GLEN ,i am not worried per say ,more wondering if he will be able to function better than he is now.
i also wonder if we will be able to just let him play in one room and go in another without him trying to hurt himself.
if the meds will help him enjoy life better then i will put him on it.i actually i am waiting to be on retilin myself,i will be his guinea pig.
scotmama38867.3993171296One bonus of ADHD that way is that it is very ego (ME) centric. We are the whole universe. The thought of hurting ourselves is abhorrent - even at an early age I remember that others getting hurt - well too bad so sad. But ME? Perish the thought! We count - everyone else gets a chunk when we are done.
So leaving him alone - shouldn't be a problem. We may talk about self-inflicting pain but generally it's a way to garner attention. I know I never actually caused myself pain (accidentally lots but never meant to for sure).
So that's the silver lining to that particular cloud.
i don't know yet what we are going to do ,hopefullt allthe things we are doing now are going to work.he is starting school in august next year ,so we have until then to try everything else before meds.
he gets himself so hyper that we can't calm him down and he always ends up hurting himself and the danger perception thing is a nightmare .
i am hoping as he gets older,he will have more control.
DD was hyper since shes been todler. It was really hard time to deal. I knew something s wrong then but didnt realised its ADHD.
She is almost ten now, and she is less hyper / become lazy - early simptoms of puberty I guess/ but has great problem with focusing.
I dont need to run about her anymore but I cannot cach her thoughts. Is this better - I really dont know.
And shes on meds since last month.
Yes medication needs change for many children as they get older. Amounts need adjustment, needs change too.
For up to fifty percent (it isnt' clear exactly how many) of the kids - the ADHD can be reduced where there is no need at all for meds. Experts theorize that hormonal levels, life lessons and other factors may alter the brain to the point that the disorder either goes into remission or goes away for good.
It's not like a life sentence. But even if your child needs some form of medication over the span of life - would you be this worried if that medication was insulin - or anti-rejection drugs if an organ were transplanted? There are many disorders that require life-long monitoring and dispensing. Bipolar, schizophrenia, severe depression.
There's no set plan in life. I can tell you that a good therapist with meds can make it so when it comes down to it eventually with work he'll be able to drop the meds if wished.
my son is impulsive with a touch of hyperactivity...he talks alot and I think he always will...his behavior has never been dangerous or violent or even sassy..I do notice that he is more focused and follows directions 100% better when on medication but he can also get a bit grumpy and impatient as the meds wear off...When he is off meds ( yesterday) he is very busy but his mood is fine...he was able to go to the swimming pool and played nicely with the kids. I am planning on taking him off the meds for the main part of the summer and just use natural stuff .
My son is 7 years old
joemom38867.1693402778Scotmama, I had NO IDEA that my son was ADHD at the age of 4. Maybe because he's the innattentive type. He's the quite dreamy one in the back of the classroom because he's a good kid, and he's looking out the window at the little kid flooding the house across the street.
I'd have to say though, that the hyperactive part has come into play into his later years, and the attentive part has stayed about the same. He is maturing and learing how to cope, and slowly able to take on more trustworthy responsibilities. I wonder if we should have held him back a year in school, as he seems a bit behind his peers, and his birthday is late in the year anyways, but that may be something for you to consider with your little one. Now we are dealing with hormones, which I think exacerbates it.
I had to take my son off his meds when he was younger due to side effects. He was only off them for a year and a halk. Then we tried again with the same dose he had previously taken. This time he has less side effects. He is now 10 and takes the same dosage he was given at 6. I use natural supplements so this may be why. The doctor was talking about upping his meds in the fall. He will be 11 in 3 weeks.
i was wondering with all your experience in ADHD and with your kids being a different age if you think it is easier when they are older because they have more control so it maybe means that you can reduce their intake of meds?
my son is 4 and we are trying homeopathy,play therapy and behavioral therapy,if by august2007 it hasn't worked he will go on retilin(fingers crossed it works)i was wondering if say when he is 10 it becomes easier for them to control themselves and then reduce their dose.
any thoughts or experience?
I think that's a really excellent question! From what I have read, when a child is younger, the meds may have more serious side effects. A child who is unable to take meds, may be able to take them as a teenager. I went to a SPED conference and discussed this with three mothers of ADHD teenagers. All of them said the awful side effects their kids had experienced as children, the kids did not experience as teenagers. Two parents had taken their children off meds because of side effects, and one mother had kept her son on them even with the side effects. As teenagers, though, the kids really needed the meds to drive, hold down jobs, and perform in school, so the parents revisited the meds and had not had any bad experiences with them. I don't know why this is so, but I heard these mothers discussing it, and I have "heard" other mothers on message boards discussing it.
As far as needing less meds as the child ages, I like to think all the alternative stuff we have done has helped my son be in the situation he is in now, where he only needs to take a low dosage of ADHD meds. HOWEVER, he still takes meds, and because he is impulsive, he will continue to take them in his teenager years. All research indicates that of all the ADHD subtypes, those with the impulsive subtype have the greatest chance of risky teen behavior if not properly medicated.
My daughter can be defiant at age 6 and I am nervous about the teenage years. I would like to think her ADHD and ODD will improve and she would be better able to handle herself. Time will tell.