PLEASE HELP

Hi, have you taken him to a specialist yet? thats were you want to start. i am also new here and if you take some time and read and ask questions everyone here is amazing at helping.My son just started Adderal 10mg last week but we stopped it cause he couldn't sleep so his doctors dropped the dose to 5 mg thinking 10 was to high. i am just a beginer but i am always willing to share what i have learned so far. good luck and keep us posted.

Holly

My SD began taking Adderall at 6yo. Adderall is typically the one kids are started out on. The youngest age I have heard of a child being medicated is 3yo in extreme cases. There are positives and negatives that you should consider, but most agree that it can be very beneficial to a child.

There are two boards here on Medication and Alternative Treatment. You should check out both of those boards.

Just know that Strattera is an anti-depressent.  It can take up to 6 full weeks to work and is very weight dependent.  It is an SNRI so be careful.

If you are so concerned about starting meds....which seems to be the case, why don't you come over to the alternative board and look around at other possible options for your kid.

No one can tell you if these drugs are o.k. for your son. A doctor can make a reasonable judgement as to how your son might handle them. He will have to be monitored every few months with blood draws. Only time will tell if they help him and cause no side effects. These medications help a lot of people, but they can also cause harm as they did with my son. He started Ritilin at 5. Later when that quit working, he was put on Adderall at age 9 or 10. My son started out in the 75th percentile for height and weight at age 2. by age 11 he was in the 3rd percentile. His white blood count was also effected. It dropped very low and he was sick a lot. He was taken off the meds and things slower went back to normal, except his height. He at 16 has made some gains, but is still quite short and is in the 5th percentile. He doesn't take meds any more. There are many medical web sites that can tell you about side effects. Growth side effects are pretty common with stimulents. The white cell problem is listed as a rare side effect of Ritilin.   All you can do is read all you can, talk to the treating doctor,listen to you child, and pray,pray,pray. No one can give you a for sure answer that this will be the perfect solution for your son.

If you are uncomfortable giving them to your son, then you do not have to.  You are in charge of your son's treatments.

Many people here try alternative treatments.  You can read books about helping ADHD sufferers through coaching, herbs, nutrition, etc. 

I have even tried and been extremely happy with the exercises I am doing.  The book Stopping ADHD gives specific exercises that are helping me a lot.

Good luck.

Foods, activities, alternate coping strategies, medicines, alternate consumables, educational environment, and the severity of the child's condition should all be considered. He should not be in any immediate health threat if he doesn't start meds right away, so you should have time to research.

Trust your doctor. But get second and third opinions. If it's AD/HD, neurologists, or a trained family therapist can spend more time analyzing your child. However, some can't prescribe pharmaceuticals, although they may recommend them.

Before you go to any specialist, verify, with references if necessary, their expertise in childhood ADHD or ADD. There are unbelievers out there, who are more uneducated, than not.

Best wishes...

Do NOT put your child on any medication until you fully research your childs disorder and understand what you are undertaking.  Strattera is a MUCH different med than Adderall, and to start both at the same time is not something most Dr.'s would recommend.

Parents need to take the time to read read read.  There are TONS of information available about treatments for ADHD.

I am certainly not anti-med.  I am anti- uninformed decisions!!!

My 6 yr old son.. (50 lbs)  has taken Adderall XR for 2 weeks now.  He was in trouble every day before and now has had only one serious impulse issue ( ( at recess )which required his school call me.  The meds have worked for my son with minimal side effects, he has never slept well so that really hasn't changed.  He has had a couple of stomach aches, but after he eats those go away.  There have been a couple of days where he was irritable when the meds were wearing off... a MT. Dew and a quiet place to relax did the trick. 

I wish you luck.  My son's self image is already starting to improve... he comes home and Proudly pronounces "NO bad notes !"  He is completing more work and being much less disruptive, we have even had some "good notes " from teacher !

Hi.  My son (who is 5) started on Adderall (10 mg) on Sunday.  I was completely nervous about putting my son on this medication.  Zach was relatively lethargic and calm until around 10 hours later (6:30 at night) - he started to vomit! He vomited 6 times. I felt soooo bad!

I kept him off Adderall on Monday - the ped said that while vomiting was a side effect, it should not have caused him to vomit 10 hours after taking it.

In fact, it turned out that Zach had a 24 hr bug.  But I was completely freaked out.  Yesterday, Zach had his 2nd day of Adderall and it went great!  We had a couple of "emotional" moments, but he was a different child.  He was so different that I showed up at the doctor's office demanding that they tell me what was wrong with my son (who happened to be calmly standing at my side - further proof that something wasn't right ).

Anyway they calmed me down and informed me that he was behaving perfectly fine and that someone needed a different dose of medication - and it wasn't Zach!

We're on day 3 now and all is going relatively well - Zach doesn't eat as well and didn't fall asleep until after 10 last night - but, all in all, things are going ok.  We're going to try school in two days.  He has had some serious problems in school, but I'm hopeful.

I just wanted to reassure you that you are not alone - I was freaking out on my own at just about the same time!