Adhd - Albuquerque,NM

I love this book. It really helped me to look at this disorder from the kids perspective. It is so easy to read and makes such good sense.

They also have it at Amazon.

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/straight-talk-about...

I second the opinion that perhaps he's had a growth spurt and just needs an adjustment with the medication. Any time our son grows, we have to up his medication. Definitely call the doctor's office any time you have concerns about medication and how it's working. Often, it's a simple correction to get things back on track.

I applaud you for being brave enough to try medication at this age. We take so much criticism for it and end up with people throwing every unproven idea out there at us as alternatives. Medication truly can make such an incredible difference with kids suffering from this condition. Hats off to you!

As far as the poop accidents, any chance he's holding it in? Our son has had encopresis in the past. He'll hold in the poop so long it starts to leak and leave a mess in his underwear. Look up the condition online to see if this might be the case with your son. It's totally separate from the ADHD issues.

And for sports, if soccer isn't a good fit for him, consider individual sports. Kids with ADHD tend to thrive in individual sports because they're constantly active. Our son does Parkour gymnastics and loves it. It's the only thing we've found ever that wears him out! Karate is also supposed to be a great option for our kids.

Best of luck!

If you haven't already, call his pediatrician. Sounds like it's time to either try a new medicine or increase the dosage of what he's taking now.

Sounds like you need to give yourself a break. You can be patient. Remind yourself of that every day. Positive affirmations help me. Say to yourself, I am patient, over and over even when you feel that you're going to lose it. Saying it will remind you that you are in control of how you feel and will help you focus on being patient.

When you're feeling impatient, walk away. You can deal with whatever in a few minutes after you've regained your composure.

If you haven't had him evaluated by the school district, do so now. He needs more than medication. There is not charge for the evaluation and treatment.

I don't see how soccer would help him. I suggest that the pressure of doing it right adds to his tension. A non-competitive way of getting exercise might help more. My grandson, who has ADHD as well as autism, loves to just run and run. He has always asked to go for walks during which he runs to the next street and then runs back to run back to the street again.

Stop the medication other than the melatonin (I feel your pain there) and look into play therepy, occupational therepy and look to the school's special needs program for help as well. My son was diagnosed at 4 we tried meds and he was good for a few weeks then he got worse ... we stopped and started to get him services. He is a star student in his class and school is actually working for him this time!!!! I suggest you stop the meds and work on showing him how to cope with his irregularities and stop trying to change him. I realized that I said, "I love my son, but no, really I do not since I am chronically trying to make him 'right' instead of embracing who he is and teaching him how to work with it not against it."
Good Luck and I wish you well.
add ... I find it to be the same as my mother teaching me how to deal with being a very tall woman my entire life. Or teaching a child that had a big nose or anything else that made them not typical how to work with it.

Try a different sport. Try Karate types of sports or swimming, fencing, individual sports. Some ADHD kids find it hard to be on a team. My older son loves swimming. My other loves fencing.

Call the pdiatrician and have his meds updated. He may have had a growth spurt and needs more. We took our son off all meds in 3rd grade though and worked on diet.

Look into healthier food choices. I know mine goes nuts after having certain foods.

Be consistent. Have a routine.

Get the school onboard and get an IEP.

http://holdthetoast.com/content/review-wheat-belly-dr-wil...

I would suggest putting him on a whole food diet instead of medicating him. some people are simple sensitive to all the unnatural garbage in our modern diets. by whole foods- I mean non-processed foods. meats, veggies, fruits, whole fat organic dairy, etc.

ready sally fallon's nourishing traditions and the supporting science behind the paleo diet.

best wishes-

My kids and I do very well on Adderall.

My older daughter always played positions that used her ADD to her best advantage like in soccer she was the goalie. Not sure if you are up for forking out some cash but you can easily find a goalie coach who can tell you pretty quick if your son will do well in the position. The thing with ADD is you can track multiple things at once. No one could keep track of the field like she did. :)

On the people that push the diets, grrrrr, if your child responds to a change in diet they do not have ADD. That is not to say don't change the diet but if they get better they never had ADD in the first place.

Has your son had a growth spurt? If he has, then he might need to have his dosage increased slightly.

Have you considered alternatives to medication? Here's a link from USnews. I am no doctor. Just a skeptic of a blind faith in a system where there are HUGE profits in medicating people and more and more people go onto drugs every day that they will be on in one or another form for the rest of their lives and every person diagnosed and prescribed is another cash cow. I don't personally buy it....so many non invasive, non medicating treatments out there...of course they will be poo-poo'd. So what?
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-...

Go to http://bit.ly/ruF8y4 and check out the first entry, it may help your son.

When I read your question, all I could think was OMG he is only 5. Maybe you should take a step back, take him off the meda. and see get another opinion. I'm not saying he doesn't have ADHD, but he is so young to be so drugged. Those medications have serious risks, I know, my daughter was on some. But after a short while we stopped them and focused on her diet and activities. I know all children are different and they all respond differently, but please rethink the drugs they are giving your son and look for less risky alternatives.
Although I don't care for her, Jane Fendlmen wrote a good book on helping kids with ADD/ADHD. There are so many options out there, and yes they are work for you, but safer for your son.

I have to ditto some of the other individuals who responded to this question. I am an occupational therapist who works with many ADD/ADHD/Autistic,etc kiddos and please trust yourself and the decisions that you are making for him. It sounds like you are sensitive to his needs and are looking at what is best for him. I have to go off a bit here because reading responses infuriates me in that other moms who have made the decision to change diet/not medicate feel that if you do medicate you are somehow not looking out for his best interests nor already educated in these others alternatives. Like all of our children there is no right way, there is no final answer...take it day by day, all our children drive us crazy diagnosed or not :) and we just have to do our best and know that that is also their job and we as parents have to adapt constantly to teach them/meet their needs. Diet can play a huge role of course but medications can help immensely and allow children to function at their best in school and outside of school too. Unfortunately, in addition to growth spurts, children especially become desensitized to medications and the Dr.'s have to try different combinations again, call the Dr. they deal with this all the time as it is so common. Try, try, try again and please don't feel judged by negative responses...you are your child's expert and know what is best