicating for ADHD is wrong...but they wouldn't withhold treatment if their child had diabetes or some other treatable disorder/disease.

What meds have you tried so far? And, what other home remedies have you tried?

W. Q.

I have a 9 year old daughter with ADHD she was diagnosed when she was in kindergarten.We tried so many different medicines and finally found the right one that does not affect her moods or personality but allows her to focus on school work and sit down and actually watch a movie without moving.

Hi!

I can understand how an unreasonable (unable to be reasoned with?) child can make life complete havoc! Taking priveledges isn't going to work becuase they are actually lacking in neurotransmitters that enable a person to calm down ..they live close to panic which I can only try to empathize with and I try to be understanding of, but it's hard. We refuse to use meds because we've seen the zombie effect on our friend's kids. I started using a supplement called Added Attention from Treasure Island (I think they just discontinued it and we've switched to Attentivechild by Source Naturals) Both of these are supposed to help replace the neurotransmitters with a substance called DMAE. We have also started using Nature's Way Fisol (fish oil that's easily absorbed) because studies have shown that ADHD subjects are seriously lacking in omega 3 fatty acids. Anyway, after two weeks my daughter's teacher called to ask what we were doing differently because she was able to "stay on task" and our family time was much improved. I can tell the difference when we run out after about 3 days. Life is not a picnic and we still struggle with her, but things have calmed down dramatically and are manageable. Her personal comfort level is much improved as well. So many people forget that they're acting that way for a reason, and usually it's because they feel like they're about to jump out of their skin. It's not just the parents and teachers struggling with the out of control child, but also the child's level of discomfort thats causing the mayhem.
Good luck!

Read the book "Driven to distraction" it is excellent! my daugther is 17 was on meds until 3rd grade and is now on the A B honor role, and a wonderful teen with good sense. But not a great driver. The medications helped teach her how it felt to focus but ADD and ADHD is something that they will have for life they just need to be taught coping skills. It is a struggle for them to have any kind of distraction while trying to study so we put the study area in the dinning room and no TV until the homework is done. No excuse for bad behavior as they have to learn to behave. we requested that the teacher put her in the front row on a end so she only had to deal with distractions on one side and behind her. encouragement as self esteem suffers. Life has blessed us with adults who have it and have a good job and doing well in life Call me if you want to talk, it is a difficult thing but with tools they can go on and be very succesful and happy. It has changed me and our family but looking back in a very good way!
God bless you and give you strength

I have not had to deal with this problem yet in my child, but I am working with a child at the school who has the problem under control. We are reading a book that he loves right now. He is in 5th grade and the book is called Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key. Joey is a boy around this age who has ADHD that is out of control. I feel that my school child is able to identify with Joey and that is why he loves the book. There are a few of the Joey books I think. They might help both of you to realize you are not the only ones going through the craziness! Good luck.

K.,
There are several good medications for ADD/ADHD. Did you try Wellbutrin Time Release?

My son, Anthony, had/has ADD -- and a very good psychologist told me that meds was only one leg of the table. The other three were -- well, I only remember two -- food (no red food coloring, chocolate, coke for example -- Fienstein's diet guidelines seemed to help) and the other was teaching him daily organization skills -- which warped over to school skills too.

I will say, I only had the one child which helped -- otherwise, I think I would have had to be committed! No meds during the summer and once he got big enough to take responsibility for his own actions, he quit altoghter. The good news is these children are smart and there are many careers they fit perfectly!

I am a special education teacher. Both of my sons were diagnosed with ADHD several years ago. I believe you can find a support group, it used to be called CHADD. I would google on line for any thing you can find for ideas. When my sons would get really wiry, I had them sit for awhile and try to keep them focused on something that didn't take a lot of activity, but needed a lot of focus, like drawing or something quiet. But, again, there is a lot of information on the web. Search for CHADD

Look up a company called Vaxa, product Attend. Natural product approved for pharmacies. I take the Deprex and it has helped so much. You can read why it works/testimonies on the website.
Blessings!
A.

We have 17 year old son with this. We only give him his medication during the school week leaving him not taking it on weekends. I keep weight gain bars, etc (snacks) in his room to eat as he feels the urge. We put him in karate a few years ago. It reallty seemed to help get that extra energy out while training him to control himself. Don't quit the medication. He needs it for school.

My stepson was diagnosed several years ago with it. We have never taken him off of it, but on the weekends and during the summer he does not take it. He eats very well during those times and anytime he is out of school(spring break, Christmas, and Thanksgiving) he does not take it either. You can probably work with your doctor about the dosage he needs to take. This may help. He experienced those issues at first, but he really needs it mainly to concentrate at school. He takes one dose in the morning and another at lunch. They tried to get him to take it 3 times a day and that was way too much. He has a healthy appetite after school each day and eats well for supper at night.

Hey, K.! I just wanted to offer some support to you as another SAHM of 3 boys, one of which (the oldest) has been diagnosed ADHD among other things. I took him off his meds because he developed tics. I never found anything that worked with him, time outs~taking toys or priviledges away~restriction~even letting him go live with his dad. Nothing worked! You are not alone and it's nice to know that I'm not either! Good luck!

Hi, I too am dealing with ADHD in my 10yr old son, It really depends on what medication you tried, there are alternatives my son has been on Concerta for 3yrs now and it's made a huge difference and does not affect his appetite at all.And he still enjoys riding horses and motorcycles which off meds I would not have allowed. We also noticed that chocolate,peanut butter and basically anything with high fructose sugars makes him 10x worse even with meds so that is monitered closely, the CONCERTA last 12hrs so it gets him thru school and homework. We also have trouble with him not going to bed,Our Pediatrician has us give Benedryl 2hrs before bedtime which works well along with keeping visual and hearing stimulation to a minimum while he is trying to fall asleep. It takes 7days for a food to get out of there system so be patient when trying to weed out food allergies. As for mornings and getting off to school I used to be late for work every day due to the major meltdowns and fits, But we figured out if my husband wakes him 1hr before time to get up and gives him his meds then has him lay back down and sleep for the next hour he wakes up a whole different child with no problems,if not and he becomes too active before meds are given we have a difficult whole day but still not as bad as when completely off meds. We do not do "summer breaks" from meds either it is too hard to manage for the person caring for them and not fair to the child because they are in trouble all the time.It is a hard thing to deal with discipline and how to know what they have control of and what they do not have,I have had to stop and make myself realize when I am not getting thru and started explaining to him how he is acting and making him take notice of his feelings and actions,he has to immediately applogize to his sister or anyone he says mean things to and when having a meltdown I ask him if he had something to eat I need to know about and most of the time thats is the problem but by asking him it makes him aware and he has started making good choices at school and home. Make sure you talk with him alot about so he can put things together and start to learn to help himself.There are books to help those of us who do not understand what they are going thru and they helped me a lot also talking with adults who had/have it can help explain the feelings etcc they go thru. Hopes this helps. K.

What meds were you on? I've got ADD, so does my son, my father, my aunt, etc. It's miserable to live with whether you're the one with it or the one having to live with the person who has it. ADD is manageable. Meds aren't the only answer. Try a different medication or lower the dose. I'm on a very low dose of Adderall. I still have trouble concentrating, but it gives me the ability to control my mind wandering. My son is on Vyvanse. He says that it works better than Adderall and doesn't make him as sick. Besides meds, try behavior modification techniques. Join a support group. I joined the Attention Deficit Disorder Association (online) and find it very helpful.

I'd type more, but I'm at work. Best of luck to you.

Part 2:

I've been skimming through the rest of the responses and there's some great advice there. There is some benefit to limiting carbs and upping the protein, but if your kids really do have ADD or ADHD, that's not going to cure the problem. Also, it's great that some parents are able to grow their own food and cook everything without additives, but I'm a single mom with a full time job and two kids..., so besides a small vegetable garden, we cook store bought stuff. You're doing the right thing with trying to get all of the information you can from which you can make an informed decision. Just like everything else, go with your gut. You're the best advocate for your children and will do what you feel is the best for them.

To the mom who's child is 17 now, I know how your child feels. I wasn't diagnosed until I was 28. Your child is just going to have to start down the road with behavior modification and meds. Once he (or she? sorry, can't remember) starts to get an understanding that he isn't the idiot that he has become to believe that he is, he'll start to excel in life. There are benefits to having ADD, but fitting into a world set up for those who can easily concentrate and who have short term memories isn't an easy task. You didn't do anything wrong. ADD is very much misunderstood. Just be there now to support your child.

I have twins daughters that are ADHD and I know what your saying. They take Concerta 18mg, one every morning. They are doing well on this, their grades have improved and so has their behavior. They eat very well on this med as well, is not as h*** o* their stomic, and they are very much into life. Never a dull moment around my house. But I not being driven up a wall either.

Hope this helps
Y. B

K. just a thought I would go to th eweb site dianecraft.org and read through some of her stuff. She knows alot about these things and more. I put my daughter on 5HPT and this has made so much difference in her. She doesn't have adhd, but her attention span is short and she gets really to overanxish and excited at times. I homeschool my girls so there are times that are real trying, but this is a help for me. Try her and you can even call to check on some of these things. Hope this may help.

Please try this, it worked with our deaf daughter several years ago who is very strong willed and stubborn:

Give them choices....example: When they ask for a drink, you start asking questions, giving them time to answer each one like:
would you like the blue or green cup?
Would you like a lid or a straw?
Would you like milk or juice?
Would you like to drink it in the kitchen or the dining room?

Most of the time strong willed and stubborn children just want control. By asking them questions that you are happy with either choice gives them control. We even used this with our discipline...example: When our daughter would do something that was unacceptable, we would tell her..."That is not an acceptable behavoir (or action) and you will receive consequences for your behavior (or action), would you like to sit in time-out for 5 minutes in the dining room chair or on your bed? Now, the child will most likely try to choose something else, the key is that they must choose one of the things you ask. It's hard to stick with it at first, however, if you do it will most likely work. If they either refuse to choose or want to choose something else, tell them that if they do not choose one of the options you gave them then you will choose. After you have had to make the choice for them a couple of times (and you stick with your choice), they will quickly learn to make the choice themselves. You can also try to up the anty...example: sometimes when my daughter would refuse to choose one of the consequences presented to her we would start to up the time-out required and leave the places the same. We would say "ok, now we're up to 10 minutes of time-out, would you like to do it in the dining room chair or on your bed? if she still didn't choose then we would move it to 20 minutes and keep going until she would finally decide that she better choose or she was going to spend all day in time-out.

I hope this method works as well for you as it did for us, our daughter is now 16 and very well behaved...please let me know.

K.,

You were smart to have your son diagnosed properly.

What medication was he taking? The amphetamine medications can make you depressed if the dosage is too high.

The leading ADD/ADHD researchers in the world reccomend that all children start with Concerta at the lowest dose. Then you gradually increase the dosage until you find the one that works the best.

The great thing about stimulant medication is that you know that day if it is working or not.

You may have to increase his dose one higher than her needs before you figure out that the lower dosage was the best.

There are MANY pediatricians who really don't know what they need to know about treating ADD/ADHD. If you are in Birmingham, I could tell you which Dr.s are more educated on it than others.

The first thing that you will need to know is that many people who don't have ADD can have no clue about how it feels to be ADD/ADDHD. They think that you can just eat better nutritionally, or discipline better, or "snap out of it", or some other home remedy.

What most of us don't understand and I didn't either, is that ADD is a chemical imbalance at the synaptic level in the brain and it is genetic. It is not caused by any outside sources.

An ADD person's brain cycles dopamine and norepinephrine too fast at the synapse. This causes inattention, distractibility, unexplained out-bursts or impulsivity, which has outcomes, that are below average scholastically (but not always), socially shunned, and generally viewed as having a lower intelligence than their peers. However, the vast majority of ADD people have higher IQ's than their peers. By using proper medicine, they can attain their IQ quotient. Without medicine, they are often viewed as an inconvenience.

I hope this helps,
K. B.

my 13 yr old has adhd. and i am going to talk to the counsler about this. and learn more about it. he is never still most of the time. and always back talks me and hits me sometimes. they tell me about the groundation. u can not over do it. just when they get home from school dont let them watch tv. or play any games. let me sit in the room with nothing to do all evening long. then the next day if things are ok. then they can do the stuff they like. have u tried stars. it usally helps as well. get some stars and a calendar and they days they are good put a star on there. and after about 2 or 3 stars take them out to the park or get some ice cream for the reward. u have to stay strict and dont give up on the punishments. i know it is hard but hang in there all will be alright. its not really that bad. but i know what u are going through. it is hard.

there is help. check out www.nacd.org incredibly fabulous organization with real answers.

hi my name is S., and my 11 year old son has adhd, he's had it since 1st grade... andi totally understand what your going through, he takes concerta36mlg. and he's done good on this medicine, its good if your child has a counselor, so that way he can have someone to talk to, my son sees a counselor and it does good. its also good if they have friends or other activities to help run off some of the energy.. how is his behavior at school?

Have you had them checked for allergies? You need to do this before you do anything else. If you are on a familiar basis with your regular pharmacist you need to ask him the real side effects of the drugs that are given for ADHD. You will be horrified. Food allergies have severe effects on some children. I never gave my son any drugs, only controlled his diet, and had consistent rules of acceptable behavior. Wheat, sugars, food colors were the worst. It is a lot of trial and error but well worth the effort. Over stimulation in the child's day is also a definite "don't do". But lots of exercise, sports, karate, and out in yard play is a must. Ask your sons what they are really interested in and if it is something that you can arrange, let them put their heart and soul into it. My son was the sweetest thing walking, but add one thing to his diet, and he was physically sick along with the hard to be around behavior. He got old enough to know what the foods did to his body and was smart enough to stay away from them when he alternatives to choose from. He is now an officer in the Army and has a son of his own. It will work out for you and those precious boys. Remember, boys are more independent than you remember being when you were a kid and you have to allow them to grow into it with a good balanced head on their shoulders.