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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 12/11/2005 8:27:34 PM | Wow... I had no idea that there were so many out there dealing with ADD ADHD, there is a lot of good information in the previous threads!!
One thing that I would like to add...
My stepdaugher (now 22) was diagnosed with ADD at the age of three..
I did a lot of research on the subject over the years and may have found a common denominator in big percentage of ADD ADHD people.. allergies to certain food groups.. (my daughther was allergic to wheat, lemon, milk).. which makes the brains chemical balance all out of whack..
My former spouse and I decided to not do the (ritalin/adderoll) medication treatment going with a natural routine instead.. by staying away from the foods that she was allergic to and giving certain vitamins and minerals that our naturepathic doctor recommended, the results were amazing..
Has anyone here with ADD/ADHD been tested for food allergies??
Here is a link to a support group I found many years ago.. http://www.chadd.org | |
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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 12/12/2005 6:07:08 AM | i myself have a daughter diagnosed with the same condition and tried the medication but took her off they are not worth it i would try just being extreamly patient and set something up with a peer councelour as most the probs with these children are a lack of respect and very poor self esteem my daughter has been in the counceling for 5 months now and she like a new child always happy and listens quite well now just look for behaviour management not a shrink
good luck | |
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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 12/12/2005 9:04:23 AM | My 6 year old son has it too.. and i agree structure and routine is great influence in them..changing of diets and also vitamin supplements are needed to help replace the ones they are missing. And never be afraid to kick them out side to burn off all that energy.. It helps alot!...lol. | |
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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 12/12/2005 12:27:46 PM | At age 8 my son tried to strangle a girl with achain on a swing because the girl was teasing him. They threw him in a mental institution. Gave him every drug under the sun. And after they od him for the second time. (he was in a zombie state) and could't put 2 blocks together. I told them I don't care where you put him, but he is not going back there. He was diagonosed with adhd and odd. Big mistake, they put him in a state instiution. The way they deal with tantrums is the throw him in the bed,tie him down and give him a thorazine shot! He was allergic to the thorazine and was seeing things that weren't there and hearing things that weren't there. So , I told him I wanted him off all meds and out of there as soon as possible. They put him in a wonderful instiution that straightened his ass out in less that 6 months without any meds. All he really needed was anger management classes. This whole ordeal took 3 years. It destroyed my marriage but at least we got him out of the instiution. Which he shouldn't have been in in the first place I implore anyone who is thinking of putting their kids on drugs. Do your research! Find out what all the side effects are! Don't let these pshchiatrists pile drug upon drug on your child!Seek a naturalist doctor. who isn't going to drug your kid up. Read Trudeau's book! | |
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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 12/12/2005 3:49:31 PM | This is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. I am a single parent of two boys, the oldest is almost 16, and was diagnosed in 3rd grade with ADD. Although I knew he was "different" as young as the age of two, I never knew what made him so different from the other kids. Social settings have always been a challenge, as well as any group work. He has always excelled in academics, especially the subjects that have interested him. I have spent long hours in doctor's offices, prinicipal's offices, and counsellor's offices, waiting for someone to give me the answers, so I could help my child. I can honestly say that all the advice, counselling, and medication (he has tried so many!) have not made a bit of difference. My son made the decision to stop taking medication at the age of 12. Through the years he developed nervous ticks (including hair twirling), stuttering, and mood disorders directly related to these drugs.
Today, I have a well-adjusted young man, with a great sense of humour, and achieves his goals in high school. He still doesn't socialize much, but that is just his personality. I have never judged him for who he is, only loved him, and tried to guide him by listening to him. I truly believe that is the key. We all hear our children, but do we actually listen to what they're saying?
I have read so many books on the subject, but the only place that I have found any real insight into these special people is www.allkindsofminds.com. Basically, this is a program for teachers to identify and instruct children of all learning types. I believe that we only need to understand each other, and our different ways of learning, instead of medicating. We, as parents only do what is required of us, while trying to help our children. The only thing I can say, in my experience, is just because someone is in a position of authority, doesn't mean they have all the answers. Don't believe everything you hear, and most definitely, I agree, get 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th opinions if you have to.
Peace
Scarlett | |
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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 12/12/2005 4:33:57 PM |  WOW!!! Thank you everyone for all the wonderful input regarding this extremely hot topic. Especially as my father & I (joint custody of my boy) have strong opinions against drugging children. I definitely have more research ahead of me, but my boy will NOT BE DRUGGED that is for sure...
If the school continues to give us grief over this, we will be standing our ground & seeking the alternative routes I have read here. Thank you all so much again, and certainly at least a 2nd and/or 3rd, etc opinion(s) are very much in order; at least until we find a pediatrician who does not simply sit back & dispense drugs to children under 10!!!
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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 12/12/2005 6:21:40 PM | SevenOfNine 1,
I very much encourage you to seek the least invasive forms of control for your child first but I have to advise you to stay open to medications. I felt much the same as you when I first found out that my elder son supposedly had ADD. I was gonna be damned if I was going to give my kids meds and we were going to try everything except...
We did. The ADD won. We took my son off all sugary foods, off all dyed foods, off starches, etc (not all at one time, though, as the kid would have starved). None of these worked for my son. We did not try herbal remedies because I think they're a crock and I'll tell you why later. I had a frank face-to-face meeting with the school district's psychiatrist and aired my views and he pulled out about five journal reprints of published studies on ADHD adults who had not been treated when they were young. The findings were startling in that there was clear development of antisocial behavior due to low self-esteem. These people were more likely to be drug-abusers and just generally noxious people.
True ADHD, ADD, Asberger's, ODD, OPD are all characterized by an imbalance or insuffiency of certain neurotransmitters in the brain. Any child who has a simple food allergy that is causing irritability (not true hyperactivity) or a kid that can be brought under control with a stricter diet/home life does not have ADD or ADHD. They were misdiagnosed. That's why it's critical for you to follow your path of increasing intrusion rather than just start medicating. OTOH, if the meds don't do any good, it's likely that your child has been misdiagnosed as well but you have to be careful here because not all ADD/ADHD kids respond to a given medication in the same way. My kids respond to the ritalin-line of meds but not to any of the others. To be blunt, if your kids have ADD/ADHD/depression or any of the various ailments that stem from an undersupply of certain neurotransmitters, no amount of herbal anything or dietary restriction will help with the core disease. The condition is genetic and will only respond to the forced rebalancing of the neurotransmitters in the brain itself. Veggies, herbs, etc don't carry these molecules inside them or at least at the concentrations needed to have a beneficial effect. Don't fall for snake-oil salesmen who tell you an herbal pill will cure ADHD. It won't. It might treat an insufficiency in the diet but that's all it can do. Vitamins are organic catalysts, that's all they are. Make sure your kid has at least the MDR of them but don't hold out hope that these will do anything to alleviate ADHD. There's lots of neurotics that swear that vitamins have healed them out there!
Good luck to you. It's a tough decision. Try the least invasive stuff first, anything you want. But once your child starts experiencing learning and social difficulties, it's time to find a good psychologist and a good psychiatrist that may be able to help either treat without meds or find the right combination. Please remember that, if you're wrong, it will be your kid who pays in the long run. | |
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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 12/13/2005 3:41:27 PM | sevenognine
i hope it works out for youo as the school system does try to push the meds too much to the point of not allowing the child to go back untill treament has been sought out my best advice for you is to find a doc the specializes in these childhood disorders and set something up dont realy on family doctors or peditriciations as they are just pill pushers which i have learnt from experience just as i stated before just make sure you have a lot of patience with him and to speak to him on his level they understand and can deal better with that instead of yelling and so forth (not saying you yell at him)
the drugs are really not worth a childs happiness | |
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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 12/14/2005 4:07:47 AM | | hi there, l have 2 kids a boy and a girl the girl is fine and she is 10 now but the boy who is 5 has autism, my wife goes to all the meetings, to get some ideas on how to cope, me on the other hand try and treat him like any normal boy of that age, he can be difficult but lm more layed back than my wife who gets flustered quickly, also it des not helpthat she is going to college so lots of home work for her to do, just try and enjoy it, l would not swap him at all love him to bits and our daughter copes as well and when she needs a break she goes off to her nans. good luck for those who have children with problems. | |
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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 12/16/2005 10:03:34 AM | They thought my son was ADHD but the meds they gave him weren't working and I camed him one day so they could see him in his true form. I did that cause when we went to theorpy for 45 minutes he was on his best behavior. They have now told me he is bipolar and are going to change his meds. I have to wait a month because the other meds have to be out of his system. My son has tried to hang himself 5 times and he is only going to be 8 on Dec 28th. When she is in a tantrum try holding her and telling her that you love her no matter what. I have locked up all shape object, pens, pencils, and anything that he can use to hurt himself or anyone else. My daughter is living with my brother cause he tried to hit her with a hammer. He does theorpy every week and in Jan he will start his meds for bipolar. Find the one thing that she loves to do, and trust me there is something. Then make sure that you have plenty of supplies that way she can do it. Sometimes I can see a tantrum coming on, I get his cars out and say lets play crash. Sometimes it works and sometimes not, but when it works that is one less one he has for the day. He has between 20 and 30 tantrums a day. Bed time is the worst. He takes his bath yelling and screaming the whole time. Then I read to him, trying to get him caught up in school. Then I tell him sweet dreams and then the fight is on. I will never go to bed ever I hate you. 99.99% of the time I have to lay with him to get him to sleep.
Try recording her for a day so you can take it to theropy, it will help. Good luck. Fill free to email me if you want. | |
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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 12/16/2005 10:52:14 AM | hi there i have a 15yr old adhd son leave me a message and i will try 2 help as much as i can as i know how hard it can be
take care | |
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| need some pointers
Posted: 6/20/2006 10:15:50 PM | yes.i have 1 boy 14 with adhd.i'm new at the parenting thing (long story) and am at a loss of what to do and try
recommend anything? | |
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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 6/21/2006 5:31:03 AM | I have a nearly 9 yo son with ADHD, anxiety, early OCD, and his ped has just added Asperger's to the dx. I swear he is borderline ODD as well, but that's not been officially established. He also has an LD that was dx last year through yet another round of psycho-educational testing. Just your basic *alphabet soup* kid.
We have done all kinds of testing to determine what was going on with him over the last 5 yrs and all kinds of alternative medical treatments to avoid the conventional drug therapies... chiropractic, herbal/homeopathic (the homeopath said he was vaccine damaged by his MMR vaccine, the drs don't feel this is the case as symptoms would have shown up sooner), naturopath, done the diet elimination (no dairy, wheat, eggs), metabolic testing (showed the anemia and protein issues), supplementation out the wazoo, behaviour modification, etc... I think I have a list of people who have seen or treated/tested him that is up to 2 letter sized pages long, two columns wide...
Not all children who are dx with ADD/ADHD have allergies tho. Mine was tested when he was 4 or 5 yo and has no known food allergies. He has very mild environmental allergies tho, not enough to take anything for.
Did you know parasites can produce the same symptoms of ADD/ADHD???
What I have found thru much of what we have gone thru in the last 5+ yrs is that many kids with ADD/ADHD have low iron and low protein. Mine is chronically anemic and doesn't respond to iron therapy. He's also been tested and found to be protein malnourished... and we don't know if he's not getting enough protein (most likely) or not absorbing the protein is is getting (this would have shown up much earlier in his life). Unfortunatly the protein supplements and prescription that he was given was not helping him increase his protein levels, but was making giant holes in my wallet. I push protein every change I get... he's a picky eater but is learning to eat better.
The other thing I have found out is that kids with ADHD/Aspgerger's tend to metabolize things very rapidly so the long acting forms of most meds don't work for him. He's better off taking smaller doses of the short acting meds more frequently thru the day.
Sleep is a HUGE issue as well. His ped has told me he need 10-11 hrs of sleep at his age, and I'm kind of strict on this. Bedtime is 7-730 thru the week during school since we are up at 610 am every day.
Foods that are heavily colored or foods with preservatives are also triggers for some. Mine can't have the food coloring so things like those fruit roll-ups or fruit gummy snacks are out. I buy orange juice with no color added (5 Alive concentrate) and no preservatives. Popsicles are no coloring, or natural juice if possible. He CAN have things with coloring in them with no problems, but I don't allow him to have them for more then 1 or 2 days in a row. It makes my life miserable otherwise.
Routine, routine, routine, structure, structure, structure, consistancy, consistancy, consistancy... and woe to those that disrupt the routine!!
We have tried just about every med on the market for ADD/ADHD, some with good results, some with not so good results, and some with no results at all. Right now he's currently on a regimine of 30 mg of Dexedrine over the course of the day (he gets 10 mg in the morning, 7.5 at 10 am, 7.5 mg at 1 pm, and 5 mg at 4 pm) as well as 25 mg of Trazodone (for the anxiety and to help him sleep) about 30 min before bed.
There are things that work tho..
Transitional warnings
Planning ahead
1-2-3 Magic
Problem solving skills
But the best thing is routine, structure and consistancy. I'm getting better at being consistant with discipline, I mean, you'd think after all these years of me doing it I would have it down by now!! LOL!! | |
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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 6/21/2006 12:51:26 PM | Like a lot of the responses here I too have a child that was recently diagnosed ADHD. My ex and I have been very careful about her diet and routine and both have made a big difference in her behaviour. Since my son is autistic and his symptoms regressed when dairy was removed from his diet, it only made sense that this would work for her. I keep a very careful routine during the week and it seems to be working.
Good luck to you. | |
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Lelly
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Joined: 5/9/2006
Msg: 115 | |
| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 6/21/2006 1:08:57 PM | I have a 13 yr old Son that has ADHD/Aspergers & sometimes feel like puuling my hair out. He has trouble concentrating for long & all instructions have to be given 1 by 1 as he'll only remember the last instruction given. Getting him extra help at school has been by far the worst nightmare ever, i've tried & tried & tried again to get him 121 help but the school just nod & say how helpful that would be, arggghhhhh DO IT THEN!!!
All i can say is keep on it, positive praise helps a great deal. Keeping a tick list for all the daily things he needs to remember does help, at the end of the wk give him/her a treat for doing it all. Regardless of age, kids love a treat. Try to get him to sit still for a certain length of time but then let him run loose to shake off the cobwebs & praise him
for the time sitting still.
For everything he/she does that you want them to then do something they want to do aswell | |
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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 6/21/2006 3:38:43 PM | | I have an 18 year old daughter that is ADHD and has other disorders..she is dysthymic discorder, anxiety disorder with panic attacts with agoraphobia, she is also bipolar and has a learning disability... You need to find a good doctor..I have found a great one in the area wihere I live, but the thing is that she is 18 now and refuses to take her medication or go to the Dr. Sometimes I feel like Im loosing my mind..She can get very vilolent at times..and its hard to calm her down..I use to think that maybe I could have done something more to help her..but I know realize that I have tried my best...I always put her first before my needs, but I also realize now that I should be thinking about myself also..My husband died six years ago so all the burden was on my shoulders.......I do feel that God give you as much as a person can deal with..So we have to deal with it..They are our children. We brought them into this world..So hang in there and do think a little bit about yourself..because you do deserve it.. | |
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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 6/22/2006 10:55:01 PM | I told them I don't care where you put him, but he is not going back there. He was diagonosed with adhd and odd. They don't institutionalize people for ADHD and Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Those are not full blown mental illnesses, but personality disorders. If this boy was strangling girls with chains its a good bet he was diagnosed with something a bit more severe than that. I have also never heard of someone having an allergic reaction to thorazine that made the person hallucinate. Its kind of hard to hallucinate when you are unconscious.
Frankly, if a child is seriously threatening the lives of other children like that they should be institutionalized before they kill someone. All kids get into little scrapes now and then, but a boy strangling a girl with a chain for teasing him? What if there had been no one there to stop him? | |
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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 6/27/2006 8:07:31 PM | When I was a kid, I was what was then called "hyperactive". This was because no one had heard of ADD/ADHD/ODD or what have you in 1970. I believe I was lucky in this, I'd likely have ended up so full of ritalin I rattled like a castanet when I walked.
The bottom line was, I was BORED. School moved too slow, everything moved too slow.
Not knowing what else to do, and in a time before all the pop pshlockologists took over, they used the old school treatment on me. As much sugar as possible was cut from my diet, my parents channelled all that bounce off the walls energy, and they made sure discipling was absolutely iron-clad.
I was into EVERYTHING, but my dad encouraged it. When I developed a fascination with dangerous power tools, he taught me to use them properly. He owned his own business, and took me to work with him as much as possible from the time I was about 4 yrs old. Nothing like a long day of hard labour, trying to keep up with your father, to wear you out.
When my son was born, surprise, surprise, he was just the same. The school wanted him put on ritalin, but the schools here seem to want every kid on ritalin, or thorazine, or something. I guess it's easier to teach a room full of good little zombies who sit there and never do anythng but drool on themselves. They learn nothing, but then the drugs can be blamed, instead of the inadequacies of the public school system.
Instead, I used my dad's treatment method. You want to go go go all the time? OK, it's on.
It worked. My son is 21 now, finished university with honours. He skipped grades 3, 6 and 10, because he'd done the work before he got there. The only way to make him focus in school was to bury him in work. He's in the military now, which was what he always wanted to do.
An officer, no less.
Incidentally, here's something a drug addict ex girlfriend told me about, and I've actually seen it with my own eyes: If you crush up ritalin tablets, and either snort or inject the powder, you can't tell the difference from cocaine. Seems just the thing to give to kids. | |
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JudiH
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Joined: 6/18/2006
Msg: 120 | |
| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 6/27/2006 8:22:26 PM | My oldest and my youngest were diagnosed with ADHD and I find keeping the tasks down to 15 minutes then switching to something else and on and on (back and forth if need be) Once you find the nitch that they are interested in then those tasks can be extended, but other things keep short.
I wish you the best, if I can last 14 years and still have a full head of hair I'm sure you'll do just fine | |
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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 6/28/2006 4:04:09 AM | Light at the end of the tunnel. A lot of kids outgrow adhd when their hormones start firing when they hit puberty. Their are the few cases where the adhd gets worst because of the puberty hormones. My son out grew adhd. And we havent had any behavior problems with him since | |
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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 6/28/2006 6:22:17 AM | | I'm not sure how a child is diagnosed with ADHD. My neighbour's little guy was just "diagnosed" without any testing at all. Now he's medicated and he's worse. This is a contravercial topic. I don't agree with kids being medicated for any reason that can't be properly medically proven. | |
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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 6/29/2006 3:09:11 AM | | having a son that had adhd,oppositional defiant disorder,obsessive compulsive disorder. If you put the kid on the wrong drugs it makes them worse.My son was on practically every mood altering drug on the market, many times the doctor had him on several at the same time and he was really screwed up. I suggest she get a second opinion on the childs diagnosis.unfortunately most mental disorders there is no chemical test you can give them to tell that they have the disorder. They go by symptoms and more often than not a lot of medical disorders mimic other mental disorders. My son went through a living hell in mental institutions for 3 years because he was diagnosed with several so called mental disorders. When all he needed was a anger management course. He was so drugged during that time that he remembers very little of what happened in those 3 years. And it seemed in the 3 institutions he was in each doctor had a differant diagnosis of what the kid had.Finally I said enough was enough after he was hospitalized a second time for them over medicating him and he had a chemical breakdown (couldnt put 2 blocks together) I had them take him off all the drugs and amazing within 3 months my son emerged from his trance state. He hasnt had any drugs since and hasnt had any episodes since. Hes 17 now. | |
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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 10/6/2006 2:33:27 PM | | I am at the end of my rope here!!! I do have an easy answer to my problem although I would hate it to come to that. I run a private dayhome and have a 5 year old boy here before and after school. He hasnt been diagnosed with adhd but I so know for sure he has it as well as something else ( or a host of other things as well ) I have a 11 year old daughter with adhd as well as odd and think I am pretty good at figuring out he has something along these lines. ( she isnt medicated anymore as the side effects were to severe for her ) NOt an expert but yet know this poor kid has no control over what he does. I tell him as soon as he walks in the door what is expected. Telling him today we are not riding the boikes yet 30 seconds later he is out the door on the street, no shoes, no helmut etc. Telling him not to touch the animals doesnt work either. Telling him anything doesnt seem to get through his head. Today he was on the bikes almost 10 times after being told over and over again it isnt allowed. He is disrupting my other children, my boys as well as the other dayhome kids I have here. How can i get him to listen?? I dont want to stop looking after him and his sister but if this continues I have to stop. It seems his mom doesnt get any help for this child as no one beleives her it is happening. Argh!!! When I know he is on his way here I start to get sick feeling, my heart starts beating faster and i get anxious. I am starting to think I need some type of meds to deal with him. Id type more but hes into something yet again he isnt supposed to be..........help!!!!!!!!!!!!!! | |
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| ADHD children anyone?
Posted: 10/6/2006 3:18:26 PM | Suziezoo-You are going to have to reccommend the mother place this child in a liscenced daycare where it is much more likely his behaviour will be noted properly. Unfortunately this little boy will have to be in school a little more regular before people start to see a problem.
I volunteer in the kindergarten room-and there are quite a few troubled children in there-luckily this is a great school and with the communication of the teacher with the Speech specialist-with WRAP(behavioural work) these children are starting the process of seeking medical help. I enjoy working with these little guys-the sense of reward to get through their problems is an amazing feeling and I am training for speech therapy as well before going back to school.
The other reason this school is so great-is the amount of cooperation I received for my 6 year old son. He was just re-diagnosed with Aspergers and Tourettes(oh yeah it is a barrel of laughs). And plans are in motion to pull him off his meds for a period of time to introduce new meds after making an evaluation of the severity of his condition(terrified let me tell you). I am involved with Children Services for Mental Behaviour, family resource workers-ADHD support groups, parents in action course, phsychologists and the list goes on and will grow even larger when we get closer to the city(currently in a small town). At 4 he was diagnosed with ADHD, at 5 severe ADHD and now this with the heavy warning of bi-polar like his father(yes 20/20 would be great).
Get your children out there and keep them as active as possible-swimming lessons, dancing lessons, music lessons-the results will be huge and you will be floored to see these talents blossom and eventually give your child an outlet to help handle their meltdowns(for lack of a better word)as they get older. Look into alternatives to handling a full day of school or homework like most other children are doing-request only doing the homework on the weekend(I did) get the child a computer with as many learning programs as possible-these gifted children LOVE computers and in fact I have donated some of my younger programs to the school for the other special children.
Hiding from the world-and I know it is something I feel like doing when those disapproving stares and comments start coming from people-will not help them-exposing them and making the world learn that it is up to us as adults to learn to adapt to them-not the other way around.
Gotta admit-I have learnt alot having this little boy in my life and I am very proud of what he can do.
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