ADHD 7 Yr Old Son No Drugs Advise

I am in exactly the same boat as you. My daughter is 6 and we are having such a tough time. I recomment the book Healing ADD by Dr Daniel Amen. It has some very helpful tips. I have found that very vigorous excercise and a change in diet to a low carb high protien diet has helped quite a bit. We are trying to find a good doctor also to get the proper medical attention as well. I also suffer from ADD, so we have an interesting road ahead. Good luck.

I have a friend in Arizona whose son has ADHD. Would love to try and get you in touch with her. Call me and I will see when she is available to talk. I know she is a busy mom...but she would love to help.
Call me. ###-###-#### cell ###-###-####

J.

You are not alone!
Have you met with a nervous system specialist and/or dietician? My son, age 5, has not been formally tested for ADHD - but has most of the symptoms. We are just beginning down this path to assist him (and us). We had our first meeting with a specialist yesterday and it was extremely informative. Question - any issues with his birth? any health problems, espeically ears, when he was an infant? Our son did have a difficult birth, NICU, major ear problems, etc - all which can lead to the nervous system not being in sync. If you think this sounds like your son --> visit http://www.handle.org/. (Holistic Approach to NeuroDevelopment and Learning Efficiency) email me if you want the name of the lady we met with - she is in Round Rock. Good luck!

I have a child with adhd, and have been through the whole tantrum thing. My son actually went through anger management therapy when he was around 5yrs old with a coginitive behavior psychologist. It helped him a lot. Then therapy again in 2nd grade for concentration and focus help.

For you, you already know to remain calm. The more angry I got, the more it fed into my child's tantrum, so I got good at looking calm. I was screaming inside, but being calm outside. The book, The Explosive Child by Greene is excellent for such children. Give it a read. Also, the Love and Logic parenting series is very good. It was created by a school principal and you may already be familiar with it.

It takes a lot of time, and it really wears a parent down, I know. We've done a lot of interventions here, Omega 3 fish oil, martial arts classes, and reading those books. Over time, it can get a lot better. You can see my son come to the edege now of a fit, but then pull himself back and calm down. Not everytime, but actually fairly often anymore. He is 11yrs now.

Oh, and I forogt, but what are you doing for yourself? I found it really good to exercise to help me be able to deal with my son. Exercise is not only good for the child with adhd, make sure he gets plenty, but also for the stressed paernt!

First let me start by saying You're not alone. You'll see what I mean further into my response. Try adding vitamin B6 in the morning. My father has done all sorts of research on ADHD/ADD/OCD and several others but don't remember all of them. He found that in children with ADHD and ADD don't have the ability to store vitamin B6 in their brain so they need 2 times sometimes even more extra than everyone else to help them hang on to as much as their body needs. My brother who is now 18 is ADHD and OCD and doctors tried every kind of drug. Ritalin was probably the worst. He was calm and in control while he was on it but as soon as it would ware off he would have extreme mood swings with violence to others, the house and to himself. There are some out there that are pretty good and some kids respond well to them. With the outburst you are describing he sounds closer to having a more extreme ADHD. Maybe not as much as my brother had but definitely need to work with it now before it gets worse. As boys get older their body needs more of th B6 especially once they start going through puberty. They now have a B6 vitamin in a chewable form I believe at HEB. My father has had wonderful results from his tests. You can overdose on B6 but the body will just dump it and your son will want to go to sleep for a few hours. Try a regular dose at first to see how he responds. If you feel he may need a little more then try upping it a little. It will vary with each child because age, body weight, and severity has to be considered. If you have questions feel free to let me know and I can get you in contact with my father. When my dad started this with my brother drs pulled him off of almost all medications and during the summer he would only take the B6. There is hope. And just a little side note. My brother was kicked out of every daycare he was ever in for his violent tantrums and my parents were constantly called to pick him up from school because of an outburst. Again, You're not alone. Let me know if you have questions or would like to get in contact with him.

Oh I almost forgot no sodas. Red Dye #40 I think is what it is definitely doesn't help him. Sorry I just realized I didn't put my phone number in here. ###-###-####
Good Luck
M.

I have a great resource for you!!!
There is a doctor in Austin, who helps ADHD without drugs,
his name is John Breeding.
You can check his website www.wildestcolts.com
It has helped me so much.
Angela

Hi mom, I have a son who is has aspergers with ADD or some form of it as the dr. told me but I'm on the fence with that diagnosis. (aspergers for sure, that I know) anyway, my question is does your son keep it together throughout the day at school? My son usually keeps himself in check then literally all hell breaks lose when he gets home. It was very difficult in first grade. It seems your son is also in first grade right ? I hated the way he was, the way I was, & the afternoons. It really sucked. My husband travels & I was doing this alone. It was like a time bomb went off. He was angry, hungry, bored & frustrated. He hated his teacher, homework, the whole thing. I'm not sure I found the right solution (sorry) but one thing I did was play basketball with him after school on the driveway. It seemed tho clam him down. I also had a full lunch/dinner for him when he got home. I know you teach so that might not be possible to make a lunch but maybe have a favorite snack that will fill him up. I made him do homework before 7. Anything after that was a nightmare. He was tired & would get angry. Homework was never easy to get him to do. I will tell you that now he is 8 & in third grade. He has matured & is easier to talk to. I have a progress chart in the kitchen. It's a big wall one that uses a dry erase marker. I only give him 3 items to accomplish in the afternoon, He gets to check off what he has done. On top of that, If he has a good day at school he gets a ticket(I use the 25cent ones) & if he has a good day at home he gets another. If he does one extra chore he gets one more. No more than 3 in a day. I find that really helps. I know it is not easy. My husband says better with us than with others(GREAT, he gets to day that from a hotel room in California, or China , or wherever!) Again, pay attention to how he is at school verses home, weekends. Look to see what calms him down or triggers him. be honest with yourself. Get him looked at by a specialist & try behavior modifications instead of medication. let me know how it goes.

I am sorry that you are going through this, have been there and the best thing I did for both of us was for him to see the Dr. and get started on meds. He is now 25 and stopped needing the meds when he was 18-19. Do both of you the favor and see some one about this problem. The mhmr has people that will go to his class and work with him also. Good luck

I am a teacher and have a son with ADD....He too had tantrums at home and was hard for me to manage. Are you not wanting any medication? We are on Stratera which is very mild and does not affect appetite or growth. It seemed any behavior plan at home was not successful and I wanted him to be successful so it would not interfere with his learning.

Good luck.

Dear C.
We went the Ritalin route. I was terrified to use it until it was pointed out to me that because it is used mainly for children, it is the most well-researched drug of all time.
It made a huge difference in my child's life. Right from the first dosage.
Don't be afraid of using Ritalin, it could very well change your lives - the angst and craziness of raising an ADHD child with behavioural problems is just not worth it if you can treat it with Ritalin.

hi C., i have a son who is 14yrs old . he has been on rx since he was 5yrs old. we have tried serveral rx, but the problem was on weekends i would take him off and summers. by the time school started the rx didnot work any more.so we would put him on new RX.we tried( ot )occupation therpy at school, and it helped him. to find his boundries they used a hot spot to have him stay in one place when he was on the floor doing activity, also a vest that had light weights,help control his hyperness. finally 4 yrs ago i took my son off, he is able to control his hyperness with some reminders,he seems to be ok. i know some parents have gone to sun harvest to buy vitamins or other product to help with attention and hyperness.best of luck.god bless to you and your precious child!!!

My son is ADD and we really aren't into drugging him. He has struggled though 4 years of school and even the teachers were saying this is not his fault. Last year I had a very young teacher tell me that we should reconsider the medicine so I took him to the doctor and sure enough. I told the doctor this would only be used during school no weekends or summer. He said at home just try to keep him off sugar as much as possible, this would include juice and fruit as they produce alot of sugar as well. He said make sure he eats breakfast, lunch and dinner and try to keep anything with white flour like breads, ceral etc limited. We have done that and I can tell you he is a totally different child. He is happy and loving again and there is peace in our house.
Hope this helps.
L.

Awh! You are NOT alone!!! We are dealing with this right now with our 6 year old. We have not tried play therpy yet but hear that it is GREAT! We have tried a few meds and I really don't like them. I personally think that boys with ADHD are just slower at picking up social clues and able to control their impulsues. I truly believe that they can learn to cope but it just takes time and time is what we don't have much time of since behavior is affecting learning at school and thus self esteem...etc. We got the school Psychologist involved and we are going from there but it is a SLOW process! Hang in there and just be that loving parent that stands strong and LOVES on your child...you will get through it! I would try play therpy...Hang in there!

Hello,
I have been married 15 years and I have a son that is 14years that we went through similar issues. My son always had the tantrums and is just now learning to control them. I had him on medication when he was 4 but after a couple of years I decided the side effects were worse than the issues.
I waited longer than 7 to turn the tide so I will tell you what I finally had to do at 12. The way he spoke to me and reacted just got worse the older he got. I had a really controlling childhood so I wanted to give him more responsibility to choose. Finally when he pushed me against the door jam and yelled at me I took his door off and emptied his room. At this time we were also going to a psychologist so we could draw a clear boundary. He crossed it and actions were taken. I was told that I would have to act like I was really mad at him and stand up to him. It was completely against my nature because I was a nice person. I remember the first time I played this role I was literally laughing inside because he didn't realize I wasn't really mad. Somehow he responded to this very well. It had something to do with the Alpha male gene or something. He thought he was the leader of the pack which was our family. At 7 I don't think you will have to do anything quite so extreme I just almost waited too long. I'm proud to say last summer he went on a Team Missions trip to Belize and helped build a sewer system for the people over there and evangelized to the people. He has come so far and I understand how hard it is to be the mother of one of these children because there is no peace and it doesn't feel like they love you but let me tell you if you stay with it and know in your heart that it will come later all is worth it.

I have mentioned this before, but a teacher told me to give my son Mountain Dew every morning. Along with that, if your schedule will allow, put him in some sort of sport. It made a difference in my son.

Although I do not have a chld with ADHD, I have many friends and students who do. Until the testing is done, you may want to try limited his intake of red dye. You will be surprised by how much food it is in (even if it isn't red). I know people who have done this and it has made a world of difference. I wish you the best of luck. As a fellow teacher I feel your pain. I too lack patience at home when dealing with my own child. Give yourself a hug and a break when you can.

Have you tried a gluten free and casein free diet? Maybe seeing a natural holistic doctor. I have heard of a great one in Wimberly.. Amazing how what we eat can affect so much of our behavior.. God bless you... J.