ADD meds

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I knew there had to be more to the story. I like your reasoning concerning your daughter's feedback, aann. I would hate to be drugged without being told what I might expect. I could see where she might appreciate something to help her organize her mind better, maybe...

Timers saved my sanity. We used them for everything from running down the hill for the mail to getting homework done. I made sure to use the timer for fun stuff so they wouldn't resent it. How many baskets can you make in 1 minute? How many shoes can you pick up? How many red things? How much watermelon can you eat? Can you feed the chickens in under 2 minutes? I have several styles and each child had one of their own.

The kids are gone now and I have all these timers.

Me, I have to constantly keep after myself to get things done. I've developed a pattern where I make out a to-do list for the next day every night. I include any phone numbers, addresses or any other information I might need to accomplish my tasks. I set the alarm on my cell phone more than I text. I write lists on my wrists (I always wear long sleeves.)

I cope out of desperation most of the time. My parents didn't teach me these things, I had to figure them out on my own for myself. I screwed up a lot but mostly when I was a kid. That's the best time to screw up, so let them whenever you can. Try not to overcompensate for them and if you do, make sure they know it so they'll know where they need to work a little harder.

It does bother me that you say they have no interests. I believe you, but none? Don't they like something?

If your house is messy when the cleaning person comes, they'll just dig in. It might cost extra for the first visit and you'll probably need to hang out with them the first time.

They want your business. They'll be nice. They're a person, too, so you just work it out.

Kids still need to learn to pick up after themselves, but it's so much easier if the general housekeeping is done and mom isn't stressing.

Thanks a million for the very practical, kind answers, many of which I can implement. I now realize that I don't want to drug my son b/c I'm doing some natural/homeopathic/dietary things that are helping with AS symptoms, but not ADD. My daughter doesn't seem to be helped by natural means, which why I am considering her for ADD meds, while I don't want any meds to interfere w/ my son's natural remedies. This is in addition to what I wrote - that I understand her and not hm.

As for interests, my dd's interest is chorus. Her training and practice is pretty intense and she's pretty shy to sing solo, so I don't see us drawing that in to school w/o adding extra work.

My son is artistic and I killed that by giving too much attention to it. He is great w/ explaining science stuff so I signed him up for Science Olympiad. That is going to take some work on my part to get him and his team to work on projects - not my forte! He also has a computer programming course that my husband started to do w/ him. Again, we aren't getting to it very often. He is also pretty good with chess. I would love to find a free way to play chess online where you can play only with a friend we know, who lives far away.

I think you could set a Facebook account up to play chess and shut everyone out. You'd still have the advertisements, though.

Art and Science can blend nicely.

Chorus is a great interest. I was in choirs from the time I was 10 until I was 35. I even sang backup for a Christian recording artist but I was never a soloist. I never made any money singing either, but it's one of the best parts of my life. (All my best friends in life that still talk to me were from my musical groups) Music opens doors of communication that would otherwise be locked and provides a safe harbor when the world becomes too overwhelming. These days I sing at church and jam with some bluegrass buddies whenever I get the chance. I play a banjo, too.

I think maybe people are misunderstanding your post and your point, my daughter whom excels in most has a problem with attention and concentration. She is older than you child she is taking medication now and it has made a huge difference for her.

She is now achieving high grades and probably top or near of her class. It has lifted her confidence and does help in her every day.

Annmaria, at what age did she begin meds? I'm afraid of messing up brain development by beginning to young. My dd is 11. She's so smart I don't want to waste her high school years due to innattention but I wonder when the optimum time to begin is.

Medication is a difficult choice and I pondered over and over about it, I have 2 children my daughter whom is dx with ADD & GAD and my son whom is dx now with ADHD, AS, OCD.

Initially my children were dx with daughter 16yrs just ADD, and my son now 13yrs dx ADHD I choose not to use medication for many years. as above they have been given extra dx not saying this is because I didn't use medication.

My daughter was dx with ADD at 12yrs didn't use medication until she was 14yrs but it has made a big difference for her. Her recent state exams 3 A's 8 B's don't think she would have achieved this without the meds but of course I only want to use them temporary hoping now she will be able to achieve same standards unaided she also is attending a course around anxiety etc which is paramount to help her cease medication.

My son needs medication just to attend school it is very problematic for him. I feel my daughter meets the criteria for ASD awaiting assessment. Regardless she is doing really well.

She takes Ritalin daily, this is her choice if any time she does not want to continue she can stop. As a mother I still find it very difficult to give my children medications but its helping them if I found an other alternative I would opt for it.

I think at 11yrs she is old enough for medication again its a personal choice, you could try it for a set period and see how she response. I think I would have opt to give it to my daughter when she was younger if I knew it was going to be positive.

I have always given my daughter the choice and I think that's important at the beginning I explained and she decided. Even at 11yrs if explained on her terms I think she can make an informed choice if this is not the case then you have to decide.

I was diagnosed with ADHD inattentive about the time I turned 51. This means that I spent my school years getting in trouble for losing things, not being able to start or complete tasks, organize myself or any of the myriad other things that come along with ADHD. Since I wasn't actually bouncing off the walls and because I was a girl I just got called lazy, etc. "Try harder" was what I heard all the time.

The troubles due to executive function dysfunction didn't stop when I reached adulthood. Eventually I hit the wall on "try harder". Now I've traded my 43,000/year job for SSDI and antidepressants. I might have avoided that if I'd had meds and coaching for organization. I've been depressed since I was 8. Did you know that untreated depression makes permanent changes to the brain?

I understand the desire to keep things natural. My daughter is 10 and I'd rather not have to give her Ritalin but she can't focus at all so I have to give it a try.

My 6 year old daughter has tried so called psychotherapy (ABA) with no observable difference. What improved her ability to focus was Ritalin. Medication for us has been the most effective therapy (despite our initial reluctance).

In terms of learning she will make noises, say silly things and occasionally run around the room. At the end of the day she completes her homework tasks. Academic activities are easy for her as she was hyperlexic for numbers and letters from about 12 months old.

It;s not an ideal situation giving her medication but she now accepts the pill in the morning.

I think that it depends on the kid and the severity of the situation.

I have been self-medicating with caffeine for years for recently diagnosed ADD and plan to give stimulants a try. Perpetual grogginess and difficulty concentrating is not fun and can interfere with work and studies.

This. I had to take ADD meds a bit in elementary school,then in high school, and I hated it (this was before any long-acting forms were available). But I started realizing how helpful they were only after my parents didn't force me to take anything. The meds will only work if your kid feels ready.

I didn't read through the entire thread, but I've had some experience with those meds and my boys and will gladly tell you my experiences and opinions.

Oldest son was about 8 when we started him on Ritalin. He was pretty hyper in school, disruptive, couldn't concentrate, mildly dyslexic and couldn't focus the concentration he needed to be able to figure out the reading, although was very intelligent and enjoyed reading for pleasure which he was able to focus on for a time. This was back in the 90s and at the schools suggestion I talked to his pediatrician and we started him on Ritalin. It worked great! The boy could focus, he calmed down without runing his personality, it was great. Except he wouldn't eat, and couldn't sleep. Even on the lowest dose. We didn't want to try Adderall, because we were afraid that would make him have worse side effects. Eventually we had to take him off.

Youngest son tried Straterra at first. I didn't want the nightmare of stimulants again. Straterra was new and a nonstimulant drug so that was the first thing we tried. After several weeks his personality changed. He became mean, agressive, negative, depressed. No improvement in his behavior or concentration. We switched to Adderall XR. 10mg. He felt the side effects and couldn't stand them. Nervousness, anxiety, couldn't eat or sleep. We took him off those.

We tried the Adderall again with him recently and he again felt the same side effects. It's been a few years, and he didn't remember taking it before, and we didn't mention it to him, so it wasn't just somatic. He really felt them. Vyvanse had just come out and I did some research into that and we started him on it. It worked miracles! Not only did he not have the side effects like anxiety, but he could eat, sleep, concentrate, etc and it lasted all day. It's not something that has to be taken every day, only when it's needed, like school, functions, etc. We took him off it over the summer and started him back on it when school started. He's 16. He's still taking the lowest available doseage, 20mg. They do titrate upwards as the improvement starts to wane, but so far he's still on the 20mg. We may need to go up in a few months, but so far it's great.

I give it to him at 5am when I wake up. He's in bed, but wakes up for a second to take the pill and goes back to sleep. By the time he has to get up for school about an hour and a half later, he's starting to feel some effects and that helps with morning routine and being rushed and his frustration with it. He still eats breakfast and lunch etc. It's completely worn off by night, and he has no trouble sleeping. He usually goes to bed around 11 or so. I'm in bed by then, but that's his usual routine for weeknights. I do not give it on weekends unless there is something he needs to do, like work. I also don't give it when he's home sick, because there's nothing he needs to concentrate on then anyway except video games and Facebook and phone calls.

Frances

My daughter is on Concerta and the difference in her ability to focus on meds is dramatic. She was never able to watch a whole tv show, listen to a whole story, finish a complete conversation or maintain her focus on anything for longer than 10 minutes. She is Inattentive, not Hyperactive, so the struggle she was having at school was going largely unrecognized.

She's smart and even with the inattention she was getting good grades but where she was struggling was in executive function, following directions, keeping anything sequential in sequence as well as struggling with more complex reading assignments. In he middle of a paragraph she'd just bust in with her own story. Creative, yes! Helping reading proficiency - not so much. After medication it
became clear to her teachers how much she had been struggling before. She finished her first video game. She watched her first movie all the way through without narrating/questioning/figiting. She even commented how much better she could focus - at 8 years old.

I had grown so used to the constant non stop chatter that I was kind of freaked out the first day she was sitting there quietly playing a game. I just stopped and watched her for 20 minutes or so. It was scary and a relief at the same time.

She is on a low dose - 27mg - and she gets a full school day plus some of attention control. Even though she is acclimating and the effects aren't lasting as long, we are not upping the dose. She is getting help at the time she needs it most - through the school day. My daughter never really slept well to begin with - I swear she only needs 5 hours - and we've had to use melatonin since she was small to get her to lay down at all. The medication hasn't helped nor hurt her sleep issues in the least. Trying to get her more active is the only way to really get her to sleep on her own but with some significant dyspraxia issues, physical activity isn't high on her list. It's a struggle.

If someone isn't getting these kind of results on a medication, I see no point in using it. But, if you try medication, and it works - your pro/con columns may shift a bit, like mine did. I am not a fan of meds especially not stimulants for children. BUT, ADHD meds are fairly targeted - if it is going to work, you'll know almost immediately. If you try them and you see, or your daughter feels, little change - they may not be what you need.

Regarding the ADD meds, the psychiatrist had tried my son with classic autism on Adderall IR--5 mg dose/2x daily, in addition to Prozac for anxiety. However, the Adderall causes anxiety in many kiddos with classic autism, and it didn't work out for my son.

At one of my younger son's appointments with the psychiatrist (yes, all three of us have the same psychiatrist), the doctor asked if I had ever been treated for ADD, and he asked about my caffeine intake. I admitted to a huge caffeine intake for as long as I could remember and attention issues. He said that caffeine used to be used to treat ADD.

I also admitted to trying my son's Adderall, and that it had made me feel "normal"--focused and alert without a bunch of coffee in me.

He tried me out on a prescription for Adderall XR 20 mg/day, but that was too much--trouble concentrating and headaches--signs that the dose was too high.

I finally got the prescription for the lower dose, and I'm going to try the 10 mg Adderall XR today and see what happens.

Okay, so does anyone think we will find a med that will not bring her weight down? She's quite skinny.