16yo daughter | ADHD Information

My wife and my daughter just got back from the Doc...all went well. My wife was able to sit in the meeting. Bottom line..he feels like there is some mild ADD, was able to find out things, with my wife's help, going back to when she was 7 or 8 and she has just been able to deal with it. Putting her on a very low dose of medicine(he said it is a full dose of something he would give an 8 yo..not sure what the med was but will find out), going back in 2 weeks to see if there is any side effects, how she is progressing, etc.. He also recommemded a stricter diet, excercise and getting more sleep. She went into the meeting with a good attitude and on the way home she told her mother she was happy she went and wants to get it fixed...I was so happy to hear that. I am so glad I made the call and hope this will help her long term..Not sure if I am overreacting or have reasons to be worried about my daughter. She is 16 and a soon to be junior in HS. Great kid, very responsible (except for school work, well liked by friends and other parents, etc, etc...

It is her school work or lack of that has me worried. She has passed and is a junior in good standing, but by the skin of her teeth. She cannot sit down to study, gets up and just walks to the kitchen gets a drink, then back to her room. This process repeats itself all night. There does not seem to be any sense of urgency to do well. She knows that her grades now will effect what college she goes to, but it is like she is just going thru the routine and passing time. She was in a Lutheran school thru the 8th grade and once she hit HS, she started going to public. This was a huge change for her going from 22 kids in her 8th grade to 750 in her freshman class... She has even said that she thinks she might have ADD.

I have an appt set with a psychiatrist on Friday (which she is not aware of yet)who is know for dealing with ADD and as it gets closer I am worried that I might be jumping to fast...

Thoughts??insurman38923.6523148148

A girl that has the inatentive form of ADHD can be overlooked:

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/50/40488.htm

Teens hormones can contribute to the problem also. Peers are much more important to teens. Normal kid stuff. Tell her how important this year is in school. Most things like add/adhd are noticable very young not just all of a sudden. Could it also be her Hs is more advanced then the school she was in.

Vicki, thanks for that link to the article...sounds a lot like my daughter.

MomWI..that is a thought, I have a client who is a Child Nuerologist and she said that meds is her last resort, she starts with a sleep questioner, then goes over diet, excercise, then vitamen supplements. Then if all these things fail she trys meds.

okiemom..I think you are right, when she told me that during finals this past May I feel like as a parent I have to have her seen. I don't want to look back 10 years from now and say "when should have done something way back when"

ThanksShe could have any number of problems, including LD's. Take her to see a NeuroPsycologist for intensive testing rather than a Psychiatrist, who won't test her and probably just throw her pills. She sounds like a good kid, maybe struggling a bit. If she has ADHD, a NeuroPsych's testing will pick it up. You can find NeuroPsychs in University hospitals--they are great. MomWI38923.8188194444I agree she needs to be evaluated.  Her own instincts are telling her something is wrong.  Girls who have the inattentive form usually suffer for years either misdiagnosed or undiagnosed.  If she shows responsibility in all other areas of her life, yet displays the behaviors you describe while trying to do homework, I'd say those are big red flags.  Okiemom