Adhd girls

[PlateSpinnerJuggler]

Hi!

Can you please take me through the symptoms / behaviours of your daughters that have been diagnosed with adhd - and the path you went on for diagnosis with ages and assessments / medications / therapies etc that have been put in play...

And also if they have it alongside any other diagnosis learning or neurological or other...

Asking specifically re girls as I'm aware they can be better at masking and display differently.

Thank you 😊

My eldest DD 11 was diagnosed with ADHD at 7. At the time she was constantly fidgeting, had poor concentration skills and had horrible sleep that had not improved since she was an infant. She had frequent outbursts and temper tantrums. The school referred to CAMHS who made the diagnosis. However, nothing really happened after that. They put into place a plan which included fidget toys and placement at the front of the classroom. Tbh nothing really improved. Then three years ago we moved to America. She was assessed by a psychiatrist who specialises in ADHD. We started CBT and medication. We tried stimulants but these didn’t work so we started Guanfacine. To say things have changed is an understatement. Her symptoms are not noticeable, and academically and socially she is thriving. We have since come back to England and she is doing very well. In a lot of cases I do think medication is needed so that the child can calm down in order to learn new skills and start to make changes. I wish you lots of luck.

I didn’t mention we have engaged a private psychiatrist since coming back. He is very good. If you are in London PM me and I can give you the details.

@Pacifica44

I didn’t mention we have engaged a private psychiatrist since coming back. He is very good. If you are in London PM me and I can give you the details.

Hey thanks for all this! I am in London... but I don't know how to pm on here - definitely happy to have a recommendation if you can pm to me - I've got a few private names and am researching them and have the school doing the CAHMS route. I just am not sure what "level" she needs to be to be actually concerned. She can have outbursts at home a few times a week and is always fidgeting and not able to concentrate to the point I think she's not learning too much other than when in small group interventions (which thankfully the school have put her in) ...socially I think she's ok - although I can see she's on the outskirts so not sure if will continue to be ok or not - or if it's her being friends with kids that I've made friends with the school mums too...

Following this with interest. DD has so many markers at home but masks at school. CAMHS aren’t interested. Think we will have no option but to go down private route.

@RoadTripsOceanDips have they said nothing wrong or school/gp won't refer to CAHMS?

We have a lot of mental health illness in my family too - so feel I need a watchful eye

It sounds like she is struggling a lot with attention. Does she sleep? Sleep problems can lead to even worse behaviour and symptoms and it becomes a vicious cycle. We use professor Patrick Bolton. He was very knowledgeable and actually trained the psychiatrist we also see at CAMHS (we do this as well because the medication through CaMHS is free, privately it’s very expensive) I would fully recommend him.

It’s good the school have put her in small group interventions. It sounds like they are taking your concerns seriously which is great. I do think a lot of girls can fall through the cracks

Hi , my daughter has also been diagnosed recently with ADHD, we also went to a private psychiatrist in London. She has been prescribed medication but hasn't started on it yet. Can I ask @Pacifica44 , did your daughter's moods improve too? School work is a huge problem for my 13 year old, but she has terrible temper flare ups too.

Her mood did improve on Guanfacine. However, there was a period (about a year ago) where her mood was very low and she seemed angry and anxious. We used a low dose of sertraline in addition to Guanfacine for 6 months and that made a massive difference. She is now only on Guanfacine and doing well in terms of mood and behaviour. It’s a lot of trail and error.

Just to add stimulants made her mood worse. There is a test you can take which you may know about (I think it’s called a genome test?) where they can better predict the medication that works best for your child.

Thank you - that's really helpful to know. My DD is starting on stimulants so we'll just have to see how it goes, I suppose. The psychiatrist didn't mention the test to find out which type are best suited to the child, annoyingly. Maybe I'll ask him.

@PlateSpinnerJuggler the GP referred to CAMHS, having not spoken to us, just read the info on the form you have to complete to get an appointment these days. We then got a letter from CAMHS and they are referring it to another department/organisation and CAMHS are closing their case. We haven’t spoken to anyone there either.

School accept there’s she has some issues around anxiety, especially with respect to dyslexia, which she was diagnosed with and the end of year 2 (she’s year 4 now). But re adhd, school don’t recognise any concerns. Head said you can’t turn ADHD on and off and that I’m worrying over nothing.

@Pacifica44 did you also have a child psychologist/therapist to do behavioural therapy alongside the medication? I don't think psychiatrists do that type of thing.

We had a child psychologist we were seeing via zoom until recently. She did CBT sessions which were very helpful

The sessions addressed anger, anxiety, impulse control in child friendly language and also utilised some breathing techniques.

Oh that's good to know, we plan to start something similar soon.