Help with meds for ADHA

[Csaurer]

Hey

I have a 9 year old daughter that has alot of problems concentrating and with attention among other issues. They have tested her through the school and she is know going to the drs in Feb for more testing. Ive been told that she has ADHD and I can see it myself. She has been pushing herself hard everyday to concentrate on her work at school that when she comes home she is just exausted and very irritable. My husband and I are having a hard time in making a decision to put her on meds or not. I can't stand to see her suffer anymore :'(  but I don't want to put her on something that could cause her problems in the future. Could anyone that has there kids on these meds or anyone that are on these meds themselves give me some advice? It would help me out greatly. Thanks

[fcgrap]

Please, don't give her drugs. Is going to be worse.
Your daughter is not sick. Psychiatry's diagnose 10% of kids in the schools. They diagnose everybody.They believe that everybody is mentally ill.  Creating new diseases. There is NO one scientific evidence of mentally illness. This is a fraud. Based on what? She doesn't stay still? she doesn't focus at school? she jumps and climb? that's what is the stupid test about. They are kids, that's her Nature. Read the story of Genius that were bad students and didn't focus.
Google : Albert Einstein. As a kid, never memorize anything, never understood rules and comands.
Charles Darwin: was consider as a very low standars of intelligence. Dreamer.
Thomas Edison: Give a hard time to everybody, allways in treble
Pablo Picasso
Leonardo Davincci
Balzac
John Craig Venter
Bill Gates. His father had to pay him money to go to school

Is their personality.
Why Psychiatrics don't talk about the good things that hyper kids have:

Creativity and originality are often some of its main features, but like are endless

disadvantages, they also have a myriad of wonderful features:

They are ambitious, want to be "everything when they are older."
They are good at public speaking.
They are good at public relations.
They are able to see an order in chaos.
They are good at summarizing and synthesizing.
They are good to change.
They are great idea generators.
They are compassionate with themselves and others.
They are working to solve problems.
They are always willing to try and learn new things.
They are always willing to make new friends.
They are always willing to help.
They always have a big decision.
Always seek alternative paths to an end.
They care deeply about his family.
They have good reaction in emergency situations.
They have good ability to deal with difficult situations.
They have the ability to find ways to overcome obstacles.
They witty solutions to solve problems.
They have great sense of humor.
They have a great visual memory.
They have good information processing images.
They have an attractive personality.
They can talk about many things at once.
They can make people feel heard.
They can carry out many projects simultaneously.
They look at situations from all angles.
They need less sleep than others.
Evolving.
They forgive easily.
Also: They are ambitious, passionate, adventurous, warm, employees, compassionate, creative, curious, amused,

empathetic, spontaneous, outgoing, flexible, funny, honest, imaginative, resourceful, intelligent, intuitive,

inventive, loyal, optimistic, persistent, pragmatic, tough, tough, tolerant, hardworking, sincere,

brave, versatile, visionary, and especially:

 

"ARE ALWAYS FULL OF ENERGY"



  

[Vicanator]

Absolutely- go find a licensed Classical Homeopath for help.  Generally these diagnoses are due to some kind of biological imbalance in a persons brain-be it ADD, ADHD, ODC etc.  I have a nephew who was always withdrawn from people even as a baby and later in life became a very angry teen, failing school, loosing  friends, threatening his parents and brother.  He was diagnosed with the above syndromes and put on every drug possible but only got worse-way worse. There was no doubt in our minds that he would end up in prison one day.  Finally his parents heard from a grandmother friend whose granddaughter had similar issues but was completely healed in a very short period of time after seeing a Classical Homeopathic Dr. in our city.  

My nephews parents had almost given up hope for their son but decided to give it one more try,.  They took him to the homeopath and it was truly a miracle.  At first he refused to take the remedy the Dr. gave him but after two weeks he agreed to try it and within a month he felt so different and his behavior was unbelievably better.  Within 2 months he was a completely different person. In total,  he received two homeopathic remedies and the Dr. did a metabolic profile on him to determine what type of food his body burns.  Because he felt so good and 'normal' (his words) he made sure to eat properly (according to his metabolic profile) and he seriously has been great ever since.  He  is a perfectly health, functioning and successful young man.  It was a complete turn around for him.

Note: I hadn't seen my nephew for quite a time and when i did it was after he'd seen the homeopath.  I was amazed at how totally different his behavior was but didn't ask him why.  I ran in to his mother 2 months later and commented to her how great her son seemed.  She then share with me the story that i just shared above.  My own son sufferd with OCD and was helped by the homeopath as well.   Google 'Classical Homeopathy' and do some research and study about how and why it works.  Trust me it will make sense if you do.

VJ27

[CBL1984]

I appreciate you taking a look at the study, but the problem is that they haven't tested the long term effects on the mental health of children with ADD / ADHD. And the tests done so far were done on rats not children. How do we know that giving a child with ADD / ADHD ritalin will not cause them to be depressed over time? We don't because no long term studies have been done on children (with or without ADD / ADHD). All of the individuals who I know who were diagnosed with ADD / ADHD as children and did not take stimulants are all fine now. Everyone I know who was diagnosed and put on stimulants has mental health problems. Yes, they could be comorbid disorders that would have showed up anyway. The bottom line is that these are powerful drugs and the long term mental health effects should be studied. Even though these doctors are saying that these results highlight the importance of a proper diagnosis, they are still not able to give us the answers of how these drugs impact the ADD / ADHD brain long-term.

[Sandman2]

    Researched the study you mentioned.  Very interesting.
However, the study related to "normal" children.  Those without ADHD or ADD.  The authors stressed the importance of knowing that your child really does have ADHD.  The depressive effects were seen when normal kids were exposed to stimulants.  You can read the study here.   http://www.mclean.harvard.edu/news/press/current.php?id=65

[CBL1984]

Sorry this response is coming a year later than your question, but I would love to give you my feedback on meds because I was put on ADHD medication as a child and it really ruined my life. The dopamine system that these drugs act on is a very fragile one and it is not only the system responsible for attention, but pleasure, too. When you overwork that system for a long time you risk damaging it and you end up with someone who not only has ADD, but is no longer able to feel pleasure either. That is what happened to me. I have disabling depression because of being place on prescription stimulants (Ritalin) at age 6. Harvard McLean did a study on rats that found that the animals that were medicated with Ritalin as juveniles were depressed as adults. You can read my story and all the research on my website: ritalinawareness.com. The drug may treat symptoms in the beginning but your child will pay a bigger price in the long run. I am now 26 and disabled by depression. I was on Ritalin since age 6. Take your daughter to a naturapath. Eliminate processed foods from her diet. Try whatever alternatives that you can: fish oil, flax oil, SAM-E, DL-phenylalanine or tyrosine. The ADD / ADHD medicines are not a long-term solution. They are toxic and damaging. I am living proof of it.

[luvnmama3]

my  little girl is also 9  . she is in 3ed grade.   k-2 grade was great  . now she is starting to lose focus  very easy   ,hard to get back on track   ..no  hyperness.   i am also  having a hard time going the medicine route.   i have seen first hand  how it can realy  help  ...and then   how it  can  realy hurt  ...  my  sisters 14year old son   is on it and it helps him greatly  on his grades   .  he went from  Ds  and Fs    to  honor roll ...   on the other hand   my brothers  9 years old son   the meds  help some with his school  but he is zobbied out  on it  . he is very small for his age  .  he looks like a  6 year old .. so skinny   moody ...     and during the summer he isnt on it  and gains  weight  and looks healthy  ....  so   i  am torn  on it as well

[FIp]

My step son (8) is a whole new person since they put him on meds.  He is able to concentrate, and doesn't get in so much trouble at school anymore.  I feel terrible that We let him go on so long WITHOUT meds.  It really wasn't his fault that he was acting out.  Now, he is able to live his life properly, and succeed.  

[dollyn]

I wouldn't change her for the world :)    I  have seen what drugs have done to children who have been put on add or adhd drugs and they change who the child is and was.

can your daughter get any after school help? Or someone come to your home to work with her on her school work? Can they add a time where she is in school where they work with her on her home work and study's. So when she comes home she can just be a child and play with friends and family..

There is so much stress that is put on children these days to get good grades ,and all the new test that we didn't have to do when we where in school mean years ago.And they think all children should be able to do the same things as others

Have you tried giving your daughter Vitamin B6 and Omega 3-6-9 .This can help her.It has helped my son and doesn't have all the bad side effects..

The Doctors and the School will only push for drugs and the School gets money for every child who takes these drugs.

The doctors should always check blood levels to see if everything is normal ,and also do a EEG to make sure everything is ok with the brain.Teachers and Parents should look and see if there is anything or anyone at School that is bothering the children, kids and be mean to each other.Are there any family changes that have happen in the child's  live.

The one thing that I have done is to ask god to help me and my children and to help the doctors to help my children and help me as a mom to make the right choice for them .And to keep us all strong .And would god want me to give my child the medicines .And yes I worry every day about the side effects of the medicine that I have to give because of the Seizures,and I have to live with the fact that I have my son adderall and then concerta witch changed him , and blame myself for it,and live with that every day now,and worry about what these medicines are doing to him and what will happen next to him and how long will we have him and what will his life be like when he is older .Look up   lennox gastro syndrome  .

Wish I new more about ADD and ADHD  and the drugs before I gave my son the drugs and that I had a place like this to go to back in 2004. And that I had asked the Doctors to check everything and anything that looked like ADD or ADHD.  Because there is a lot of things out there that are missed and children are just giving drugs for add or adhd and even bipolar.when they really have something else .

[Csaurer]

My daughters teacher this year is amazing and Ive fought and pushed for her to get alot of help this year and everything has turned out great so far :) She has her moments when she gets stressed and it is stressful but we deal with it.  I am very proud of how hard she has worked this year and she has come along way with school. I find that some teachers just don't have the patience to deal with this and the first thing they suggest is meds. It is a big, scarey decision which my husband and my self have to make on our own but it's nice to get suggestions and info from other people who are going through or have gone through the same issues. She is my pride and joy and it just breaks my heart seeing her struggling but I wouldn't change her for the world :)  Thanks for all the comments. I'm glad I found this place so I have people to talk to.

[dollyn]

My son was put on medicines and I wish I had never done that.A lot of the medicines have side effects. My son took adderall and concerta when one didn't work the way the teacher at school thou it should the doctor changed him to another.

After taken these drugs my son changed and me telling my son doctor the things the school was seeing after him being on them for 2 years ,he sent my son to have a eeg and found that my sion was having seizure,when my son was in the hospital the first time I asked a doctor if the medicines he had been on could have caused the seizures ,she said yes.So my son was taken off them and will not put him back on them ever.
Have been told that once the side effects happen that he will have them for the rest of his life and have to take medicine now for them,witch has more side effects.

my son now has home schooling because he can't go to school because when he is in school last year before we moved he would have anywhere from 20 to 30 seizures a day.witch can make it hard to learn... he still has seizures and he has two different teachers that come into our home and work with him for 2 hours a days after school gets out ,and these teachers have him learning now.And he even wants to learn.

I think each child needs the right teacher to work with them,
my son had some teachers that just didn't want to do there jobs and try different things for him. your daughter may need a new teacher or a smaller group and even some one on one time with one that she likes and is great at being a teacher.

[georgegwynn]

hey it sounds like she has and if the school tells that she has it is not always true and i have adhd and it does not matter if u put her on meds or no because the meds on my hand they do not work she just needs to try her hardest and keep the good work up and if u do put her on the meds it shouls be fine

[Csaurer]

Thank you! I will look for those books

[Sandman2]

   Another really good book  is, "The ADD/ ADhD Answer book." , by Susan Ashley.
Ashley's book is shorter and aimed more at parents.  Rief's book is aimed a bit more at the teaching profession.  Together they cover some really important ground.
   Its great that your school identified your daughter so early.  Girls tend to get ignored.  I do understand where you are coming from.  I taught 5th grade for many years.  I had bright kids that hung in there and finally hit the wall about my level.  Medication did make a big difference.  But as I said, its not a magic bullet.  It may seem like it at first.  But there is a lot of work still to be done with the child, and thats another place where these books are very helpful.   Best Wishes

[Csaurer]

My daughter has an IEP and has had one since grade 2. She is know in grade 5. We have seen alot of improvement with alot of hard work from herself, us & the teachers. I will definitley look for that book.

[Sandman2]

    Meds should only be used once resources have been used.  At 9, your daughter is really just beginning to enter the academic age where things will get progressively harder.  Things like common multiples lead to pre algebra, which leads to algebra and a child that can't maintain concentration is class is going to have a lot of trouble staying up, not to mention probably spending triple the time on homework.
  So what to do?  Buy Sandra Rief’s "How to Reach and Teach Children with ADD/ADHD".  Its probably one of the best, most practical and up-to-date books out there.  She gives lots of good ideas for help with academics.  
   I would think that your school by now would have convened a study team to check into a IEP or 504 plan.  If not, you should request this.
  Finally you asked about meds causing problems later on.  "Fifty years of research has shown that therapeutic use of stimulants does not cause drug addiction."  (Rief, p. 38).  "Proper treatment of ADHD with stimulants can lead to a lower risk of the patient abusing alcohol and other drugs" (Wilens,Faraone, Biederman, & Gunawardene,
2003)
  There have been plenty of people who write to this forum that have stated what a great difference the drug made for them.  There are others who think it is the worst possible thing that you can do to a child.  My own advice is to do your own research.  If you do decide to use meds, remember that they are only part of the solution.  
Good Luck.