ADHD medication questions....?
Answers:
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.
Other Answers:
first thing take him off all foods with msg's it will help
i am not a parent but i have had personal experience with children who were on adhd medication throughout their development. i met those children when they were a bit older, like middle school and high school. i would highly recommend that you try everything before medication. i believe that adhd is something that busy mothers invented to calm their children down because they don't have the time or patience to deal with them. talk to a few behavioral psychologists to help you out with some techniques on your son's behavior. 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.)
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.
Source(s):
Mommy of Two - Pregnant with #3
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
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. 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.
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