Son recently diagnosed with ADHD?

Question

Not into meds,going with counseling &behavior modification.
I've heard of coffee or No-Doz instead of meds.Any of you heard this?

He has a stutterring problem so I'm reluctant to drugs.I heard they cause tics and can make stuttering worst.I dont want to out him on ANYTHING thats going to make thing worst.Which he stutters so bad already I'm scared meds will make things worst.And most of the ADHD drugs havent been on the market for 10 years.My bigest thing would be putting him on meds and 15-20 yrs later he devolps something(health issue) because of it.

Oh and by the way his behavior dosent bother me to much I been dealing with it for 7 yrs now.It's his school work thats suffering cant concentrate,stay in seat,impulsivness he has to repeat the 1st grade for reading problems we dont have an IEP in place except for speech diagnosed 6/27/07

Answer 1

Do NOT give your son caffeine. The premise behind ADHD is stimulants will even out behavior (as the sufferer needs the world to 'catch up' with him) .

Answer 2

If you are "not into meds" why would you be using non-prescription stimulants? Non-prescription stimulants ARE drugs.

I would strongly recommend NOT trying these. If you want to see if counseling and behavior modification alone are going to work don't confuse things by using non-prescription stimulants at the same time. If you include non-prescription stimulants then you won't know what is or is not working if there is a change for the better or for the worse. I recommend you try the counseling and behavior mod for 3 months and then if you are not happy with the results try the addition of prescription medications that are prescribed by a psychiatrist who is board certified in child and adolescent psychiatry.

Think about it; are you really believing you will get better "prescription" advice from nameless unqualified untrained responders to a bullitin board than you would a board certified psychiatrist? Leave this in the hands of professionals; your son is too valuable to do otherwise.

And remember, if you do a trial of meds use a psychiatrist who is board certified in child and adolescent psychiatry.

Answer 3

First off I'll say this. I am no expert in this field but I am experienced with a child that had been diagnosed with ADHD. My ex girlfriend had a 7 yr old boy that had taken medicine all of his life for ADHD. He had taken Prozac and Adderall and some other drug. I am not a believer in the drugs. I felt that there is another way. When I looked at that boy I saw a reflection of me when I was his age. I felt like I could give him what I needed.

I asked the doctor if it was possible to take the boy off the Adderall. The smirk he gave me made me feel like an idiot for even asking. It was like I shouldn't have even asked him that question. I was a step ahead of him and was expecting that response so it didn't bother me. The doctor said that the drug wasn't addictive so that was good enough for me.

I experimented by taking some of those pills myself to understand what they were doing to him. I couldn't see it but my ex told me I was basically acting like him. Enough said my mind was made up.

When school let out for summer and his oldest boy went to Florida to visit his dad I took the boy off his medicine. I had all summer to monitor his moods. I made him take showers in the morning time so it would make him feel better during the day. As time went on I asked him how he felt. He said he felt happier. To no surprise I already knew.

When he went to school the next year he was a different person. All A's and B's. He set his alarm clock and woke himself for school. He'd tell his mom how much he loved her. To this day (5 years later) he's making the principals list a school which means all A's and high A's. I had to spend time with him during the process. There was discipline and rewards. I whipped his butt if he needed it and if he needed rewarding I'd go to Wal-mart and buy him a video game or something.

My point is this. Get a second opinion. The doctors that had been prescribing those medicines to him his whole life were wrong. They are not the scientists that create the drugs. They are mearlly people who have been trained to recognize the symtoms. I think it is still not a clearly known subject.

Do get second opinons. Study up on it. Ask your boy questions.

As for coffee, caffiene is not good for kids. Look it up. If he's studdering then he is probably getting picked at by his peers. You may need to build up his confidence. This is the God's honest truth. I new a guy that could not say a whole sentence without studdering. Here's the twist. He was a lead singer in a band. When he sang he never studdered once and could sing his butt off.

My point about the singing. It was something he was confident in. Build your boy's confidence up.

God bless

Answer 4

i do not know how old your child is. However, the reason why coffee is suppose to help is because of the caffeine and coffee is a stimulant. However, there is not enough to make a difference in coffee. I would not mess with anything over the counter with a child.
Counseling and behavior modification are excellent choices if you do not want to medicate your child. However if the child starts to have problems in school his self esteem can be affected and he could learn new and undesirable behaviors.
Discuss other alternatives with your child's doctor.

Answer 5

not to be rude, but if thats the only problem "adhd" you r son has mentally/physically in is life, consider your son lucky. i have a 16 yr old diagnosed w/ adhd when he was 12... he was doing meth,drinking, having sex, joined a ' sect of the FOLK gang', he was slinging dope,not to mention the fights w/ grown men and beat everyone that i witnessed (3) to down,fighting in school,i saw the after affects my son did to this boy...put him in the hospital for 3wks b/c after beating him and the boy couldnt get up , my son picked up a wall radiator unit had the damn thing above his head when finally 3 football coaches came in from behind and got the thing out of his hands in a nick of time,he then punched the head coach, realized who he was said sorry that he punched him and sat at his desk and waited 4 the police/ambulance. so i really would worry about your son and is adhd.

Answer 6

I would have to agree with Pat see the counselor and do the behavior mods, then try Med the Dr. prescribes not caffine.

only your Dr. is going to know what amount of stimulants will help with your son's ADHD.
Or even if stimulants are the answer in his case.

Answer 7

drugs isn't the respond. we could desire to surrender staring at it as a gaining knowledge of incapacity and spot it as a gaining knowledge of form. truly of staring on the damaging concentration on the helpful, there are various advantages to having ADHD. lots of creativity each and every physique is theory to have ADHD. (Galileo, Abraham Lincoln, Leonardo Da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh and Henry Ford.) think of if all those human beings have been to grew up in our modern guidance gadget have been placed on suggestions changing drugs and compelled to conform with our "time-honored". could they have performed something?

Answer 8

no sorry. but my a few of my cousins have ADHD. I think meds are the best thing for him. if you find out that your idea works better, than go for it.

Answer 9

i've heard of coffee working...