Hey. New in here. | ADHD Information
HeyI have a seven year old son with AD/HD, and I am currently being tested for AD/HD myself.
Its been a long way from starting to know "something" wasnt right to finally getting the answers.
I am from Norway and allthough I am a member of a forum here to I logged on here to see if there was any difference in the diagnosis and treatments. I have read through a lot and it seems to be much the same.
I tried a lot of things before I decided to put him on Ritalin, Omega 3 ( which I actually feel helps him) and we tried diet ( which I couldnt see helped).
He is also in a special program at school so now he is on track age-wise with his education.
I would like to appologize if my writing isnt all that good at times, I especially have a little trubble with some of the abbreviations but I looked up some and I think it will be ok :)
I hope I will learn even more in here, and I must admit that finding the norwegian AD/HD forum was a god-send for me. Allthough I have great help in the team helping me and my son its always different to talk to people who actuelly know and understand the difficulties we meet on a daily base.
So..hi
Hi Isolde,You are doing a fine job of typing in English! I know your experience well of helping a child and then seeking help for yourself. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow for my adhd issues. My son who has adhd inattentive is almost 12. I have another son who is almost 14, doing well in school, not adhd, yet he fiddles with everything, so there is definitely some hyperness there.
It's great that your son was dx'd at a young age. Welcome!
Thank you Koko :)
Yes, we are fortunate I know. I know kids who got a whole lot older before AD/HD was even considered.
Good luck at the doctors tomorrow!Do you find the ritalin helps more than anything else (omega 3 etc)? I'm
interested because a lot of people here seem to have had trouble with
trialling various medications and while I know everyone reacts differently,
I'm wondering how the ritalin affects/alters personality - have you
noticed many side effects?
FBHello Isolde from Norway. Your writing is great and yes, we do understand the difficulties and challenges and we are here in the spirt of support. Feel free to post away with questions, concerns or just to vent. Welcome to the board
[QUOTE=Samsmum] Do you find the ritalin helps more than anything else (omega 3 etc)? I'm
interested because a lot of people here seem to have had trouble with
trialling various medications and while I know everyone reacts differently,
I'm wondering how the ritalin affects/alters personality - have you
noticed many side effects?
FB[/QUOTE]
Ritalin was the first med we tried for him and he has had no side-effects. He eats a little less in the middle of the day, but we time it so that he eats before he gets the next dose when he gets home from school. He has trubble sleeping, but this has been going on long before he started with the medication and he uses Melatonin with very good effect. I use Melatonin myself btw.
I cant really se a difference in his personality, this is hard to explain but I se it like he is more himself? He is now all the time like he was on a good day before meds. For example, he has always talked almost constantly, but with meds he still talks constantly but there is more substance to the things he is saying, and he is also able to have a two-way conversation, where as before it was more of a monologue.
He also now dont need me as much to explain the reactions of others, it seems he has gotten a few more seconds to think before he acts.
I see meds as a part of all the things we do to help him, the meds help with some things, Omega 3 on another and so on.
My son also has a second diagnosis of a language difficulty, and sadly I havent found the proper word to translate that one. But it is with the language I feel that the omega 3 help him.
I hope this answered your question, if not please tell me :)Hi Samsmum. I am really interested in what kind of alternative therapies your pediatrician comes up with. Unsually (not always) the dr.s have no clue what alts are out there and how well they really work. So, I am hopeful that there is a pediatrician out there that has working knowledge of homeopathy. That is our method of treatment. Would you give an update of what the pedi has to offer?Isolde,
It's taken me a few days to get back - I guess I was a little thrown by
CH's passionate comments re creativity v's adderall. Anyway thanks for
wat you said. In this instance, my son is just so unhappy with what is
going on and I want a chance for him to have some years of happiness -
before his childhood is over.
CHjones,
I understood your meaning. I do think Sam has a very passionate soul,
and am just longing for the day when he can harness this inner
creativity with real maturity. In the meantime, I just want him to stay
alive...!
goinsunshine
I will let you know what alternatives the paed suggests - I believe he
keeps abreast with all the latest research, and so hope this will be a great
resource.
FB [QUOTE=Samsmum]
CHjones,
I understood your meaning. I do think Sam has a very passionate soul,
and am just longing for the day when he can harness this inner
creativity with real maturity. In the meantime, I just want him to stay
alive...!
FB[/QUOTE]
well thanks samsmum - i'm glad i didn't come off too mad there.
just digressing a bit - i think we all have passionate souls ya know, but that there can be degrees of access of the soul to the conscious mind. those who seem more passionate are those whose soul has more 'open' pathways through, i guess and whose soul can more readily interfere!!!!!
it's all good tho. myself, i think that the soul is the only thing of importance but i don't act like that at all - unfortunately!
i won't digress into some peculiar metaphysical-like discussion on an ADHD site - and i didn't mean to take you aback with my funny comments - i wouldn't listen to me, myself - so i am slightly alarmed at someone else listening rather than laughing at what i have to say.
hope all very well in Aus. hah! i bet you don't get SAD over there - it is about minus 500 degrees with an easterly wind direct from siberian ice floes over here, straight through ones bones {brrreurggghhh}.
and i hope your son is feeling happier now at school. with all the vitamins and meds making a real positive difference for him....
good luck!
chjones38794.1386689815
Samsmum, I totally understand you. we were terrified of meds but decided to give them a try and stop if we didn't like what we saw. That's the good thing, it is not a decision that you can't change, you can have a trial period and judge for yourself. We also though about our son's feelings. He was complaining that kids were bossing him at school all the time, that everyone told him what to do, that he was being annoying. He was also saying that he was not smart, at least not as smart as others. His self esteem was suffering. We tried adderal and it helped big time. The dosis is not that big, so he doesn't seem doped at all. He is still very active, somehow impulsive and passionate. He is just a little more in control and that makes life easier. He is doing well at school and his self esteem is in good shape. He knows the pill helps him focus. We don't give it to him on weekends and see the difference in his behavior. We continue to be concerned and reevaluate our decision constantly, couple of months ago we stopped the med for a trial period and it was pretty rough. For now I think it makes him happier to take the medicine.
Hi all,
I saw the new paediatrician this afternoon .
He takes a holistic approach and does a lot of his work in conjunction
with our current nutritionist, so it is
all well aligned with what we've been doing diet and supplement-wise.
He has suggested that Sam may have an additional complication of
Pyrrole - a sensitivity to light, touch and sound - which may be why he's
started with the out of control behaviour again. This in addition to the
new school environment, Apparently various vitamins can take control of
this situation, particularly B6, so we are up for some more tests in the
next few weeks. He ruled out autism and bp.
He didn't push medication, but we have come out with a low dose
prescription for dexamphetamine (that and ritalin are the only meds
available to us in Aus - and where dexamphetamine is government
subsidised, ritalin isn't)
So, that's where we're at. I just want to say it has been so encouraging to
hear all your stories.
Samsmum38791.9722685185
Hi, My son takes concerta. I decided to take him of of it on weekends because it is very stressful having to put your child on drugs! The first time I took him off he was of the wall, but ewe delt with it and that evening he asked if I could wake him up early the next day so he could take is pill. I was shocked because sometimes he didn't want to take it at all. I asked him why? He told me he felt wierd, out of control and he didn't like it. I was very impressed that he could tell me this and understand that the pills he takes are helping him.
My point is when your child can start to notice the difference in his or her behaviour then I beleve that it will be something that he can use later in life when he is more mature to be off the drugs all together. Oh ya he is 10 years old. I hope this makes sense.
Thanks Isolde, Yes this answers my question.
My husband and I had decided against meds - I guess we've been terrified that medication may alter Sams personality in a negative way, for example he is really great in creative pursuits and I was concerned that he might lose his drive for creating art, and his natural confidence which helps him to relate to adults... but right now we're at a loss where to go next, as all the good work we've done with diet, herbs and Omega 3 seems to have unravelled with a change of school (Sam is 9). Both home and school life have been disastrous these past few weeks, he has a teacher who is overworked and doesn't have time or patience for our boy. I am doing all I can to keep communication lines open at the school, and he is seeing the school counsellor next week, but I'm despairing as the kids in his class have repeatedly told him that nobody likes him and asked why he had to come to the school. Today he punched a girl in anger at being teased.
Your comment about your son being more himself is something I am hoping we can achieve with Sam (the good days). I know what you mean about constant talking but no listening or awareness that another person is speaking, and no two way conversation. I spoke to someone today who said her 17yo daughter was only diagnosed last year and has been on meds since then (not sure which one). She described the difference for her like this "You know all the voices that are always in the background... well now I can hear them clearly" [the voices in the background being people speaking to her!!]
So we are seeing a paediatrician next week - someone who is well known for his work with alternative therapies, but who will combine these with medical treatment where necessary. I really want to start looking into a medical alternative - even if it is just short term.
I hope for some success before I have a nervous breakdown. I hope things are much better for you and yours.
FB (PS you express yourself beautifully in English)
Samsmum. I hope you read this.My son and I are both creative, always have been. here is one area where medication has had a huge impact :)
He will now ask me nicely if I can come paint with him, or if we can make something together. He is ten times more creative then before, and he is also able to stick with it for a longer time, instead of having the need to change activity. The first day he tried meds he started this. He will even discard his one hour computer time to do other things.
Another thing I really reacted to ( and this is what convinced me to keep the medication up) was that for the first week when the effect was wearing of he would crawl under the table in our kitchen holding his hands over his ears and say: Mummy I cant think anymore...
I would to love to be able to find something other then medication to give my son a good life, the things I have tried so far hasnt made us able to do that yet. And I completely understand your hesitations.
I hope you find something that works for you.
hugs.
ok isolde please don't take this wrong (i am mad - i am not worth listening to) samsmum this was more for you...
in my way of looking at things there are two types of creativity. that which comes from the intellect and that which comes from the soul --- i actually despise and loathe creativity that comes from the intellect i think it is a cheapskate, bullsh*te, foul aberration of something that ought to be real. i can't bear it. from sunday painters who have such excellent technique they can reproduce anything but it is meaningless; to Japanese (sorry i am not racist but i recently saw a Japanese concert pianist which is why it sticks in my brain) piano players who absolutely have all the fingering/all the notes/all the pressure and none of the POINT of it --- i would far rather see a Russian fluff the fricking notes and play with some comprehension of the soul of the music than a virtuoso performance which isn't worth the time of day.
art, music this is a language of the SOUL. if you are not expressing/talking to people on that level then you are wasting your and their time.
i hate craftsmen (if they pretend to be artists). i loathe them. it makes me want to scream. i want to burn their pictures. stamp on them, smash them, physically rip them apart i get so offended (i know it is ridiculous - and don't worry i don't do it even if i feel too!)
and if you are considering your child's creativity then i would say that i think (but have no knowledge of) that ADDerall absolutely will channel it in an intellectual direction. this is fine. what is the alternative --- who actually wants a child that has to channel his soul through creative means. what does that normally entail? it entails suicide, chopping your ear off, a miserable life of poverty/being misunderstood/being alone/tortured and all sorts of horrible, horrible things.
of course, i think if you were to ask an artist if he would give it up --- weirdly enough they would probably say no. it's the meaning of their life. the only meaning. there is sort of proof of that in Dostoevsky saying that despite having epilepsy and it being a pain in the butt he would never have wanted not to have it 'for that moment of exquisite clarity' that he got just before falling into a fit.
i know i am mad - so please take it all with a pinch of salt. but yeah, Adderall helps with creativity if you want to be a Sunday painter or design bracelets out of beads or knock together a pretty cabinet.....
would it help to create a rothko, a van gogh or even a buddha/religious saint? i could be COMPLETELY WRONG on this - like one hundred percent wrong. but no, i think it works actively against that - that it pushes the intellect over the intuition over the soul at the expense of both.
ah well, take it with a pinch of salt. i think i am losing my marbles today, as it goes anyway. i put it down to SAD the weather here is just bollocks.
all the best!
and now i am worried that i have come off too mad and strident again
so i'm just gonna qualify and say i love beautiful things. i really love them. i love the exquisite of proportions and detail and all that too....
i really do. but there is somewhere a difference to me. that's all. between something that speaks directly to your soul and something that you can appreciate intellectually. i think that was all i was trying to say.
and i didn't say it very well.
and i probably sounded a bit mad - so never mind.
Hi--new here!
I have been dealing with my two ADHD children for a long time. My now 14 year old was diagnosed at age 6 in K5 and my now 11 year old was diagnosed at age 4. Both of the girls are on Concerta 54's and seem to do well in school. The 14 year old is generally up till 9 or 10 at night doing homework which tends to cause problems. The 11 year old needs to be prodded along still and does homework past 7 or 8. A problem that I have come across is how different they are in regards to their ADHD. Melissa, my 11 year old, seems to have a much more severe case. She was very compromised at birth--she was born with congenital heart disease and has gone thru 3 open heart surgeries and numerous other tests and proceedures. Each time she had surgery, she was put on the heart lung bypass machine. I have read that one of the first places that it robs the body of oxygen is the brain. When Melissa had her second surgery at 6 months of age, her oxygen saturation levels were running between 60 - 70 %.
It has taken me three long years, but I finally go her on an IEP just 2 weeks ago and we have just 3 short months left in elementary school. Without the help of a teacher/friend that works in the Special Ed section of the school, I don't think it would have happened this year either. Her grades are good, but her reading fluency is between a 3rd - 4th grade level. This affects other areas of her schooling. I honestly think that there might have been some damage from the surgeries and the heart lung machine. The school social worker had the guts to suggest that maybe instead of taking it up with the school (asking for the testing and help), I should take it up with her cardiologist.
Has anyone else run across a problem in cardiac patients?? Maybe I am not alone.
Cathy