ADHD Diagnosis on My 6 1/2 Y O Boy...

We've had lots of discussions on mamapedia about this over the years. Search it in the upper right box and I think you'll find a lot of information.

I urge you to please, please, please educate yourself about this condition before thinking you know the proper treatment on your own (unless you're board certified psychiatrist?). General boards like this are NOT the way to go.

There are NO known "natural" anythings that will treat this brain disorder. The only thing showing promise is Omega-3 supplements in helping with focus in mild cases, and even then, it takes a very long time to see results. We never did with our son. What there are out there are a ton of scam products preying on parents' fears about the FDA-approved medications.

Please join CHADD now, so you're getting reliable information. ADDitude magazine is another useful resource.

The medical specialists treating ADHD are your best source of information. I have been dealing with ADHD since 2006 and I've never heard of seizures from ADHD medication. Where did you read those articles? Be very wary about news sources. Again, get connected to CHADD right away. Their website has great information on treating ADHD. And most of all, TALK to your son's doctors and address your concerns with them. Psychiatrists are experts in medication and know all of the pros and cons, as well as historical data about side effects. They will be honest with you.

Medication combined with behavioral therapy has the best track record out there in treating ADHD. I sat through a national symposium with the top ADHD researchers and they were unanimous in this conclusion. Medication alone came in second.

In my own experience with our son, I can tell you therapy didn't even work until he was on medication. It was the best thing we ever did for him. Dramatic, life-changing, positive difference. It connected the dots in his brain and allowed him to start living a normal life.

Keep an open mind as you begin this journey. I have yet to meet anyone with a child with ADHD who hasn't been thrilled with medication. It can take trial and error to find the right medication (and when it's wrong, it can be awful, but you can drop stimulants after day one if you hate them and move on to a different brand), but when you get the right one, it gives your child a whole new chance at a great life.

1. Diane B. sells supplements. She can't say so here, but she'll do her best to get you to message her.

2. Please have your son tested for allergies. An allergy is not ADHD, though some of the symptoms do overlap. If your son is cured by a diet change, he had an allergy, not ADHD.

3. If he does not have an allergy, and really does have ADHD, you are not a bad parent for using prescription medication to treat this (or any) condition. There is no "Big Pharma" conspiracy (not any more than there is a "Big Alterna" conspiracy). Pharmaceutical companies have nothing to gain from hurting your child, and everything to gain from their medication working successfully.

I have ADHD, and I have 2 boys with ADHD. I've been right where you are. I commend you for trying to find the least invasive treatment option you can. We did too. For us, none of them worked, and to this day I feel like my decision to avoid medication because of what a bunch of snooty know-it-all parents (who aren't doctors) and natural medicine sites said to scare me (they were just trying to sell their products), which caused my boys to miss out on a lot in school and socially, was a poor one. Once they were on prescribed medication they excelled, but they had to catch up on all the stuff they missed while I was using them as alternative medicine guinea pigs.

Remember, the longer you wait to use a medication that works, the more you're hindering them from success.

So, try out the alternatives. But give yourself a time limit. If it doesn't work in 6-8 months, give real prescription medication a try. Don't waste years using your kid as a guinea pig, hindering his success. And don't give up after the first prescription isn't a good fit. We tried 5 combinations before we found a good fit for each of our boys.

I wish you the very best.

ETA: 2 things.

1. Yes, link up with CHADD and ADDitude. But turn on your BS filter, because in the comments and forums you'll find ALLLLL kinds of absolute nonsense. Snake oil salesmen and Chicken Littles. Be thoughtful and careful. Use your head and recognize the difference between conjecture and a peer reviewed study.

2. I bought and tried several items recommended below, such as Bright Spark from Native Remedies. It showed a TEENY improvement for my non-hyperactive child, and zero for my hyperactive child. So, your mileage may vary.

This question pisses me off. I'll try to be nice about this but really, your child has been diagnosed with a brain disorder. NOT allergies or sensitivities or anything else. He's been diagnosed with an illness that he might or might not ever outgrow.

If he had been diagnosed with epilepsy and the doc said they needed to go on super powerful potentially harmful drugs for the rest of their lives you'd be jumping at the chance to get started because you can visually see what her brain was doing to her. ADHD is hidden so parents think they can fix it just by fixing stuff around their child.

The NATURAL way to fix ADHD is to feed your child coffee all day or fill them up on sugary Mountain Dew because it too will speed their brain activity up to the point it syncs and starts working right.

So. If you're not ready to give your child the medications that fix his brain disorder get some caffeinated coffee and highly caffeinated Mountain Dew or Red Bull or some other energy drink that is full of caffeine and treat him with those.

What the medication for ADHD does is speed up the activity level in the brain. It gets it going until it syncs up and suddenly all the information that was bouncing around getting lost, it's suddenly going where it's supposed to go.

There isn't any food change or allergy or laundry soap or bubble bath that will change his brain speed and activity. IF he truly has ADHD then medication or large amounts of non-sugarfree highly caffeinated drinks are the only things I know of that will speed brain activity up to the correct amount needed.

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ETA

We were fortunate. Our little guy responded super well to Ritalin. It's been around a LONG LONG time and has a history to prove it's worth.

He started out with half a pill in the morning and half a pill after lunch. He took no more.

Ritalin is not time released, it does NOT build up in the system. In less than 4 hours it is totally out of his system.

We can tell when his med wears out, it's like night and day. He goes from sitting in his seat and staying on task or sitting down at church or playing a game to a kid that is climbing around or fidgeting or singing or something else. He's paying attention and you can see him getting it. He understands the material that is being presented, he can answer a question about what they're talking about, he's understanding and retaining the information.

When he's at home after school he doesn't take anything else. If he has piano or class of some other sort we can give him half a pill if it's by 3:30 or 4 at the latest. Later than that and he might have problems going to sleep.

In 1st grade he moved up to taking a whole pill in the morning and half at lunch. He did just fine. He didn't take meds for most of the summer. Didn't need to sit and study or do school work. If he seemed to be having a bad day and needed some help to be calmer we'd give him half. It often helped him function.

This is the same child you were previously told is on the autism spectrum and who has other issues? The ADHD is just a new add-on diagnosis?

Medication is not going to cure anything - it's designed to help manage symptoms. There are things you can do to restore the balance that's so clearly off, though. You'll hear a lot about elimination diets from people, and while I of course agree that the less you have him on processed foods and dyes and so on, the better, it's so awful to go through restrictive diets that have you reading labels all the time. In my experience, it's not necessary.

We've worked with a lot of kids who have multiple issues - these things often occur in clusters or there is overlap. Does he have any sensory issues with taste or texture? There is some great work in pediatric nutrition and epigenetics to help cells perform as they are supposed to, to repair the damage that creates these problems. If this is of interest to you, I'd be glad to help.

One thing that can be a great help is Occupational/Social Therapy. This is training to help recognize feelings, control impulses, read social cues, practice proper responses to stressful scenarios, etc.

Therapy is a coping tool, it won't fix him and if his needs are on the more severe end, he may need medication to bring him to a level to be able to learn the coping skills. Just so you know.

Gotta say, my son had severe allergy to wheat and corn which caused ADHD symptoms. Please check out that possibility first.

Yes,

I have a list.. if you want more details PM Me.

1. No dyes, Ie Red Dye 40, Yellow 5 or 6 etc.
2. We removed Gluten, HUGE Positive difference.
2.A also, Fructose, Corn Syrup and High Fructose Corn Syrup- gone from his diet as much as possible..
3. Reduced Milk, (actually he eats cheese, and yogurt but milk is almond milk)
4. We did acupressure (NO NEEDLES), but pressure- magnetic.. My son LOVES this.. he said it makes him feel more calm.
5. Keeping his blood sugar level, I found out he is functioning Hypoglycemic. We do this by Protein snack every 2-3 hrs.

We had my son tested for sensitivity's- it was a painless test that gave me a ton of info. It is amazing how food can change things.

Good luck

You can research & discuss these supplements with your pediatrician: Bright Spark, Attentive child & L-theanine. You can order attentive child & L-theanine online at amazon or swanson. The Bright spark can be ordered from Native remedies.

I don't really have the answer to your question, but would love to extend sympathy to you for enduring the lectures you have gotten. Have you gotten a second opinion? My brother has had multiple problems and some doctors have diagnosed ADHD. Unfortunately, that came when he was an adult and already had a ton of problems. I think being treated as a child really would have helped him. As an adult, they gave him strong antidepressants that had some terrible effects; it would have been nice if he had never had to come to that point. So I think you're right to question the medications, but it's worth finding out what the actual risk is; some people report similar things with vaccinations, which most children take well. As a side note of encouragement, Michael Phelps has the disorder as well; people with ADD are capable of being very successful if their energy is channeled. He actually chose not to continue taking Ritalin, and used swimming as an outlet.

I have had two fantastically difficult children, my oldest is now almost twelve, my youngest is six. Both of them have ADHD, my son also has epilepsy. My daughter is incredibly defiant and strong willed. I have never medicated them for ADHD, and I never will. If they want to medicate themselves when they are older, that will be up to them. I have asked my son many times does he want to be medicated, and the answer is always a resounding NO WAY!

I do give my children caffeine. They both have a cup of coffee or tea in the morning with their breakfast. I have heard there are caffiene pills, and I might try those, just to cut down on the staining of the teeth and the sugar which they like in their drinks.
I have cut out all colors and artificial flavors, and I limit stuff with preservatives. I give the school appropriate snacks.
They go to karate. My son loves it, my daughter hates it because she has to do as she is told or do bare knuckle push ups. The discipline has been great for them.
They go to a small school, with small class sizes. My son was overwhelmed in a big class of 40 children. I am so lucky their classes are around 20 kids.
I let my children watch tv and play computer games. To help them relax. Not all day, but for several hours as long as they have exercised and done all their homework they can have at it.
The omega 3 work somewhat for my kids. But it was really "somewhatish" and I'm not sure if it was just me wanting it to work.