Does concerta work for your adhd child?
My son is night and day with and without meds.the conerta works wonders for us.His teacher is amazed at how much his attention and quality of his work has improved.We have sent him to school a few times without it and she noticed right away and send me a note reminding me to get his pills LOL.The down side to concerta( and alot of adhd meds) is the fact that at night it takes him a long time to wind down.Some nights he is awake until midnight!We also had problems with MAJOR moodswings when he first started it. Even now if he goes without it for a day the next day when he gets home from schoo he "crashes" and everything makes him cry.So it is best to make sure you keep an eye on these signs as they can lead to depression and other problem.
Should I tell my daughter with ADHD the truth? Her only friend’s mom doesn’t want her kid to hang around her. She claims to want her children having “normal friends” only.
No, don’t tell her. Because, it isn’t the truth. The mother/daughter behaving in that way, acting as if your daughter’s friendship is disposable, is an abomination. People like that seem to be so out of touch with truth. It honestly frustrates me to hear this. Tell you daughter the truth of her value, and help her to find new, meaningful relationships where her presence is appreciated. Move on from this without clouding the purity of your child’s heart. Their loss.
I am worried my 6-year-old son may have ADHD. His dad was diagnosed with it as well. But we are generally opposed to medicating children, unless it's severe. What other options are available?
I have a daughter with ADHD. When she was younger, she was extremely hyperactive and impulsive. While in kindergarten, she was suspended, twice! Other children didn't want to be around her for fear of also getting into trouble while she was acting out. My husband and I began the hunt for answers to help us with her behavior and attention struggles. We were against putting such a young child on medication, so we looked for other alternatives. We tried the Feingold diet, which involved eliminating ALL artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives, and we also eliminated all naturally occurring salicylates, too. We had wonderful, supportive teachers who accommodated her special needs, and helped us implement psychologist-prescribed behavior plans and charts. I believe all these things did help somewhat, and there was some improvement. But she still struggled.Finally, towards the end of first grade, one afternoon when I was walking her home from school, she suddenly sat down in the middle of the sidewalk, burst into tears, and cried out, "Mamma, why am I so bad? I don't want to be bad anymore! What can I do?"My heart broke into pieces as I picked her up, held her, and told her that she wasn't bad. I swore to myself right then and there that I would do ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING I could to help her, including setting aside my prejudice against medication. We soon went to a psychiatrist who prescribed a very low dose of Ritalin. Within a day, she was a changed little girl. She could sit through lessons at school. She could develop friendships and was no longer an outcast. She could learn.I guess my point is, don't close the door completely on using medication. By all means, learn all you can about other interventions. Check out the Feingold diet plan. (I honestly do believe it did make a difference for my daughter, and we continued it, even after she was on Ritalin.) But if it does seem that your child might benefit from taking medication, don't beat yourself up over having to make that choice.I wish you the very best of luck.
Adderall or Focalin or...?
The doctor prescribed Adderall for my son's ADHD.He used to take Focalin but had some side effects (he claims paranoia without explaining further) Anyway, the doctor put him on Adderall last week and it seems to be working well for now. Can someone please tell me what side effects to expect or if there is a better medication to treat ADHD? The fact that my son said that Focalin caused him paranoia is very concerning to me. The doctor explained that he may have some anxiety that surfaced with the medication but i worry he may have the same reaction while on Adderall Any opinions or personal stories about this? Thank you
Is it true that ADHD and Autism don't exist?
Not so long ago people with MS were thought to be malingers/lazy etc, then research and diagnostic testing has shown that MS is caused by a inflammatory disease where the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, causing numbness, tingling, muscle weakness etc. The cause of Autism and ADHD/ADD is still not understood, however research into ADHD/ADD & Autism show they are very real conditions, and functional MRI's have shown the right & left hemisphere of the brain do not work together in those who have autism or ADHD/ADD, compared to people who don't. With people with ADHD/ADD there is a clear anatomical differences in the frontal and striatal regions of the brain, compared to those unaffected. I have a daughter with ADHD, ODD & Dyslexia, and I am NOT a bad parent, I did not drink or smoke during my pregnancy and neither did I abuse my daughter. Her diet was always healthy fresh food, with very little junk food or foods with colouring & preservatives etc. And I resent people who know nothing about me or my family claim its bad parenting. She was not diagnosed with ADHD etc until she was 9, and the pediatrician said this was because she had a ridged routine. My daughter who is now an well adjusted adult, who did not get into drugs, or go on alcohol binges, she never got into trouble with the police, and she did not beat up or bully other kids (she was to small) but she was the victim of bullying. Yes she was on Ritalin but it was her choice we did not force he to take it, and she would only be given it through the school week & terms only, we used a routine, behavioural management and diet to manage her. When she was 15 she asked if she could go off the Ritalin, we agreed if she did not have drop in her grades. As a Youth & Disability support worker, I have worked with many children with ADHD/ADD, and only few of these kids, were my colleagues & I doubted the child had it, because their parents had poor parenting skills, with no routine, did not talk to their children in a encouraging on respectful manner, did not really care about their child's education, hence their chidlren were all over the place. So we had to help the parents develop a routine etc, to better manage their child. But these were few and far between.
My mom doesn't believe that I could have ADHD. How can I convince her?
My stepmother (who is a child and adolescent psychiatrist) thinks that I might have ADHD. Since she is my stepmother, she can't treat me, and she must recommend me to another doctor. But to do that, my mom has to cooperate. But she doesn't think I have ADHD. She thinks everything I do is just part of my personality, and that someone couldn't be 15 years old and have an undiagnosed case of ADHD. I think some of it has do with my mom not liking my stepmother very much, too. My mom denying the possibility that I have ADHD wouldn't be an issue except for the fact that my grades are being effected drastically, and I can't seem to concentrate. I kind of want to figure this whole thing out before school starts. Any suggestion as to what I should do?
Why does a child with ADHD destroy property, regardless of his/her age and emotional state?
Because of many things. An urge, frustration. But it is definitely true that many ADHD children and youngsters destroy quite a lot.Our son typically broke so many things, both on purpose (straws, paper, sometimes tearing apart clothes or cutting pieces from the doormat) and unintentionally (like the antique stained glass windows just throwing around things, or dropping things or swiping things from tables). On our estate he sometimes took a few swipes with an ax, damaging a tree, and occasionally he liked to start a small fire. We’ve been very lucky in that area actually - a stable complex partly filled with hay didn’t go down in flames for instance. Also everything related to duct tape is worth special mention - he loved to use it on so many different occasions and objects.Until this day he fidgets with my plants, breaking up branches.But the good news is it gets better. It really does. The plants and paper napkins or the likes are the only remnants. Now a young pilot there is no one in the world I would feel more save with flying a plane. He has no urge whatsoever to cut some little wires in the cabin.Your question was why. Apart from answering the perspective in time, I can imagine another, maybe more meaningfull question could be: how to avoid this.Because there a few factors which might improve his behaviour:* look at what he eats -no sugars, avoid certain colorants and preservatives etc.* structure, structure, structure in terms of daily planning etc.*exhaust them physically (ofcourse in a good way, make them perform sports but do watch out that you give them activities which satisfy them, avoid anything adding to the frustration)* ensure he gets enough sleepAnd lastly - never give up. Never give up supporting your child and never give up loving your child and showing that love. In my case often frustration got the upper hand, and then things started spiraling down. Your child didn’t choose to have ADHD, you choose to put him in this world.Every trouble we encountered, all the energy we invested, is now being paid back, with interest. I wish that for all parents with ADHD children.