new member looking for advice | ADHD Information

I agree with having your daughter seen by a specialist in this field. My daughter has been diagnosed with severe ADHD for 7 years. At first I was taking her to a pediatrician who started her on Ritilan etc. Her symptoms didn't change much. He kept uping the dosage, then changing meds alot. I finally took her to the Child Guidance Center in our area. They had Dr.'s who specialize in children with physical & emotional issues. They also had Counselors there for her & the rest of our family. Because it's a state funded center, the treatment prices were based on our income which REALLY helped out. I'm new to this board myself but did want to make one comment about the computer games.  My son (age 6) has ADHD and does very well with computer type games.  We bought him a VSmile Computer Game with various games to play.  He will sit there for hours and play it, focused totally on the game.  We let him play that as long as he wants because all of the games are learning type of games.  We figured if he wanted to spend so much time playing games he should be exercising his brain a little and not just in a "zombie" type of mode.   Just a suggestion.   We gave her the first dose this morning and off to school she went, unfortunately I was at work when she arrived home but my wife says she noticed a difference. she was easier to handle, but I noticed when she was coming down off the meds, holy it was a totally different child. As for the older 2 and the youngest, the older 2 seem fine the soon to be 11 yr old, he has the im the oldest and i can boss you around thing going on, that just irks me to no end, the soon to be 9 yr old, she has the motherly instinct with the younger ones but she is a little drama queen. And the youngest, soon to be 3, well hes been home with the ADHD sister and has picked up on her bad habits, only when the others are home, when he is by himself he is the easiest going child.

My ds-8- is ADHD and ODD also.  He just started on Adderall XR 10 mg earlier this week. 

Working for a psychiatrist, I definitely agree with the advice to get a different doctor to test her- either a psychologist to do extensive testing or a psychiatrist.  They specialize in these problems and can work better with you on her meds. 

sarahandbabies38771.9217824074I hate to bring this up again but the one trick I've tried that made a big difference in my son who was acting aggressive, is with food. Turns out he was sensitive to a lot of different foods (dairy, perservatives, additives, food colouring, salicylates). Have you ever heard of food sensitivities? Is your daughter drawn to any particular foods? INaBOX38771.8902546296There is no food in particular that she is drawn to, all foods will do with her. She has eaten a loaf of bread once, plain at that, if she can get her hands on it she will eat it. she also likes hiden food or treats in her bed, under her pillow, only reason we know this is from all the empty wrappers in her bed. But today being saturday it was the first full day i got to spend with her since she started her medication, mom had to work but i got weekends off so, but she has definitley responded to the meds, she is more relaxed, easier to get along with . But one thing we have noticed with her lately is that she is looking for stimuli in forms of video games ie playstation and xbox, but also on the pc, now i know it is increasing her hand eye coordination, how much of a time limit should be on it? my wife and i think and hour on the games and an hour on the pc is enough. but we are new to this and i would like to know what you people think is a good time cap for those activities.

[QUOTE=Dadof4]There is no food in particular that she is drawn to, all foods will do with her. She has eaten a loaf of bread once, plain at that, if she can get her hands on it she will eat it. she also likes hiden food or treats in her bed, under her pillow, only reason we know this is from all the empty wrappers in her bed. But today being saturday it was the first full day i got to spend with her since she started her medication, mom had to work but i got weekends off so, but she has definitley responded to the meds, she is more relaxed, easier to get along with . But one thing we have noticed with her lately is that she is looking for stimuli in forms of video games ie playstation and xbox, but also on the pc, now i know it is increasing her hand eye coordination, how much of a time limit should be on it? my wife and i think and hour on the games and an hour on the pc is enough. but we are new to this and i would like to know what you people think is a good time cap for those activities.[/QUOTE]

I'm glad that your daughter is doing better on the medication. I just wanted to comment on the xbox, computer thing. These things can be very calming to the ADHD brain. It's "one thing", one object, to focus in on, so it's easy to focus on, yet it keeps your brain stimulated, so it's very relaxing. Anyway, since she does like this, it's generally a very affective behavior tool. Let her "buy" her time on them. Set up some basic things that will earn her points, and let her trade in her points for xbox/computer time. For example, a day without hitting is worth 5 points. A day without yelling is worth 10 points. Following directions without arguing, or having to be told more then twice is worth 10 points, etc. Then X amount of points = X amount of time on the xbox/computer.
This could be a huge motivator for her, and seems to work pretty well with a lot of ADHD children.
Otherwise, if you don't want to try something like that. I think your time limits are good.

Good luck :)

Let us know if the meds work.  How are your other kids? It was a pediatric dr that seen her and prescribed the script. this girl is fearlees has violent outbursts at everyone, and will not clean up no matter how nicely you ask her. its a trial with the meds, we are to write our observations down as is her teacher, and we return to the drs in 8 weeks

When you say pediatric doctor, do you mean pediatrician?  If it was a pediatrician, I would strongly encourage you to have her re-evaluated by a board-certified child psychiatrist.  Violent outbursts can be indicative of other childhood disorders.  It is important to make sure you have the right diagnosis before you start  meds.

 

Dadof4, welcome!  What kind of doctor diagnosed your daughter?  What kind of doctor is prescribing her meds?  What kind of symptoms are you seeing?  And why, out of curiosity, is the doc putting her on meds and then taking her off?Im a father of 4, 2 boys and 2 girls ages 11 to 3. My 5 yr old daughter was diagnosed today as ADHD, and put on adderall. 5mgs for 2 weeks then 10mgs for 2 then off for 2 and back on 10 for 2 weeks. But she was diagnosed as ODD in the fall. I dont know what to think, any input would help. Thanks