Hi! I am new to this forum and new to the condition as well. My daughter had a bad year in school(behavior and academics) and I finally got her tested...ADHD combined type..we started Focalin XR 5 mg today and she had a bit of a stomache ache today, but not bad..what concerns me is that I have read some really BAD things on this board. about the medication, and very little good. I would like to have her meds regulated by the time school starts so that 3rd grade will not be so challenging for her.

Any suggestions? I need the long acting because I don't want her to have to take the medication at school. Any positive results for the same age group?

Hello mypyr,

I thought I should drop you a line and let you know everything will be ok. My son is 7 and has been on Adderall for a year now and it has done wonders. If you girl still gets sick after a month on that med, then talk to you doctor. As forbad thing about meds, well, you will see that what works for one, doesnt for the other. I think one of the things you should do however is go to the bookstore and pull out all the ADHD books they have, read up on it. Then after that contact you local social services. Find out what help they have for the ADHD kids in your area. Look into SSI for you little girl so that you can off set the cost of meds, octor bills as well as, get help with theripy (for the behavior). Unfortunately, there isnt a quick cure to what she has, as a matter of fact there isnt one at all. All we can do is get them the help that they need, so that maybe someday down the line they well beable to go off the meds, or at the least controll some o there issues without more meds. If you need any thing you can contact me at looch31@msn.com, or lucia_compher@yahoo.com I would be happy to help you. Yours Bigmama  

Hello MYPYR,

I have a son, now 14 who was classified with ADHD back when he was 7. We had alot of problems with him in school as well as socially.  Our son was on Ridalin, Strattera, Aderall and so on, but they made my son sick, did not eat and into a zombie. We have found that children with ADHD, ADD have lack of minerals in their body and with extensive research we have come up with some natural vitamins that have worked. My son had a "C" average up to 6th grade on all the ridalin and other drugs until we put him on these vitamins (with NO ridalin or any other drugs) in 7th and 8th and he was on the honor roll. He was a true success story for the school. They are all liquid because my son cannot take pills. Fish oil (omega3), Body Balance (high anti-oxidants) and OsteproCare (calcium/magnesium) are the 3 liquid vitamins we give him along with a multi-vitamin. If you are interested in reading more on the Body Balance and the OsteoProCare the website is www.lifeforce.net/20458118. The Fish Oil website is http://www.vitacost.com/CarlsonTheVeryFinestFishOil-500ml. Vitamins are not the only antidote though, it takes alot of work of the parent as well. The parent must understand that self esteem if the most important factor of a child with ADHD/ADD. If that goes you will have an extremely hard time bringing it back up. Sports, kickboxing and any other active activities are very important in their lives. Sports for the activity, kickboxing for the discipline. My son is a very active soccer player and also takes kickboxing. He does not have alot of friends but these are issues that need to be dealt with as well. I hope this helps.

Thank you both so much for replying. My daughter has been on the Focalin(5mg) for 2 weeks now, and I don't see much change, but perhaps that's because she is still in camp. SHE says that she can focus easier, but I think that's just because she knows she's taking a pill. I plan to talk to the doctor later today to see if we need to up the dosage. Every once in a while she does get the stares, but I'm not sure if it's related or not.

She has some friends, but MANY more are boys than girls. Sitting around and playing with dolls is NOT her thing-she prefers to be climbing trees or doing something active. She will be in travel soccer and tennis 4 days a week and a play group(as in theatre) once a week. She will continue to see a psychologist for her anxiety and sel-esteem issues.

I now am going through the red tape associated with getting her classified. The neuropsych who did her testing feels that she needs resource room. She does not have a learning disability and because her IQ is quite high, I fear that the will try to give her just extended time(504).

Any advice?? I will bring the neuropsych tester with me to the CSE. I want her to get as much support as possible!!