Over the Counter Meds for ADHD

My son has taken Ritalin, Adderal and Concerta. His father tried vitamins. The only thing that worked was Concerta. His Dr put him on the dosage for his age and weight but it was too strong. We lowered his dosage to the next lower dosage and it worked wonders. He gradated from high school and is doing great now without any medication.

Hi S.,

YES, I have used it for my daughter. And to the other ladies that responded, it is not a pharmaceutical, it is a pharmaceutical grade supplement. Source Naturals, who manufactures it is an incredibly good company and all of their supplements are a pharmaceutical grade (which is unlike Wal-Mart,GNC,and the like). There are absolutely NO side effects because it is basically food and enzymes already in the body. And yes, S., it did help.

Let me shift gears here because my 12 year old no longer has an ADHD diagnosis. Attentive Child is good, but not worth the money if you do not rid the toxins out of your child's life. Most of the chemicals you clean with and the chemicals you use on your child, i.e. shampoo, soap, lotions, etc are poisons. The number of chemicals in the main-stream items that you pick up at Wal-Mart or your grocery store can cause many different nuerological problems, most long-term. Lysol contains dioxine (Agent Orange), Johnson and Johnson and Gerber's contain Quaternium-15 which causes cancers just to mention a few. Chlorine Bleach was invented as a nuero-toxin by our military. Now we dilute it down and use it in our homes.

S., if you would like more information on how Lydia has overcome her ADHD, I would love to talk to you. Email me or call my cell, ###-###-####.

Regards,

M.

I cannot imagine the FDA approving such a medicine, since the medicine they do offer for ADHD children is considered a controlled substance. Ritalin, Aderall, Concerta is just a few they have to offer through prescriptions. And doctors study the child's behavior throughly in all aspects of his life, from home, daycare, church, etc. I wouldn't just get something off the shelf that affects your child's behavior so drastically. PLEASE consult with your child's physician before you do anything like this.

My son has been diagnosed ADHD since he was 4, and we've gone through a few to find the one that works best for him. and then as he has grown up, we've adjusted the dosage.

I wish you the best and pray that you re-consider this.

I've never heard of an over the counter version. I agree with the other poster...the side effects of ADHD meds can be ROUGH. I have it myself and before becoming pregnant I was on straterra. It was horrible..for the first 2 weeks I did nothing but throw up all the time. And then if I happened to miss one, the same thing for another 2 weeks.

It did help concentration while I was taking college courses, but once I was finished I came off of it.

I think that before you consider giving this medication you should look at some other factors.

How often are you planning on medicating only at certain times. In the morning, at school only, or during the week only with no medication during the weekends?

How severe are the symptoms of the ADHD? Is it more of an attention thing, or is it more hyperactive?

Has the child been diagnosed with ADHD?

I am the mother of a child who is almost 5 and has been diagnosed with ADHD for over a year. We have tried no medication with just set schedule and rules. After consulting with her prek teachers we have determined that it would be best for her to be medicated for school. The is not medicated through the weekend or after school, and its still hard. We did try vitamins but overall it wasn't any benefit, and we actually use all cleaning products safe for the environment and children, and that has had no affect. Her symptoms are just too severe for her to not be on medication. Since being put on medication she is a great student.

Hi S.,

Everybody keeps talking about you medicating your child. Attentive Child is not medication. It is a nutritional supplement. You can start and stop it without any supervision. My sister used it with her child and it did help. It helps because it supplements the nutrition, enzymes, amino acids and those things that are depleted causing the symptoms. Depletion can be caused by many factors: diet, chemical toxicity, genetic predisposition (if other stimuli are involved), or lack of exercise.

Please dodge the pharmaceuticals. There are too many documented problems. If you remember the warnings on the pharmaceutical drugs like Ritalin, Adderal and the like, they are terribly dangerous. Yes it "helps" control while they are on it, but the withdrawal is dangerous. When a child is removed from the med, the child is prone to aggressive behavior. Read the fine print. This has been proven over and over again. The most famous case is Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, of Columbine fame. They had just been removed from Ritalin a few months before the massacre. This was mentioned only briefly on the network news. The VA tech massacre had a similar scenario. Chemicals in the system contraindicate with the other things in their systems. Not just others medications. Any doctor will tell you that if you pin them down.

Hope this information helps. I wish you well!

C.

I have a step daughter who is on ADHD medication and has been for 5 years. She has only gained 10lbs and has grown maybe 2 inches in the last 5 years. There are better ways of solving ADHD without medication. If you watch the foods and drinks the child intakes, you can tell which ones trigger the disorder and which ones doesn't. If I had it my way, she wouldn't be on the meds. I have learned some of her triggers but at the same time she has grown out of it. It also takes a little more disipline and patience. With my son, he can become a little hyperactive, which he is only 4, but we have him to take a couple of deep breaths to calm him down when we are trying to get him to concentrate. Sweet tea is one of his triggers as well.

If you can find other ways of treating the disorder than medications, I strongly recommend it. I hope this helps.

The only medicine I ever used for my child was "Focus", it was suppose to be a natural herbal medicine. I did not see much affect, but then my child bulked at the idea of having to use any medicine. We were not liking the idea of using medicine to calm him, so we put him in sports to run down his endless energy. Sports has made a huge difference in his behavior and ability to concentrate. We still get the occasional "inattentive in class" or "lack of self control", but for the most part he loves getting better grades and feels proud of himself, and therefore strives to do better. We did invest in a psychologist so he has someone to talk to without judgement. (Because we all know, no matter how open we are with our kids, they don't feel comfortable talking about everything.) Plus, it is another person that will praise him when he does well.
I can't stress enough to put him in sports. Even when grades were on the verge of bad, that was one thing we did not take away. There were other things like phone privleges, playstation, etc, but not the sports because in our case it definitely helped him. My son is 15 now and deals with ADHD every day, but he learns to control/ deal with it better and better each day.

Hi,

I'm not sure if you're aware of the side effect related to over the counter as well as the prescribe meds for ADHD. My oldest son was have a difficult time focusing. I gave him a natural alterntive called "PYCNOGENOL" (european marine tree bark)(an anti-oxidant). Not only was it benefical for him, but the whole family as well. It is recognized for to benefit Asthma Sufferers, prostate cancer, PMS, and so much more. Check out the website www.pycnogenol.com.
Best wishes to ya...

no i have only used Adderall XR, however, depending upon the issue, you may want to consider Daytrana which is a patch that u can use for as long as you want during the day.
My son is 6 and he uses it to focus in school but once he is home, it comes off so he can sleep at a normal hour and eat. You need a prescriotion though for this. My dr gave me a trial of 40 patches tro see if they worked and it was much better than the Aderrall

S., I am sorry, I have never heard of this medication. I like the name of it.

My daughter has ADHD and we have been non-medicated for a long time. Each morning and periodically during the day she drinks a glass of diet Mountain Dew. The DR told us about this and it has worked wonderfully. The caffeine is in the right amounts and its diet so no sugar. A couple of other moms I know have tried it too. Hope it helps