Advice needed on A.D.D. please! (LONG)

[Lanshark]

Is is working up to his potential without the meds? If he is diagnosed and your answer is no then IMO the course is clear.

The teen years are the most dangerous for kids with ADHD. School, life decisions and driving require good concentration, organization, self-esteem and self-control. I spoke with a doctor a few days ago who said that the statistics are not good for kids with ADHD that drive. Her recommendation is that they make sure they have meds in their system until driving becomes second nature. Avoiding drinking, drugs, sex and dangerous behavior takes the ability to control your impulses. These things are difficult for any teen but especially difficult for ADHD teens.

I teach at a private school for kids diagnosed with ADHD or learning disabilities.

 

[Christine]

Both my children have ADHD. I do not have it. My DH has it. I *did* find a doctor who would prescribe me my own ADHD medication and I did try it. Since, I do not have ADHD, it made me feel disorganized and my mind kept jumping around. I didn't feel hyper on it at all. I have tried a lot of medications for anxiety and depression in the past and, believe it or not, the Ritalin had the LEAST side effects.

My DD (who is 14) takes it everyday. She would prefer not to take it. She says she feels "less outgoing" on it and she is more quiet. Sometimes her friends will ask her why she is quiet. When she's not on it, she is VERY outgoing, talkative, loud (and can be annoying....). Other than that, she has no other complaints with it.

Both of my kids eat well while on it, sleep well, etc. But it does make you feel more reserved. I'm probably not explaining it well. The trick is to find the smallest dose with the most improvement. Sometimes a higher dose will give you EXCELLENT results at school, but it won't be good in other areas. I just try to get minimal side effects with a little bit of improvement.

Oh, and men are FAMOUSLY noted for resisting these meds for their children. One of my co-worker's has a son who has very bad ADHD. They've known for awhile but the co-worker (male) refused to put his son on medications because he "knew it would ruin his future as a military pilot." So, they didn't medicate. The child got into more and more trouble, had horrible social issues because of his impulsiveness. Finally, when he was 14, he stood up in the middle of class and announced that he was going to kill himself. My co-worker finally agreed to start the medication. The turnaround has been amazing (according to the dad) but there have been years and years of damage that cannot be undone.

I hope it all works out for you. It is a very hard decision for any parent to medicate their children.

 

[Karel]

Two teachers did an assessment (they did not follow proper procedures and did get reprimanded for it) but the neurologist was not convinced that they were accurate. >snip< They just could not give him an ounce of credit. It really seemed as though they just went down the list and checked off all the negative.


They are not looking to 'give him credit' with the assessment. The whole point is to check the negative stuff.

I see you are in NJ. Go to the Child Study Team. Have the teacher refer him. They will do testing and see if they can help or let you know what you can do to help him.

What's the worst that could happen? We had our son on Adderall for a month and took him off because it's not what he needed. If the meds don't work, then you try something else.

 

[AMcaptured]

I want to reinforce something another poster mentioned. It is very important to keep a teenager stable when it comes to this disease. A 10 year old with ADD is far less of a danger to himself than a 14 year old is. A teenager whose ADD isn't controlled tends to make more bad choices in the areas of drugs and alcohol, not to mention sex, plus driving.

I know a young man (17) who goes off his medicine in the summer so he can gain some weight, he is very thin, and he did have two car accidents when weather conditions weren't a problem.

I know that deciding to take medicine is a difficult decision but as someone who has a chronic medical condition, I accepted a long time ago that I had to take my medicine or I would seriously reduce the quality of my life.

Good Luck, it isn't easy and I feel for you. We all want to do what is best for our children.