Adhd - Tonawanda, NY

I understand what you are going through, I have a 12 yr old, w/ ADHD. I also suffer from it too, it can be a hard thing to deal with. You need a Dr. you can trust, talk to, and most of all "LISTEN TO YOU!!!" Finding the right options, medications and treatment plans are very important. You will have "GOOD DAYS & BAD DAYS", I have been diagnosed with it, a couple of years ago. If you want please contact me @ ____@____.com, please do not be afraid to reach out, I was at first. The more you learn is better and there is hope.

my 8 yr old has ADHD & is on adderal xr he's far from beng a zombie.. he's a sweet & still fairly hyper child but his meds town him down just enough so he can function..meds effects vary from child to child i've a cpl times missed his meds cause well plumb forgot & he can feel the difference..he's so proud he can focus enough to do his work most of the time lol

Hi T.,

I am a mother of 3 boys, 2 of which have been diagonoised with ADHA. I understand how you feel about medication. Putting your child on medication does not mean that your child will turn into a zombie. If you have the right doctor and they keep a close eye on things that is a plus. Alot of times its trail and error to find the right medication that will work well for your child. I hope that this will help you alittle bit. If you need anymore help or have any more questions I will be more than happy to help you.

Sincerely,

A. A.

Hi T., sorry to hear about your troubles. I know exactly how you feel, I've been there. It is a hard decision to make. I too struggled with medicating my child for his ADHD. After countless times of being told by countless doctors to medicate him, I finally relented and did just that. They prescribed him 10 Milligrams of adderall. I was not pleased with the results. He was far from himself, he wasn't active anymore, he was in fact like a zombie. He also developed tics. He lost wieght. It was a horrible experience for us. I decided to take him off the meds. Of course you can't just stop you have to ween them off. My son is now 14 years old and he is doing well. I have to keep him busy, and he does his homework in small doses. But for us this works. Just thought Id share some of what we went through with you. I wish you the best of luck in whichever road you decide to chose for your child. What does not work for one may very well work for another.

I think my 3 year might have the same problem too. WHat were his systoms and how do I go about getting him tested. I do know you have to keep them really busy. What I have been researching on the web.

My daughter has ADD and I too stuggled with the decision to medicate her. In the end it was the best thing for her. My pediatrician prescribed Adderall. The strengths vary from 10mg to like 35 mg. It works really well for my daughter and does not turn her into a zombie. She is still the same creative,funny, weird (but in a good way), precocious child she always was. Just make sure you do all your homework on it and have him checked out by everyone you can. If they all say medication will benefit give it a try. You can always take him off of it.

T.,
I have done alot of research on ADHD for both my son and my practice. There are WONDERFUL herbs that can help with ADD/HD. I found that Calm Child works well for my son. Chinese Medicine has a wonderful approach to ADD/HD. It looks at the child as a whole to find the weak areas and support them. It looks at the CHILD and then figures out where the child falls into one of as many as ten catagories (following the element - earth, water, ect.) After this has been established proper treatment can be given which includes physical reniforcement to match the personality of the child (ex. my water child uses astronomy to enhance his deep thinking but draw him out of his shell). ADD/HD used to be the number one diagnosis for pediatricians... and now it is Bi-Polar syndrome!!!! It is my opinion that we should look at how to help these children, not medicate them but that is only my opinion. Good Luck!

Hello T.,
I am a mother of one. My son is 3 now and i am having trouble with his doctors. They hve told me in the past and still keep telling me that they will not test him for ADD or even ADHD because he is too young. He has an ongoing problem with his concentration since he turned 2. I was just wondering since u said that u had ur son diagnosed at 2. how did u go about it? I was told that since my son was a boy that he would always be active and that thats the way boys act. And im not exactly sure how to get the doctors to listen to me or if really is just acting like a normal 3 year old boy. I really don't know.

My daughter has been on ADHD meds since a few months after she turned four. You really need to keep in contact with the doctor about the side effects and the amount he takes so he won't turn into a zombie. But she does great on it and it makes everyones life so much better in school and out of school. She is six years old now and she is doing pretty well in school unless i forget to give her her meds. If you don't give your child the meds if he really needs it you have to look at it as (are you giving him the chance he diserves to live a full life). You and the doctor will find the right medication for him but it may take time. You will get frustrated as the parent but it will all get better.

Hi T.,
My son is 10 y/o and was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 5. He has the inattentive type. He's not very hyperactive. Anyways he did well in Kindergarten, but by first grade we knew we had to make a decision about meds. Things were not going well. This was a decision we did not take lightly. My husband and I are both RN's. He started on ritalin (small dose) and he did great! His reading ability went from a kindergarten level (in first grade) to a beginner third grade level. He continues to suceed in fifth grade. He is now on Concerta 27mg daily (long acting ritalin). He has no adverse effects and is not a "zombie", never has been. You have to have a good pediatrician and a good psychologist. Do yourself a favor and get your own child psychologist and do not rely on the school psychologist. That's a great piece of advice I got from my son's preschool teacher. Good luck! V.
P.S. my son does not take meds on weekends or vacations and that works for him.

hi i have a 14 year old girl who was diagnosed with add adhd at the age of 5 and i also struggled with the idea of meds i felt the way you do. i didnt want her to become a zombie.how ever when it came time for her to be in school she was unable to sit still she could not even stay on a task. at that time i gave the meds a chance and im happy to say she didnt change at all for the worse she was able to stay focused and complete task.how ever im still working with her to try and keep herself under control because when the meds wear off she still struggles so it is still very emportant to teach them self control as well as to take the meds.there other issues to being on meds. so it is very emportant to find the right med and the right doce. and that takes trail and error.also females that have adhd tend to be more winny and males with adhd tend to be more agresive.some meds have side effects witch can bring that out and make it worse. in closeing i would like to add that my daughter is still on meds and she tells me all the time that she feels better on the meds.and that she can feel the difference when she has forgot to take her doce.

Hi, T.. My son is 5 1/2 years old and was diagosed AD/HD at 3. He's since been evaluated by many different 'avenues' and all have come back with same diagnosis. It took me about a year before I was willing to try medication. He was also attending a social/emotional support preschool class which helped ALOT in the school-based setting. Right around the time he turned 4, I was willing to give medication a try. And, at least in the case of my son, it has made a huge difference. He couldn't focus his attention on ANYTHING for more than one minute and was always running into the street, running away from me in public places, etc. It became a safety factor, plus, he couldn't enjoy being so out-of-control all the time.

We tried the Ritalin LA and were somewhat satisfied with the results. But, you could tell when it hit his system and when it left. Short-acting Ritalin was a nightmare! He raged!!! But, everyone is different with how the tolerate things. Currently he's taking Dexedrine Spansules which, from what I've heard, is like an older-version of Adderal. My pharmacist wouldn't fill the Adderal script that was first written by his doctor b/c he said not enough studies were done on kids under six with that med. But, who knows....

Something else to consider depending on where you live. In PA, children qualify for medical assistance with AD/HD. Even if you have other insurance. With MA, you can get "wrap-around" services. Ever hear of that? If so, sorry to be repetitive. If you haven't, they can offer Behavioral Support, Mobile Therapy and Theraputic Staff Support (sort of like an aide) and they can go in the school, in the home or in the community (stores, playgrounds, etc.). Whatever you need. If you want further information about that (we've had it in place for almost two years and it's been very helpful and free!!!!), please feel free to email me at ____@____.com

GOOD LUCK!!!

Hi T.. My name is B. and our son was dx with ADHD when he was 2. We were told to put him on Ritalin when he was 2. We didn't medicate him until he was 4. We tried everything we could to no avail. He was first prescribed Adderall which did turn him into a 'zombie'. He was quickly taken off of that medication and started on Ritalin. He is 10 years old, taking Concerta and doing GREAT in school. Granted, he is Autistic as well as ADHD, but our greatest challenge is that ADHD. He never appears to be in a 'zombie-like' state, plays like a normal 10 yo and has never had any of the side-effects associated with Concerta. Some might say it was unfair of us to medicate him, but after 2 years of trying anything and everything that was available to help him, it would have been unfair not to try the meds. The meds were the right step for us and our son. They may not be for everyone. Hopefully you have a great dr. who can help do what's best for your son. I hope that I've been able to help you. I wish you the best of luck. Keep me informed if you think of it.

Take care,
B.

Hi T. A.

I am a single mom with two sons that are both diagnosed with ADHD AND ODD. But my youngest son also is Autistic. My oldest son was diagnosed at around 4 or 5yrs old. My youngest son was diagnosed with ADHD and ODD when he was around 41/2 5yrs old and he was first with PDD NOS and later was diagnosed with Autism. Their father and I decided that we did not want our children on drugs of any sort because we did not want them to become zombies either. He researched alot of research on ADHD and the medications that they use to treat it. My advice would be for you to get all the info you can on ADHD, any questions or concerns that you may have , write them down to take to the drs appt. Maybe try cutting out some of the things that might make him hyperactive. Maybe have a break time for him when he is at home for when he gets out of hand. Try finding other resources and ways with coping with his hyperactiveness, whether it be by reading books, internet or getting in contact with other families that are going through the same thing...like a support group or see about starting one. I just take one day at a time, it will be a struggle but it will get a easier as time goes by.

Hi there. I too, have a son (8 yrs old) with ADHD. He was doing poorly in school ever since pre-school. He got held back in Kindergarten. He should be in the third grade now. He was diagnosed with ADHD last year and it was my choice to medicate him with Methylin. I didn't give it to him during the summer though. I am deciding if I want to put him back on it right now that school has started. He was referred to from his teachers as developmentally delayed and couldn't focus and finish class work. Also he wouldn't follow directions and couldn't sit still in class. But once I put him on the medication, he did a big turn around almost immediately. The teachers noticed the big change almost immediately as well. My son has been working with an occupational therapist since pre-school. It is your decision to put him on it, but I would definately look into it if I were you and weigh your options.

I have five children, now all grown. I went through the ADD routine with maybe three of them. We struggled with the whole concept of ADD to begin with, and still do. We tried ritalin on all of them at some point. My oldest child now almost 30 feels it screwed him up forever. We didn't know what to do as parents, especially growing up in an era where no one was diagnosed with ADD and almost everyone we new were <<average kids>> and very few were problamatic at school or home, at least far as we could tell.I don't know if that is true that the drugs hurt my son, but that is how he feels. I don't think medication really worked all that much on any of my children and I felt that they are <<Late bloomers>> and that is not a reason to medicate them because they didn't live up to the expectations of the school. One of my children who was told he had some kind of learning disorder was never on medication; He always said he was lazy, which of course the doctors would say is a sign of ADD, but my son who is now 28 never felt any other way and he now has a master's in mechanical engineering and a good job. Two of my other ones do suffer from depression and maybe some hereditary peronality traits, but how can one really decide at a very young age that one has ADD. i don't think there is any one answer, although some doctors will argue that point. Yes some kids are kind of hyperactive and are hard to teach in the school setting, but is that necessarily an indicator of how they will be when they are adults? Hard to say. I used to pass out Add medication as a nurse at the school and it was unbelievable how many kids lined up to get their medications. I still have to ask myself how much of this is social pressure, lack of discipline in society, lack of patience in schools, etc. etc. I'm sure there are children who do need the medication but I am not so sure it is so well defined. It is never an easy decision, and I guess you need to know your child and follow your intuition as well as get as much information that you can to educate yourself on the topic.

check out the following website: www.nativeremedies.com. i stumbled across it a while back in doing some research for options for my 17 year old stepson who has refused for the last 4 years to take his meds... but is getting to a point where my husband (his father) and i feel something needs to be done. there are other "homeopathic" remedies available - check out your local health/nutrition store (ie. gnc) and see if they carry anything. when the 17 year old was about 8 they put him on ritalin, then aterol, then back to ritalin, then to concerta - all of which had side effects with the most common between them being headaches, and the most severe being a total loss of appetite on the aterol. although my stepson has even refused to take anything "natural" i did find that there are "natural" remedies out there. you can find websites - if you have the time to look for them - that will provide you with some insight into what's going on with your child, and also give you some ideas of ways that you can help your child deal with his impulses and help to "curb" his distration level. another thing they say can sometimes help is diet. i don't know if you've tried that yet, and i personally did not because my stepson did not live with us when he first starting taking the medications, but it could be worth checking out if you are unsure about medicating your child. good luck, and remember that patience is an important factor when dealing with an adhd child!

Hi my name V. I am a mother to 5, one has ADHA and another has ADD so I have had exsperience with your sitchuasion. My oldest son is 11 he has add we tried to medicate him so he could pay better atetion in class, turns out we could never get the meds right for him he always had a stomach ache or couldn't sleep at night. He has been off meds for two years now and is doing better than he ever did on the meds. Now my othere son is 9 and has adhd I'll tell you that h makes a big diffrence in there behaviors my son was so out of controle when he was 2 I felt like I couldn't take him any were I never new how he would act. We did end up medicating him and he still is on meds today the only way we could ever get him to calm down. So I guess its how comfortable you are with the idea of meds its never a cure but in some cases it can calm them down.