I have a son who’s adhd is impairing his learning from progressing. He is behind in academics and it’s starting to effects other areas of life. We have been against the drugs but now starting to wonder if we are hindering him since he has such a hard time. I have to micro manage his life and he is almost 10 which by that age should be showing a little more responsibility. Please help if you have experience with this.
I, too, was against medicating my ADHD son at first. After the school started calling more and more I knew I had to do something. The first 5 months of his school career were insane. The phone calls from the school become more often with each week.
After 6 months I had my son medicated. And, yes, he was only 5 years old, almost 6 by this point. We started with Ritalin, which had to be increased a few times. This seemed to help him greatly, but there were so many up and down times of the day because he took different doses 3 times per day. He would be coming out of his ‘calm’ before he would get his next dose.
We moved on to Straterra, which did nothing but make him even more hyper, or so it seemed. This lasted a week, maybe.
Then we tried Adderall, which lasted 3 days. He became psychotic, even threatening suicide at 6 years old.
We then went back to Ritalin, but only as a starter. When I expressed all my concerns to the doctor, he assured me that if we could find the correct dosage amount of Ritalin, he would then give him Concerta, which boiled down to 1 pill per day that is time released.
Concerta was new at the time, not to so widely used as it is now.
There were no serious side effects of the Concerta, that he has now taken for 5 years. The only problem we had, which was with all the medications we tried, was that at the end of the day, all that energy that the medicine helped him bottle up, now came out.
He was given a sleep aid, which has now been changed to another one, to help him calm down at night and get some sleep. (Changed due to weight gain as he grew, he is now 11 and was on the same does of the same sleep aid from 6 years old until a few months ago)
Along with my sons ADHD, he would be up all night long. Either talking, jumping, screaming, crying … anything to keep someone’s attention.
Overall I am satisfied with my decision. My son knows that he had problems keeping on track and paying attention (among other problems) without the medication. I have already told him that when he is old enough he can decide for himself to continue, or cut, the medication.
I feel good knowing that my son can better contain himself at school and at home. I believe the medication has helped him in ways we could never have done with ‘home remedies’.
Good Luck with your decision. It is a hard one, and a personal choice, but if your decision helps your child in any aspect of life, it is a good one. Your child could react different to any of the listed medications than my son, as a friend of mine has a son on adderall and he does well.
September 1st, 2009 at 12:56 am
Hi, I work for a healthcare video website called icyou.com. We have all sorts of videos including many on ADHD.
Here’s a link to several of them.
I hope this helps!
James
http://www.icyou.com/search/node/ADHD
References :
http://www.icyou.com
September 1st, 2009 at 1:38 am
I, too, was against medicating my ADHD son at first. After the school started calling more and more I knew I had to do something. The first 5 months of his school career were insane. The phone calls from the school become more often with each week.
After 6 months I had my son medicated. And, yes, he was only 5 years old, almost 6 by this point. We started with Ritalin, which had to be increased a few times. This seemed to help him greatly, but there were so many up and down times of the day because he took different doses 3 times per day. He would be coming out of his ‘calm’ before he would get his next dose.
We moved on to Straterra, which did nothing but make him even more hyper, or so it seemed. This lasted a week, maybe.
Then we tried Adderall, which lasted 3 days. He became psychotic, even threatening suicide at 6 years old.
We then went back to Ritalin, but only as a starter. When I expressed all my concerns to the doctor, he assured me that if we could find the correct dosage amount of Ritalin, he would then give him Concerta, which boiled down to 1 pill per day that is time released.
Concerta was new at the time, not to so widely used as it is now.
There were no serious side effects of the Concerta, that he has now taken for 5 years. The only problem we had, which was with all the medications we tried, was that at the end of the day, all that energy that the medicine helped him bottle up, now came out.
He was given a sleep aid, which has now been changed to another one, to help him calm down at night and get some sleep. (Changed due to weight gain as he grew, he is now 11 and was on the same does of the same sleep aid from 6 years old until a few months ago)
Along with my sons ADHD, he would be up all night long. Either talking, jumping, screaming, crying … anything to keep someone’s attention.
Overall I am satisfied with my decision. My son knows that he had problems keeping on track and paying attention (among other problems) without the medication. I have already told him that when he is old enough he can decide for himself to continue, or cut, the medication.
I feel good knowing that my son can better contain himself at school and at home. I believe the medication has helped him in ways we could never have done with ‘home remedies’.
Good Luck with your decision. It is a hard one, and a personal choice, but if your decision helps your child in any aspect of life, it is a good one. Your child could react different to any of the listed medications than my son, as a friend of mine has a son on adderall and he does well.
References :
September 1st, 2009 at 2:01 am
There are not that many side effects if the dosage is given correctly.
The most common side effect is reduced appettite. The pills tend to supress hunger. This can be countered by give=ing a large breakfast and giving your child a large breakfast.
Diffiiculty falling asleep can also be a problem, but again this can be countered. Just make sure you dont give the pills too close to bedtime.
Some kids will experience stomach aches and just generally feeling unwell and some mild depression. But these syptoms will stop happeneing. This is just an initial symptom as the body gets used to the new substance. Most of these side effects dissapear within a week. If they dont then the dosage of medication is too high.
References :
September 1st, 2009 at 2:46 am
boy has been on them for about 6 years. Started with Concerta, tried Strattera (NO help), finally found Adderal.
Sometimes we skip weekends, we skip many days during summer vacation, but otherwise, every school day he gets Adderal XR. No side effects really, at first he was a little skinny, but he eventually built up an appetite & is actually a little Overweight now. I worry about his height– 5′4" now. Fairly average, he’s 13; so still growing. Sorry but even if he turns out a little short, it’s WORTH it! (Ritalin was said to stunt growth–it’s not proven one way or the other for Adderal).
He’s straight A’s now, respected by his peers & teachers, aces his state standard tests every time–(he scores a perfect 600 every time) & there was a time he wouldn’ta been able to sit still or be quiet long enuf to finish a test! He’s sweet, thoughtful, considerate & loving. He’s a little bit lazy, but truly about 99% perfect if I do say so myself!
All I can say is HAIL ADDERAL!
I would be institutionalized if not for this drug.
References :
September 1st, 2009 at 3:23 am
ill tell you this from a 13 year old that took meds for 4 years. it differs from child to child…for me i didn’t grow and i had horrible stomaches pains for my friend he doesn’t eat now but i also have friends where it has no bad sidefects i would ask your doctor. also i would look into this diet for adhd kids called gluten free diet and what it does is by eliminated wheats and dies it improves your atention 100% but not everyone…85% of people that have adhd can go on this diet and have this help them. if your interested in this diet i would do a couple things i would one go to Google and search gluten free diet. and i would ask your doctor to test your son for celiac disease(what mostly causes the add) below this is the sources i linked a bunch of sites explain this diet. it can be a hasle at first but its worth it trust me. . .
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References :
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/index.htm
http://www.celiac.com/
http://www.glutenfreeceliacweb.com/
http://www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/
September 1st, 2009 at 3:48 am
I’m in the same boat as you, and the methods found in this article really helped turn my son around with not medications. Best of all, it gave me peace of mind and my family some peace and quiet.
Proven Methods For Treating ADHD
http://www.hearts-and-kisses.com/attention-deficit-disorder.html
References :