9 1/2 Year Old Son w/ADHD

I have 3 ADHD sons and only one was medicated. I am medicated as well. I would have to say that the strattera is definitely what has worked for me. I wish they had it back when my boys were little.
It does not upset my stomach, and I can still eat while on my meds. I thought I would mention this just in case the patch doesn't work out for you.
Good luck.

sorry for the late response, but i STRONGLY encourage you to do an elimination diet. they kept telling me my son had ADHD, but it turns out he just has a soy allergy. as long as he's off soy, he's a normal happy kid. the meds can be dangerous, and they will always encourage it in school because they make their job easier. a great pediatrician that specializes in adhd is sanford newmark.

Hi L., on the same note as Colleen K., I agree with trying the omega 3 essential fatty acid. Omega 3 is in breast milk and baby formula. I give omega 3 to my 3 yr old twins for brain and eye development and because my husband has ADD. i buy the brand Nordic Naturals-Children's DHA. DHA is one type of omega 3. These are chewable little balls that are flavored. They love them. A healty diet is key. I also grind up flax seeds in a coffee bean grinder. This is another source of omega 3. you have to grind it to get the fatty acids out of the seeds. you can eat the seeds whole but then it is just fiber. I sprinkle the ground seeds on anything like oatmeal mixed with brown sugar. you can stir it in dishes and it blends. it has a mild nut flavor. you can bake with it as well. i went to a nutrition class last year and the dietician, PhD, recommended the flax seeds. Also sardines are a good source of omega 3 plus the tiny bones are good calcium. Cod liver oil as well. When you buy the omega 3, if it is from fish oil, make sure the product states that it is free of heavy metals, dioxins and PCB's. Stay away from large fish like bluefin tuna steaks, shark, salmon because they have higher levels of metals like mercury and other toxins. Check out www.seafoodwatch.org. Best wishes to you and your family!

I am a mother of two girls and though neither of them have ADHD, I myself did as a child. It doesnt matter how much he doesnt want to take the medicine, he needs it. And once he gets a little bit older and he can see how it helps him he will be more willing to take it. They did not have the patch when I was growing up so I am not sure of how it works. I will have to do some research on it. But with the different Meds thay have out there, there has to be one that will work for your son. And at first the meds DO give you a stomach ach. But it goes away after you get used to it. And in the long run, a few stomachs is the least of your worries. And as for wanting to have your son held bcak, I dont think that is going to change that fact that his grades are low. Getting the ADHD under control with the meds will fix that. Dont expect overnight changes, it is a constant struggle. I am in college now and I still struggle with paying attention!! But it gets easier to control without meds the older you get. I hope this helps!!

S.

My 13 yr old daughter has had a IEP and is now on a 504 plan it is good IF the teachers follow it and have the best intentions for your child last yr the teachers told me that they did not have enough time to cater to my child ugh...

My daughter is 12 and has struggled with ADHD for seven years now. We have tried everything under the sun and have finally found that Concerta is the only drug that works for her. We recently went to a psychologist because like some others she has the ODD, anger issues, etc. He said that true ADHD do not always react to drugs like adderal, stratera, etc., which my daughter has been on all of them. He said that if none of those work and the Concerta does then she should have been on a riddlin type drug. Since she has been on the Concerta we no longer fear being around her and she is socially doing better. She loves to read and works really hard in school but is still showing lower grades. She too has an IEP and is now in middle school where they refuse to follow her IEP. Just keep strong with your son and focused never loosing site of the end result, which is helping our special children to one day become productive members of society no matter what their limitations may be now. We as parents are the only ones that can help them overcome those limitations and turn them into achievements.

Are you sure it is ADHD? 25% of all children dx with ADHD really have Bipolar. If he is not thriving on the medicane then it is possible that there is another cause. The best book on the subject is The Bipolar Child.

Hello!
I recommend the Fisher Price Listen and See monitor. It runs about $21.99. No static, the antenna is adjustable and picks up noise well!

L. R.

My youngest cousin is on the patch. She is also 9. She has been on other meds, but is trying the patch for pretty much the same reasons. She has not been very successful with it so far. She has started to slip with her grades and is acting out more and more in school. My son is taking Adderal right now, and I haven't seen any improvement with his grades or behavior. Last year at Hancock Elementary in Chandler, we had the worst time with him. The teacher though he would cheat if he got a good grade on a spelling test. ADHD is not fun, and to be truthful, everyone has their own set of opinions. You need to do what is right for you and your son. Try the patch and see if this is what is right. Good luck. If you need to vent or chat drop a line. There is no better way to get through this than with the help of other moms!!!! :)
E.

I agree - try Concerta (if you haven't already) because my daughter had the same stomach issues with other meds, but Concerta did not upset her stomach but helped with the ADHD. Best of luck to you!

I have a 16 year old who was diagnosed twice. The first time, they said that he wasn't being challenged enough. That was in Kindergarten and the teacher started intigrating first grade work and that helped a bit. I took him to a specialist in the first grade and they diagnosed him with ADHD. I worked with a councelor weekly for six months before we agreed on the diagnoses. Then we continued counceling and adjusted his medication countless times and changed brands. I don't think that it is ever a simple matter of prescribing a medication. We were constantly changing things up, so that his body was not able to build up a resistance to any one drug.

The other thing is that ADHD is almost always found in conjunction with another problem. This complicates the diagnosis and the medication that they need. My son has several diagnosis. ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, OCD (Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder), ODD (Oppositional/Defiance Disorder), Anger Management issues, etc. I believe that there are about 10 total. This makes it confusing to determine which problem is causing which symptom.

It is very difficult to deal with ADHD issues. It doesn't ever take a vacation and someone who is not familiar with it is not going to understand why your child is acting like they are. The only thing that I can suggest is to find as many other parents that are dealing with this issue as you can and build yourself a network to help you. If I had not met my best friend Dottie, I don't think I would have been able to cope as well as I did. I am available to talk or just vent. My son still deals with problems caused by ADHD, but he is off of all of his medications now. It took puberty to settle him down though. Things affect kids with ADHD so differently. Coffee actually helps them calm down and focus. If you want to talk or have questions, my e-mail is ____@____.com or my phone number is ###-###-####. Good luck and best wishes.

Sincerely,
T.

There has been a lot of reserach about using Omega-3 to help treat ADD/ADHD. We've used it daily with our almost 4 yo, and there is a huge difference in her behavior. Try to Google OMEGA 3 and ADHD. Here's one article that is interesting:
http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?id=68599-equa...

There are ways to incorporate it into foods so they will ingest it. We have used it in fruit smoothies, oatmeal (add it after cooking oatmeal), ice-cream, mix it into peanut butter to spread on sandwiches, etc. I don't mention it, or let her see me prepare it - so she won't complain out it ;)
But it's definitely working. There may be more receipes out there that you could search for as well.

Good luck!!

What school did your son go to before?

my son is ADD and is on Stratera. I hope to get him off in a year or two (he's 12) and has been on it for almost 3 years. One thing that I belive that has changed him more than the medication itself is Karate ! I can not tell you what a huge diffrence keeping him in that did! He wanted to quit a few months ago but I wont let him. He was so out of control I was looking at behavior camps to send him to last year but he has turned around and his grades went up. Its a huge difference !!