I have a two sons a 7 year old and a 3 year old. My 7 year old has been diagnosed with ADHD (off the chart). I am being told he can only be treated by medication. My concern is that he is does great in anything that he does. He is in 1st grade and on the principal's list all but one of the six weeks sections. However, he does feed of any energy in a room. He usually gravitates to the youngest child and ask like them or worse. I guess my question is if he is doing so well in school and behavior is the factor should I medicate or not.
I have a daughter who is now 12 who started the medication at 7 years old.
There are no specific rules for this. You can try the medication and see if it helps. I recommend an 8 week trial period. I notice a difference in my daughter if she skips her meds even 1 day. Or you can choose not to medicate at all.
Also there are 2 kinds of med. Time release (extended tabs) and not time released. My daughter had a hard time sleeping on the time release ones. She is now on Adderol 20 mg a day once a day.
Regarding the social issues with your son. This may just mean that he is socially immature on top of the ADHD. My daughter also has this. She is still behind a little, but not to the extent that she used to be. I figure she is going to be my late bloomer.
If your in the Jacksonville NC area I have the name of a great family therapist and Psych office.
Personally I would. Things will only get worse the older he gets and the harder his classes get. Both of my older sons are on meds for ADHD and it really helps them focus more in school and keeps them from getting into things. Once he gets used to the meds you could always not give it to him on the weekends or over the summer. I hope this helps, I know its hard, but I wish you luck.
Hi Leslie.I am a mom of 3 7-18yrs of age.I am also going through what you are.I have a 7yr old in 2nd grade and he has been diagnosed with ADHD from 5 different doctors.We have toiled with this for 3 yrs now and have tried every exercise,diet change anything creative we could do to hep him stay on task and focus.His grades are impeccable but his behavior in class and disruption has been a real issue.We have finally had to place him on medication against my better judgement.However,they have put him on a low dose of Aderal.It wont be as dramatic for him to trnasition into as the ridilin.If he has been diagnosed with a sever case,I would try the medicine.Im not one for medicating a child which is why it took us 3 yrs of going back and forth with different methods and 5 doctors.I think you will see a difference.Remember nothing is cncrete.If you dont like the way he is acting or feeling on the medicine either have the dose adjusted or take him off of it.It is always YOUR choice and noone elses.I am here if you want to chat and we can go thru this together.Im a newbie to this as well.Take care and good luck,Holly
If you don't feel comfortable medicating him than you shouldn't. You could also look into some natural supplements. Both my kids see a developmental pediatrician who has put them on supplements because they have early signs of ADHD and they've helped! If you would like to know what we use let me know and I would be more than happy to share!
This is always a difficult decision. I always take the conservative route, before going into something I may not be ready for. Hence, I would try the following: 1) .an impact on behavior. It is amazing as to what foods can create behavior issues and sugar isn't the only one. There also additives that can effect us in foods that we are unaware of. Remember we are all different bodily chemistry. Peanut butter effected my nephew and he had to be taken off of that. Mom used almond butter in place of it. 2) I would go to www.morter.com and see if you can find a chiropractor that practices with the BEST method. It has been known to help with ADD so this might be helpful to him as well. I have been healthier taking supplements and going to the chiropractor. I tend to go to alternative methods as the traditional ways aren't always as healthy. I am sure the meds will have a side effect and that would be my major concern.
Best of luck with your decision.
Ok, let me answer this as a mom whose 7 year old is on medication, also as a person who advised her boss to do the same thing. Nathan has been having positive experiences now due to medication. He is on Focalin, the one with little or no side effects. My boss put her 7 year old on it and his teacher told them that his grade level is going up, where before he couldn't sit long enough to learn anything. We use this medication daily and my son will ask for it. He knows it helps him. Our pediatrician told us to get fish oil pills, but my son Nathan wouldn't take it. It was our first effort at doing something naturally. We fought, so we decided medication was better. And better it is. I wish we had done it in Kindergarten. My boss says if she had done it earlier her son wouldn't have had to repeat Kindegarten. I just wanted to let you know my perspective on it because I do know that many parents out there are going to tell you medication is bad and I can't believe you would consider it. Let me know what you decide. Please let me know. We love my son taking medication, and others notice a big difference with him on it. Ellen
Check into food allergy testing before medicating. I took a seminar once on ADHD and the doctor teaching it said that if your pediatrician does not recommend allergy testing when diagnosing ADHD it is time for a new pediatrician. She had a son w/ ADHD found out he was allergic to wheat and he was much better when taken off of wheat.
Have you gotten a second opinion? We thought that our child may have ADHD but the school made a chart about how often they had to re-direct him and he did well with a reward plan in place. They proved that he didn't have ADHD. From my understanding with kids with ADHD they can be very smart but generally do NOT do well in school due to inability to focus. The fact that your child is doing well in school tells me that maybe a behavior chart/reward system may work just as well if not better than medication. At least it may be worth a try. I hope it all works out for you!
Hi Leslie,
As a mom of a son that teachers were telling me should be tested for ADD, I would push for other testing. Are you comfortable with this diagnosis? Do you feel your child has ADHD?
The reason I ask is my 9 year old was recently diagnosed with Asperger's. He has difficulty staying focused, can become easily overwhelmed in situations and gravitates to the younger children over his peers because he knows the social interactions with them.
My own personal experience with my son led me to realize he didn't have ADD...he can sit and read a book, build for hours on end with legos, lincoln logs, and watch a movie to name a few. He has problems with sensory integration and that sometimes gets misinterpreted for ADD.
I'm not saying your child has Asperger's but I am pushing you to listen to your gut here. You are his advocate. Reading that he is doing well in school but behavior is the factor was a red flag for me. I suggested you return to his pediatrician and request a referral to an area OT that specializes in children. Request a development delay and sensory processing disorder screening for your child.
You can also try to eliminate artificial flavors and dyes from his diet. I noticed a huge difference in my child's behavior after eliminating certain foods. Dr. Feingold has some great information on his site and the Feingold Diet has been one that families with children of ADD, ADHD and other issues have found very sucessful.
If you'd like more info or have questions please send me a message. Stick to your guns momma and listen to your gut!!!
Peace,
Janet Lenz
This is just something to think about. Do you want him to have a bad name that follows him all through school. Being known as the difficult kid does travel with a child. Even though teachers are not supposed to talk about kids it happens. They get blamed for things that they did not do. Also principals set a kid up for failure when they start getting in trouble. Many trips to the principals office and the principal assumes they did it wether they did or not.
That being said. I do have a few kids in my family that are being treated for ADHD. I have one that is being treated for ADHD and OCD at the same time. It is hard for a child to function with these issues and adults want to just assume they can control it when they cant.
I am not a fan of meds but I have 1 child being treated for ADHD and now depression. She is my stepdaughter and did not come to live with us till she was 10. She had went several years with no treatment. She recieved bad grades in school because of behavior and missed several days of school because of behavior. Her mother also let her stay home because it was the easy way out. If she is not at school she cant get into trouble. She was so far behind that she was getting depressed about it. With some counseling and medication she is getting A's and B's and we have only had 2 minor incidents this year. It has taken us 3 years to get her in this shape. There are still some teachers that think of her as trouble. I even doubt her sometimes because she has been in so much trouble. I made the principal break out the video that the school takes and view it to make sure she was telling the truth about the incidents. This way I know it is not guilt by past incidents.
It is a lot to digest but Im telling you in the long run if a good counsler tells you meds are needed then it is something to really consider. They dont like to push the meds on just anybody.
My husband was diagnosed with ADHD at a young age and placed on medication. He said he remembers being incredibly gifted at so many things before that, but that his medicine took that away from him.
I have not had to go through what you have (my son is only 4 months old), so i can't give you any "real" advice as a parent. All I know is that medication had a lot more negative consequences than positive for my husband. Today he is a very smart and successful man, but was never good in a school setting and didn't go to college. i think today's schools maybe aren't creative or patient enough to find the right learning environment for each child.
Get a second and third opinion from very qualified child psycologist before doing anything. ADHD is just the starting point. He may need much more testing. Don't waste time. Intervention now could mean a whole lot to his future success. My sister was diagnosed ADHD and was medicated. They stopped there and didn't realize she had severe learning disabilities until high school. It was the learning disabilities all along and she never really had ADHD. My boss and his son were diagnosed ADHD but it turned out to be dislexia. I'm begining to think ADHD is a symptom of a larger problem rather than a disorder in itself.
This is a tough one. i recently put my 5 year old on medication for adhd.it was a very hard decision. she is the smartest child in her class however has a hard time sitting still. we put her on the lowest dose of Ritalin and i just had a meeting with her teacher. she said she has noticed a huge change! She is still the same Emilie but just has a better attention span. our thoughts were if it doesn't work or makes her not herself we would stop it and try something else. we are also in therapy for her and we meet with her doctor every 3 weeks. the combination of the 2 have worked wonders. I no longer feel like pulling my hair out every 5 mins!
DO NOT MEDICATE. He is just a kid.... that's what they do. More then likely it is because he is so smart he just gets bored. Have you had him tested for that?? My oldest Nephew, who is 8, does the same thing to the three 4 year old boys, myself and two sisters all have 4 years olds. Boys are boys, I don't get why everyone thinks they need meds. I just don't like taking anything because the way it makes me feel. I could only image what it would do to a child!!! Don't medicate, its just the school systems way to deal with children who express themselves in the only ways they know how. Get his I Q tested.... I bet he is smarter then anyone thought!!! Again I have 5 nephews..... Its just boys being boys!!!! There wild, crazy, and daring. Don't get me wrong, it scare me to death but,there boys!!!!
No!!!!
If it were me, I would try to avoid the medication as much as possible. He is doing well in school, you don't mention any problems at home, so maybe some behavior modification would be a better start than medication. I don't have any good scientific reason for not medicationg, it just doesn't seem like a good idea to give a child medicine that they don't need. What prompted the evaluation in the first place? Good luck to you and your family!
It looks like you got lots of great ideas from everybody else. I wanted to also recommend EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique). It is a tapping technique that taps on acupressure points.
There is a free manual at www.emofree.com and you can get a free cheatsheet at www.tapping.com . This website also has a free manual - http://www.schoolmademucheasier.com/ . Here are some more basic instructions - http://www.thrivingnow.com/for/Health/basic-eft/ and a diagram - http://www.thrivingnow.com/for/Health/eft-tapping-points/ . It is very easy to learn and use on your children.
Here are some links that talk more about using it for ADHD:
http://www.emofree.com/add-adhd.htm
http://www.emofree.com/Children/adhd.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3C0v5jQit0
http://eft-revealed.com/blog/category/addadhd/
Good luck. It sounds like you have a very smart and active little boy and I hope you are able to avoid the medication.
You don't say who diagnosed your son or if he has attention/behavioral difficulties at home. If he only has difficulty at school, but not at home (be honest), it cannot be ADHD. Like other responses, it may be he is very intelligent and bored or it may be something like Asperger's. Unless he was diagnosed by a trained professional, not a teacher or school counselor, I would seek out additional testing. If he does indeed have ADHD, there are other options out there besides medication. Is he getting enough sleep, what is he eating and when, does he get enough exercise? All of these should be looked into. Behavior modification is essential even if he does have ADHD. Most children will show increased attention if on medication, regardless of whether they truly have ADHD. It's a function of the medication. ADHD is real but it is overdiagnosed. Some behavior is just normal for boys your son's age. Most parents of true ADHD kids have noticed the behavior since the children were toddlers. If that's not your son, keep searching for answers. Good luck.
Lesli D.
Leslie,
I think it's hard to not get the same responses over and over. I had sooooo much trouble deciding (finally) that my son needed this. I kept saying, "he's just a boy..." but his 2nd grade year has been unbelievably hard! This was a long process of testing, but I'm so glad we did it. It has opened up a completely new world for him. A lot of nay-sayers will tell you that parents/teachers want these kids on meds to make THEIR life easier, and while that's true, the impact on him has been unbelievable. He is super smart, borderline gifted like his sister who is at the top of the top in the whole school, but he just could not get focused. And he would get soooo frustrated at always getting in trouble, that he sorta just gave up. After starting the meds, his whole world has changed. His writing is so much neater, smaller, and intricate. He gets excited about school work now because behavaior issues are no longer the MAIN focus of his world. I have a personal blog, and I've written about it because it has been such a huge part of our lives. Go read if you want, so you can see that some of my feelings were exactly like yours!! www.tangledeutopia.blogspot.com
Good Luck!!