Does she have ADHD?

[Mummyforman]

Hi mummies...

I am looking for anybody who can share stories, advice & for a child who may have ADHD (or similar)? My doctor is referring my daughter to a behaviour specialist... for 2 years now I have had concerns but her behaviour just isn't right... I am at breaking point, I get too drained, from the moment she gets up to the second she goes to bed it a permanent battle.... please help x :(

How old is she?
My DD1 was referred (by her school, with my permission) aged 6.
Diagnosed with ADHD and we agreed to try her on Ritalin.. she was a whirling dervish who couldn't sit down let alone concentrate although school felt she was very bright. she didn't eat, didn't sleep and while never agressive she could argue like a Jesuit!

I found her VERY hard work. I knew it was not my parenting, as she is one of four and the others were nothing like her. However the Ritalin was amazing..it enabled her to focus and settle, and we discovered she was indeed very bright.

She stayed on it til she was in her teens then decided to try without for a few years. She aced her gcses, and her A levels, but remained something of a trial at times to her teachers her chemistry teacher shut her in the cupboard for 10 mins in 6th form just to have a break

She became much easier to live with as she got older and her ADHD has actually enabled her to be a brilliant student.. a lightening fast mind, doesn;t need sleep, and learn things so quickly. She went back on Ritalin at 18, and is now in her 4th year studying medicine, where she is a top performing student. She will be doctor in just over a year's time.

When dd1 was an impossible small child she told the paed she was going to be a doctor when she grew up, and the Paed said that she should go for it, and that there are many brilliant minds around who have ADHD.. with the right support (and meds if necessary) it can be channelled.

DD1 was her worst aged 6-10 and gradually got easier and easier.. not a hideous teen at all, and now she is an amazing young woman; and she still has ADHD :)

I hope your daughter gets the support you both need.. it CAN be ok!

well we started having issues when she was 2, almost 3, put it down to when our son was born, he was in NICU, nothing too graphic but obviously still distressing. at that time she was just a pain! tantrums seems shocking, my hubby (medic I the forces has 10 x the patience I do and even he struggled) anyways... put it down to being unsettled.. she is 6 years old in april... she has no sense of danger, ran out into a car park this week.. I even told her she would one day do it, break bones or worse.. didn't bat an eye lid! a few months ago she climbed onto he top bunk, grabbed her curtain rail and hung off it, crashed down to the floor, scraped all her ribcage on the bed. she has no patience, never has! her attention span is appalling, she cant for example read a book without her eyes darting off elsewhere, she can write but cant read, yet 99.9% of children can write but struggle to read, coz lets face it how can you write something if you cannot read it? she doesn't have a 'best friend' nor a close friend... just kinda floats between friends. if she is reading the word 'did' (which she already knows) she has to break it down, sound it out, say it.. next page, same word repeats the process..within a minute or so, if I go back and explain she just said it she appears clueless. she does this with many words. she doesn't appear to have emotional attachment to anything, has no favourite toys, no favourite games, she breaks everything!! she trashes her bedroom to the point I gave up cleaning it, today I threatened to bin the lot if she didn't tidy it, I explained I was very serious and she just smirked, when I asked if she cared she just said no.... so its all bagged up. all I have left is books. shes not bothered! at all! at almost 3 Bethany couldn't complete a 4 piece jigsaw.. we tried for months, hid it in the end! we just figured she wasn't ready yet.. she can do them now but doesn't seem to grasp the idea, still needs prompting. our boy, sat down 2 nights ago and completed a 24 piece with very little promt... he is 3 in January. she struggles to follow the most basic instruction, I asked her to get a box of cards from the living room, she stood I the dinng room (all open planned) slowly span an appeared in her own world, and asked me where? so I repeated what I had asked.. she stood in the living room and did it again. she has worn the same school shoes for months.... still gets them on the wrong feet... this is the case for ALL shoes. I can tell her not to do something or to do something and I need to repeat it within seconds! its excessive! the worst thing is last week she 'grabbed' my step dads bits... I went mental. only a few weeks ago she made our son touch her :( she can walk in the kitchen see a box of corn flakes and will ask... mum what are they for? even a 2 year old doesn't tend to ask, she saw a locked gate yesterday and asked why we couldn't use it? when I say why do you think... 'because its locked' she has physically hung off her dad for a cuddle because she simply cannot wait... to the point its torn tops. she isn't violent apart from using her body weight a lot with our son, school haven't noticed much apart from the reading/writing and the fact she comes home with about 4 face/head injury stickers in a week? I have asked them to watch her after listening to my concerns they seemed to understand. I only told the gp half of this and he referred her :( I get so mad & frustrated I feel I cant cope anymore x

Mummy agrees with 8Quietly* … I think it's easy for health professionals to steam in with a one stop assessment and diagnosis. Be really thorough as there are soooo many different reasons why your dd may be llike this. My son, now 10, got a diagnosis aged 7 of ADHD and dyslexia. The older he gets, the more the ADHD becomes less and the learning difficulty becomes more obvious. ARe you in the UK?

….forgot to mention the probably obvious to you. Diet is massively important for kids like this. Seriously cut sugar intake and knock any processed food on the head along with additives, many preservatives and sweeteners. It made a huge difference to my ds at that age. Also, if she can, plenty of sleep and exercise ….

thank you for your replies, doctor is referring her but I knew there could be something else or more to it? I just don't know what to look for? @quietlyhow do I go about getting her IQ assessed?

the doctor said her wait could be 6 weeks hence why id like to look at other things first also?
@madame yes I am in the UK...

her diet is good, I am not just saying this but I mainly eat clean fresh foods, she has packed lunch so I know what she is eating, always loved food, eats anything! sugar wise, the only sweets or chocolate my two get are usually after tea they get a pudding, if not a yogurt & biscuit its a small handful of sweets, that is pretty much all they get, apart from natural sugars from fruits etc x :(