Adhd - San Antonio,TX

Unfortunately, the side effects of every med (as well as the "flavor") are going to be very very different with each individual. They all work for someone brilliantly, and they all are terrible for someone else.

These are the 20-56 most popular ADHD meds

www.drugs.com/condition/attention-deficit-disorder.html

Also, there are OTC stimulants: Coffee/Espresso, Tea, Soda, ... all containing caffeine and salts/sugars ... and nicotine, although it's highly addictive, a person can't OD on it very easily. Also benedryl for sleep at night is non-addictive. While pseudoephidrine is available OTC... I would reccomend using it on a regular basis ONLY under a doctor's supervision since it (like Rx stimulants) is highly addictive.

First, I'm really glad to hear that the diet and supplements have been able to help. They did not work at all for my son. My son has been on Concerta for the past year and is seeing remarkable results. Contact me individually if you would like more info.
S.

My son has had several different meds for adhd. He was started on ritilin. It was not a good fit at all. Made him very aggressive which up to that point we had never (and have never had again) had a problem with. It also made him very emotional and he cried a lot. that was never an issue before either. They switched him to adderall. which worked very good for about a year and a half. he took one before school and another at lunch time in order for it to work thru the school day. the only down side to that was he couldn't go to sleep at night. so then had to have a pill for that. I was not happy with that at all. he was then switched to a slow release form of adderall. THIS WAS A MIRACLE DRUG. lol He was on it for several years. It got him thru the school day and homework and then ran down before bed time. However over time it also lost its effectivness. When he was in 6th grade he was switched to Vyvance. THIS WAS THE SECOND MIRACLE. He was on it for about a year and a half. His grades improved dramatically his attention span was great. Last summer (end of 7th grade) he asked if we would let him try without meds. We agreed, doctor agreed and he is doing spectacular. It has been a year and he is on the high honor roll, joined the choir and the wrestling team. Just wanted you to know that your child going on meds now doesn't mean they will be on them for life. Some of the ADHD behaviors do get outgrown. Some don't. But the positives way outweigh the negatives. I swore I wouldn't let him be put on meds. And fought it for a year. But his kindergarten teacher told me at the time I have all the extreme kids in the district and your son is my extreme in the classroom. So glad I listened to the doctor.

Our son is on Concerta, a long acting form of Ritalin. It's been wonderful for him! The only side effect we saw was a decrease in appetite, but that greatly improves over time. He has also been on other forms of Ritalin that didn't work quite as well or for quite as long. He also tried Adderall early on, but that gave him rages as it wore off and we quit that immediately. It can take trial and error because what's a great med for one child can be totally wrong for another, and you don't always know the right dosage from the beginning. What's nice is that if, for any reason, you don't like an ADHD med, you can stop immediately. They're only in the system a short time. The benefits of these meds in our son have been that he can focus, control his body and control his energy. Dramatically positive changes at home and at school. I can't speak highly enough about what medication has done for him. Now that he's seven, he's able to tell me "I don't feel like I can control my body" when he hasn't had his medication yet. He's so much happier when the med is active. No parent is eager to try medication, but I can tell you from experience that it's worth the leap of faith. It's like insulin for a diabetic ... it's what makes the difference. Now, everyone sees what a bright and funny boy he is and not all of behavior challenges.

Best of luck to you!
(ETA: If you face any sleep problems, a small dosage of melatonin should take care of it. Many kids with ADHD who aren't even on meds have a hard time calming down enough to sleep and take melatonin as a natural way to help)

I have a little different perspecitve on this issue. I HAVE ADD. Not adhd, no hyperactivity. I believe the hyperactive component is more common in boys.

I'm glad you are considering all your options- including meds. Since I know firsthand what life was like with and without meds, I know how HARD it is unmedicated. Its hard when everyone is telling you to sit still, pay attention, etc and you cant. People do not understand.

Since I'm an adult, I wasnt diagnosed until I was 12, as I dont think before then the disorder was really widely recognized. I was put on basic ritalin. I have since tried other meds, and always go back to ritalin. Back then, it was truly a life changing thing, going on meds. I went from a D student to an A student, like magic. I started liking school more, instead of dreading every day. Homelife got easier too, but the big difference was definitely school.

As an adult, now, I think about 50% of kids today are misdiagnosed, or something else is going on that is mimicing (sp?) true ADD/ADHD. So I'm glad you did explore other options such as diet. I think a big issue is ADHD kids spend too much time sitting. ALL kids spend too much time sitting, as the childhood obesity epidemic proves. If he's not getting up and moving, hard and fast, every single day, get him going. Michael Phelps has ADHD, its how he got into swimming in the first place, his mom told the coach to wear her son down every day so he didnt bounce off the walls at home.

Bottom line, try meds but dont stop with other treatments such as diet and exercise. Ritalin is a basic long used drug. I have never had a single side effect except peace in my brain. Good luck!

I have ADHD and have been on medication since I was 19. Recently( due to pregnancy and nursing) I have been off medication. What a difference it has been and not in a good way. I had forgotten how profoundly difficult everything is without the assistance of the medication. It makes everything so much harder. I am more forgetful, struggle so hard to concentrate, get frustrated far more easily, feel like an overwhelmed failure a lot more. I can't speak for everyone, but I can tell you that for me, medication was a lifesaver. Yes I made it through my early years without it, but my life would have been so much better with it. I so desperately wish I had been diagnosed and medicated earlier. Once you find the right meds and right dosage, everything is so much less frustrating and you can really meet your full potential. As a teacher I think parents often do not understand how different home and school are. At home the task demands are few and relatively easy and do not require substantial attention. At school, they may need him to concentrate for 45 minutes at a time and not doing so can seriously negatively impact him educationally. I've also seen parents who chose not to medicate because they felt it made their children " zombies" without realizing that the slow, quieter, calmer behavior was actually age and grade typical. Please consider medicating your son for the hours he is in school. Ritalin and several others offer doses that are not controlled release and can be given so they are only in effect during school hours. I cannot tell you how much I wish I had had the chance to be on medication during school
In case you are wondering I am ( when not breastfeeding) on Ritalin 10 mg 3 times a day. It has made all the difference

I have a vitamin and supplement line that is geared towards kids on the spectrum. It has an amazing delivery system. If you would like some more info on it, let me know and I will get you some. I have a business partner that teaches preschool children with ADHD and autism. She swears by our products. It's worth reading about before medicating.

If your child has been diagnosed by a psychiatrist and not a family doctor or pediatrician, then you can say he's been officially diagnosed. He is the only right doctor to monitor how well that medication is working and change it or combine them for the best effect.

Medicine helped by daughter immensely. She had memory problems and reading comprehension and disorganization that was holding her back in school severely. Then she got very emotional because she didn't understand why she was so handicapped and why school was so much harder for her than others. She also had depression which is linked to having ADD. The medications made a huge difference for her. Thank goodness for them!

However, I also know how much help it was to her to also give her the known tools for her to use. Between my reading and attending workshops on it, I also hired an ADD coach. We taught her the tricks there are to help her.

Your teachers can be very helpful to you in monitoring your child's progress from the things you try.

When your child gets out of his teens, you can re-evaluate to see if he still needs all of that help. Sometimes the academic problems reduce when they matrue, however, they can still have social or relationship or work issues if they don't have some good coaching.

My little girl was officially diagnosed at 4 years old. That is a very young age, but she was so impulsive and had no attention span. We were constantly having to tell her no, stop, dont do that. At first I went to the Psych. with her to find different ways for me to help her deal with it (or me deal with it) After much recerch and trying every thing the books and Doc. told us to do we decided it would be more bennifical to her to be able to sit and concentrate when she started kindergarten.We went through 3 dfferent medications before we found the right one for her. She is now on Ritalin 10mg in the am and 5mg in the afternoon. Some of the side affects we found in other medications were, anger, migranes, her saying she felt wierd... The ritalin gave her a headache for the first few weeks. We gave her motrin and it would go away. I loved introducing her to her grandparents for the first time after being medicated. She was a whole new child. Still cute and funny, same personality; she was just so happy and able to enjoy activites. Other options for your child other than medication may be a weighted vest to slow his energy down. An ADHD chair ball, it is flat on the bottom and has a half ball for the child to sit on and be able to move about on the ball with out distracting classmates. The thing is none of these options help their concentration. As far as the not sleeping goes, I know what you mean!! We decided that because our daughter is on so many other medications (she has asthma, allergys, chronic constipation, GERD) we were not going to use the melatonin or chlonidine. As long as she stays in her room and plays quietly she and not wake the other 3 kids we are fine with it, some nights she's up to 11 or 12. She still wakes up like the energizer bunny ready to go. I recomend medication... the child is usually so much happier because of all the praise they are now getting, they have more self esteem because they are doing good work in school and mommy and daddy are not wanting to rip all their hair out, LOL! This is a very personal chice and you are the only one who can decide what is best for your child, best of luck!

Hi A.,
I can't address the meds.
But you may want to switch to Shaklee for the fish oil. A lawsuit was filed last week against many of the major producers because they all contained pcbs. Shaklee addressed that issue decades ago and their products are pure. Mighty Smart is Shaklee's product for kids. There are other supplements that could also help. You can find them at http://www.shaklee.net/healthforlife. Switching to their nontoxic cleaners and laundry products would be a good idea also. If you did switch and then felt they did not help, Shaklee wil refund your money for any product for any reason.
Another thing you might want to check into is sensory integration. There is a scrub brushing technique that might help your son. This would be from an occupational therapist.
Good luck and God bless.
Victoria

As far as programs have you tried "How does your engine run?" http://alertprogram.com/

here is a great site for the medication information: http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/tc/attention-deficit-hypera...

Also how does he sleep? if he has issues sleeping definitely get it looked at - lack of sleep can cause decreased concentration, decreased memory, behavior changes in kids,

good luck!

A.,

I understand that your son is 4 years old? In my opinion, he is too little to have such strong medications prescribed for adhd or add or whatever....Please, avoid as much as you can to DRUG your son; these things seem to help for some people (?), but they have so many side effects (during a treatment or after they have been removed from a treatment).
As another mom suggested, try exercise, lots of it, and active playing!!!. Lately, I have notice that many times kids are labeled or diagnosed as adhd because they usually on a daily basis, they do not play too much outside, they are not given the opportunity (for many and different reasons) to vent their energy. KIDS NEED TO PLAY AND RUN AND VENT ENERGY...IT IS THE WAY THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE. ( I am not yelling...I am just making a good remark H...lol..) Kids who attend school even pre-school are in a classroom for hours with a recess of 15 minutes? and they are not able to focus??they are not able to pay attention? Of course they are not able to focus,or pay attention and they squirm and play around... they need go out, play in a playground, climb,run and talk and express themselves; that is childhood, and when they have that need filled, they are able to do what is expected from them. They have lots of energy. There are kids who are calmer and obedient than others and that's great!, but there are others who are much more active and challenging and with a short attention span, but that does not mean they have a behavioral problem... not always because so far most of them are being diagnosed with adhd, add, x syndrome or x behavioral problem in numbers that are outrageous...Please, please, keep the good diet and the most natural meals for him, but most of all, give him the opportunity to have every single day time for active playing and LOTS of exercise; make a routine for him, keep things predictable for him; unpredictability is always something that most of kids do not like; it's not always possible to avoid, but we can try..
...Now, If the medicine you are giving him IS working at school and NOT working at home...what is that saying to you?
..So, please please.....sign in on any activity where your little one can play on a nice structured program, take him to the park, let him play in the backyard or else whatever is easier for you because I know how exhausting (but wonderful) is to be a mom.
My best wishes for you and good luck!!!
Alejandra

My 5 year old son was diagnosed 7 months ago, and we've seen DRAMATIC improvements in his behavior since taking meds. He takes Methylin ER, and methylphenidate (ritalin). He had decreased appetite, but has gotten on a good regimen, and is eating better. He also went through the troubles of not being able to fall asleep at night, but he now takes melatonin an hour before bed, and sleeps so good at night. I was VERY nervous about him starting meds, but he is doing well, unfortunately, it might take some different meds to try, but once you find the one that works for him, you and him will be SO much happier!!! Best wishes and good luck!!

my son is 3 and diagnosed with adhd and i dont want him meds so i want a alternative route.. i went with therapy. he is in occupational therapy and physical therapy..the therapies has found the most effective way to put him in timeout so he will listen..we found that a thing called brushing him ( it is a little white brush that you can only get from a therapist) helps him to call down..and if you go to mothernature and get the all natural calming medicine called calm child has also helped. but therapy is the best effective way. the adhd meds is not good..my husband was on it and it caused him to black out and get sick easier and stuff like that..i know therapy people think your kid is crazy or something but it is not that at all. they helped out so much. talk to your dr about therapy..trust me it will work.

My husband is on Strattera, and that has been wonderful for him. He is a Chemical Engineering major, and this medication not only helps with concentration and other regular symptoms, but also treats anxiety and depression. With his hectic schedule, this has helped him a lot.

My youngest brother is on Concerta, and after a couple of weeks of trying different doses, he found the right one for him and it has made a world of difference. He is 16. The main negative I see with concerta is that if my brother doesn't take it early in the morning, he will be up until 2am, unable to sleep. I don't know if Strattera is that way or not b/c my husband takes it at 6 every morning.

I think it's great that you are working over his diet, and using supplements. I'm the type who tries everything before resorting to medication. In cases of ADHD, in my experience medication really is necessary for those in a school setting, or in jobs with a similar environment. Good luck!

Strattera in different than all the other meds...The other meds increase norepinephrine supply (stimulants)...Strattera helps by making a little "bubble" around what your body already makes. To make it last longer...the side effects arw WAY less...We have tried eveything on the market...good luck and I hope you find something that works for you.

We tried 2 weeks of the gluten free diet, and it helped only slightly. Now my son takes the lowest dose of Concerta. I put it off for as long as I could, but before christmas he was ending up in the office for hours at a time, hitting, spitting, knocking over chairs, licking the walls. Since starting on concerta, he has been doing dramatically better at school. I can tell at home when it starts to wear off because he constantly hums, sings, and backtalks. He has had side effects of decreased appetite, stomach ache, and unable to fall asleep until midnight. We don't give it to him on weekends or vacations.
My 13-year-old cousin takes a higher dose of concerta, and has the same problems with appetite and sleep problems. My aunt keeps snacks around for him to eat late at night once it's worn off.

i have some stories collected from my friends on this topic and can send them to you, email me at ____@____.com and put ADHD/Mamapedia in the subject line =) glad to help.
J.

My daughter is on Vyvance.
At first it caused her appatite to slow way down , but it has since picked back up. It works really well for her.
I am on Adderal it works ok for me, the biggest complaint I have is the dry mouth side effect.
Pick up the book " Kids survival guide to ADD and ADHD" it explains what it is in terms a kid can understand and teaches coping techniques and gives tips for different situations including school and homework.

I deleted my previous answer because I just realized you are in Texas and the source I recommended is in Atlanta. Sorry about that!

Consider looking in to an ADHD coach in your area. That is an additional source of help that might help you to avoid meds. You can google for this type of coach or search at the International Coach Federation or Texas Coach Federation for someone in your area.

Good luck!

Try homeopathy. It has helped my son tons. Ours is great, Dr. Ali Palmeri, ###-###-####. Good luck.

Hi A.,

Other than Omega 3s, I detoxed my home. When I removed all the synthetic chemicals from our house my daughter's immune system got stronger and she was able to fight off the same kind of stimuli in other places. Her doctor has since removed her diagnosis. I do have her on Omega 3s and an absorbable multivitamin as well. Medication was never an option for us. If synthetic chemicals are a stimuli to ADHD, I didn't want to add more, to contraindicate, in the form of a pharmaceutical.

Hope I helped!

M.

PS Read the fine print on the adverse effects of the ADHD drugs. Most of the adverse effects happen when the medication is removed from the child.

Vigorous exercise 6 times a week made an amazing difference for both my son & hubby who have been diagnosed with ADHD.
They both tried meds and they help but they are not the complete answer.
Running or similar exercise changes the body chemistry naturally and the only side effects were the need to invest in good running shoes every 6 months or so.