Don’t know what to do now! | ADHD Information

Ask your pediatrician for a referral to a pediatric pshychiatrist for a an evaluation. They will be able to make an accurate diagnosis and give you all of your options. Meds are not always the answer. There are parenting classes and behavior modification. Start by trying the omega 3's. A lot of people have had success with those.

I can't think of any parents who WANT to medicate their child, but for some of us, it has improved our childrens quality of life, and improved things for our families. I will NEVER regret our decision to medicate. We did it for our son. We wanted what was best for him. Our son is on Dexedrine.

As far as side effects of ADHD meds are concerned, if you read up on any medicines, the side effects are scary. As one parent has said on these boards, Ritalin in one of the most researched meds out there.

Good luck in your search.

 

I would see a Neuropsychologist. It may not be ADHD, could be seomthing else like ODD, BP, or ADHD with a comorbid. It really doesn't sound like ADHD to me.

Take your child to a licensed child psychiatrist ASAP.  Set aside natural/homeopathic stuff for the moment.  You can deal with that later.  But for now, he has serious psychological issues that must be addressed before he hurts himself or others.  Get a diagnosis from a psychiatrist.  Then decide on your preferred treatment.

An experienced childcare professional,

twirlygirl1

I agree with everyone else's posts regarding getting an accurate diagnosis after a complete exam.  If you can afford it, it is VERY worth it to go to a child development center affiliated with a major hospital.  We did this, after working with a psychiatrist for 2 years, and received a great deal of excellent, precise information and feedback.

I am the one who started the latest seizure thread, and a well-respected pediatric neurologist told me, in no uncertain terms, that stimulants do NOT cause seizures unless taken in copious amounts (at which point pretty much anything would mess with your body).  There may be a link between a certain type of seizure and ADHD, but the seizure activity in the brain would likely predate the use of any type of medication.  We have also had our share of bad side effects from medications, but with the correct medication and dosage, our son's wonderful, sweet personality is able to shine and his negative, impulsive, risky, annoying behaviors are more or less gone.

I personally believe only in science and double-blind studies, and there is no evidence supporting most alternative methods (except, I believe, the Omega-3 acids found in fish oil).  You are still giving your child a mixture of chemicals, even if they are "natural."  Plant-based, "natural" chemicals can harm your body.  Look up comfrey or digitalis.  Those are two that come to mind that can be helpful or harmful.  There was a thread on Attend a while back in which someone looked at every component, and some of the ingredients of Attend are very questionable, indeed.  Each ingredient is also in such a small dose that it is far below the therapeutic threshold.  I prefer to put tightly titrated doses of one well-researched chemical into my child's body, if I have to do it. 

This isn't meant to pick on you personally at all.  I just get frustrated that so many people are trying pseudo-medications with unknown outcomes on behavior and health and being led to believe that they will work in an equivalent way as something that is much more controlled.  Also the various websites that are out there are based on someone's opinions.  Skip the websites and read the studies.  If your son does have ADHD, it helps to learn the biology of the brain and how the neurotransmitters are involved in ADHD behavior.  This will help you make informed choices regarding medication, homeopathy and chiropractic.
Joy239433.4158217593

I agree with the others. A pediactric psych consult could be the 1st step to helping you sort through this.  I know how bad it feels when it seems that all you do anymore is punish, correct... when it comes to these kids.  I have been feeling that way about my own 10 year old lately. It makes my heart so heavy because he is very sweet and tender.  I just wanted to say 'hang in there' you aren't alone. Raising these special kids is a hard job- but you can do it.

Oh- by the way.  When I was a kid I cut up my parents countertop with a knife- I have no idea why I did that.  It was like I wanted to know- 'Is the knife stong enough to cut the countertop?'  I know how dumb that sounds- I was probably about 10 years old.  I had ADHD but no other real problems.  I think the ADHD just contributed to my making poor decisions, acting on weird impulses without thinking. (The incident happened before my Dx) It could be the case with you son- a good doctor should be able to help. 

Best of luck! Give him a hug and a compliment today :)

Hi everybody.  Newbie here. 

DS is 9 (and a large 9 at that, so very strong).  He was in a private school that was very unstructured for the first 2 months of school which was clearly not constructive enough for him.  He's never been on meds, but we thought things were good, he was taking VAXA's Attend and Extress homeopathic pills from our local healthy store. 

Once we found out he was fighting every DAY and he went back to public school, I took him to my chiropractor who found some imbalances in his system through reflexology and put him on some different "nutritional" pills.  2 weeks ago, he impulsively kicked a boy at school and last week punched another kid in the chest, earning an in school suspension.  These incidents are unprovoked and he does seem to recognize that it is wrong.  One of the biggest things is that he doesn't seem to feel a lot of remorse.

Prior to alllll this, he was in counseling too.  (also a little background, his biological father is pretty much not involved, but he is generally very loving and sweet other than these random things)

Today we found out that he had taken a knife in the kitchen and cut the drawer all up on the front.  He always says he does not know why he does things.  I just think something has got to be so wrong, but why doesn't anything work?  I really don't want to use drugs but lately I've thought about it.  He goes through so much, as do we.  We had him tested for ADHD before and they said he does have some characteristics, but was not diagnosed for it.  I would prefer to go natural with him, I've heard horror stories about certain kids and their situations, deaths, and the like.  I just read about seizures - I think on this board - and all of it is really scary. 

I have gone to a Naturopathic Doc in our area, not sure if i should take him to her, or what the heck to do?  I feel like we are constantly punishing him for this or that, and it never ends, and I know he wants to be good.  I'm just trying to desperately figure out what to do.  I'm so lost.

Thanks everybody for any help!!

I agree with twirly1, why decide on treatment before you even have a diagnosis? See a child psychatrist and figure out exactly what is going on, then research and make an informed decision on how to treat.

BTW the seizure thread stated the childs seizure was not due to ADHD meds. Please talk to your physician in detail about whatevver treatment choices they give you so you have all your facts, try to keep an open mind so you can make the best choices for him, he needs your help, before some one gets hurt worse.

Get an evaluation by a pediatric neuropsychologist. If diagnosed put him on prescribed medications, not the health store meds. i agree with the others, including that those health food meds could be causeing him more harm than good.

Your son sounds live he is very impulsive, doesn't even know he did it, yet alone why.

Please get him some help before he hurts himself or someone else accidentally.

Post any questions!!

Ya, get an evaluation. It's the combination of the age and the behavior that is problamatic.

Put him on at least 1000 mg daily of high EPA fish oil. If you google the Eaton Hall study you'll see that it may reduce aggression.

Dump that Attend. That's amino acids and you can get aggressive/emotional behaviors with that stuff. It's actually very tricky. You could very well be increasing neuro-transmitters that he does not need, and causing a bit of havoc.

Just curious, what is he watching on TV and what type of video games does he play?

I agree with all the others too, but I didn't want to offend. It does sound as though your child has more problems than just ADHD. Do some research on Oppositional Defiant Disorder.

< =text/>_popupControl(); You know, every other commercial on television is an ad for some type of medication, with a bucolic-voiced person ticking off all the possible side affect, most of which are horrific. The voice over people really can make "heart attack, brain seizure, or uncontrollable bowels" really sound like a day at the beach!! Pharmaceutical companies must report all POSSIBLE side affects, all reported side affects, to the consumer. Terrible things have happened to people on stims, but so have they happened to people taking aspirin or inhalers or any of the thousands of meds out there. And natural remedies can interact with each other in detrimental ways, too. Stims have improved my son's quality of education and social interaction. If we all thought we'd have to deal with every side affect, I dare say that Glaxo and friends would be out of business!!

A note: last week my son took a freakishly sharp toothpick and popped my exercise ball "by accident." As soon as he realized what he'd done, he pulled the toothpick out, covered the hole with his finger and nonchalantly asked me if packing tape would stick to the ball. After some yelling and some crying, I asked him what he had thought he was doing. He said," I just wanted to see how hard I could push it. I thought the toothpick would break." I had to laugh, because I totally got that. I would have done the same thing as a kid!!