Adhd - San Francisco,CA

my almost 5 year old son was diagnosed in Jan of this year, its a challange everyday. most recently his dr diagnosed him with early onset bi-polar disorder... which explains a lot! as for his adhd hes been on Intuniv, and detrostat(sp) and today was switched to focalin, his behavior has improved so much since we started this, and i couldnt be happier.

When everyone says it's been a long road to diagnosis, was there also nutrition tests done? My grandson was 'diagnosed' ADHD because of a questionnaire the teacher and my daughter filled out. There was no 'testing'! He's been put on several medications and when I looked them up, there were several side effects - both short and long term.

When he is visiting us during the summer, he is off soda, sugar, preservative-laden packaged foods, fast food and anything with HFCS and food coloring - nor do we fry anything. I'm not saying it's easy, but the result is incredible. Not only has that helped with his allergies (he can play outside), but he's truly a great kid to be around when he's NOT on his meds. He also takes natural food supplements like Omega and others.

Just had to let this out as I really think way too many kids are being 'labeled' that shouldn't be.

I have little personal experience (my brother was incorrectly diagnosed) but there was a nice article in a recent issue of Real Simple and she discusses medicine failures and success.

Best wishes to you and your son.

Hi G., My son was diagnosed with ADHD about a year ago. It was very hard at first for me to come to grips with the diagnosis due to the stigma of ADHD and the feeling of not my child. However, when doing my research and seeing that all his symptoms fit it to a tee, I have slowly embrassed the diagnosis. At first we started dealing with it based on different strategies we received from counselors that deal with children with ADHD on a daily basis. Counseling has help our son learn to control his body, focus, and breath. Strategies we used were 1,2,3 eyes on me to get him to focus on what we were telling him. Reminding him to control his body so he had something else to bring his attention too. Having him take deep breaths to bring the focus back on track.
When it started to disrupt his classroom time and studies, we went to medication. We have been very diligent with the school and making sure they are continueing to use strategies that work. He is now on Straterra and what a difference it has made in his body stillness. He likes that he can focus in class and get his work done. We also give him Melatonin which is an over the counter sleep aid, which helps him get a restful nights sleep so he doesn't wake up unrested.
Go online and check out http://www.additudemag.com/ it has a wealth of great information. Always know that you are not alone!

My son is five and was diagnosed last fall. Because he's so much like ME, it took a really long time and him starting a new school for me to understand that what we were experiencing wasn't just "normal."

I decided to medicate him because HE was getting upset about not being able to finish things, struggling to make friends, losing his stuff (all par for the course for me until I've had several cups of coffee, but it was really bothering him).

He takes AdderalXR (started on the immediate release until we got a dose that worked then went to XR). He's TOTALLY himself, but more successful. When he takes out something to do, he does it (ie finishes the puzzle, reads the whole book, builds the whole Lego contraption, whatever) and he gets a long better with other kids.

We experienced a few side effects at the beginning but they lasted only a few days to a week, so I'd say it was worth it. The first few days he was very emotional: would cry over small disappointments etc. He's also just generally thirstier on the medication than he was before, but I use it as a chance to get some more milk into my skinny guy :)

HTH
T.

My oldest son is 11 yrs and is currently on Folacin. Was previously taken Ritalin but lost its effectivess after awhile. My 7yr is going to be evalated soon.
If you have any questions please send me a message.

Of course, every child is going to react differently. My son will be 8 at the end of the month and he was diagnosed last year. He had the symptoms, etc since he was 2, but I couldn't find a child psychologist/psychiatrist that would treat him.

We tried all nature remedies, gluten-free diet, sugar-free diet, etc. None of the above would work for Ian.

He was originally put on Ritalin. Every month we'd go in for a session and it would increase. Now we're on a long lasting pill, Vyvanse. It is a God-send! I was so ready to pull my hair out or get in the car and run away, it wasn't even funny. But now we can function like a family and get on with our busy days.

If you have any more questions, shoot me a message :)

Question: is medication your first line of treatment? I am favorable toward medications, and my children have done well with them, an they are a God send to so many, but they are a tool to help the therapy work better. Your son should have a combination of many hours per week of: cognative behavioral therapy, play therapy, speech and occupational therapy as needed, vision therapy and develpmental optomitry as needed, social skills classes, educational interventionts- behavioral supports- possitive interventions- school based therapies- as needed on an IEP or 504 plan at school, and a comprehensive behaviral strategie that you implement accross all enviornments. You will find that some children will respond well to this treatment without the need for medication, but many will need medication to attend to all these therapies and the overall treatment plan. It is hard work for you, his doctors, his therpists, his teachers, his school therapists, his intervention specialists, and himself. Medication can be a very important tool, but it is not the first step by any means, and it is not the soul intervention for any child.

Look into CHADD, Additudes magazine, www.wrightslaw.com, and any book written by Dr. Mel Leveine or Dr. Russel Barkely. If you do not have a comprehensive private evaluation by a developmental pediatrician or a psychiatrist/neurophsychologist combo, get it. This will give you a treatment plan, and give you an idea of what he should be getting at school, and what you should be providing privately. You will provide the lions share of his treatement privately, the school is required to make him funcitional at school, you are interested in maximizing his full potential, which will require additional therapy and treatment outside of school.

Good luck! Using medication is an individual thing, some children will do very well on a medication or combination that will not work for another child. There are so many choices now, so see the very best prescriber you can, which will (hands down) be a psychiatrist. If you can find one who has the ablity to see your son as often as he needs to, such that the medication is right, that will benefit him a great deal. Some psyciatrists are independent, and do not take any insurance, so you must file it all yourself, and these doctors can see you when you need to be seen, thought it may cost you some extra money. We have found that this avaiablity, particularly when medication trials are needed, is worth every penny.

There are many choices, some that are stimulant based, some that are not, and some that can help with the secondary issues associated with ADHD that when treated appropriately with the right medication, allow children to benfit greatly from all the therapy and hard work they put in to learning how to learn, how to control thought processes, and how to process and retrieve information in a reliable way. It is worth the hard work in the end.

M.

It is possible to address the issue without meds. Many children benefit from dietary changes, behavioral strategies, meditation, music therapy and emotional regulation techniques.

Before you medicate, did you try natural methoods. There are books about diet changes that can help. Also a book called The Out of Sync Child is great.

My stepson is ADHD, it was also a long road to diagnosis. He's been medicated for a little over a year now. He is now on Focalin XR and it has worked wonders. His grades have gone way up and he is tolerable to be around. Every med is different for each kid- we went through several before Focalin. Good news is that the summer is a great time to "try out" meds because he'll be home from school and you'll be able to see the effects in the middle of the day. Good luck!

I work with children and adults with many challenges. When your body is balanced with good nutrition, sleep, good water and energy your body feels better.

If you would like to learn more I have health and wellness get togethers in my salon on Wednesday nights in Alameda from 730-830.

Good luck.

N. Marie

I have an 11 year old that has tried many different meds but is just recently on focalin XR and is doing better.
However, we saw a child psych that suggested neuro bio feedback. I looked into and found a system called Play Attention. The child wears something that looks like a bike helmet but that measures their brain waves. Specifically the brain waves that indicate they are paying attention. They play a computer game and as their brain waves show they are paying attn, they will do well on the game. For example if their brain waves show they are paying attn the scuba diver will dive down to the bottom of the ocean and get a coin out of a treasure chest. If they stop paying attn, the diver swims towards the surface.
So, the system really trains the child's brain to pay attention.
We are having luck with it. It takes about 8 months to work completely. We've been doing it for two.
We also do Omega 3 for juniors lemon flavored. Takes about 2 weeks to see a small difference but is worth my $20/mo.

HELLO G.. MY HEART GOES OUT TO YA. I HAVE A NOW 28 YEAR OLD SON. HE HAD LOTS OF PROBLEMS FROM THE GET GO OF LIFE. JOEY WAS DIAGNOSED AROUND 5 OR 6 YEARS OLD. WE TRIED DIFFERENT MEDS. SOME GAVE HIM HALUSINATIONS (?). ONE DAY I WAS IN THE PHARMACY FOR SOMETHING ELSE & THE LADY BEHIND ME HEARD ME TALKING & SAID SHE HAD A SON WITH ADHD. WE TALKED FOR A LITTLE BIT & SAID THEY FOUND "CYLERT" TO BE THE BEST. IT ONLY SLOWS HIM DOWN LONG ENOUGH TO FOCUS DURING THE DAY. WE TRIED IT & HE WAS ON IT UNTIL HIGHSCHOOL WHEN HE DECIDED TO TRY WITHOUT. DOCTOR TOLD ME THIS WOULD HAPPEN. THROUGHOUT SCHOOL YEARS HE WAS ALWAYS IN LDL CLASSES. DURING HIS EARLY YEARS, WE PUT HIM IN "TAI KWON DOE" (?) THAT HELPED TREMENDOUSLY. I HAVE HELPED FAMILIES WITH SCHOOL ISSUES. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME. WE AS PARENTS HAVE TO FIGHT FOR OUR KIDS, ESPECIALLY WITH THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. THEY LIKE TO PASS THEM ON OR ON THE SIDE. BEEN THROUGH IT. I WOULD LOVE TO SHARE MY PERSONAL STORY WITH YOU. GIVE YOU IDEAS ONE ON ONE.
A. MYERS ###-###-#### ____@____.com

I agree with what the others have shared about medication. Wonderful! Can't say enough good things about what it's done for our son. He's currently taking Adderall XR and doing great. People don't even know he has ADHD during the day when the medication is active and that says a whole lot because he has extreme ADHD-combined type.

The hard part is that medication doesn't last all day. So, don't stop at medication. As Martha notes, it's really beneficial to have therapy, too. We meet with a behavioral therapist regularly to discuss any challenges our son is facing, especially at the start and end of the day when the medication isn't active.

CHADD is a super organization to join. They will give you factual information about ADHD and you may find a support group in your area. I also highly recommend a subscription to ADDitude magazine; another super resource for reliable information and it's an easy read, too.

Best of luck to you as you start this journey!