ADD and medication?

Question

My 10 year old son has been doing poorly in school since about the 2nd grade. In 3rd grade the teachers set up a meeting with the AEA and discussed the possibility of attention deficit with me. I have taken him to the Dr. and let him be tested, but I have not recieved a straight forward yes or no answer. They always think there is a strong POSIBILITY of him having ADD, or he COULD, not yes he does or no he does not. They are really pushing the medication idea and I hate to medicate my child for something he may not have! However, he is in fifth grade this year and is failing ever subject. I feel I am running out of options. His teacher was talking about it again and wondering if I was willing to do a trial of the medication. I guess what I want to know is, what are some side effects of these meds? What can they do for him? What if he doesn't even have ADD and he takes them? Are there any long term effects from taking these over a period of time? Help?

Answer 1

My son is also 10 and in 5th grade, and has been diagnosed with ADD. We spent a few years trying diet changes, redirection by the teacher, reward systems, etc. We eventually decided to try medication. We had immediate positive results. Our doctor told us the meds wouldn't help him if he wasn't ADD. The medication made enough of a difference to our son if I forgot to give it to him in the morning, he would ask. We started him off with Strattera, which is non-narcotic. The first time, he did lose quite a lot of weight, and had no appetite. We tried a new dosage, and that was the magic answer. We found he may be a little more tired on the first day of the week, but it was nothing a 15-20 minute nap wouldn't fix. He eats well, is growing well (6 inches last year), and he brought home his first straight-A report card last year after years of mediocre grades. We did find this year when he started the Strattera again, it was causing upset stomachs frequently, so we returned to the doctor. He is now using Concerta, which seems to be working just as well, but without the upset stomach. I do notice it seems to take a bit longer to start working, so we are giving him his meds about an hour earlier than before. We will continue to monitor his progress in school, as well as his patterns of growth and weight loss/gain. Overall, medication has been a good choice for us. I know many people believe it is wrong to give drugs to a child, but I am of the mindset if you've exhausted other options, you need to try everything. You wouldn't not give a child with allergies or asthma medication that would help control that condition, right? There is a great deal of information available about medications, their side effects, etc. Take your time, do some research, talk to your doctor... and make the decision that is right for you and your family. Trust your instincts. Best of luck to you and your son!

Answer 2

Each medication will have it's own side effects. However, I think common ones for all are loss of appetite and slower growth. My daughter was diagnosed in the 2nd grade and is now in 6th with great grades. It took us a few changes to find a medication that worked the best with the least side effects. She has been on Concerta and Straterra for 2 years. Each medication will effect each child differently, some children do well with a stimulant and some need a non-stimulant. I would consider a low dosage to begin, If you do not see improvement in school work in 6 weeks talk to your doc about a change. At this point I do not see how meds could hurt your son.

Answer 3

Although many authorities do not approve of prescribing Ritalin, Adderal and similar medications without a definitive diagnosis, it is often done. Tourette syndrome should be ruled out. Some children respond so dramatically, the parents and teachers are aware of it after the first day. (I am not exaggerating!) Some medication for ADD takes a week or more for its effects to be manifest. The doctor should explain this.

Suppose you start your son on medication and notice no effect after four to six weeks, after talking with teachers. Then stop it. Long term side effects? Not an issue with most patients.

The school should be aware of your child on medication, but my suggestion is to tell the principal, not the teacher for at least a few weeks. Like all of us, teachers are subject to bias, and any small fraction of change in behavior may be attributed to the medication.

Finally, my contention is that medication is only an adjunct in improving school performance and behavior. Other school and home interventions should occur. Unfortunately, this often doesn't happen.

Answer 4

Ask the Dr. point blank does he have ADD? what medication are you putting him on. What are the side effects with the medication and is there any long term effects. There are many websites. Check out this one....RevolutionHealth.com
It gives symptoms of ADD & ADHD There are a lot of other things listed on there also check it out. Just pull up ADD or Attention Deficit Disorder There are a lot of websites and they all say the same thing.
I would go back to your Dr's ofc and ask the Dr point blank to give you a yes or no that your child has ADD. If you don't get a streight answer you need to ask for patient advocat ofc or person to speak to.
My daughter has ADD and she's been on Medication Risperdal since she was 6 & 1/2 years old. She has gotten A's and B's all though Grade School to High School and she will be attending College next year. She will be doing Music Major. She is a very talented young woman., she sings in a Gospel Choir, Church Choir, Sings at Weddings, Funerals, Family Gatherings and other Family Gatherings, Festivals. She loves to preform. Find out what your son is interested in hobby, talents or if he likes to play an insterment and keep him going at it. I kept my daughter in choir's and childrens choirs thoughtout her school year. She sings at an open mic on Thursday evenings now at a local place. And will be recording with a lady that wrote 2 songs. So keep him going of whatever he enjoys doing and he will do really well in school. I think kids that have ADD/ADHD kids are very smart they just learn differently.
I thought that my kid would be walking around drugged up or walking around like a zombie. She's not. She is much more focused. Good luck in what you deside to do.

Answer 5

OK, first this is your decision, but I will share my experience with you.

I have 5 children, 4 boys and 1 girl. My boys are 12,10,6, and 2 and my daughter is almost 8. The 2 middle boys have been tested for and dx with ADHD and the oldest with ADD. This was done by a psychiatrist. I did not want to put my kids on meds and with my oldest one we tried every other possibility. When we put the oldest two on meds the change was seen day one. The younger of the three we saw a change, but not as quick, because he did not do as well with the same medication his older brothers take.

Some say do not let your child take this one or that one, but different children require different meds. My oldest two take Concerta and the younger one takes Adderall. You need to research the meds and possible side effects and make an informed decision.

Answer 6

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We can also always do exercises. There are exercises such as rolling your eyeball to form an invisible square that are always recommended by the doctors to improve one's eyesight.
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The doctor was shocked because teenagers at my years will usually have a most increase since we are always watching TV, playing computers and also reading.
I do not know whether it is totally true or not but it does affect a bit on the result.

Answer 7

HooKoo...has it right. There are some ADD meds that if you take them and you aren't ADD they don't work---they can even make you wild.

A stimulant medication used on an ADHD child reduces their impulsiveness and actually calms them. A stimulant given to a kid who isn't (think a can of jolt) would send them up the wall.

Side effect: appetite loss during the day.

Answer 8

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE GIVE YOUR KID RITALIN OR ADDERAL. i was diagnosed at a very early age with ADD, but my mom refused to put me on meds. I thank her every day for that. ADD may seem like a disease to people, but from a first person point of view, its more of a curiosity. I hated school for most of my life because they didn't teach me things i wanted to know. School just doesn't work for everyone the same way. It took me til college when i started taking classes on my own to really understand and enjoy school. now i have a physics degree. i feel like if i were medicated, i would have turned into the cookie cutter mold which so many kids fall victim to in this school system, and would have lost my innate curiosity about the world.
I suggest talking with him, and laying out options like positive reinforcement for improvements in grades or even just giving him a strong cup of coffee in the morning (stimulants work differently on ADD kids, and Ritalin and adderal are stimulants). changes in lifestyle and environment are what he needs, not drugs. and whatever you do, make sure he firstly knows what the "problem" is according to his teachers and what you see. Second, make sure hes OK with any treatment or change you figure out and has an active roll in deciding what it is. kids are not chemistry experiments! they are just misunderstood!

Answer 9

More or less, ADHD is an INVENTED disease. Yes, that's right-invented. The decision to put ADHD in the books was made by a pediatrics board vote! Not scientific conclusion and statement. The criteria checkoff list for ADHD is so broad that ANY normal person can fit into it. Do some people have chemical imbalances and abnormal activity of the brain, yes. But also know that thousands and thousands of children are being medicated when there's absolutely nothing wrong with them at all. And children are being diagnosed even at age 2! Sad legacy and courtesy of the Big Pharm. The drugs for ADHD does nothing to help the condition, it only masks the symptoms of hyperactivity when there could be loads of other reason for hyperactivity symptoms other than psychoactive such as: Toxin exposure, food allergy, or another underlying health problem of the body itself and not the mind. And to that, the drugs used to treat ADHD is practically amphetamine and will turn a child into a zombie drone. Just a shell and hollowness underneath. And the drugs never cures anything, it just suppresses.

First principle: NEVER rely on teachers to be doctors. A teacher is a teacher, nothing more. And even doctors misdiagnose(see the broad criteria) or can't do an extensive evaluation because of cost and convient obstacles. So the broad term ADHD is easy for ANYONE to use. Let's talk about the teacher. Sometimes it's not the child's fault he's not learning but it's the teacher's incompetent style of teaching and discipline. If a child does not behave or acheive in the way of the flawed teacher's perspective, it is VERY easy for the teacher to jump to the ADHD conclusion. Since you're not a fly on the wall of your child's classroom, you don't know your child. But it can be very easy to be misled by the teacher's biased reviews just because he/she is some figure of authority. The extremely broad defining of ADHD is simply the characteristics of being a normal child. A normal child cannot be expected to sit still and pay attention for increasing hours because they are naturally active. And teenagers are proven to have the attention span average of 5 minutes for boys and 20 minutes for girls. In a society obsessed with uniform standard and excellence, people are resorting to chemically designing children to be compliant and docile beyond what they are by nature. Is that how all normal children should behave-to all sit still like zombies, like drones, or robot automatons seemingly without an essence of human or soul? Decades ago, active children were affectionately called scamps, rascals, and class pests. Now, they are being called sick. People with "ADHD" on the ineffective medication seem to "improve" years later because they're no longer an active child! ADHD, for the most part, intwines the characteristics of a normal child in a fancy definition and a possible underlying health or environmental problem. Since many children do not go through extensive medical testing, it is near impossible to differentiate of what is illness and what's not.

Secondly, there can be alot of environmental influences that can cause hyperactivity symptoms(like I've said before). Toxins such as lead exposure or too much carbon monoxide levels in the house can do that. Allergy to food can do that too-especially dairy and gluten. And of course, let's not forget the sugar foods, the junk foods, and the preservatives that can do that too.

So your son is failing all his classes? Why? Have you considered any other reasons he might be failing(what if he simply doesn't care?, for instance, and he tells you that) besides some teachers pretending to be doctor and telling you he has ADHD?

Here's an option you might have never tried before. Observe him playing video games or reading through a book. If he can play video games and pay attention to the screen for hours on end, then I would rule out ADHD completely.

If he is confirmed beyond reasonable doubt that he has ADHD, there's always just simple therapy or professional therapy as an alternative to let the Pharm get your money.

Answer 10

I have 6 brothers, 2 have ADD. The meds they USED to give made them zombies. Today though, it's a completely different ballgame.
They may have a little nausea at first, but other than that there aren't really any side effects to worry about. You'll notice a complete difference after taking the meds if it really is ADD.