Overeating and ADHD | ADHD Information

Hello everyone, I stumbled accross this site while searching for an answer. I am a step mom of a (usually) lovely 12 year old girl. She was a classic ADHD until this summer when her (mother) decided she no longer needed her meds. To preface we have physical custody and she is the absintee parent (she sees her daughter maybe 30 days a year) She did not want to pay the price for her Concerta and night time medications.  I however was elated when it was discovered that she no longer suffered the effects of Hyperactivity!!... She no longer needed day time or sleep meds... this elation was short lived.

    I started to notice food missing from the house... of course thought my 19 year old college student had been raiding the fridge! Until the day I noticed a couple of packs of Hot Dogs missing... knowing the 19 year old would rather drop from a steep cliff then eat a hot dog... I asked my spouse (nope not him, infact a lil' upset I accused him) I then went digging through our 12 year olds room and found the MOTHER LOAD "sneaky sneaky hidden"! I apperently had not noticed the 24 pack of amercian cheese missing... the bottle of ketchup... and chocolate syrup... and countless other refrigerator treasures!

   She has gained at least 25 pounds in three months and is on a constant eating binge. We have been sitting down and talking with her about nutrition and adult results from overeating. (she already has high cholestral, she is not overly over-weight but, five foot and 135 is large for her very slight body build) Today, I gave her a bowl of cereal for breakfast (teacher's workshop no school) and when I returned to the kitchen 20 minutes later and ruffled through the fridge I noticed soup spilled from last nights dinner??? I then surveyed the bowl and spoon in the sink and they had soup residue... I confronted her and at first she was untruthful, and then fessed up... saying she was still hungry... This is after two cups of healthy cereal with milk and a big glass of OJ... all within 20 minutes! I then played coy... Oh I didn't know, do you want a nice big bowl of soup? "oh Yeah" and can I get a couple slices of bread and butter????? Can you imagine eating that much in 20 minutes? I think she needs to be back on her meds, but I want facts before I confront her Biological-Mother and her Father.

   I am very afraid for her future health and well-being... High Cholestral at 12... Also, her progress report was not at all good. Her attitude has been marked decently but her effort and organizational behavior is far behind an average 6th grade student... and the grades were awful.

Soo. to make a very long story short... Are there any links between overeating and ADD or ADHD?

Thank you so much for your thoughts...

(the other Mom)

Well, if you consider that alot of what our kids do is to compensate for not being able to focus, I'd think that it's probably reasonable to see overeating as a coping mechanism. HOWEVER, 12 year old girls are at a very difficult time in their lives, hormones are kicking in, their little bodies are developing into adult bodies with adult storages of fat, and she's probably dealing with an internal dialog that would send you screaming if you knew what she was worrying about all day long. My oldest son gained a lot of weight during the middle school years, but we didn't worry about it.  When his ped said he needed to lose 35 pounds, I was appalled!!  Instead, we (meaning his dad and I) focussed on buying the right food, getting him active and MAINTAINING his weight until he grew into it.  I'm happy to say that as a 16 year old he is no longer obese, has a pretty girl friend, eats with his brain as well as his stomach, and suffers no lasting food hangups that might have occurred had we harangued him about his weight. 

Give her some space and unconditional support.  She may just right herself after the hormonal onslaught clears a bit.

You might see about having her reassessed. A good diagnosis would help you determine a good course of action. It may be just puberty, it may be that the hyperactivity part of the ADHD has gone but the focus, inattention, impulsivity symptoms are still present. Many people who were hyperactive as kids, calm down with the physical hyperactivity and it kind of moves into a mental restlessness. That is why they used to think that ADHD was only a childhood disorder that you would grow out of. My daughter never demonstrates hyperactivity at school, but prior to treatment the effort to conform took an emotional toll on her.

Yes, it sounds like time for a reassessment. My DD is 9, and on the chinky side, however when off meds for the summer she blossomed....... .about 30 lbs worth.

And she is a normal, active kid, eats healthy, but of course we found her stash and that explained the weight gain. I am convinced that some kids with ADHD cannot tell when they are "full", and just keep on eating until they cannot eat anymore.

What helped us was, going back on meds, de-junking the house, and I mean everything, there is nothing processed or prepackaged, and because my oldest has celiac's we make our own breads etc, so no gluten. Our snacks are fruit, veggies, and that is it.

Ohh I agree BPQW... 12 year olds are a hormonal tornado... Hate to be back there again  (I remember it well)

   My major concern is the binge eating... she ate the two packs (16) hot dogs and the (24) pack of cheese after school in about an hour one day! I had purchased the products right before she returned home from school. She also snuck an entire mexican seven layer dip into her room (she was being rewarded for good behavior with computer time) and a bag of Tortilla chips while watching a movie... then she ate a complete sit down evening dinner. I did not discover the dip missing until bed time when she asked for an apple before bed (I thought how wonderful she is asking for an apple, apples are good) that is when I noticed the seven layer dip was missing and found the empty container hidden in her room... I had made the dip that afternoon for a party the next day  ... this has even gotten to the point that when I finaly asked my 19 year old who works part-time at a convience store if she had noticed the 12 year old sneaking food. She said, "Well. Mom you haven't been making any food and I have been giving her money to go to Mickey D's everyday"! (that stopped there)... We have even caught her up at night sneaking food... the taste does not matter at all she will eat a bag of uncut uncleaned carrots or a raw potato just as fast a tasty meal.

Oh My Gosh!!! and the worst part I forgot we have had phone calls from other parents chastising us for not feeding our child... she is telling them we have no money to eat and she is starving. She was doing the same thing at school begging for extra lunch saying we are to poor to buy food! Her Dad is a city official can you imagine how humiliated he was when that rumor flew through City Hall... The calls from people asking if we need help... Aghhh it was awful!

I had just purchased all of her school clothes a tad bit too big to allow for height... she comes from a very tall Swedish/German lineage... She out grew all of her clothes is one month and not because of height gain... Her tummy is now so large I am afraid she will start developing stretch marks and her face is getting quite round. When she was on Meds she was a very beautiful young girl. I always knew she would someday be a supermodel... Large Blue Green eyes very long legs (just beautiful really)... now her eyes are squished up by those lovely high cheek bones and she complains while reading she can't see she has to hold the book at a 90 degree angle... I am sorry I am rambling, but this is so frustrating... and getting to be expensive.

 

Oh, gosh, welcome to the board.  I agree with the others about getting her reevaluated.  Sounds like she could have an eating disorder of some kind.  Try not to pressure her about her weight, though.  You want to nurture her self-esteem as much as possible.  Hugs to you, I hope you can get some answers soon!

MomfromNH- I'm going to pm you.

Many many Thanks to all that replied. I approached the biological parents and I have permision to seek out a new doctor to help her. She was very good this weekend, however she discovered chewing crushed ice!!! I am not sure how great this is for her teeth, but it seemed to stave off the every 15 minute I am hungry complaints. I will be looking for a great new Doctor on Monday! Keep your fingers crossed... I hope I can get her started down a new and very bright path my 8 year old son was doing the same thing when he was not on his meds.  The doctor told us that he was feeding his anxiety.  We recently put him back on his meds for the adhd and insomnia and his eating habits are back to normal for a boy of his age.   I would get help from counseling as well as the doctor she may be using food as a comfort and kids today can be so mean.  She may be having some depression low self esteem so please get her help.

Just-in-case anyone else is experiencing the overeating I should have mentioned... She started on Mg Concetta at about 8yrs old and as she grew she was on 72mg with no obvious side-effects aside from low and (selective) appetite and occasional upset stomach... (the upset stomach occurred more frequently when school testing was involved)

Keeping her impulses busy with the crushed ice has been a God send! She has even stated as long as she has her cup of ice nearby she does not feel like raiding the fridge... The sound of ice constantly being eating crunch crunch crunch does get on the nerves! LOL But is a lovely sound compared to the fears I had been harboring for her future.