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Natural ADHD meds?

I have a 9 yr old son who was diagnosed w/ ADHD at the age of 5. For the last 4 years I have been looking for a med that works and that I feel comfortable giving him. I have tried almost all the stimulants and all the non, the only one that seems to work is Adderall. I am not comfortable w/ the fact that it is a salt away from methamphetamine which makes me feel as though I am feeding my child a street drug. I am curious to natural meds. We have tried changing his diet and did find removing red 40 and yellow 10 to help, but now that some research has come out with medical marijuana (which I feel is as plant based as you can get) I am curious if doctors would prescribe to a child w/ ADHD. I only wish the best for my child and want to see him exceed in school and become a productive member of society. I understand the taboo of giving this to children but if it would help my son I could live with it.
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189897 tn?1441126518
COMMUNITY LEADER
   Ummm,  Adderall is really cheap, while Vyvance being relatively new is more expensive.  Wonder if there was an insurance thing going on?  Any way,   I have 4 links that really will cover all (or almost all) the possible legal alternatives for helping someone with ADHD.
    The first is very detailed and really covers a lot of ground.  Its
http://www.healing-arts.org/children/ADHD/treatments.htm
    The second is also quite good and covers many different treatments.  You want to go to page 10,  Adjuncts to Medication Treatment.   The link is
http://www2.aap.org/sections/dbpeds/pdf/SODBPNewsletterSpring2011.pdf
    The third is an overall look at treatments
http://www.azcourts.gov/casa/Training/TrainingCourses/ADHDpg6.aspx
   And the last link focus more on stimulants.  It gives a lot of good background information.
   http://ncpamd.com/stimulants/

     This will take you awhile to go through.  Feel free to post with any questions.  Best wishes.
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Avatar universal
Vyvance was not recommended for him. The Dr would not prescribe it when asked about. He had counciling while medicated but didn't seem to do anything for him. More information would be welcome. Thank you.
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189897 tn?1441126518
COMMUNITY LEADER
     Well, studies show that many people with ADHD who never used stim meds have gone on to self medication and MJ was one of the drugs of choice.   Trouble is they have a very hard time getting off of whatever self medicating drug they are using.
     You concern about Adderall is valid.  The thing that you are missing is that when prescribed and used as prescribed, it has NO addicting effects.  In short, it is not a street drug.
     While you could probably find someone at a local MJ clinic who would write up a prescription for you.  I wouldn't do it.  MJ might be good for anxiety.  It would do nothing for concentration.   And, many times the anxiety is caused by the inability to concentrate at school.
      Just being curious, did you try Vyvanse?
    By the way, all studies I have seen show that a combination of Meds and behavioral therapy work the best.  Is he getting more then just Meds?  I can give you more information on some of those recent studies on the effectiveness of the various ways to treat ADHD if you are interested.
Best wishes.
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