7 years and still no where please help | ADHD Information

My son has adhd but im just going round in circles he has had two days at school and now the teachers are concerned because they dont believe he is going to make it through his sats I have made another appointment with the doctors and have decided that if my son is gonna get aeducation then i am gonn ahve to give in and let them prescribe him ritalin are there any other drugs as everything i read about ritalin I dont really like thanks for reading look forward to hearing your advice keelyHas your son ever taken any meds? There are all kinds of medications and all kinds of alternatives. IS the doctor you are seeing a psychiatrist? Discuss all your options (and concerns) with him before you do anything.There are many other options than Ritalin out there. You really need to find a good child/adolescent phychiatrist or phycophamocologist? who knows alot about meds and specializes in ADHD. We started FocalinXR a cleaner form of Ritalin a couple of weeks ago and so far so good. it will be a couple of weeks before we see doc to discuss how it is going. There are alot of options out there so I wish you luck and hope you find a solution soonI am unsure how old your son is. Both of my kids are on medications. I cried for months about. However once the doctor asked me "if they had diabetes would you give them insulin?" I was able to deal with it. ADHD is a chemical imbalance in the brain so meds do help. My daughter is on ritalin and has been doing well for about three years with it. Of course there are late day mood swings, but without it she is unbearable to be around. Hope it works out for you.Kee1y:
Sparkli is from the UK.  She is having success with some amino acids.   And she is pretty adept at the ins and outs of advocating for your child.  Look her up on alternatives board.  Phosphadilserine Lifeline. 

It may be worth noting the member who posted the initial post is from the United Kingdom they may not have access to the same medications we do here in the US. Their medical system is much different than our is here in the US.

[QUOTE=kee1y]My son has adhd but im just going round in circles he has had two days at school and now the teachers are concerned because they dont believe he is going to make it through his sats I have made another appointment with the doctors and have decided that if my son is gonna get aeducation then i am gonn ahve to give in and let them prescribe him ritalin are there any other drugs as everything i read about ritalin I dont really like thanks for reading look forward to hearing your advice keely[/QUOTE]

Whatever you do, the faster you begin treating ADHD as what it actually is, the better off your son will be.
I am 19 now, and, despite having an IQ high enough to join MENSA, nearly just failed out of college. I was first diagnosed with ADHD around the end of 8th grade. I was a pretty mild case, and was primarily the inattentive type, so I wasn't caught until late. I was put on Concerta, which is the same active ingredient as Ritalin - Methylphenidate. I argued with my parents about it... I didn't want to take it, because I knew that it was closely related to amphetamines. I was also embarrassed that I wasn't able to solve my problems with turning in schoolwork and sitting reasonably still in class on my own. Eventually, early in my sophomore year, I took caved in and took Concerta for a full semester. Several of my teachers commented to my parents that my behavior seemed better, and my grades went from languishing in the C's and D's to almost straight A's. I still wasn't convinced, and hadn't really noticed the differences for myself (this is written, after all, in hindsight...), so I stopped taking the drug again.
Long story short, it finally caught up with me, and I nearly failed out of university. I have trouble finishing assignments, studying for tests, taking notes in class, and even remembering to go to class. I've also developed an extremely cynical view of the world, and of education in general...
I've ended up being forced to take a year to work and clear my head a little... I'm also going back on the meds.

Everything I have read about ADD and ADHD, however, comes back to one point. Meds alone are not a full solution. Work with your son's school's special ED department, or a private ADD 'coach'. Have someone whom your son respects, and who is willing to meet with your son on a regular (weekly?) basis to keep him on track. Everyone, myself included, is looking for a 'magic bullet' solution, but there just doesn't seem to be one. With medication, it is still a long and difficult haul. In my personal experience, its damned near impossible without meds. I can't stick to any plan for more than about 2 days.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I experienced no adverse side effects from Methylphenidate based drugs. That doesn't always work for everyone, but if you get the dosage right, the results can be dramatic and entirely worth it.  Ritalin is not the evil, child poisoning drug that certain groups, such as the 'Citizen's Commission on Human Rights', (also known as the Church of Scientology, which opposes all psychiatric help...) make it out to be. Don't be afraid to let them prescribe it. ADHD is a genuine medical condition, with a genuine medical treatment.
whoa... this ended up being way longer than I meant to make it...
Hope things go well for you and your son.
~Mike
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