Jamimom --I hadn’t heard this before; do you know what opportunities these are? </p>
<p>My own experience is with a 15-year-old daughter who has ADD without hyperactivity and has taken Ritalin, with clear benefits both in school and in daily life, for five years. (Before that she struggled so much in school that my only wish is that her inattentiveness had been picked up on sooner; I have no doubt that she would have more confidence now if she had received Ritalin in kindergarten, when she was having great difficulties in learning to read.) We are going to try tapering her off the medications this summer, and will see how it goes. </p>
<p>I have heard good reports from parents and teachers about Strattera, but unfortunately several respected psychopharmacologists have told us that it is much more effective for hyperactivity than for inattentiveness.</p>
<p>Mini–I was unable to open that link. Could you re-post, please?</p>
<p>We were in the same boat just over a year ago. We refused to medicate him for yrs until mid 9th grade at the request of several teachers decided to try it with an open mind. Son takes Strattera. It has made a difference in his schoolwork. He is able to sit down and do his homework which he was never able to do before. But it has had its downsides. We are presently reevaluating whether it is the right drug for him.
I know that for my son it would be really hard to get him to adhere to a strict diet. It is hard enough to get a teenage boy to take 2 pills a day without numerous reminders each evening. He would not be willing or able to police himself with dietary restrictions at this point in his life. Though I think it might have some value.</p>
<p>The question comes down to whether the disorder can be reliably diagnosed, or whether one is simply measuring the effectiveness of a psychostimulant being given to “anyone” (rather like coffee being used to wake me up in the morning.) </p>
<p>The studies and information on future abuse potential are mixed. On the one hand, there is little evidence that Ritalin users are more likely to become drug abusers in later life. On the other hand, abuse of psychostimulants is now HUGE - in Vancouver, BC, it is now the drug that results in the second largest number of arrests. Just now beginning to be studied is whether there is a link between Ritalin use and abuse of other prescription drugs, particularly prescription opiates, which has just raised its ugly head among teens (we knew it was coming, as it moved from the adult population to the youth one.)</p>
<p>The best work I have seen on the subject, and I am by no means an expert, is the short-term use of psychostimulants to buy time while major changes in a child’s environment can be made (school, home life, etc.) My younger one is a classic case of a kid who most definitely would have been prescribed if in school, but we discovered early that she could concentrate for several hours at a time, either at the piano, or in the gym. She was just not meant to sit down, or to be wiithout something to do with her hands. So we ended up with a concert pianist and a level 10 gymnast who never reads a book by choice (but can read just fine, and is turning into a math and languages whiz.) Honestly, at 14 though, I don’t know what we would have done. </p>
<p>I know that diet is very difficult
My younger daughter has extreme anxiety and it was an ordeal to get her to school every day ( a small school of 20 kids and three teachers) until she was placed on an SSRI that managed the anxiety ( Paxil).
However when we were forced to change doctors, her new doctor refused to continue the medication and we weaned her off slowly after many failed attempts.
Unfortunately, once she was weaned off, she refused to take anything else, which is why we were forced to try diet modifications. Eliminating wheat did show results, although it is very difficult to keep up, as soon as she went to overnight camp, and ate wheat, she wouldn’t go back on that either.
As a freshman in high school, she is starting to get a handle on things, and has been taking xanax for anxiety ( very small dose) and has just started on Strattera for ADD. ( This is the first med she has tried, I felt that because of her anxiety, that Ritalin wouldnt ahve been a good choice, not to mention it is such a PITA to refill)
As I have mentioned medication is usually last resort- we have also used Dr Judith Ullman for homeopathic remedies, but we have had much more consistent results with allopathic remedies. ( but we always give extra nutritional support- as well insure that sleep patterns are healthy- lack of sleep can result in less focus during daytime)
<a href=“http://www.all-natural.com/add.html[/url]”>http://www.all-natural.com/add.html</a></p>
<p>SBMom: I read over your original post again, specifically the 1st paragraph. Obviously, you’re the one seeing him everyday and dealing with his school issues; however, what you’ve presented in that 1st paragraph just doesn’t sound like a “problem” for medication, or for even a visit to a neurologist. Forgetful, absent-minded, misplaces things?<br>
I would encourage you to search for other (non-medicated) ways to help him become more engaged and a little more organized. And you also mention film-making and working with Final Cut. That sounds like a fairly serious interest for him, and this also suggests he’s a creative and visual person. Kids (and adults) who are creative learn differently, as I’m sure you know, and are often bored silly by traditional teaching and classrooms.</p>
<p>As to the opportunities which are closed, in years past military service has been closed to those who have taken Ritalin.</p>
<p>Also, </p>
<p>“I pleaded yearly with each teacher about getting him diagnosed” you are probably talking about the teacher input on the observations, but let’s just be really clear that doctors diagnose, not teachers. Your child’s doctor, in conjunction with the family, makes the decision about what prescription may be called for, and the family dispenses the meds. Teachers may recommend that parents take their child for an evaluation by a pediatrician, but teachers MAY NOT recommend meds. That is not our job or our area of expertise. We did have one teacher who was equipped to speak to parents AS A PARENT, and who would make it very clear that he was speaking as a parent. If you have a teacher who mentions meds, check with your school board, they are almost certainly violating school board policy as well as professional ethics.</p>
<p>Just my rant. Oh, and the observations about television, video, etc.
I remember a presentation by a neurologist about ADD, ADHD, where he said that parents would come to him and say “I just can’t believe that my child could be ADD, (ADHD) because he (she) can sit and play video games for hours.” That, for him, was a positive indicator for ADD, (ADHD) because he found, over time, that children who had attention deficits could do this. </p>
<p>I really applaud everyone for the level of research and caring they have brought to all of this. Thanks from teachers everywhere!</p>
<p>Aeronautics and heavy machinery type jobs. Military, coast guard, law enforcement. Just as starters. And high level athletics that has blood/urine testing can have some issues too since many of the ADD control meds have an amphetimine base.</p>
<p>For my 7th grader, there was no question that he had to go on meds because he was totally out of control. It was a very easy decision. Had he not been as hyper, there might have been some considerations. An advantage of a few years on meds is that it is easier to pattern good behaviour and other issues at that time instead of the kid plunging into a “bad boy” mode and reputation that becomes difficult to break. We have tapered his meds down and a swig of MountainDew goes a long way to meet some gaps. We’ll have to see how this works step by step.</p>
<p>I can vouch for the ADHD child sitting and playing video games for hours. As I type, My 21 year old is off from work today and has been on the playstation 2 for about 4 hours now. He did stop for a shower and lunch, but otherwise he hasn’t moved. The only time he takes his eyes off of the game is to check something on his computer; most likely some sport report!</p>
<p>My son is still medicated after 15 years. He is still on a low dose, but it does the trick for him. Sometimes he will take an afternoon dose if he has a lot of studying or evening classes. We have allowed him to decide his dosage, but I fill the prescriptions to make sure he doesn’t abuse the medicine. He has tried to not take his medication to see how he can handle school and work; the last time he tried he was not successful. His physician and therapist both feel this child/adult will most likely need to be medicated for several more years if not for a very long time. This is a kid that had all the classic signs and then some of an ADHD child. The hypeactivity has decrease as he has aged, but he still can have verbal outbursts. We had him in group and individual therapy as a young child. I thought I was a horrible mother to have a child with what others view as behavior problems. Most of my friends had young children or kids that were “perfect” so I felt like a failure. It took the therapist to convience me that my child was just “wired” differently. When I questioned medicating him, the therapist ask me if I would deny a diabetic insulin? His rationale was that my child needed this medication just like a diabetic needed insulin. Yes, there are days I wonder if we are harming him in some way with the medications, but them I imagine what his like would have been like without it and I know we made the right decision.</p>
<p><em>Some</em> teachers do diagnose. I had teachers tell me all three of my sons should be taken to the doctor for an ADD diagnosis. When I took the third son for the evaluation my family doc wanted to refer me to the area expert at UVa Hospitals. My question for him was, “Have you ever had a diagnosis from this specialist <em>not</em> come back as some form of ADD?” Answer: “No.” This was enough for me to easily decide not to take my kid to that specialist. Btw, all three are doing great academically without the diagnosis.</p>
<p>People bring up great points here, especially regarding modern TV and the constantly changing view - doesn’t it seem plausible that kids are learning to need stimulation when we plop them down in front of the tv? It’s not like the old Dick Van Dyke or Lucy shows or even Mr. Rogers where it was like they were filming a play. Now the image changes every few seconds and several times a minute.</p>
<p>I never say never, but it would take an awfully big problem before I’d put my kid on a Schedule II drug. </p>
<p>This is probably an inaccurate analogy, but unless your problem is extremely serious, it’s kind of like my left-handed sister was made to learn to use right-handed scissors and with her right hand: the rest of the world wouldn’t have left-handed scissors around for her to use whenever she needed to cut something. Better our kids learn to adjust to the real world, no matter their problems, because quite frankly the world isn’t going to adjust to them.</p>
<p>A comment on your TV analogy. When my son was small, he would sit and watch Mr. Rogers like an angel. His soft voice and easy going style was calming to him. He hated S.Street and all the shows that flashed scenes for 30 seconds and went on the something else. When someone asked a group of pediatricians why TV was changing so much for kids, they said the execs said they couldn’t hold their attention otherwise, although they disagreed. I don’t think it’s a cause of ADD, but it certainly doesn’t help.
Another thing I noticed was that as my son got older, 6-10 years old, his friends couldn’t play board games with him any longer. They would always quit mid-way. After a while, he just played video games with these boys and I saw him start to get that way also. We introduced chess and found him some balance, things to do with other friends or us,so that he wouldn’t forget the lost art of just sitting and thinking without a controller! There isn’t a lot of balance today with kids with a lot of things.</p>
<p>I truly wish we knew more than we do, but unfortunately the studies seem far from conclusive at this stage.
My reading of the consensus study suggests this is an appealing idea, but one that has yet to be studied, let alone proven:
Similarly, the same study does not comment on the effects, positive or negative, of long-term treatment, merely citing the need for further studies, “which are needed because of the persistence of the disorder.”</p>
<p>I think it all depends on the individual. Many kids, I’d venture to say every most kids, with ADD could simply use with other changes in their lives to adjust them to their abilities, such as spreading out tasks into small chunks of time and consistant and often reminders of the tasks they should be doing. Diet, etc might also be a consideration. But there are other kids for whom these changes are not enough. These kids who are still having major problems might benefit from medication. One caution though: take into consideration any other medication the child might be taking too. I had a cousin with ADHD who was on Ritalin. This probably would have been fine except the doctor had her on about four other medications too. The mix was pretty bad in terms of side effects, etc. I, on the other hand, took Ritalin for a short period of time when I was first diagnosed with ADD but I didn’t take any other medication and I was fine. Eventually I found that adjusting other things in my life worked fine and I didn’t need the medication, but with a mother who’s a teacher I know there are kids whose parents try everything else and nothing works until they’re on the medication. It’s individual.</p>
<p>Jamimom, where I live the experimentation with drugs begins in middle school, by 7th grade. Most of the kids have either been offered or tried pot by the time they finish 8th grade – many turn down the offer, of course, but I haven’t met any 14 year olds who weren’t able to identify which kids were the stoners. Of course the trade in Ritalin and other prescription meds starts by then, too. So whatever concerns you have for high school, really apply for any kid age 12 and over… and maybe even younger. </p>
<p>I do think that when we give our kids medications to address mood and behavior issues, we send the message that it is o.k. to take drugs because you want to feel better – and there is no way to separate that message for legal vs. illegal drugs. </p>
<p>I do think that some kids really do suffer from severe psychiatric illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, where medication really is needed, and some sevee cases of ADHD probably fall in that category. But I agree with comments about our overmedicated society, so I definitely think parents should proceed with caution.</p>
<p>This thread is so interesting…just shows how concerned parents handle things…in so many different ways. Our son’s teacher in fourth grade said, “he may have a touch of ADHD. He’s so disorganised!!” so I immediately took him to a child psychologist for a diagnosis. (He doesn’t have it)…but his friend was also told that HE had it (by the same teacher…what’s with her?) and they were furious and insulted. Yanked him out of the school in a huff. Never did have him checked out. He seems to be doing better in the new school. (which is VERY structured but not quite as rigorous academically) Why should someone take a suggestion from a teacher as an insult?</p>
<p>Proper evaluation, diagnosis and treatment is important. Your child doesn’t have to suffer. I suggest we keep an open mind about appropriate treatment modalities. It is ok to use medication for management of high cholesterol, and use eyeglasses for management of visual problems. Medication and therapy for management of other problem areas is equally as legitimate.</p>
<p>On diet: I think everyone should look at diet FIRST, before anything else. Before trying an elimination diet, the first step should be a HEALTHY diet. That is, don’t start eliminating glutens because some people have gluten allergies when the kid is still eating junk food. </p>
<p>What needs to go ASAP are simple carbs - refined sugars & starches – and transfats. The diet should be rich in - or supplemented with - B Vitamins and EFAs. Also rich in protein and complex carbohydrates (what you get from fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains). </p>
<p>The thing about these sort of dietary changes is that whether or not they help with ADHD, they are simply good for anybody. So there is no harm whatsoever in trying this approach, and everything to gain. </p>
<p>I would also encourage parents of ADHD kids (and all kids) to make sure that their kids eat regularly - and by “eat”, again I mean eat healthy. I always carry some protein bars in my purse – they are NOT the best alternative around, but if a kid is hungry, the protein bar is a better choice than soda or donuts. I don’t know how many times my daughter has come home saying she has had a miserable day and hasn’t had anything to eat all day long. Well, duh! Since my daughter says this, it is also obvious that she does not follow my advice on food – though I won out with insisting she take some protein bars with her to the SAT on Saturday, and she did come home in a very good post-SAT mood, despite the fact that the testing went an hour longer than anticipated. </p>
<p>So I know that the food message is hard to get over on teens – but I really think that whatever the impact our fast food/junk food society has on ADHD, it sure doesn’t help.</p>
<p>I don’t know too many people who would argue with the benefits of a healthy diet (though I wish they’d quit changing the food pyramid already). The studies on the Feingold diet (essentially mnimizing sugar) for ADHD folks have not shown any documentable benefits. People report anecdotal stories all the time, but the research support just isn’t there.</p>
<p>“I think I have ADD-like brain as well only the opposite. I become totally focused on one thing to the exclusion of other things. Attention Surfeit(?sp) Disorder?”</p>
<p>I think it’s called Asperger’s Syndrome :)</p>
<p>Did you hear about the report that non-ADD kids were using Ritalin and Adderall? Evidently, those drugs are the equivalent of steroids in the academic arena, since they affect everyone, not just people with ADD. There are plenty of people who need ADD medicine to function in society, but there are also those people who get their hands on the drug so that they can study for 8 hours straight without having to take a breather so that “they can get an edge over the other kids”…</p>
<p>jym626 – the problem with a lot of quantitative studies is that they don’t account for the fact that certain interventions might be very effective for some, but aren’t effective across the board. I think Feingold only claims to help maybe 20-30% of people – Feingold is NOT a sugar-elimination diet, it is much more complex than that and involves elimination of a lot of specific items from the diet, including a whole array of fruits and food additives, and they recommend only going through the first elimination phase - if that doesn’t help, then the diet should be abandoned. The only way that Feingold could be studied would be with a pre-screened group - because the theory behind Feingold is that some, not all, kids have ADHD symptoms because of particular set of food sensitivities.</p>
<p>What I was referencing in my post wasn’t the same sort of thing as Feingold - it is - eliminate the food that we know is bad for everyone. A diet that is heavy in simple carbs - lots of sweets & sodas - wreaks havoc with blood sugar levels - so that in itself would tend to impact energy, mood, and ability to focus. First you are all hyper because you are on a sugar high, then the blood sugar plunges and you are all unfocused and irritable. The kid who ate oatmeal and eggs for breakfast instead of grabbing a couple of donuts simply has put a more sustainable source of energy into her system.</p>
<p>Calmom-
Yes, I am aware that the Feingold is more than a sugar elimination diet, but for purposes here I was hitting the highlights. And, though some people swear by it, the research just doesn’t suport its efficacy. Not to say people shouldnt try to eat healthier, as you suggested and yes, I understood that you were speaking about a generic healthy eating style. That’s what its all about in California, eh?? :)</p>
<p>And as for the positive attitude after a day of the new SAT-- that’s RELIEF!!! :D</p>