ADD no meds

[pam106]

My 9 year old was diagnosed with anxiety, OCD and ADD last year.  A trial of Zoloft for the OCD failed as it increased his ADD tendencies. Since last spring he has been on no meds. He is successful in school-- gets very good grades and does not struggle too much with behavior. I believe he is successful in part because his school is very structured and small. We also have him in swimming year round and he does very well with this activity.

He does continue to struggle with social relationships. Many other boys find him to be "too much," or not kind. He also still worries quite a bit at home-- about anything.  He still suffers with OCD but seems to hide the behavior more than last year (touching things a certain number of times). Although he is  skilled at basketball and one of the better offensive players-- he loses his focus/place frequently much to the annoyance of his coach. He only plays basketball for 6 weeks out of the year.

My two part question:
1) His swim coach wants to bump him up to more practices and a tougher division. I am wondering if this will be too much for him. At what point do the benefits of swimming outweigh the cons?
2) Should we investigate meds again to help him be more successful with friends and team sports? If so-- which medication can help anxiety AND ADD-- without worsening one or the other?

[benjimom]

I used to be a year rond swimmer myself growing up and boy it does tire  you out!!  We worked so hard and I used to be in such good shape.... If he's doing it w/out meds, then I say keep it up!!  It's much healthier too.  I read somewhere that often a good amt of exercise is the equivalent of ADD meds.

[dollyn]

First let me say I am glad you didn't keep your son on the drugs.they can cause anxiety and stress.

I think if he really likes swimming I would talk to him about how he feels about it. And if things get to hard for him ,you can always change things.

There is No reason to put your son on ADD drugs,and the side effects are not worth it in the long run.People have died from these drugs and they can cause a Stroke and Seizures.And heart problems ,along with Anxiety and Stress.

I give my Son Vitamin B6 and Omega 3-6-9 Vitamins and they have helped him some.

[Sandman2]

Michael Phelps has ADHD, the following link gives you a pretty good indication what swimming can do.  http://www.projo.com/health/content/lb_add_michael__phelps_08-17-08_SBB6PTO_v14.1a78015.html
   Your son has ADD which is different.  But, I don't think it will hurt to try the swimming.  (Warning here, I am biased cause I swam in high school and in masters swimming till age 45) While swimming is team sport in a sense, its not like basketball.  You spend most of your time swimming not standing in a line shooting baskets.  And there is a certain calming effect to swimming plus the fact you are dead tired when you get home and will sleep really well.  Of course, that leads to the downside.  Hopefully swimming is more of a summer and spring sport, and won't impact his studies.  Although at 9, I don't think this will be a problem.
   I certainly would not go the medication route for team sports and friends (especially if you go the swimming route.)  Where meds become more important is for school.  The ability to concentrate during a test.  To finish a test on time.  To finish homework so that you can get a good nights sleep.  Since he is doing very well in school, my guess is that he is pretty intelligent.  Watch for problems in the later part of fourth or fifth grade when they get to common denominators - that typically will cause problems if their attention is else where.  But that can be taken care of through extra help.  Then typically algebra is the next big hurdle.  However, since he is diagnosed with ADD, he is eligible for a for a 504 which will give him extra time on tests and homework.  This maybe enough to get him over these hurdles.
  Finally, you might want to check out these books.
  Sandra Rief’s "How to Reach and Teach Children with ADD/ADHD". .  It's filled with loads of ways to help kids educationally.
The second is, "The ADD/ ADhD Answer book." , by Susan Ashley.  Its a shorter, faster read with lots of helpful ideas.
  In summary, go with the swimming. It's possible it may help the anxiety through the physical exercise.  The books I mentioned will really help with the ADD.  You need to do added research for the anxiety.  He needs to learn coping skills for that as well.  
Good Luck!

[benjimom]

It's ahrd to treat both conditions. I think the swimming would be good esp for the ADD and it could help the anxiety part too.  If you feel like it's an issue you could discuss what you could do with a psychiatrist.  I bet teh drugs to treat the ADD would increase the anxiety.