Help for ADHD

We have a young family member with ADHD who uses Strattera- it works well for them. Just one person, but it was a good result.

Hi C.,

Have you tried anything from the natural realm? My youngest was diagnosed at age 7. She was off the wall, still not reading and pestered everyone. Had a wise woman give me this advice....make sure diet is clean, a good absorbable multivitamin daily, omegas for focus and detox your house and her body. I was so desperate, I did it. Within 8 weeks I had her on grade level reading and people were noticing. Our next checkup, the doctor was amazed. He removed the diagnosis. She's 19 now. She told me around age 8 and a half that she knew everything she had been taught, she just couldn't put it all together. Her little mind was so scrambled by the synthetic chemicals in our home.....

Hope this helps. Any questions, PM me. It may not be a cure, but it can't hurt...and it was for us.....

M.

My oldest went through this. It was very worrisome, and as soon as I saw it begin, I took him off the meds and took him to the doctor.

What your son is experiencing in relation to his medication is called "dyskinesia." It is generally temporary to begin with, and will stop when you remove the cause or reduce the dosage of the medication. But if you continue at this dose, which is clearly too much for his nervous system, these tics and movements can become permanent. Dystonic movements may also be present. Jaw flexion, neck tightening, finger or hand bending. All of which can worsen and result in permanent irreperable damage to the nervous system.

Our action plan in responding to this was to reduce our son's dosage of Vyvanse and to add a low dose of Intuniv, a long acting non-stimulant drug that is very helpful for kids who seem to have a rough time with the stimulants entering and exiting their system. It worked like a charm. Even today, we're really watchful and careful when considering a dose increase as he grows.

I hope that helps. Good luck to you!

My son is ADHD 11 years old. We tried meds for two years and none of it worked including Stratera. Every kid is different but my son was just prone to get every side effect there was. He is now med free and he is home schooled. His grades are fantastic and he is feeling confident. No more high blood pressure, No more high liver levels, No more stuttering, No more Tics, and no more feeling bad and angry. No more thoughts of suicide. He is in behavioral therapy and we get tools to help learn to live with this and he is healthy and happy little boy.

Going natural to ease the affects of ADHD can work for some but not for all. My Aunt tried it with my cousin and it didn't work. He's the type of kid you hate to see coming. When we knew they were coming we would leave or prepare for the misery of having him there. She had to finally put him on meds and I believe it's Straterra. We didn't know he was such a sweet kid. We love having him around now. She is taking him off for the summer so we will see how that goes.

Some parents are reluctant to put their kids on meds but sometimes it's the best thing for them. My cousin is now doing better in school and wasn't sent to the principals office at all this school year. Good luck and I hope they can find the right meds for him.

My son was on Strattera for close to 10 years, and it worked well for him. He's on Vyvanse now, but I don't know it was switched, because he's an adult now and handles it himself. He's mentioned that he wants to go back to Strattera next time he goes to the doctor. Tics were not a problem for him on any medicines, so I can't give any input about that.

What's helped my son the most is the Feingold diet and identifyong some additional allergies. Go to Feingold.org. This changed my son's life! Medication is just the icing on the cake for him. Removing a few thongs from his diet made a huge difference! He rebelled in college for a little while and went off the diet. He didn't like the results, so he went back on it himself, and still stays careful about it, because things are easier and better for him when he does.

Echoing Mimi below, please seriously consider what she recommends, along with a few diet changes. It takes less time in the long run to take those measures than to deal with the fallout from ADHD, doctor visits, etc.

My son was on Stratera, didn't work at all. My whole family has ADHD including me. We have done all the meds you can think of and I have never heard of being intolerant of all stimulant meds.

I am on Adderall and I know the meds heightens the effect of my sensory issues. I can usually control it doing this hand thing, no one at work notices. My younger son who also has autism and more sensory issues cannot take Adderall at all, he can't compensate. He takes Vyvanse so you can imagine I am a bit shocked you are having issues with it.

Could it be a dosing issue?

I can't give advice about the meds (sorry. My son does great on the stimulant type), but about the tics, I definitely have experience with that. You don't mention if your son is in therapy. That is what has really helped the most with my son. For him the tics (both verbal and physical) seemed less related to ADHD and more related to being uncomfortable in his own skin. He was SO aware of his "differentness" that these tics started just from nerves and anxiety. Therapy helped a lot. Maybe you're already doing this but I can't stress enough how it has helped.

Our son takes Staterra in addition to his Adderall. We're actually going to try taking him off the Straterra because we're not convinced it's doing much, but that's more a matter of the stimulant offering the knock-out punch to ADHD. I'd call Straterra ADHD Help Light. If he has mild inattentive ADHD, it may be perfect. Our son has extreme combined-type ADHD, so alone it would never be enough. Straterra is a bit different from the stimulants in that you'll have to taper up (and possibly down, if it doesn't work) before you know if it's going to do anything.

Has the psychiatrist mentioned taking something to counteract the tics while on stimulants? If stimulants work terrific for him, that may be an option to explore if Straterra doesn't pan out. I know there are medications that can counteract the tics.

You might also look into neurofeedback. It's got about a 50/50 chance of helping. We did that for a year with our son and unfortunately, he was in the "doesn't work" group. However, it's showing some promise with ADHD. It's experimental at this point, though, and insurance won't cover it. It's thousands of dollars over the course of treatment, but may be worth it if you exhaust all other options.

When my son took vyvance (sp?) he had a bad side effect of chewing his nails. I mean to the point they were bloody. So we switched him to Strattera which worked good for him until my ex switched the insurance and it was $335 per month. Now he takes Adderall and it works for him. But every time he goes though a growth spurt we have to have the dose adjusted for him and sometimes have to switch meds. Good luck.

My daughter tried Vyvanse and while it had excellent focusing results, she could not sleep at all. I also heard tics were possible side effects. There are so many meds and dosages. I would recommend you see a specialist and not just a pediatrician.

Are you positive there is a cause and effect relationship between the ADHD meds and the tics? Many young boys have tics that they naturally outgrow. But if they are persistent, the tics should be evaluated by a Pediatric Neurologist or Development Pediatrician. What type of doctor subscribes your sons meds now? And the medical staff is completely aware of the tics? Have witnessed them in action? The right diagnosis and therapy can help immensely with tics.