ADHD In 11 Year Old

R.,

If you are open to something natural that not only promote general health and overall well being, but also has proven effective with childhood ADHD, this article maybe very helpful:

Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2006 Sep;15(6):329-35. Epub 2006 May 13.
Treatment of ADHD with French maritime pine bark extract, Pycnogenol.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16699814

Pycnongenol has helped lots of parents get their kids off the Ritalin and other mainstream pharmaceutical drugs. Pycnongenol is safe, natural, and effective.

Dept. of Child Psychiatry, Child University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Limbová 1, 833 40 Bratislava, Slovakia.
Abstract

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most common psychiatric disorder in children. Pycnogenol, an extract from the bark of the French maritime pine, consisting of phenolic acids, catechin, taxifolin and procyanidins, has shown improvement of ADHD in case reports and in an open study. Aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of Pycnogenol on ADHD symptoms. Sixty-one children were supplemented with 1 mg/kg/day Pycnogenol or placebo over a period of 4 weeks in a randomised, placebo-controlled, doubleblind study. Patients were examined at start of trial, 1 month after treatment and 1 month after end of treatment period by standard questionnaires: CAP (Child Attention Problems) teacher rating scale, Conner's Teacher Rating Scale (CTRS), the Conner's Parent Rating Scale (CPRS) and a modified Wechsler Intelligence Scale for children. Results show that 1-month Pycnogenol administration caused a significant reduction of hyperactivity, improves attention and visual-motoric coordination and concentration of children with ADHD. In the placebo group no positive effects were found. One month after termination of Pycnogenol administration a relapse of symptoms was noted. Our results point to an option to use Pycnogenol as a natural supplement to relieve ADHD symptoms of children.

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Y. Shi

What kind of doctor are you seeing? We have had the best luck with a psychiatrist who is able to see us as frequently as we needed, when we were trying to modify medications.

There are more nonstimulant medications out there, if he has not tried strattera, that may be an option. Stimulants are difficult for kids with secondary anxiety issues. This is a hard age too, their medication needs change dramatically during the next few years, so it will be a time to be dillegent.

You may find that if you treat the anxiety he can tolerate stimulant medication too. I really is a balancing act.

Good luck, there are many, many classes of medication and one will work. You should also have a neuropsychological assessment done, if you are not sure exactly what his educational needs are, he may have some underlying academic holes that could be identifed, and may help him be more successful if they are remediated.

M.

I have one son on Intuniv and one on Tenex and I have found that these types of drugs work well in conjuction with another drug (like Adderall). You mentioned, however, the stimulants don't really work well - and for some kids they don't. However, have you thought about trying to treat for the anxiety in conjunction with the Intuniv? If he is really anxious and is brain is really busy being worried about stuff, that would likely overpower any benefit of the Intuniv. Perhaps an anti-depressant or anti-anxiety drug with the Intuniv would give him better results. Just a thought . . .

Good luck

What about Strattera? That's another non-stimulant option and it's intended for ADHD treatment. Intuniv is basically a heart medication they found is calming. Our son started off on the regular version of it -- Tenex -- when he was three, before they were willing to try real ADHD medication. It did absolutely nothing for him. Honestly, I was surprised it ever got re-labeled as an ADHD medication under the Intuniv name because it does nothing for focus. I would ask about Strattera and also whether there are other non-stimulant options (there may be more that I'm not aware of, since we use stimulant meds now and more comes on the market all the time).

Good luck!

What is wrong with Special Ed classes? Why is that not seeming to be a positive option to you?

Hang in there - and trust your instincts - it took us 5 months and 4 failed medicines to perfect the medicine and the dosing.

Could hiring an aide be a short-term solution? I would be hesitant to go special Ed- because once you go it is very hard to go back to mainstream

Does he have an IEP? Many schools now do a lot more mainstreaming in the classroom with kids who have special needs that require much more personal attention than it sounds like your son needs.

Would he benefit from having an aide in the classroom? If you get an IEP stating that, then the school will need to supply one. There are 3 kids in my son's grade with special needs- 2 are more severe, and one with ADHD/ADD. They all have part time aides in the classroom- but all of them are mainstreamed into the regular grade level classes for most of the day and only taken out to do special work at their own learning level for specific things. It sounds like that combo approach might work well for your son?

And- I have to say, focus and 11 year old boys is hard anyway! my son is in all advanced and gifted classes, and is 11- and I still have to CONSTANTLY go through his backpack and folder for missing items, remind him to get his lunch box or gloves or assignments, etc. I email his teacher almost every week just to be sure he is keeping on track and that has really helped us- because we are on the same page with him that way.

The other thing though that has really seemed to help him is martial arts. He has been taking aikido since he was 6 and loves it. We belong to a VERY small dojo and it really helps with focus,self-discipline and respect.

All martial arts and all dojos are NOT alike though- I would recommend visiting several before choosing either a discipline or a dojo. If you would like more info about this, please feel free to message me and I will be glad to talk to you about our experience with it and what worked for us.

Good luck- your son just needs to find the right niche for learning to click for him!! If medication helps, fine, but maybe that is only one little step of it.