Medication

Hi,
If you would rather deal with the diagnosis with nutrition rather than drugs, I'd be glad to help with that.

A.,

This worked VERY well with my daughter, who started taking Focalin when she was six. If the medication your son is taking is in capsule form, you can open the capsule and mix the contents with a tablespoon of applesauce. That way, he doesn't have to chew it and can swallow the contents all at once.

If the medication isn't in capsule form, then ask your doctor about the Daytrana patch (methylphenidate). It works immediately and is only effective for about an hour after you remove the patch.

Good luck to you!

P.S. Don't be discouraged by the comments from others on this site denouncing your choice to medicate your child. It is always a difficult choice to make and we ALL wish our children didn't need the medication. You know your child. If medicating him gives him the boost he needs to complete tasks and succeed in school, then you have made the right choice for him. I don't enjoy medicating my daughter, but I cannot deny the benefits she has received as a result of my decision.

My daughter was recently diagnosed and she takes a great medicine called daytrana. It is a patch that we apply in the am it works for 9 hours then you remove it and it still works for 3 hours. She is 9 and can even put the patch on herself with me looking on. There is no way I could get her to swallow something so this was a godsend. The company even has 40 free patches so you can try it before you buy. Talk to your Dr. about it. It is new and so some dr may not have heard of it. It is manufactured by Shire pharmacuticals. Good luck
J.

Im sorry to hear that.. though I know now they have some in the form of a liquid.. My two take Adderal and it comes in the form of a capsul so you can brak it apart and put it in applesauce... if need be ask ur Dr. for a different form of medication...Otherwise just keep trying Im sure he will get the hang of it!Goodluck to you both!

Hi A., I am a child/adol psych nurse, is it concerta? we prescribe many stimulants. one of the things we practice with kids is trying to swallow mini m&m's. once they can do that then they will usually swallow the pill. there are also alternatives to the non crushable have to swallow whole pills. Daytrana is a patch, adderall xr, focalin xr and ritalin la can all be opened from their capsule and sprinkled on applesause or pudding. One of things i have learned is when you try to force your child to take the pill you will create a huge power struggle which is going to make things worse. talk to you dr. to see if she will change it to something easier for your child. first try the m&m's, have him practice holding water in his mouth and then put in the m&m and then drink another gulp of water, it slides right down in the water. Good luck,

Hi A.,

Instead of giving him drugs, please try giving him a Good Vitamin/Mineral Supplement. I have a liquid formula that would work great for him. Try keeping him away from foods that have Red, Yellow & Blue dyes in them. Also, avoid anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup (which is in a lot of stuff). Our kids are not drug deficient, they are nutrient deficient. ADD/ADHD are on the Autism spectrum. Inform yourself about vaccines and the harm that they can cause. You can check this out at:

www.generationrescue.org & www.PutChildrenFirst.org

There is good information on these sites.

The product that I sell is called BIONutritonic from BIOPRO Technology. My website is: www.mybiopro.com/lbarclay
I can show you how to get it at 30% off.

I have to agree with Summer & Sharon about not medicating.
Hope this helps!
L.

I saw a pill cup at CVS that hides the pill in the lip so when the child drinks the pill just goes down.

A.,

When my young daughters would start to take meds that early, and they had to be in pill form...this is what I did.

Go to the store and buy mini M&M's (Not the regular size ones). Encourage your son to "swallow" one of the M&M's with water and see if he can get it down. The best part is, once he has mastered it, his reward is more M&M's (however many you feel comfortable letting him have). I found that this was fun, if you compare the pills to the M&M's, but also explain at the same time how medicine is NOT like candy, so you will not have an accidental overdose on your hands.

Good luck,
S.

try putting it in applesauce or pudding my little boy takes all kinds of medicine and he cant tkae it without it being in applesause or pudding and he does good with that

Call the doctor and tell him/her what's going on. There are many ADHD meds out there that they can prescribe that can be crushed or halved. They also have one that is a patch. Many of these meds are the same generic medication, just a different trade (manufacture)name. Do a Google search on ADHD meds and you will be amazed!
There is hope... my son used to be just like that, but he is now 15 and can swallow even large vitamins without problems.
Good luck and God Bless.
S.

A.,
Is there anything else that can be done other than resort to medication. I agree with Sharon, I would try to seek out all other venues before doing the drug thing.

Best Wishes
J. F.

Hi..I have a 7 year old with Epilepsy..she has to take a total of 11 pills everyday..I put them in the squeezable yogurt...she has no problem swallowing them this way. Or try applesauce

I must say that I have a very strong bias against medication for ADHD at this age. Five year olds are just hyper and need time and space to run around and be crazy (esp boys). Have you considered homeschooling if that's the problem?

My son also has ADHD. Started taking meds at 6. Some things you might try are applesauce or yogurt, something you can stick the pill in and he can swallow in one bite without having to force his throat muscles to cooperate. Most likely, he is not used to swallowing a pill, so his body just doesn't know how to do it. Hope that helps.

For the longest time I had to put pills in a teaspoon full of applesauce or yogurt or something to swallow it. You can't even tell the pill is in there, especially if its as small as a ADHD pill. I even used that technique when taking my prenatals. Hope this helps!

A.