Go natural?! R U Kidding? | ADHD Information

Hello everyone. My son has been taking Concerta for at least 3 years. Concerta has been effective in treating his ADHD symptoms, however, it has negatively impacted his growth and he is extraordinarly small for his age. I want to stop using the concerta so that he can grow. When I talked with the pediatrician, she was convinced if I took my son off the Concerta he would grow for sure, but he would definitely get kicked out of school. So I just sighed and went to the pharmacy and filled his new Rx. Then I found a website that made claims about using natural remedies to treat my son's ADHD. My question: is there someone out there that stopped using prescribed ADHD med's and starting using some of the natural remedies that are on the market? If so please share you experiences with me.

busybear38573.4657175926

I'm a 40 year old single female based in the UK, who has symptoms of ADHD when extremely tired (as I am now, having had a very stressful year).

I don't know you have heard of the Emotional Freedom Technique?(EFT) This is an energy healing technique, which is entirely natural and not invasive. I am about to do it myself for my own tendency to ADHD soon. The guy who initiated and developed this technique, Gary Craig has an missionary zeal to help others and is totally sincere in what he does. The technique seems to have wonderful success with various traumas, phobias, fears and ADHD as well. EFT seems to work particularly well on children and there are many case studies which provide examples of this.

You can see trained EFT practitioners, but the beauty of the technique is that it is so simple, you can do it yourself. Download the free manual on EFT. The training videos he offers are very inexpensive too. So check out:

www.emofree.com

Also worth looking at is www.hsperson.com run by Dr Elaine Aron, author of the "Highly Sensitive Person". What she defines as a highly sensitive person seems to have close parallels with those diagnosed with ADHD. I am also a highly sensitive person given her definition. Worth looking at the section on children.

There are some excellent meditative tapes from a company called Awakened Minds, which uses a special technology to help increase the effectiveness of the brain. Very relaxing to listen to. Check out:

http://www.awakenedminds.com

They're very reasonably priced. If not for your child, then to help you in this situation.

I really hope that this helps.

Julie Plenty

[QUOTE=terrie]

[QUOTE=nuncle][QUOTE]Does anyone know of an ADHD med that will not mess your entire metabolism up when you go off of it, thus causing you to gain tons of weight? I am a 4O year old "young" mother of twins & am scared to death of going back on the meds because of what I may resort to if I gain a lot of weight when/if I have to go off of them. Anyone--anything about meds & your metabolism? Thx in advance![/QUOTE]

Why would you need to go off the medication? ADHD medications are very safe (particularly Ritalin), and have been prescribed for over 30 years with very few major adverse events reported. If you have ADHD and the meds help, what reason would you have to stop taking them in future?

Also, one thing to keep in mind is that stimulant medications typically cause weight loss while you're on them. So gaining some weight when you stop taking them isn't necessarily an indication that your metabolism's gone haywire; it could just be a matter of regaining lost weight until your body reachieves its original set point (or thereabouts).
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What you say certainly makes sense--I'm just afraid of not being able to afford them all of a sudden, or I don't know. Gaining weight in a nutshell, I suppose. I'm definitely ahead of myself--I have to try to get a new GP & hopefully a new Psych to even prescribe me--I'm just a scaredy cat. Thx!

[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=busybear]my son was on adderall cause the other meds didnt help..the dr finally did a ekg on him and found that adderall affected his heart ..took him off med and heart is fine now ...have his heart checked ..dont worry about what other people say this could be damaging his heart

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Go here!!! http://www.adhdnews.com/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=16

My son had four years of major side effects to NINE medications. I know they work for some kids, but mine had more negative reactions than good ones. He has spent the last two months on Omega3 (DHA......fish oil), Magnesium, a good multivitamin, etc......It's the first time I've EVER seen him able to control his emotions. I'm not saying his problems are over. School has only just begun, but this summer was banner! He's nine, by the way. I'm not into the idea of herbal remedies. Other people swear by them, and that's great if they work. I'm FAR happier with my son on vitamins and Omegas and magnesium than all the other stuff that caused severe tics, emotional outbursts, sleep problems, weight issues and poor growth. If they work for others, that's wonderful.

[QUOTE]My question: is there someone out there that stopped using prescribed ADHD med's and starting using some of the natural remedies that are on the market?[/QUOTE]

This is to be avoided at all costs. The fact that something is advertised as 'natural' doesn't mean it can't have harmful effects. Most people have an unfortunate tendency to think that substances extracted from natural ingredients are generally harmless. In reality, the exact opposite is often true: whereas pharmaceutical drugs have to go through stringent testing to ensure they're relatively safe, the FDA doesn't regulate food supplements. Which means you could literally sell an extract from a poisonous plant as a 'natural' supplement (and hey, it would be!) without any oversight (until people start dying).

In most cases, the people promoting natural alternatives to medication mean well; however, they don't understand the necessity of testing one's product scientifically (i.e., in placebo-controlled trials) rather than relying on intuition and subjective impression. As a result, not only are many supplements potentially dangerous, there's little evidence that most work at all. There are plenty of exceptions, of course, particularly for the better-known herbal supplements or extracts made by reputable manufacturers (e.g., St. John's Wort for depression; SAMe for a host of things), which have plenty of evidence supporting their efficacy. But in general, unless you've done your research, it's a BAD idea (can't stress this enough) to dive into a natural treatment without research to back it up.

As far as your son's size goes: your pediatrician is absolutely right; there's evidence that when kids on ADHD go off their medication around adolescence, they experience a compensatory growth spurt. I'm not sure what the window on this is, but it's probably a bad idea to wait any longer than puberty. I highly doubt you're going to find any drug that eliminates the growth stunting effects of ADHD medication though, natural or otherwise, so undesirable as it may be to take your son off his meds, it might be necessary at some point.
[QUOTE]Does anyone know of an ADHD med that will not mess your entire metabolism up when you go off of it, thus causing you to gain tons of weight? I am a 4O year old "young" mother of twins & am scared to death of going back on the meds because of what I may resort to if I gain a lot of weight when/if I have to go off of them. Anyone--anything about meds & your metabolism? Thx in advance![/QUOTE]

Why would you need to go off the medication? ADHD medications are very safe (particularly Ritalin), and have been prescribed for over 30 years with very few major adverse events reported. If you have ADHD and the meds help, what reason would you have to stop taking them in future?

Also, one thing to keep in mind is that stimulant medications typically cause weight loss while you're on them. So gaining some weight when you stop taking them isn't necessarily an indication that your metabolism's gone haywire; it could just be a matter of regaining lost weight until your body reachieves its original set point (or thereabouts).

Dear busybear,

if you are still interested in "natural" remedies go to Alternative and Complementary Forum--it is a great source for researching alternatives to meds, plus you will read postings from parents that have had success with going this route.

Natural can be harmful also. The fact of the matter this is better. At one time that's all there was for anything. The Fda doesn't encourage this cause they are in with the drug companies. You can have a reaction to anything it just depends on ones body. The newest research shows not everyone can process same things. This is one of the things DAN Dr.'s will tell you also.This is expecially true in people who have had lots of antibiotics. These destroy good and bad bacteria. It can be redone by probiotics/prebiotics only.

I just want to share my experience with my son's adventure with his ADHD medications. He took concerta but he did not eat and got extremely perfectionist, then we tried strattera but did not really help him fully and made him really moody later on, he took it for 4months. so this summer i decided to give him a break from meds mostly so he can gain weight and i was planning to put him back on strattera when school starts. when we were vacationing in the philippines, I saw this herbal supplement called memory Plus. it contained the herbs Bacopa and centella asiatica. the pharmacist told me it worked for his child in improving his academic performance so i gave it a try. well it has helped my son tremendously with his behavior. he is still a little hyper but I consider it normal for his age. his behavior is much more manageeable. I dont know if it will help him academically but i am just amazed with the improvement with his behavior. I have not seen any side effect from it. he has gainec weight and eats very well now. hopefully it can help anybody who is looking for alternative. you can buy/research these herbs on the internet. good luck and god bless.

By the way my son is 6 years old.

sagrada38582.1075925926That is awesome to know--thx!Does anyone know of an ADHD med that will not mess your entire metabolism up when you go off of it, thus causing you to gain tons of weight? I am a 4O year old "young" mother of twins & am scared to death of going back on the meds because of what I may resort to if I gain a lot of weight when/if I have to go off of them. Anyone--anything about meds & your metabolism? Thx in advance!

Busybear, my son will be 11 in Sept. and weighs 65lbs. and very small in length. He was on Adderall and lost an alarming amount of weight--he got down to 54lbs. I decided to take him off meds for the summer so he could gain some weight and hopefully grow. I started him on Omega supplements and a supplement called Calm Child. I must say, this has been our best summer ever. He jokes more, no more mood swings or violent outburst and generally just seems happier. He drinks green tea every morning and I try to give him protein with breakfast. Go to the Alternative and Complementary Medicine Forum for great advice on where to start. Trust me it is worth a try. Great luck to you