Advice on ADHD Son, Starting Meds. Soon Would like Alterative or Herbal Advice.

My daughter was mis-diagnosed with ADHD with a very very devastating outcome from the medication. Same thing happened to another child in the family.

Look into allergies, intestinal malabsorption issues, food additives, and very very importantly and so overlooked in the United States -- SLEEP issues. Excellent sleep hygiene (being aware of both wake-up and sleep, light and dark) and nutrition is critical. Throw away the TV set and video games.

My daughter takes more pills that are supplements than pills that are pharmaceuticals. You might want to consult with a doctor (M.D.) that specializes in INTEGRATIVE medicine.

A lot of what she is on was just to get her BACK to almost the level of functioning she was at prior to the fiasco with the stimulant med she was given for the ADHD which apparently she didn't really have.

HI please watch that med.s closely. i had a nephew who had the same problem they but him on a diet sounds crazy but it worked.he now is a officer in the navy. All they did was take him off of snack foods with preservatives and a small cup off coffee with 2% milk.He grew out of it in time remember most med.'s are forever.(just very little milk, even black would be better).No cokes are sweets unless they are sugar free.

Hey There C., I am also a mom and my field is nutrition. My heart broke when I read your email for help. Your story is very common with lots of other moms so please know you are not out there alone. I can assist you and would be blessed to have the opportunity to assist you and your family with this challenge. I do have a line of nutritionals and minerals that are all organic and I have seen great results for other children and young people with improvement with their focus. If you would like to chat you are welcome to contact me. I live right here in Wendell so I am another local mom.
Thank You-A. Strickland

Nature may be very helpful. Nature is harmonious. Take slow gentle walks/hikes, play in the creek. catch butterflies...anything be in nature 2-4 hours a day is a normal time for kids and all people to be outside. We need the energy.

you will notice a difference immediately and the results will last in about 2 months.

J.

i have heard that certain dietary changes can help a child with ADHD. but if medication turns out to be the best option, there are other besides ritalin. you jsut need to do some research on them to decide what is best for your son. also, there are different dosages for all meds, so even if he is put on ritalin, he might be a lower dosage, since he seems to have a milder form.

My heart truely goes out to you....your situation sounds much like mine. Our son is in 1st grade. He was getting nothing done. He was not mean or acting out, he would just space out and have no idea what was going on around him. I have struggled with what to do. I took him to see a pyshotricst(sorry, I cant spell) instead of just sticking with our peditration. I felt that this was an issue I wanted to talk to a specialist about. We have him on the Daytranna patch and it has helped him so much. He can focus in school and he is still the same loving child he always was. For me, I could see he was starting to have a lot of negitive feelings about himself. He would say bad things about himself and felt that no one cared or understood. He was very down on himself but things are turning around. We work hard to encourage him and to let him know that a mistake can still happen. But it is not the end of the world. He is leaning how to move on and not worry about mistakes. I still hope that he can learn how to focus better on his own as he gets older. I hope to find out more about natural treatments and start with them in the summer. But he needed help ASAP. That is why I went the route I did. If you need to talk more, feel free to email me.

People's Pharmacy wrote that Pycnogenal(pine bark extract), grape seed extract and fish oil. For more details on Hallowell's approach to ADD go to www.peoplespharmacy.com, No 663

PLEASE do some other research and FIGHT!! My 9 year old daughter sounds a lot like your son and her "problem" presents as ADHD but that's not what it is at all. She has Sensory Integration Disfunction. This is a very controversial thing as peds act like it doesn't exist most of the time and OT's etc. have been aware of it and "treating" it for decades. Try the Out of Sync Child. My daughter is in the 2nd grade this year (should be in 3rd) and our public school system is awesome- she has OT twice a week, speech and language one a week, and has a student support teacher she sees twice a week and a helper in the class with her 3 hours every day. Her work is the same with some modifications for time etc. PLEASE check into this with your school. Our school system does not recognize SID as a "disability" so we took her to a neuropsychologist telling him what was going on and he did a ton of testing and admitted that her SID presents as ADHD but that is not what it is. He diagnosed her with a non-verbal learning disorder so that we could get her the proper services through our school system. Once you get through all the red tape it is wornderful. My daughter has far exceeded anyone's expectations and hopes this year because she has gotten the right kind of help. I'm sorry to go on for so long but this has been a heartbreaking and long road for us with a wonderful light at the end of the tunnel. My 5 year old son has been diagnosed with ADHD and OCD and trust me you would know the difference!! We have started meds for him even at this early age and if that is in fact what is going on for you just trust yourself and your gut- meds have their place too. My son is doing well and is not a zombie. It took about 5 months to get the medications and dosage right but now he is able to function. Good luck to you.

T. A.

Hi I am a mom to 9 year old son . He was dx in 2003 with ODD. Since origional dx he has been dx with social anxietys and unofficially sensory disorders. I used to co-own a parent support group. Our son was origionally started on Adderall ...OMG !! nightmare. Because of some really good feedback from other parents we suggested concerta to our Ped. Our son has been on it ever since. Of course I will also tell you to not be discouraged if it takes multiple tries to find the correct med.
As for the natural approach. I have had numerous parents to use Omega 3 and swear by it.
We origionally wanted to go med free but soon realized not only our quality of life but most importantly his would be better if on proper meds.
Some suggestions...find support. There are numerous web support groups,read ,read and read some more...tons of info. out there . A book our counselor suggested was a God send for me..."The Explosive Child" by Ross Greene.
V.

there is an alternative to starting medication. There are dietary changes and vit & supplements that can help your child. Research the Gluten free & casein free diet. It helps alot of children with add, adhd, and autism. For starters I would suggest trying to remove all dairy products. You should see some changes with in a few days. If you would like some more info, or have any questions feel free to email me. ____@____.com.

J.

there are a lot of children miss dx as add or adhd. I would get a second opinion before i did anything else. I do know from experieance that capd ( central audio processing disfunction) is often dx as adhd, and also bipoler and hyper thirod whitch will cause hypernessor loss of attetion. when my son got the dx of capd we learned that add and adhd is an umbrella dx which means that further testing is needed to determine why the child seems to have attetion problem, because 9 times out of 10 it is something else and not attetion. I wish you luck because if you choose to further test your son, you will come up agianst a lot of oppision. some children are hyper, it does not mean they need to be drugged it just means that they need extra activities.

google "be calm"... that is the site we consulted... we have the same concern w/ our oldest. good luck!

I would highly encourage you to look at
www.oneaddplace.com. It has tons of information on adhd and managing it through diet

I have read a lot about a gluten-free diet making significant changes for kids with adhd and autism. A good source for a gluten-free diet is www.breakingtheviciouscycle.com

Be prepared for your dr to dismiss diet as an alternative therapy. Granted, I'm highly cynical about medical doctors based on my own experience with them and the many friends I have who are doctors. They are trained to deal with every illness through medication, and because they aren't trained in alternative methods they tend to dismiss them. I'm not saying don't take your son to a doctor or listen to your doctor, but don't dismiss diet as an alternative just because the doctor does. Hopefully your doctor won't. Personally, I would try changing his diet before I started meds. Good luck.