How much difference did putting your child on medication for ADHD make to all of your lives????

[Blossomhill]

I am still umming and arring about putting dd on some kind of add/adhd medication. I am holding off at the moment but just feel that her main difficulties are in her inability to concentrate on things for too long. She is also very bouncy and I don't think that helps with her interaction/social skills as it can put kids off.
I personally don't think she has Adhd as I have read up a lot, seen it on tv etc but do feel she has some kind of add that is connected to her language difficulties.
Someitmes I feel I should give it a go and other times I really don't think I can.
Thanks

[thedogmother]

I don't have the problem at home bh but at school have seen the medication make a tremendous difference to children with ADHD/concentration difficulties, hence it helps with the home life.

Of course, if you do decide to give the medication, you can always stop if you don't feel it is working.

Don't feel pressurised either way, take your time to make your decision.

[Blossomhill]

I am holding off until she is 6 anyway.

Sometimes I feel that I am cruel if I do but cruel if I don't

Dd even says things like "I must concentrate". She tries so hard bless her but it you can see that she finds it so, so difficult.

[Frizbe]

Did you read the observer the other week, They reckon'd that Iron was deficient in a lot of hyper kids diets, and that you should get the quack to check this out, as the sample of kids they treated with iron supplements started to calm down? just a thought like....

[thedogmother]

What about the Omega3 fishoils? Have you tried these?

[Blossomhill]

Thanks Frisbe

We have actually had her iron levels checked and they were fine. I have tried some dietary changes and eyeq (which was a nightmare). We are off to Bibic and am hoping that some of there strategies may help, fingers x'd!

[thedogmother]

x-d post!

[Blossomhill]

Do you think it could be just eyeq and maybe another oil may suit her better.

She also has a language/communication disorder so that makes things harder...

[JaysMum]

Blossom.
When we went to BIBIC we had J on eyeq.
The nutritionist told us to stop it immediatly. Eye q has a high concentrate of Virgin Primrose Oil added to it and this causes hyperactivity.
She told us just to use bog standard H&Barrett Omega 3 fish oil capsules instead.
The difference is remarkable. J can concentrate for longer periods and his irritability is not as much as it was.It does take a while before you notice any effects and they are quite subtle.....but a definate improvemnet to 6 months ago.

[Blossomhill]

Hi Jaysmum - thanks.

I think I'll wait until I go to Bibic and talk about it with the nutritonalist. So they recommend vitamins/supplements to take too at Bibic?? It would be great if before I go we could meet for a little chat, haven't had one for ages have we? Bxxx

[JaysMum]

Bloss.....the nutrionalist will recommend various supplements and vitamins for your little poppet. they are all available there at BIBIC.
Because we are having J assessed on 30th March at home and its our wedding anniverasry on 31st, we may not be able to get up there to see you for the day.
Bar sometime?????

[MrsFROSTgetful]

in halfterm i broke all the rules and out of sheer desparation gave alex one of tom's low dose tablets 9crushed in a drink) to see if he calmed down.... trouble was he DID and that convinced me he has ADHD as the paed always said that they won't work on a child who has no deficit....and then i realised that i still had noone agreeing with me etc.

so, i have thrown away those 5mg tablets as i don't want to be tempted again... and rang the school head about another matter yesterday and then blurted out how i cannot manage at home with alex at the moment...and he admited that he was finding alex more than a handful at school-i then said that (as normal) the paed seems only to spring into action when the schools show concerns...and that it's not fair as how he manages at school effects his self esteem and how he behaves at home...just as if we have had arguements at home it affects school

so waiting to see what comes of this....and feel for you blossie as Alex isn't 6 till may...and is a tiny dot of a lad...size 9 shoes-age 3/4 clothes....and i feel dreadfulk that i basically lowered myself to the level of a criminal by 'spiking his drink'...which was a dangerous tyhing to do.

[Blossomhill]

Mrs F - if ever you have 5 mins i WOULD LOVE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THIS ALL IN MORE DEPTH. i AM on msn messenger so not sure if you are. I just need to talk to someone in my situation xxx

[canuckmom]

Hi, we tried all the "natural" solutions and nothing helped.
Then we had such a bad incident with aggression and impulsiveness, and all the therapists said they couldn't even get through a session with him (3). So we tried CONCERTA, and it was like night and day, he started talking, stopped running, and actually sleeps better, never gets sick, and is my helper in the kitchen (he wouldn't even play with toys or watch telly before.) Only wanted to create havok and destroy things. The only side effect we have (after 6 months now) is decreased appetite since day one, he barely eats.

[Blossomhill]

What dx does your son have cm?

[canuckmom]

Well: at 13mos. the said PDD(pervasive development disorder) Then they said NOT. The concerta(ritalin) is for ADHD. Hyperactivity and impulsiveness (would run into street if not harnessed.

[Blossomhill]

cm - Is ds 3 now?
My dd has a communication/social disorder ( very likely a mild asd) and can be very hyper/impulsive. Am off to Bibic in 4 weeks for an assessment about a holistic approach to helping dd and the we'll see what happens. have tried fish oils and some dietary but the eyeq made her 100x worse!

[canuckmom]

Blossomhill: if you want to e-mail me we can trade info. I have to go off now! [email protected]

[Blossomhill]

Will do cm - thanks

[canuckmom]

Blossomhill, he is four now, and h/f asd, with ADHD and sensory issues. Never been good with other kids, and self-esteem affected, likes to play now but way better that pre-meds, no aggressive behaviour now, I used to be covered in bites and scratches. We have beed to lots of assesments and they keep changing their mind about diagnosis. So we deal with symptoms and how to deal with them, do your own research and talk to people, you know your child better anyway.

[reiki]

my son AJ has been on equasym since august 04 and hes been great. we still give him fish oils but hes doing much better,
we tried concerta but it didn't work as well.
hes 6 1/2.
jo

[MrsFROSTgetful]

after he had taken concerta for a year we had to 'boost' the 18mg with a 5mg equasym for a long time-18mg is a long acting tablet ....releasing
4mg initially
then after 4 hours 7mg
then after 4 hours another 7mg.....

in our home the first few hours each day can be the worsed so 4mg was never enough- so this was why we added the extra 5mg....meaning he got 9mg immediately (he had been on 10mg Equasym twice a day)

i wished at that time they done it as a 21mg meaning 3x7mg doses...in America they have made a 27mg tablet-whereas in the UK the tablets go from 18 straight to 36mg.....18,27,36 seems a better progression than straigh from 18 - 36mg

Now he's age 11 and weighing 6 stone he takes 36mg...

[MrsFROSTgetful]

point i was trying to make is that 18mg is often unsucessful and given up - when a simple 5mg ritalin/equasym (same drug as concerta- just not long acting) would make it work....i spoke to a mum the other night and she says they boost the 18mg in morning and after school with a 5mg eqasym...28mg....and this means there is still no need to dose at school....

Our paed took alot of persusion to allow me to trial the 'top up'....but now she offers this to alot of the 'in between patients'...for whom 36mg is no good

Really worth a try if you feel your child who was on 10mg twice a day...plus maybe a 5mg after school- who then goes on concerta at only 18mg...it's not just the ammount of the mg that counts - it's when they are released into the bloodstream/brain....so ask about a 'topup' of ritalin/equasym....

I would REALLY love to know who else tried this etc/

[Cosmo74]

I have just started my DS on Boots Omega-3 fsh oils (Strawberry flavour) as I know he would not take tablets or ordinary stuff with no flavouring - he will have been on it 2 weeks this Saturday - when should we see the difference if any - also do anyone know if this is good or would the flavourings in it undo the good of the fish oils?

Ta

[tallulah]

Concerta makes my ds a human being. Without it one of us would have left home

[Chocol8]

Heh, know what you mean Tallulah!!!

My ds was on Ritalin for 18 months or so, and as we all know it is such a hard decision to make about whether to give it or not. After a lot of deliberation I trialled it and after a week I could REALLY see the difference! I then started him on EyeQ and he seemed to improve. After stopping the EyeQ cos I ran out he had a major meltdown but then I changed to Eskimo Kids (which he LOVES!). We did trial Concerta but it just didn't touch him - it was like he was taking nothing! That was the week from hell I can tell you!

He changed at Christmas time to Strattera which is a time release tablet and the only side effect he has now is his sleeping (even though he has 9mg of Melatonin every night). He is up several times in the night and it is awful - I am knackered - although he doesn't seem to be!

MrsF, I did the top up thing in the evening as in the afternoon the 10mg he was having after lunch at school just didn't seem to work. The paed said to try starting with 5mg (half tab) after a snack at 4pm and work up to 10mg so that it carried him through to bedtime. It really did work, and he was a lot calmer in the evening allowing us to do nice things together (video evenings etc).

Now he is on Strattera his behaviour isn't great but it is certainly no worse than when he was on Ritalin, he has his ups and downs all the same.

Bloss, don't rush into a decision, see what BIBIC have to say and speak to more mums who have tried it first. It was only after speaking to a lady whose 18 yr old ds had taken it years before that I decided to trial it - I am very glad I did because without it both mine and ds's lives would be horrendous! Good luck, you will make the right decision for your dd, whatever you decide. x