My child was just recently diagnosed with ADHD. I am a little uncomfortable with all of this. I am concerned that one session with the doctor and answering one questionaire is enough to start my child on medication. I am a school teacher and I see a lot of this and my son may very well be ADHD but there has also been a lot going on in his life. My husband and I separated three years ago, his dad remarried right after the divorce and I recently remarried (July). I am just concerned about the medication issue and I don't really know where to start researching. I have look on the web and it seems like you can make it sound great or scary whatever your view point is. My child was perscribed Ritalin LA. I still have the perscription in my wallet, I haven't gotten it filed yet. His dad went crazy and said I was just looking to drug my son. He blames it all on poor parenting on my part. I don't want to hurt my child, I just don't know what is right or where to turn to figure out what is right! I guess I am looking for words of wisdom from people who have been where I am today.
Thanks
Bamagirl
Bamagirl38306.6165625Well you didnt diagnose him - I assume a pediatric psychiatrist/psychologist did (as I would never take an MD's word for it).
If they are not qualifed to make that diagnosis - I doubt your ex hubby is qualified to say he doesnt have ADHD.
Tell your ex hubby to get a degree then make comments.
If the boy is not coping - Help him out. Also maybe some counselling would go a long way to help him deal with the loss of his family unit.
Your ex is
talking out of ignorance. It’s human nature to fear what we don’t understand.
The best advice I can give you here is to make an attempt to educate him. Put
facts in front of him rather than allowing him to come to his own conclusions.
I’ve been
running into the same problem with my family who are very old fashioned in
their way of thinking. It’s not easy.
This is a
comment that came from my daughter’s paediatrician when I was conflicted about
the medication … “Your daughter has a condition and it’s treatable. Would you
deny a diabetic insulin??”
I don’t pretend to be an expert … I’m new to this and trying to work through it all as well. I wish you all the best.
Don't worry adhd has nothing to do with poor parenting. I literally have one of the best mothers in the world. she has the best patience in any person i have ever met and that's the truth and i still acted up around her and annoyed her so much she cried....i felt horrible after doing so. it's got nothing to do with parenting. don't worry. try meds out and see if they help...but any sign of trouble with them i would immediately take your child off them. try caffeine it helped me stay still better.
hope it helps.
If your unsure I would see a child psychologist or child psychiatrist for a second opinion. That is what I did I than felt more at ease.Bamagirl,
It sounds like your plate is full. Wish I could come and eat a few things off of it to help out.
I knew my son was probably ADHD from the time he was a toddler, his father is and so is my brother. But it was not until we moved to a different contry that his symptoms became a real problem. We were told he was depressed, or maybe bi-polar. He was six years old and threatening suicide.
At first we went to a Child Pyschologist and he spent a year just doing play therapy with her. He loved it but it did nothing to help. He was still wanting to jump out of windows. Finally we insisted that he be tested for adhd. So we were sent to an educational psychologist, she did a boat load of tests and then sent us to a psychiatrist for the final diagnosis and treatment. All that time and money to tell us something we already knew. We are now just trying to figure out the meds.
All of this to say that it takes time to figure these things out. Look at all your options and educate yourself.
Hang in there.
I say GO FOR IT. We resisted a long time with our son, delaying medication for well over a year after the doctor first suggested it. We've tried several, with dramatically different results. It's VERY frustrating, and meds that worked for a while will sometimes not seem to be the best option anymore. We just tried switching from Concerta to Strattera due to weight loss and an angry, bad attitude when coming down from it. He was on both for about 5 weeks to allow the Strattera to build up. When we took him off of the Concerta he was uncontrollable at home and at school, unfortunately. Now we're trying the Concerta again, but at a lower dosage.
When we first started him on the meds (about 1 1/2 yrs ago), I didn't tell my parents for months. I was afraid of being a bad parent, being at fault for his problems, drugging my child just to make him easier to handle and labelling him as hyperactive. Now, 1 1/2 yrs later, I have NO such issues. I realize that it's a chemical imbalance which he cannot control- and neither can I.
This was never more apparent than it was when we tried switching to Strattera. Immediately upon removing Concerta he lost all impulse control, had problems writing neatly, and couldn't concentrate at school. It did, however, help him control his bladder, interestingly enough. It made me realize that the medicine was truly a Godsend, and he needed it just to function on a day to day basis. Finding the right one with the right dosage is the problem.
We've also tried Ritalin LA and depacote (sp?), but they didn't work very well either. Every child's reaction to these drugs is VERY different.