ADHD medication questions....?

Question

I would like to hear real accounts from parents whose child takes ADHD meds. My son, who is 4 1/2, was just diagnosed with ADHD. He is an exceptioanlly smart and gifted child for his age. He exhibits many of the common signs of ADHD. After much soul searching and advice from 2 of his daycare teachers, I had him tested. I know what the Dr. says, but I want to know experiences from parents. I have seen it make kids a zombie and also help. This is the last resort in a long line of different ways to deal with his behavior and I am examining all angles of treatment. First hand accounts would be very helpful. Thank you!!!

Done the food thing...salt, sugar, additives, kept a food diary
Done the discipline thing...no toys, tv, priviledges.
Done the rewards for good behavior.
If you have a child with ADHD, you know they signs and the symptoms. It will run the child down as well as the parent. You run out of options to get thru your day. It's hard to not feel like a failure when you have tried everything plus stepped back and let someone else try it.
Not a busy mom who has no time for her kids...just a mom that is concerned enough to seek the proper care and treatment for her kids.

never sits still long enough to get things done, constanly fidgets, always on the move, talks constantly, is well behaved but has to be told many times to listen, not to do things. Daycare recommended I get him tested, pediatrician diagnosed him. We have seen a psychologist for family counseling, I have taken parenting classes, he is active in swim class and plays t-ball, has a variety of things to keep him active, we read, do flash cards, go to the zoo and library...

I am very active with my son. To the point that all else is put on hold so as much attention as possible is dirested towards him. Sandbox, bikes, swingset, nightly walks, play at the park, reading, coloring, playing catch. These are all things that we do. I have to wait until after he is asleep to do any housework, laundry, bills, or have any time for myself. That, in turn, means I have less sleep and am on a shorter fuse when dealing with him. I under stand he is only 4. I am the oldest of 4 and also the oldest of 14 cousins. I have NEVER seen this type of extreme behavior in anybody in my family. I'm not interested in him being a zombie. I am interested in a better quality of life.

Answer 1

My son is turning 10 and has been on Strattera for almost a year now. I tried everything with him. I tried rewards. I tried alternative methods. These things worked to a point and I was exhausted beyond all measure. My son was disturbing the classes he was in, exhibiting strange and bizarre behaviors, and was disrupting the general well-being of my household.
Once he started Strattera, within the first month you could see the difference. The bizarre behaviors stopped completely. He was completely focused on his work. It was unbelievable.
I am not a medication person at all. It took a very long time for me to finally agree to trying it, and I am not sorry I did. Even HE knows there's a difference. He is not a zombie and he can still function like a normal 10 year old boy.

I wish you luck with this. It can be very draining on a parent, both physically and emotionally.

Answer 2

First off most medications for ADHD will not calm a "normal" child it will send them bouncing off the walls. I see ADHD so over diagnosed these days that as a mother I would seek another opinion. Daycare workers do not have the education or knowledge to tell you that you need to get your child tested. I have worked in daycares and most not all the people hardly have any knowledge about child development.

You say your son is exceptionally smart and gift - So my question is, is he getting things done? Is he able to sit down and concentrate on things that interest him? Read a book? Put a puzzle together? Some kids just have some behavioral problems that need to be addressed and some kids that are highly intelligent are just bored. My son is 3 and is highly intelligent and I can tell when he is getting bored because he starts bouncing off the walls, I know that he does not have ADHD or any other issues he just needs some stimulation. Did you know that the majority of kids that are diagnosed with ADHD come from daycares? I am in no way saying you are a bad mom if your child is in daycare what I am saying is that it's just the environment that kind of breeds the insanity :)! Most daycares are spilling over with kids and they are all bouncing off the walls and with the new trend of ADHD everyone is getting diagnosed with it - in most cases incorrectly.

Your son could have ADHD it really is a problem that some children have, I just recommend that you get another opinion - doctors are wrong more often than we would like.

Good Luck to you.

Answer 3

I've been working with children with behavioral and mental health issues for six years now and most of them had ADHD. How is his behavior at home? Is he hyperactive or overly impulsive there and does he have trouble sleeping at night? If he's not really acting out at home, I'd wait until he's in Kindergarten and see what the teacher says. The setting will be a little different (more structure, things to learn) so he might behave differently. 4 1/2 is pretty young to decide he needs ADHD meds. The earliest I've seen meds used is about 5-6 years old.

Anyway, if you do decide to try meds, Strattera has had good results with a lot of kids. Its a non-stimulant ADHD med so its a little gentler. Adderall is basically extended release Ritalin. Adderall works great for lots of kids. However, I've seen some become very irritable on it and lose their appetites. It really depends on the child. Different meds work differently for different kids. One good thing about most of them, is that it is out of the system by the end of the day. It doesn't take a long days or weeks for the effects to wear off.

As for the person who talked about the scary side effects of Lithium, don't worry about that. Lithium isn't prescribed for *just* ADHD. Its usually for mood disorders like Bipolar Disorder.

Answer 4

Hi, I have a, now 9 year old boy with ADD we learned that he had ADD when he was 7. We tried the diet thing he did not really respond much. We then tried the behavior mod technique. Not much help there either. So as a last resort we put him on the meds. My son's difficulties where in his learning process not really in behavior. After 3 months of the meds we found the change was that he thought the meds worked so he tried to control his ADD. I never liked the idea of giving my child to meds so we with the help of his doctor used the placebo method. He took vitamin C instead of his meds. He was improving in his attention and bringing up his reading and math levels. After a few months of the vitamins we told him that he was doing it on his own. You can not imagine the pride and confidence he has in himself. He works hard at keeping is ADD under control. So what I say to all the answers with ADD and ADHD kids is a lot of love, a tight rein, a lot of encouragement, most of hugs and kisses for every little tiny success your child has. We used stars in a journal book for everyday that the teachers at school would say that he paid attention. After 10 stars he got to choose what family activity we did on that Saturday. Just please what ever you decide it has to be what you can live with and what your child can take every child is different and ADHD is different in every child. It will take time to find a solution for your child’s success I know it will be difficult but patience is best here, Patience, encouragement and love will always make a difference. Good Luck with your little love. Take care of yourself too; this can be a very trying time.
Pam

Answer 5

If you decide to medicate your son, try Strattera. It is the ONLY medication out there for ADHD that is a non stimulating medication. A family member has that and is now of age and constantly in trouble with the law. He was on all kinds of different meds, treated for bipolar, depression, the list goes on and on. If your son infact has this condition, which it sounds like he does, you should try all aspects. What works for one may not work for another. We as parents even say we don't want to medicate our children. Sometimes the meds are the only thing that will help the child to continue learning and help the parents keep their sanity. What every you may decide to do... the best of luck to you and your family. With persistance you can all get through it.

Answer 6

Having never dealt personally with a child diagnosed with ADD or ADHD I too used to believe it was an excuse kids who didn't get outside alot or who had to much tv time. (I had 6 chikdren) Now, I have a 7 yo foster son who was just diagnosed w/ ADD and I have changed my opinion on that. He watches little and gets lots of attention and activity. We had him put on meds...Concerta...and it works wonders. he is not a zombie and is very alert. We can see a behavior difference when we forget to give him it.

Answer 7

They have had my nephew on medications since he was about 4...he's now 16. I, as well as his mother, disliked a lot of the side effects most of his medication has had. One time he was like a zombie and gained a ton of weight...the other meds made him barely eat, sleep a lot, and he lost a lot of weight. I really am worried about the lithium they put him on...adults have a lot of long term side-effects and to give it to a child is really scarey. He is doing better now, but we all wonder if he would have been better off w/o all those chemicals and all. I personally recommend avoiding meds as much as possible. When he stayed with me and my husband for an extended stay, he had forgotten his meds and was STILL a well behaved child .... he's always had consistant discipline/rewards at my house. (I helped raise him...so there's a long history there.)

Answer 8

My son was diagnosed with ADHD at 4 years old.The first medicine he was on was Adderall.It worked and didn't make him zombie like at all.Now he is 8 1/2 years old and takes Strattera once a day.I've had good results with both of these medications.Hope this helps a little bit.Good luck!!!

Answer 9

How about an answer from a 37 year old that was part of a 1000 child case study identifying hyperactivity, and my personal account? (this is study went for 10 years and got us where we are today)
I was one of the poster child labrats with a 150 IQ (fooled me) for the study when hyperactivity wasn't envogue and overdiagnosed.

Things I remember - Ask your child if they feel funny when taking a new medication or if they feel a 'pharmaceutical effect' at any point, this is BAD! Your kid wants to feel balanced, not high.
Ritalin sucked for me, it worked a little but makes you a bit hazy - thats why others abuse it. Keep trying different ones and make the child be honest with you on which they preferred - mine was imipramine and dexedrine.
Diet: I tried them all, including the natural sugars one, this is BS - I got as hyper from that as hersheys chocolate. Moderate them, but don't cut them out, it's part of the balance we all need even if the energy levels are higher than most. Just go for the balanced meals routine, they dont need more food because they are hyper.
Exercise: Constantly, 2 sports at all times if possible, back to back practices- this is awesome for burning off that energy and helps with concentration. Let the animal out of the house on his/or her own to play, they will learn to concentrate on things that interest them.
Hyper kids can Hyper focus - believe it or not, If you have a smart kid, they can cram more information in an hour or concentrate on a task more intensely than 90% of the people out there. The real trick is reinforcing retention and completing the task. If there is a task your child has started, I am not a proponent of forcing them to complete it (they'll learn to fight you instead of finishing). Instead, encourage them to get further along but gauge when they are going to explode with boundless energy. Have them do something else for a short period of time and then (this is important) have them come back and point out something else about the project or task that is different, or needs problem solving, and they will go back and hyperfocus on getting the solution. ( my father did this for me, games of Chess come to mind, lego and lincoln log buildings too). You're probably saying "well my kid has 5 projects going at once, all unfinished, how the hell am I going to get that done!?" Sorry, better learn to keep track of each task and rotate them :) The # of tasks they begin will diminish, especially since they know you are on top of it :D .
Give them critical thinking toys and games.
Read to them - Curious George, then harder ones like Chronicles of Narnia, they will be engaged in thought, ask them from time to time to expand on what they just heard, feeding their comprehension levels and retention.
TV : Wow that stuff is going way too fast these days, thanks for compounding my attention problem-- Make them watch the nature channel to even it out, good luck!

NEVER, EVER, EVER, let them use 'well I have adhd' as an excuse. Just remind them they are one of the smart ones that can multi task, do more, and hyperfocus to get jobs done.
Let them know others who say that as an excuse are being lazy and they should NOT listen to it, you can overcome it.
Best of luck, feel free to email me if you want any more advice, I am not a doctor, but I have a vivid memory of my childhood, the tests they ran, and knowing when a doctor didnt know wtf he was doing.

Answer 10

well, i was diagnosed with ADHD when I was in first grade (im 20 now so this is not a waste of time, im being honest) and really, at the time i saw nothing wrong with me. infact, i was calmer than those in my grade. i got off of ritaline when i was a freshman in highschool because i got tired of taking the pills. really, i skipped the pills all the time, i just made my parents think i took the medacine and they swore up and down they saw a change in me. but really, i think it was in their head to want to think they saw a change in my actions. i was very calm and i am still calm in nature. now my brother (8 at the time when they said he had ADHD) is on ritaline. watching him, i see no change in him either. ritaline and ADHD is very over rated in my opinion. parents see a child with a lot of energy and no activity to releave the energy, so they take the child to the doctors just to get the doctor to medicate the child so the parent doesnt have to put as much effort in playing with their child. this is my opinion. ritaline is so over rated. dont make your child take medacine if they dont have to. also, your child is just 4 and a half. at that age... they have energy just out of this world. its normal. dont medicate your child if you dont have to. really, its over rated. go with instincts, you are the parent and you are the only one that knows whats best for your child, but would you rather put your child on a medication? a perscription at age 4? or would you rather see a healthy boy grow up (instead of sitting medicated with no energy infront of the tv gaining weight) and play outside? play with him more. get him a compatiable play mate (puppy? dog? interacting toys for outside..balls..golf game with foam balls so no broken windows) just realize that you have a boy.. and they are born with energy. no medication you give your child can change that. oh, and also... there are things called "ticks" with ritaline. your muscles twitch without your own consent. i still have them and i have been off of ritaline for 6 years. my arms and thighs still twitch and sometimes facial muscles still go off on their own. look that up as well. they are called "ticks" because its constant like the ticking of a clock. and it tires out the muscles so badly. my doctor had told me that (of course by now) the medacine is out of my body, but my muscles are so used to reacting the way they do, i will have to just grow out of the ticks. he had seen people in their 30's with the ticks still just because their mind is so intuned with it.. and the mind thinks its natural because of the length of time the people were on the medacine. just do whats right hun. think of all options please.