Do You Have a Child Who as Been Diagnosed with ADHD?

My dtr is 12 and ADD, diagnosed years ago and not medicated but has an IEP in place that helps her get thru her school work and homework and mostly gets A's and B's and usually a C or D in math.

My son is 9 and ADHD, diagnosed over the summer after me *knowing* he had it years before. He was just going constantly and it was beginning to affect him at school and home. He is medicated and its made a HUGE difference at school. Meds are worn off by the time he gets home which is not fun for me and we are experimenting with different meds and doses that should help. We do not give him the meds on the weekends or school holidays but sometimes it think we should. =)

It was an easy decision since I grew up with ADHD and the hell it is to be unmedicated. No way I would consider for a moment doing that to my children.

I am on Adderall. I can tell you it makes a huge difference.

If you child was born without a leg would you say, lets see if you can walk without a leg first and see how that goes? Why would you deny your child what they need to cope with their disorder?

I just want to add my older two are 21 and 23, they have no self-esteem issues. If you read up on ADHD you will understand that is huge!! They have never had a teacher tell them they should try harder, they have never let down their friends forgetting something, never had a late or misplaced assignment! They have never been told to sit still. Socially my daughter was student council president her senior year. Kids can have a normal life if parents treat this as normal. Meds help, big time!

My son has ADHD(combined type). He's almost 6 and take medication. Honestly, I was like you when he was first diagnosed. I wanted to AVOID medication because I didn't like the thought of drugging my child... however, after doing my research and lots of conversation with his psychologist and pediatrician, I decided to give it a try.

MY SON LOVES BEING ON HIS MEDICATION! (Adderal XR) Yes, he takes it 7 days a week. He takes it a little later in the morning on weekends because our mornings are looser and we like to do things in the afternoon which he has more fun with if he's on his meds.

It doesn't change his personality, or make him still, or even quiet... but it puts HIM back in control of himself.

On medication: he can play at the park with kids he meets without ending up hurting one of them... he can participate in his class in a way that makes the teacher AND students notice how SMART he is rather than how HYPER he is... he can keep his room clean... he can play with toys without breaking them... he can play with toys without losing them... he can get dressed in the morning without help... he can write legibly and color in the lines... he can be disappointed without falling apart completely... the list goes on.

He had some side effects when he first started the meds at 4 (very emotional, thirsty, noticeable crash when they wore off), but those subsided over the first couple of weeks. He still has a diminished appetite during the day... but that just means he eats a lot more at dinner than he does at lunch... no biggie.

What I've found with him, is that things like job charts (or the poker chip thing) work NOW that he's medicated. Without medication, all the structures in the world, can't MAKE him do what he CAN'T do. (ie... "keep your hands to yourself" "I'm TRYING to!"... poor kid). Now that he's on the medication, he does better off of it than he did before it... but he's so much happier on, I'm not planning to stop it any time soon. His psychologist thinks maybe after another year he'll have practiced enough of the coping skills on the meds to try without them again. We'll see.

HTH (sorry so long)
T.

Our son has been under medical care for ADHD symptoms since he was three. He wasn't officially diagnosed until he was five, but AAP rules now allow diagnosis as young as four. Our son was pretty much a neon sign for ADHD-combined type. We've been told he's an extreme case.

We also wish there were alternative treatments that worked as well as medication, but unfortunately, that's just not the case. Therapy, combined with medication, has the best track record out there.

Our son went on Ritalin when he was four. On day one, it was a "Wow!" moment. He was exactly the same boy -- same personality and all -- but with normal behavior. Focused, happy, not running across furniture or trying to climb the walls, responsive to requests, just all around pleasant. Initial decrease in appetite but that improved a lot over time.

He's eight now and on a long-acting form of Ritalin called Concerta. We love it! Our son isn't functional without medication, so we're glad we found the right match. He takes it 7 days a week/365 days a year. His ADHD doesn't go away on weekends or holidays, so it's an essential for him. We tried taking him off medication before and to say that didn't go well is a huge understatement.

As you get started with understanding this condition, I highly recommend joining CHADD and subscribing to ADDitude magazine. Both are super resources.

My grandson is diagnosed with ADHD and my granddaughter with ADD. He's 8 and she's 11. Their mother went for a couple of years avoiding medication. My grandson is in special ed for other issues but they used techniques to attempt to control the ADHD. He just kept getting more out of control. She wanted to try diet but found it was too difficult to maintain.

It took trials of a couple of medications to find one that works. The one he's on now is working. He's so much more calm. He takes the medication 7 days/week. We've not noticed any side effects with this medication. The first one he was on caused him to be even more hyper. I don't remember the names of the medications. I do know that it's common to have to try different ones in order to find the best one for that child.

My granddaughter is also on a medication that has definitely helped her to increase her ability to focus. Just last night she told her counselor that she can feel a difference. The first medication she was on caused her to have headaches and to be groggy. We've not noticed any side effects from the current medication. Again, I don't remember the name of the medications.

They are on different medications from each other and are getting help in learning how to focus and manage their behavior from their schools. Both have an IEP (Individual Education Plan).

After your edit. My grandson had the symptoms of ADHD at 3 and 4 and the school districts early intervention office didn't want to diagnose him at that age. They said it was just as likely that it was a behavioral issue and placed him in a therapeutic preschool. He continued to struggle. His pediatrician diagnosed him with ADHD at 5 saying that since the behavioral treatment did not change his behavior it was time to consider ADHD. He prescribed medication but it made him more hyper. His mother decided to not medicate him. Eventually she did try a different medication. He's now 8 and been on the third one that he's tried.

HIs treatment was so hit and miss up until a couple of years ago when he was sent to a special special ed school that was able to provide more intense treatment. They suggested the meds as a way of calming him down enough that he could benefit from treatment. It worked. And they recommended taking him to a developmental pediatrician.

My point is that it took years to get the right treatment for him because of the system's hesitancy to try medication. I have not heard of a reason to not medicate earlier. It seems that we don't know for sure what medication does to the developing brain and so hesitate to try it.

I suggest that we don't know what being out of control does to the developing brain and that we should try medication earlier. I know my grandson and his family have suffered as a result of the system's unwillingness to give him a diagnosis.

I urge you to make an appointment with a developmental pediatrician. It was after my grandson was seen by one that we experienced forward motion in his treatment. A developmental pediatrician has more intense training and experience in developmental issues. Her treatment and the specialized treatment she prescribed was covered by my grandson's insurance.

everyone is different - but medicine has been life changing for my son and our family.

My son was diagnosed at 4.5 and we made the decsion to put him on meds because the diets are not proven to work. And in my son I know they would because he's always ate organic/die free foods which is the foundation of those diets. It's also very costly to convert your lifestyle to that. There's so many different meds and they don't make the kids like zombies. We are currently not using traditional meds because he was diagnosed with early onset bipolar disorder, so now he wears a patch to curb his ADHD.

Yep.

We don't do Rx Meds*, but I homeschool my son. If we needed to put him in public awayschool, I'm pretty sure we'll start the meds route. 8 hours and *no accommodation* is just too much to ask and expect him to do well... (Rather like having someone in a wheelchair have to negotiate stairs. It CAN be done, but it's time consuming, difficult, and exhausting). Now there ARE a couple of schools (a montessori k12 & a private gifted school) where I could send him and *possibly* not need meds... but it would put the option right back on the table.

((Because we homeschool we can do math for 3 hours if he's hyperfocused, or 5 minutes just to touch base. We can split up our school day to be 30 minutes of school, 2 hours of activity, an hour of school, an hour of activity, etc. Or we can do school in the car, or field trips, or classes. We can 'unschool' for a month, and I can watch him go bonzer with whatever is currently interesting him (like programming, he taught himself basic programming for games on month... another month he filmed over 1000 clips, and put together 3 short films. This is a reason I LOVE unschooling. We don't do it 100% of the time, we unschool on 'breaks'... but what he comes up with to do are always reeeally fascinating, and totally NOT what I'd be having him do.)

AKA because we homeschool we can reeeeally take advantage of the upsides of adhd, and minimize the downsides. All while gradually working him up to a level where he's able to sit through longer periods of time and pay attention to boring things that need to be done. Be doing lots and lots of emotional monitoring and regulation. Be doing lots and lots of coping mechanisms and laying foundation.

Okay... the asterix on Rx Meds is this: Espresso. Barqs Rootbeer. Tea. Chocolate. Asthma inhaler. We don't do prescription stimulants, but we DO use caffeine as needed, and if he has an asthma attack (about once a day most days), durn straight we break out the school books!!! (because Ventolin acts as a stimulant, and as such is VERY calming/focusing). Even HS'ing we use and need the help that stimulants offer.

I AM ADHD. I would not make my child deal with no help whatsoever.

DO KNOW that no one's brain chemistry is the same. There are many many many different types of meds in several families. Just because 2 people are ADHD, even if they're the same TYPE of ADHD does not mean the same meds will work for them. (there are 3 types; i, h, & c... inattentive -hyperactive mental-, hyperactive -hyperactive physical-, and combined -hyperactive both mentally and physically, usually in alternating bands. That's the type I am. I often describe it as "When my mind is moving, my body is still... and when my body is moving my mind is still.")

Finding the right med, and the right dosage is an EXPERIMENT. You may get lucky on your first go. Most people don't. They need to try a couple of different meds, and each of those at different doses. Typically you start off LOW... then work your way up... then work your way DOWN again (because all meds have side effects... some you like and some you don't. To find the right dose you OVERMEDICATE for a bit, so that you can work your way down to find the "perfect" dose.). Rx'ing, you'll go through this process 3 times if you're a girl, and 2 times if you're a boy. Why? Because hormones throws a monkey wrench in the works. So 1x pre puberty. 1x post puberty. 1x post menopause.

ALSO... most people have several meds that "work". But you really need to pick your side effects. You may have 3 meds that 'work', but only 2 that leave you 'x' (which you love about yourself), and only one that leaves x & y. It's a process.

I STRONGLY recommend trying new meds over school breaks. Why? So that you can actually see and watch your child. So try 1 med over xmas break (be prepared to scrap it) and 1 med over summer break. You need at least 1 month of observation to really tell (because you have to work up the dose and down again) and you want that time where you see them all day on their meds and figure out what their patterns are... and then after that (if it looks like it MIGHT be a 'keeper'... have them go to school on in for a few weeks and see how it works there).

My son went through a period just before after he turned 3 where over night he started acting like he had Aspergers or Autism and was bouncing off the walls crazy. We immediately took Food Dye (anything with Red, Yellow or Blue in the ingredients) and he changed within a few days. I swear if he ate dye he would have been diagnosed ADHD a long time ago. If he eats something or has any medicine with dye he is crazy for about 24 hours. We really avoid it at all costs. Try it before you try medication and see if it helps. Good luck.