I have been reading a lot of these posts on two different sites and it seems like most of them talk about having such a hard time with their kids. You don't see any of the good experiences.
I just wanted to pass along my good experience since a few years ago I remember crying so hard and not knowng what to do. My oldest child (DS) was in 5th grade. He had always been a struggle to handle. He was very impulsive and quite obnoxious. Always jumping, running, tapping his pencil, talking non-stop, and would even start doing cartwheels in the middle of the grocery store. He was a handful but he was never a bad kid. He wasn't disrespectful or violent. I also had 6, 4, and 1 year old little girls to handle.
I would cry a lot b/c he made things so hard for me to handle. We suspected ADHD (although DH didn't believe me). I tried behavior modification, reward charts, altering his diet several ways with no change. Finally in 5th grade, he was having more problems. The teacher told us that even though he was a good kid, none of the kids in his class wanted to sit near him b/c he made it so difficult for them to learn. I was so upset and afraid that his social life would be ruined. We (my Dh & I, and my ex and his wife) all went to the pediatricians for a meeting. She suggested we try him on a low dose of Adderall on a friday. We were 100% against ANY medication. However we were desperate for some help. We didn't tell anyone that we gave him the meds. That same day, after he returne dhome from school I was totally amazed when I looked at his work. I could actually read his handwriting, which I had never been able to do before.
From that day one, we knew we made the right decision. He is still on Adderall and had a very successful Middle School 3 years. He's in his first year of High School and taking Honors classes. He's been an honor roll student ever since we tried the meds. He's also maturing into a wonderful young man and I'm extremeley proud of him. A few years ago I never thought we would have the relationship we do now.
Sorry to be so long but I wanted to at least share a good experience.
Congrats on finding the right med right away. It does take years for some to find the right med combo you are very luck. I hope it continues for you.
Hello, forensic mom. I am glad your son is doing so well. All of us here cherish the good days and we do post them. Most of us have had long journeys with getting the right dx and meds for our children. A lot of stimulant meds can act differently in each child and doctors and specialists can only tweak dosages until our children have more good than bad days.
Please try to understand that while we applaud success, we mainly encourage each other in our daily lives living with adhd children. I hope that you keep posting. Stories such as yours give us all hope and help keep our eyes on the goal.
Randy
Thanks, it is really good to hear when things work out well. :)