ADD And Meds

Years ago I was involved in network Marketing health. I heard many testimonies on the products. I don't sell it anymore but I do recommend going to the Vitamin Shoppe and getting Grape seed 100mg. Buy their brand with the blue label. Its an extract with proanthycianidins. The other stuff has pine bark and you don't want that. Its an antioxidant. Give her 1 tablet per 100 lbs. 2 times a day. If you find that after a week its not working up it to 2, 2 times a day. This is a particular kind that if you take it she will just pee out what she doesn't use. Not all vitamins are that way. I know this will work. A lady I met said that for the first time in 13 years that she could sit down on the couch and have a conversation with her neice. It helped so much. The lady was crying.

If the focalin works and she didn't have adverse side effects, why not give her that? Giving her natural supplements is still medicating, but I don't think they are FDA approved and there haven't been as many studies done on them. I realize that medicating your child can be very emotional for you, but think of her emotional well being when she starts to realize that school is hard and she isn't like the other kids. As an adult diagnosed with ADD, I wish that something had been done to help me when I was in school.

I also have a child with ADD/ADHD and struggled with the med issue. At the end of his 1st grade year we decided to give meds a shot. It took about 3-4 different meds and dosages to find the right fit, but it has made a world of difference with our son. Second grade was so much different than 1st. He did much better in school and his academic testing (they test every year at his school) when up accross the board. I'll never forget one day that I forgot to give him his meds. I decided to test how it went and waited until the end of the day to tell his teacher. She emailed back very quickly saying that she was so relieved to hear that! She commented on how different he was that day and how worried she was about him. That did it for me! I realized he needed the meds to be able to function at school.

Now, when he's not on the meds, he can't start moving and has little to no impulse control. He gets in more trouble (because of the impulse control) and can't even follow simple directions.

Like the other moms said, natural supplements are not necessarily safer. Also, PLEASE let your doctor know what supplements you are giving your daughter as they may react with any prescriptions you are giving her (or with each other). This can be very dangerous!

A couple things that have helped our son: A trampoline (learned this in therapy), the jumping helps these kind of kids focus for some reason. Earphones with soothing music-this has helped our son get through some difficult transitions.

Good luck!

What is the concern about medication, esp. if you've seen how beneficial it can be? Have you discussed your concerns with the prescribing psychiatrist? I know it's hard to accept brain disorders and we'd all like to think we can just "parent" them away or take a magic vitamin and make it go away. But ADHD is a medical condition best managed by board certified medical professionals.

ADHD medications are very well researched and government regulated. There have been long-term studies of ADHD medications and they are completely safe. Believe me, I asked lots and lots of questions before starting them with our son and turned to reliable sources for the facts (universities studying the condition, medical journal articles, CHADD and ADDitude magazine). Kids with ADHD are at extremely high risk of drug and alcohol problems as teens ... however, those who are treated with medication have a much smaller rate of drug and alcohol problems (no need to self-medicate). Our son started ADHD medication when he was four and it transformed his life in such positive ways.

Unfortunately, "natural" treatments have not been shown to help with ADHD. Omega 3s are the closest to having a valid claim, although they only provide minor focus help to those with mild symptoms and I've read it takes a very long time to see any improvement. Most parents use Omega 3s in conjunction with medication. Natural treatments are not regulated and most are scams. Doctors are also not monitoring care, so you're kind of flipping a coin treating your child yourself, hoping for the best.

I urge you to join CHADD to connect with others dealing first-hand with ADHD and subscribe to ADDitude magazine for more fact-based information and support. They've been quite beneficial to our family on this journey. Best of luck to you!

No. You are unusual that you were not fooled.by a placebo.effect and see these for.what they really are and hopefully, you won't waste.any more.time.and money on them.

Find out the medical.bases for.AdHD and treat your.daughter with real medical.care. Dr. Russel Barkley And Dr. Mel Levine both have great.factual books and will explain what ADHD is and give you great stratetegies.to.try that will help.

Medication is.a.tool that makes.all the therapy work better. She should be getting play therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, social.skills.classes, and speech and OT if.needed and educational interventions.

Needing medication for.a.medical issue is not a.character defect and with all due respect, unless you oppose.medical care.for.every medical problem, you are selling your.daughter.short by rejecting the ones that leave you feeling stigmatized. It really is not.about your " feelings" it is about her care. There is no evidence that anything other than standard.care will help, but no shortage of people.willing.to take your money for a.bunch of unregulated who knows what natural remedies. These may be dangerous, if people.are.willing.to make false.claims, how.do you know what is really in them?

Make.sure you have an appropriate evaluation by a developmental pediatrician and seek tre
payment with a.board.certified psychiatrist.

,M.

I would like to help you ease your discomfort with the idea of "medicating" your child. I know that "all natural" is very trendy and it has a healthier sound to it, but the bottom line is that it's a medication too. Here's the difference. The chemicals in all natural products, and yes they are chemicals, they are unaltered and often act wide spread in the body, not just on the target area. Medications that you purchase or are prescribed are altered. Yes, they are man-made or man-altered, but they are also manipulated to be as specific in your body as possible so as to decrease the amount of side effects and interaction in the rest of the body (my brother has a biochem degree; don't even get him started on this topic! :) Now I don't have anything against all natural products, and if you found one that worked well for you, I would say go for it. But since you haven't, don't beat yourself up about giving her meds. I'm sure you feel that you are doing her harm by putting bad things in her body, but think of the harm you're doing to her if you DON'T give her the meds she needs. She will suffer academically as well as socially since her interaction with friends will be negatively impacted and she will be constantly in trouble at school so that can harm her self confidence as well. You're doing her a favor and giving her the best you can by giving her the meds that will allow her to function at her highest potential. As she gets older, if she wants to try to go off the meds then you two can discuss it together and try other things then, but for now you're doing the best for her by giving her medicine that works.

I don't want to come accross as harsh, but I would question why you are so intent on using "all natural" medications that obviously don't work when the doctor has prescribed a medication that you know works "very well". focalin has been on the market for a while and does have a proven track record with kids. It seems silly to me to have your child suffer and struggle because you want something "all natural". When it isn't really "all natural" unless you grow it yourself. It is still produced in a factory for mass production. Plus, those are not regulated by the FDA at least prescription drugs are. I have a son with ADD and we give him a drug holiday in the summer when it isn't as important for him to be focused and then start medication (he is on straterra which is a non-stimulant med) about 2 weeks before school starts. You are helping your child by giving her a medication that help her. It is okay to give her the medication that the doctor has prescribed. Make sure you know the side effects and if you notice any of them call your doctor right away. Also, 5 mg is a low dose and she only has to take it once a day unlike ritalin that has to be taken at least twice a day. Hope this helps you.

I am sure there are natural supplements that work and I do not belive that meds are the answer for every child with ADD/ADHD.
We fought ourselves about giving our daughter meds for ADHD until she was in second grade. We continued to watch her struggle in class and finally decided to give meds a try. For our child, it made a world of difference, For Her and that is what mattered most. We were not concerned about the teacher being happy with her in the classroom (as long as she wasn't disruptive to the learning process of other children). She is now entering middle school, still takes meds (Focalin as a matter of fact) and is an excellent student; academically and socially.

We also have a son diagnosed with ADD and we do not medicate him at all. It just doesn't work effectively enough for him for us to feel it is necessary.

Good luck and I hope you find what works best for your daughter.

Would you give your child heart medication if she needed it or would you try to control a heart problem with natural supplements? There's your answer! I'm a teacher and never agreed with medicating children until I heard and understood it from a child's perspective. A student long ago told me when he got on medicine, "It's like my brain will do what I tell it to." I also want to mention his grades went up 15 points in every subject during the hardest point in the year. Just something to think about. Do what's right for you and your family. Only you can make the call. Again, would you give your child heart medication and not feel guilty?

I know you wrote this over a year ago, but I'm researching meds for my son currently. I'm curious to know how things have gone.

I've suspected ADD (the inattentive type, not the hyper type) with my son since 2nd or 3rd grade. My husband fought this thought for years, thinking ADD is way over-diagnosed and way over-prescribed. While there is some truth to that, I also have contended that our son has it.

Finally, in our son's freshman year in high school (I told you we've been battling this for YEARS), our son was diagnosed with ADD. Finally! But it's taken it's toll to take this long. He is having a terrible time in school and socially it has been hard. Over the last couple of years, he has begun to think he is stupid. It's certainly not so, but he feels like it is.

I was talking to a friend whose husband is a local pediatrician. I mentioned how we finally got a decisive diagnosis and she gave me some good advice--be prepared to go through a grieving process at realizing you don't have the child you dreamed you'd have. I've been struggling with this for many years already. But she nailed it on the head.

I wonder if your tears were as much that grief as anything?

My husband has finally come around and believes something is up with our son as well. It's an empowering feeling to feel like we can finally move forward without conflicting agendas. I had to deal with my anger towards my husband for dragging his feet this long, but at least now we are working towards getting our son some help--a 504 plan at school, a neuropsych test in his future to determine if there is anything else we might be dealing with, etc.

I am reading a book entitled Positively ADD which I will have my son read as well when I'm done. One of the authors is Edward Hallowell. If you haven't read it already, he also wrote Driven to Distraction, along with a bunch of other books. The thing I like about his books is 1) he has adhd himself, 2) he talks about the positive things about adhd as well (it's not all bad).

I also would recommend the ADDitude magazine. I find it has some insightful articles.

Here's hoping things have smoothed out for you. Our son has not started meds yet, but I'm on the road to researching them further and hope to talk with his doctor soon to get this started.

I feel sad that our son has battled this for so long. In 4th grade one day when he was upset, he cried, "What's wrong with me? I'm not like everyone else!" and continued to sob. It broke my heart! That prompted me to do our first assessment of ADD for him that year in 4th grade. The results were not conclusive, but I still believed he had it.

It may sound weird, but I am relieved to finally have him diagnosed as a freshman. Help is on the way.

Please let me know how things have progressed. Best wishes.

S. : )

Ok so I have a few names of natural meds for you. Pedi Active. BrightSpark, Focus Formula. Change the way she eats, eat wheats instead of white. Control the amount of sugar.
I have twins & I went through years of med changes & I hated it, I never thought about natural meds & wish I had of. Never let anyone tell you not to try something. There are vitamins that help replace the missing things in kids brains. Omega 3 are good. Do some study there are ways of going without dr prescribed meds. It just takes time & effort on your part. I have a 3yr old that if I am told he has ADHD will not be put on meds I will change his life style!
Also have your daughter tested for her IQ she may be smarter than what they think she is & it's showing up as ADHD. My 3yr old is very smart & the first thing that I am going to do if they say ADHD is have him tested.
GL!!!!
PS I have 5 kids ages 20 to 3

I also want to add: Look at all the problems that are being caused by the prescription drugs, all of the recalled meds, the little boy that was found dead. OP you have the right to be concerned. Do what you feel is right & never worry about what others think. She is your daughter & you can decide what is best for her!!

Buy this book, it will change your life:

http://www.amazon.com/Kid-Friendly-ADHD-Autism-Cookbook-G...

The Kid-Friendly ADHD and Autism Cookbook: The Ultimate Guide to the Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Diet

I have an ADHD child who has been on meds for 5 years. Natural alternatives dont work because we are still poisoning their body with what is causing these symptoms. This book changed our lives.

You may want to look into an alternative physiological treatment to ADD (and other brain disorders) call neurofeedback or biofeedback. It's relatively new but everyone I have talked to, as well as my experience with my child, has seen significant improvement in it's help with focus issues. Even with that, it is evidence-based.
My child couldn't focus well enough to read from beginning to end a book, which in turn really affected her ability to read and learn. After about 6 months she had significantly improved her reading and was able to read an entire book without giving up on it and started to have a love for reading. And she is a smart kid, tested very high. Just has brain processing problems.
Basically, the technician (who should also be a licensed therapist) puts little probes on certain sections of the brain. The technician sets parameters the brain wave have to stay within. Slow waves (the ones that cause a child's brain to become hyper to wake them up -ADD) are trained to increase. They are trained when the child watches a video (cartoon) and when the brainwaves go outside of the paremeters, the picture and/or sound flicker. Subconsciously, the brain hates that and learns to make the brainwaves stay within the parameter. Subsequently, over time, the child becomes more focused and loses symptoms. That's my experience at any rate.
We call it Brain Training. Professional athletes use brain training to sharpen their focus to become better mentally for their sport.
Check into it.

My son has been taking Concerta for about 6 months, but to lessen the side effects we don't give it to him on weekends or during the summer. Before that the best alternative we found was allergy medicine(rhinocort aqua). I don't know if the improvement in his behavior was from treating the allergy symptoms, or if the chemicals in it were similar.