New here and need guidance please | ADHD Information

pixiemom, I think most of us have been where you are now. The decision to use medication is a difficult one. But once you see the positive results you'll wonder why you stressed about it for so long! If you are confident in the diagnosis of ADHD then I would try the medication. If he's ADHD, he NEEDS it! My son NEEDS his medication just to function in this world! Now that I've seen what a positive difference it makes in his life I would NEVER take it away from him.

My son started on Adderall and it ended up not being the right med for him but we saw the positive effects IMMEDIATELY! Just be aware that the first med you try is rarely the one you'll end up with. Read as much as you can on medication and keep reading here to educate yourself about it. There are so many confusing things about it but once you get it right WOW what a difference it will make in your child's life!

Just keep in mind that if you have some bad side effects at first (ie, he gets angry or aggitated when it wears off, lack of appetite etc) many times they can be fixed by adjusting the timing or the dose. You don't necessarily have to switch medications all together.

Wow, I could go on and on...I never knew any of this when we started on meds so any questions you have ask on this board. It's a great resource! Good luck and please keep us posted!

Welcome pixiemom. Please know that you are not alone and everyone here can certainly relate to your frustration and concerns for your son. I think its very important at this point that you educate yourself about the role of medication and how it aids in managing the symptoms of ADHD. Giving ADHD med's is not an easy or quick fix. Med's do not cure ADHD nor are they behavior pills. When the medication is effective and working at maximum benefit, they clear the fog and allow the child to make a choice rather than act on impulse. Like all children, sometimes children don't make the right choices but as I said, the med's allow the child the ability to choose the right or the wrong decision.

I agree with you in that treatment should start early. The earlier the child gets effective treatment, the better the outcome. However, if you chose to medicate make the choice for the right reason. This choice should be made because medication along with other interventions, the child has the best shot at success and quality of life. There is no quick fix and when the child does succeed on med's, its the child that deserves the credit, not the medication. The child, now being focused must do the work necessary to achieve in life like any other child. Choosing to medicate is not an easy decision for any parent and anyone that does think its the easy way out is not someone you should be getting advice from because that is totally inaccurate.

I suggest that you go with your husband and talk with a specialist who can clear up any doubts or misconceptions your husband might have. Anyone giving your husband advice about a subject they really know nothing about is highly negligent. Please feel free to post any time as we are here to support you emotionally and share our experiences. We are here for you

Great advice ommas

[QUOTE=Luvmykids02]

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thank you, but i do have to ask, because i am new at this, where do i start? who do i talk to? the neuro that we seen doesnt have the best bedside manner...

what other interventions should be used along w/meds, should we choose this route? I know my sons teacher wanted to use a behavorial chart with him, is this what you mean?

look this wiki up

Psychopharmacology also a child therapist an iep at the school united parents structure and routine coping skills emotionaal developement and social skills

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keep posting on the boards.

many parents share thier experiences and boards are great places to discover info.

however

slow down this is going take awhile to absorb.

early diagnosis is a real blessing .

i didnt get a diagnosis till i was 33 years old .

meds treat symptoms . and try and realize its not anyones fault.

the good news is there are also positives to adhd.

because of the early diagnosis the negatives may be better coped with.

some say albert einstien had a form of this disorder.

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please read this thread -

http://www.adhdnews.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=33894& KW=ommas

this is a list of people to think about

so dont focus only on the negatives.

So, I am not claiming that this list is 100% accurate, but I'll bet it's damn close.

Albert Einstein said america must overcome racism for civilization to survive!
Ansel Adams Ann Bancroft Beethoven Alexander Graham Bell
James Boswell   Sir Richard Francis Burton President George Bush (both)
Admiral Richard Byrd Lord Byron   Thomas Carlyle
Andrew Carnegie   said " earn the knowlede to speak"
Jim Carrey               attention seeking
Gen. H. Norman Charles Thomas Chatterton
Samuel Clemens no doubt!
Samuel T. Coleridge
Christopher Columbus
Tom Cruise   hands down
Leonardo da Vinci  - the doodler
Salvador Dali
Emily Dickinson
Patty Duke
Thomas Edison        no doubt
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ernest & Marel
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Edward Fitzgerald
Malcomb Forbes
Henry Ford          the perfectionist
Rick Fox
Benjamin Franklin   the night owl
Robert Frost
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Tom Gainsborough
Galileo
Bill Gates         h yperfocus with high IQ
Susan Hampshire
Handel
Mariette Hartley
Stephen Hawking     exponential thinker
Wm Randolph Hearst
Ernest Hemingway   self med
Bill Hewlett
Alfred Hitchcock
Dustin Hoffman
Thomas Jefferson the thinker
Bruce Jenner
"Magic" Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Michael Jordan
Carl Jung, M.D. all that ia needed is calm discpline to be a M.D.
King Karl XI of Sweden
John F. Kennedy
Robert Kennedy
Jason Kidd
Evel Knievel addictive personality - thrill junkie
Bill Lear
John Lennon
Lewis and Clark
Carl Lewis
Abraham Lincoln        no doubt about it!
Luci Baines Johnson Nugent
Louis Pasteur          ; ; ; ; ; ; hyper focus
Gen. George Patton
H. Ross Perot
Gen. Norman Schwartzkopf bounces on his toes
George C. Scott
George Bernard Shaw
Tom Smothers
Socrates
Steven Spielberg
Sylvester Stallone
Robert Louis Stevenson
Jackie Stewart    fast when calm
James Stewart
Richard C. Strauss
Lord Alfred Tennyson
Nicolai Tesla
Henry David Thoreau
Leo Tolstoy
Ted Turner
Vincent Van Gogh
Jules Verne
Werner von Braun
Lindsay Wagner
Mike Wallace
General Westmoreland
Weyerhauser Family
Walt Whitman
Jamie Williams
Robin Williams   the laugher
Tennessee Williams
Woodrow Wilson
Henry Winkler
Stevie Wonder
Virginia Woolf
F.W. Woolworth
Wright Brothers i think it was only one of them, and the other kept him focussed
Vince Lombardi
Robert Lowell
James Clark Maxwell
Steve McQueen
Mozart
David H. Murdock
Napoleon         no doubt about it
Nasser
Isaac Newton
Jack Nicholson   cucus nest
Anthony Hopkins
Howard Hughes the isolatioist
Nostradamus    a co morbid
Edgar Allan Poe
Cole Porter
Elvis Presley    couldnt sit still

Dan Rather
Buddy Rich
Eddie Rickenbacker
Guy Ritchie
Joan Rivers          talks with her hands
John D. Rockefeller
Nelson Rockefeller
Pete Rose
John Ruskin
Nolan Ryan
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anwar Sadat         & amp; amp; amp; amp; amp; amp; amp; nbsp;
Pierre Salinger
Robert Schumann
Pablo Picasso    obviously
Charles Schwab
Michael Phelps
Ty Pennington   noise

(thanks for the update Angel)

Go ahead, add yourself or your kids name to this list... now go do something GREAT!

fonzworth thought of the concept of tv while looking at a rows of freshly plowed farmland

a woman with adhd invented the dishwasher after being irritated that her servants kept breaking expensive china!

the synthasizer was invented by a guy who doesnt know he was adhd and isnt a musician

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with time you may find that parents helping to understand underlying emotions

will keep frustrations at bay by assisting with emotional developement.

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Human beings must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it.
Albert Einstein

ommas40124.2090972222pixiemom, if your not comfortable with the neuro try to get a referral either to another neuro or a child psychiatrist. Also every child is different in terms of what interventions are needed. For many, once they are on effective med's behavior charts aren't necessary. The child off medication is not focused so therefore not hearing all the instructions. They are in the moment so they forget the rules as well. On medication, this is no longer an issue. However, these children, once on effective medication do benefit greatly from social skills training classes. The medication allows the child to focus so that they are able to pick up on social cues in a social setting but because they are so lacking in social skills from very early on, the classes teach them how to respond and react in any given situation. In order to see what if any other interventions are needed, first get your child on effective medication and then along with your child's doctor, you can devise the proper treatment plan which will be tailored to his needs.

< =text/>_popupControl(); Hi! Welcome. You'll find lots of good advice here and some not-so-good. Just like treatment for your child's adhd, you'll have to decide what works for you.

The decision to medicate is and should be difficult to make. I'd hate to think that these powerful meds were given without much thought. I can tell you, though, from personal experience that they can make the world much more accessible to and accepting of your child. It takes trial and error most times to find the thing that works best for your family, though. Don't be frustrated by a med change. Decide what you can accept and what the deal breakers are.

Please, please don't feel that all the eggs in his basket are smashed if he has one bad year in school. Some states don't even require kindergarten! His little boy brain is so elastic and absorbent that 6 or 8 difficult months won't mean a thing.

[QUOTE=BPQW]

< =text/>_popupControl(); Hi! Welcome. You'll find lots of good advice here and some not-so-good. Just like treatment for your child's adhd, you'll have to decide what works for you.

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aww thank you very much for that. re: school.

it really terrifies me, but you're right not alot of people even send their kids to kindergarten.

Hi my name is Danielle, I am a sahm to 4 kids.....my 2nd oldest who will be 6 in Dec. was just diagnosed with ADHD....

my husband is going to drive me insane......i can't stop crying, i want something done NOW and i know its impossible, and now the weekend is here and i am going to dwell over it this whole weekend. my husband keeps changing his mind on how we should deal with this thing with paul, and not only is it him changing his mind, we really haven't sat down to talk about this since we found out yesterday, he tells me to get the RX FILLED the dr. perscribed adderall, so i did....he said, just in case, so we have the meds..... but then i come home from the drug store (and after he talks to his sister) HE now wants me to call the school Monday and insist they call the school district to set up a meeting, he wants them to assign an aide to paul, he doesn't feel a reward chart is going to help paul....... he also wants to try holistic ways.... as much as i am nervous about the pill i kinda want to give it to him, i know this is going to sound like the EASY WAY out. another this is we don't know nothing about this medication..... but i just feel so much time is slipping away and he is not going to improve in school quick enough and my fear is they are not going to move him up to the 1st grade. we are already into November by the time we get this meeting its going to be december, then we have to give this AIDE a month to work with him........ I am sick of waiting for this to work or that to work, time is going by, kwim.....give this a chance to work give that a chance to work, its making me nuts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my sil had to put her 2cents in and say that he is still young, yes i know he is still young but he's 6, a lot of people i talk to say that they don't catch these problems sometimes till the 1st or 2nd grade and by then its a little too far long.........tech. paul should be in the 1st grade if it wasn't for the darn cut off in school..... so in my eyes, he's not that young... i don't know.......... i just want a quick fix i think and i am sick and tired of trial and error, i am the type of person that wants things fixed and straightened out fast i need things to be worked on right away. i'm sorry i just needed to vent i am so upset my eyes are so swollen right now. thanks for listening!

please read this post

http://www.adhdnews.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=33894& KW=ommas

take things one step at a time.

ommas40123.8574189815

My son is on stimulants, Tenex, and fish oil. I have never noticed any benefit from the fish oil but the doc recommends it so he takes it. Some people say it works but I honestly doubt it in cases of ADHHHHHHHHHD like my son. So I guess I would have to agree with your nurse friend. I don't know that they would really make a difference if he's truly ADHD.

I also agree that you should be able to see a new neuro and bring your records/test results/evals from the old one with you. I'm not sure what kind of insurance you have but I would think they'd cover it as long as you don't need all new evals. It's so important to have a doctor that answers all of your questions! This is such a confusing and complicated journey but if you have a good doc it will go MUCH more smoothly! Once you find a doc that answers your questions you'll feel so much better about your decision-no matter what it is! Good luck and keep us posted!

Hi there. I am the mother of a 12 yr old boy who was formally diagnosed just shy of 5. I too was afraid of meds for my baby. I waited due to my fears and ignorance. I did NOT have these boards to help me btw.

I waited until the end of 1st grade when it got too much, the labeling, the bullying, etc.

My child suffered due to my actions.

The labeling carried with him all through elementary school. He never shook it. Kids are cruel, BUT so aren't their parents and teachers. They are actually worse in my book. My son is a great student but has adhd, speech delay, sensory integration and lack of impulse control.

We began the meds and they changed everything that he has, including his speech - the meds slowed him down to speak clearer. His grades were never a problem, but he is probably doing even better due to distractability.

I personally suffer guilt. I can't help it, I can't shake it. I am crying as I am typing this to you. My son's social life could have been and could currently be so much better had I medicated my son before he began kindergarten. I will never know but I feel horrible.

That is my story. If you have any questions, including about meds and the trial and error part, please ask.

We are all here for you!!

[QUOTE=BETHANN]

I waited until the end of 1st grade when it got too much, the labeling, the bullying, etc.

My child suffered due to my actions.

That is my story. If you have any questions, including about meds and the trial and error part, please ask.

We are all here for you!!

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thank you for telling me your story, i could have written this myself, i feel the same way you did..

this weekend i woke up and said i am going to try omega 3 fish oil, i was all set on this now i get an email from my cousins friend who is a nurse and she wrote me this huge email telling me it won't do any good and i should go with the meds, i should get 2nd and 3rd opinion, etc....so i am back to square 1 again....lost at what to do, etc. questioning everything all over again.

Today all i know i am doing is calling my sons pedr. asking for their advice, then calling another neuro and asking for their advice.....my husband is calling the school and demanding we have another meeting to fight for an aide.

thats is, my heart is palpating because i feel like i am playing with time!

You know we have never used the fish oils, but some do here.

We went with stimulants and it has been the best!!

It took us a while to find both the right med and the right dosage but we did and we then worked it some more.

She may be right about the meds being the best for him, I am not sure.

I will never forget thinking once I got the prescription that all would be better and go away, wrong. I had a better handle on things, but my son is adhd 24/7. He does not get med breaks unless he is sick with the flu, if you know what I mean.

I would call the doctor who is working with you and discuss things. I honestly felt better once we began the meds. It was just me getting there.

[QUOTE=BETHANN]

You know we have never used the fish oils, but some do here.

We went with stimulants and it has been the best!!

It took us a while to find both the right med and the right dosage but we did and we then worked it some more.

She may be right about the meds being the best for him, I am not sure.

I would call the doctor who is working with you and discuss things. I honestly felt better once we began the meds. It was just me getting there.

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The problem with my neuro is he has NO BEDSIDE MANNER, he's a great dr. but when he was telling us about the RX he was getting up out of his seat as if, here is the rx now leave, and DH was like, hold on i have questions, etc. I am going to try another neuro, but i don't know if my coverage will cover the tests again

yeah, I might want to look for someone who has time to spend with me as well. You need a doctor that will give you the time you need to help your son! Some appointments we have with our psychopharmacologist at first went over, but it was ok. Now we are in and out.

Oh, we use a psychopharmacologist - he specializes in these meds - he knows them inside and out!! He is awesome.

I will mention, it took us about 6 months to level off once we found the right med. Our doctor would write the prescription, then if it was too low, he would write the next dosage level to be taken the next day. Insurance covers dosage changes by the way. AND as long as it is not a med, like strattera ( meaning it builds up in the blood stream) you can increase over night. We did that often at first.

We also use a med for impulse control as well.

I don't think you need another evaluation unless you aren't sure that this one was accurate. I don't know how that works. Are you questioning whether he has something in addition or just because of changing doctors?

pixiemom wrote:
blem with my neuro is he has NO BEDSIDE MANNER, he's a great dr. but when he was telling us about the RX he was getting up out of his seat as if, here is the rx now leave, and DH was like, hold on i have questions, etc. I am going to try another neuro, but i don't know if my coverage will cover the tests again

If your son already took the tests you speak of and they are pretty current he may not ha to retake them. If you get a new neuro call your old neuro and ask them for the written copy of test results and submit them to your new doc

[QUOTE=Luvmykids02]

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thank you, yes they are recent they were just done in the past month, i just called their office and asked them to mail me all the results, thank you

Great job pixiemom

Not to bombard you with advice but we had great success having an adhd evaluation at the childrens hospital. They were wonderful - gave me a print out of all reports (VERY helpful with the school in requesting accomdations) as well as recomendations for Rx. It took several months to get an appointment and insurance did not cover the entire evaluation but it was well worth it. Good luck - you are certainly not alone and it Does get better!![QUOTE=Logan'sMom]

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thank you, i found a dr. but unfort. they can't see my son till jan. so i am calling my insurance com. today to find more, and i'll just call them all if i have to, i am NOT waiting till jan.

Thank you!!!! thank you all!!!!!!!!!!!