not sure what to think

Venus - posted on 11/18/2010

I found and homeopathic product called attend that i am going to try. thanks for the words of wisdom.

Connie - posted on 11/17/2010

In my experience - I have two sons who are medicated for ADHD - one combined with ODD - he is 14. We started him on meds when he was 12 because puberty was interfering with the natural methods that had worked up until that point. We only feed our kids foods in the most natural form that we can find them, no artificial dyes or flavors and stay away from artificial sweetners. We have a super structured bedtime, life is fairly structured and as long as he kinda knows what is going on he is good. The younger one has autism and ADHD is a common co-morbitity with that. He is on the lowest dose of biphentin cuz we didn't want to have a "doped up" little boy. His excitabilty was wreaking havoc on our house and we couldn't keep up with the repairs, it was also a major source of his frustration. He is a lot easier to teach and since we made the difficult decision to medicate him so early (he is 7 1/2) and we are happy with the results. My advice - if you don't feel good about it then research your options. Medication isn't always the necessary immediate answer and if there is something in his lifestyle, environment or what he eats that could be eliminated or changed and you are willing to ride that out until it "works" (usually within 30 days) then you go with it. I find that the ADD card is pulled out far to quickly and easily and we have a nation of medicated children that don't need to be medicated. We have told our oldest son that as soon as puberty is over he starts to wean himself off the meds and learns to manage his behavior with training and a psychologist. Long term medication is not always necessary. Anyway...I hope that helps a little bit with how you are feeling and you as his mother have every right to do what you believe to be right for your child. Good Luck!

Phyllis - posted on 11/17/2010

I'm pretty sure that all of us who have our kids on meds feels guilty to some extent. Even those of us that tried everything else first. But the bottom line for us is that my son cannot cope in school or social setting without them. If he was a diabetic, I would not refuse him insulin, and if he needs these meds to have a better life, I will give him those too. I should note that my son's ADHD/ODD is severe. This is likely why the diet changes and other natural stuff did not help at all. By all means try whatever you can before going with meds, maybe it will help. Maybe it won't but at least you tried all the options. You are lucky in one aspect. Where I am, many health insurance companies will not cover Non Stimulant meds unless the stimulants have been tried for a minimum 6 months first, without good results. At least you can go to the non stimulants right off the bat.