What to do? | ADHD Information
Thanks for responding. I just sat here and typed everything in that has gone on with my child and Lost all of my reply. I will have to sit down again and finish my story so to let you know all we have done. ( Just my luck lately)Luvmykids has good suggestions.
Just one to add: THe behavior plan at school seems stricly based on punishment or negative reinforcement which does not work well. Please look into a positive reinforcement behavior plan. There is a very long thread stickied at the top of this section called Ogram's marble system. This is a token economy and this type of plan, taylored to the behaviors you want to reinforce works well for many of these kids.
THere are other meds that may help (or a combo) such as guanfacine, antidepressants, etc. It can take work to find the right treatment or an individual and can be discouraging. What were the side effects, and did the doc suggest mitigation measures for these or were they beyond mitigation? Also, is the doc a pediatrician or psychiatrist?
What were the bad side effects from the meds that your son? He might be more tolerable since he is older and understands what is happening to him and realizes that he is NOT chosing to do these things but he can't help it!
I feel really bad that your son is struggling and may be punished by the school if it continues and they will suspend him even.
He is asking for meds. Why don't you try them again for him? He is hurting. He is also 13 years old and knows what he wants. I don't believe in the diet thing, just my own opinion.
I also want to mention that if my son wasn't on meds, my son would be going through similar things at school like your son is. But meds are preventing that. My DS is 11.
You switched schools to give him a fresh start, but he can NOT control himself, that is why he is diagnosed with ADHD. He has a disorder. The kids at the new school will start treating him as the old school kids did eventually. Put a stop to it now.
I say try stimulants again. A lot use concerta, we do and it has been a god send. We tried adderall xr but ds couldn't handle it.
Along with the concerta, we also have been using guanfacine since the beginning of meds, 5 years now. I feel we are a success story for adhd'ers due to meds.
Again, I would do what you son is asking, please try meds again, for his sake! Please keep us informed of your decision and how he is doing at school, I really feel like this could be my son when not on meds!! 
I have tried for years now on every stimulant, strattera, vyvanse, you name it we've tried it. We even tried Risperdal. Side effects from all medicines that were intolerable. I am now seeking help for my DS 13 years old. He was taken off all meds this past June. He is in the eighth grade. He has an IEP, I put him in new school this year. Where we left the kids would call him retard, and give him a hard time. ( Only because all the students knew he had this and the teachers were always struggling with him and kids act out what they see the teachers from 1st grade treated him.) He is struggling so hard he even got up in the morning last week and asked to be put on medicines again. I told him we were going to do something. So I am currently starting the Feingold diet. I also have an appointment in Florida at the end of December with a doctor Manuel Mota-Castillo. I live in Cincinnati. This doctor has wrote a book Protecting Your Child From Bad Medicine. I am waiting on my food list from Feingold. In the meantime I feel helpless. The new school is great. They just wrote a new plan (discipline) on disrupting the class. If he gets 3 warnings and fails to follow directions he is removed from class, and if this happens 2 times in one week he will get lunch detention. (which is ok) but at the bottom of the page it states that if he is excessive in disrupting the class he can be suspended, expelled, or removed from school. He is not a bad child, he just can't focus or do almost any work . He is very very bright. I am fighting the biggest battle of my life. I don't know what else to do.
ANy thoughts?
Has your child also been diagnsoed with bipolar disorder since he was on Risperdal?Doctor Manuel Mota-Castillo speaks of the high rate of misdiagnosis and therefore giving a child a medication when they dont have the disorder makes it a bad medication because like any medication, side effects can be of great concern. The title implies that he beleives these medicationsa are bad but thats not what hes saying. What he is saying is not to give youir child a medication unless you have a confirmed diagnosis by a specialist and that the child be followed up by a specialist.
In an event, unless your child's behaviors are triggered by allergies, a good diet will not effectively manage the symptoms of ADHD. However, a bad diet can esacerbate symptoms of ADHD if in fact the child has allergies as well so in that case, a special diet would help tone the behaviors down somewhat. Also, while helpful, behavior modification and an IEP are tools to help the child but behavior modification standing alone will not fully manage the syptoms of ADHD.
At your son's age, intervention is critical. Other children can be very cruel and unfortuantely, your son can't be warned out of or talked out of behaviors he can't control at this time. The school is using negative reinforcement on a child who has the inability to focus and make a choice at this time It's unfortunate that you have to wait until the end of December to see the new doctor. Was your son getting bad side effects from ADHD meds or unacceptable side effects? I only ask because your son asked to be put back on them which suggests they might have been helping him?. More info would be helpful
In the mean time, hugs to you