Deanne,
Whatever you use whether it be alternatives or medication it will not cure ADHD. There is no known cure. There is no cure for mental illness. There is no cure for a lot of illnesses but there are a lot of medications and alternatives to make things better. So basically, in my opinion, both are band aides.
The most important thing is to get a proper DX which many parents on this forum have probably urged you to do. Once you get the DX you can research the best ways to approach things.
Here is the definition cut and pasted from a web-site:
Neuropsychiatry is the medical specialty committed to better understanding brain-behavior relationships, and to the care of individuals with neurologically based cognitive, emotional, and behavioral disturbances.
What is a neuropsychiatrist? A neuropsychiatrist is a physician (M.D. or D.O.) qualified to practice neuropsychiatry by virtue of either 1) primary training in either psychiatry or neurology followed by a period of at least one year of fellowship training in neuropsychiatry/behavioral neurology, or 2) formal residency training in both psychiatry and neurology. Psychiatrists or neurologists with many years of extensive clinical, educational, and scientific experience in the field of neuropsychiatry may also merit this specialty designation.
Which patients are best served by neuropsychiatric consultation or treatment? The Neuropsychiatrist treats people with neurologic illness and cognitive, emotional, or behavioral problems; individuals with combined psychiatric illnesses and neurologic conditions; and individuals with atypical or refractory primary psychiatric disorders in which there is concern that an underlying neurological condition may be causing the "psychiatric" symptoms.
You can start here at the Childrens hospital in Portland and if they do not have a neuropsychitrist they very likely can direct you to someone who does.
http://www.legacyhealth.org/body.cfm?id=34&oTopID=0
As a christian myself I understand the negativity directed toward psychiatrists from churches but the truth is our minds are just as important to keep healthy as our bodies.
Hang in there. Get that proper DX and take it from there.
Barb, thank you very much.im not sure what a neuropsychiatrist is or if we even have one here where we live. i'm two hours from portland oregon so if you know of one in that area or even in astoria oregon please let me know.i have to be honest and say that im a christian and the thought of taking my son to a shrink scares me. i took my dd to 5 of them an by the time she was 10 she was worse and had offended several of her friends, before she offended her baby brother an had to go away(not by choice). now im forced to deal with issues in my son and in my experience i have never met anyone who therapy helped, including my daughter. all they do is cover it up with a band aid called drugs and thats not what i want. please, im not trying to offend anyone by saying this, its just that i've been through it before and it didn't help now my dd is going to be 16 and she has not slept in her own bed since she was 10 and i refuse to let that happen to my ds. please..... someone tell me they understand, cause im going nuts here.