Help with possible ADD in DD7....

[PolyAddict]

I happened upon a thread on the budget board about ADD, and thought i would head over here for support.

My DD7 is about to go through testing for ADD through a specialist. She is in 2nd grade at an advanced private school and has been there since pre-k 3. Every teacher starting in pre-k 4 has told me that she has trouble staying on task and finishing things. They also said that it may just be developmental and she could grow out of it. She is young in her grade and i always kind of figured she would grow out of it. I have 2 older DD's and didn't experience problems like this.

SHe has dealt with some minor ocd and anxiety issues and we got her help through a local pshycologist (sp?). She also talks at home incessantly, this is not a problem at school as she has excellent behavior there. She just has to be redirected constantly and doesn't get her work done. Homework has become at best a nightmare getting her to complete and i am very concerned that medication is going to be advised and am very nervous about that. SHe is a sweet, creative little girl and I hate to imagine medication making her a different person.

Anyone going through the same thing want to share your stories?

thanks

 

[freckles and boo]

It got a little hot on that thread, didn't it?

We are still new to this - our younger daughter, who is five, was diagnosed three months ago. We have been treating her autism since she was nearly three but only recently realized that it was complicated by ADHD. We held off addressing these issues with our older daughter, who is seven, because we hoped she would just grow out of her inattentiveness. After a really rough start this year she was diagnosed just a few weeks ago. The decision to medicate my daughters was the toughest thing I have ever done. I still worry about it, even though I rationally understand why it is helping them. I worry about side effects - they are potentially quite scary. I worry that their personalities might be affected, even though really it is just their behaviors that are affected. They are still the same zany little girls, they just have more control and focus. I worry that there are long-term affects that we will find out about in ten or twenty or thirty years (although these medications have actually been in use safely for 50 years or more). I worry about everything. I am their mom.

However, as much as I worry, I feel I have made the right choice knowing that they are doing better in school and in their activities. Their job, for the next ten to sixteen years is getting an education. Their futures hinge on it. If they can't pay attention in school and learn new strategies for dealing with life they will just be marking time. Once they are adults, I don't want to look back and wonder if ignoring their problems made them worse. I also did a lot of research and found that many people who reach adolescence with ADHD and who aren't properly treated begin to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. Alcoholism runs in my husband's family and it scares the crap out of me.

You can only do what you feel is right for your child. Like I said about the little boy in the budget board thread, I sincerely hope your child doesn't have it. But if she does, educate yourself and realize that there is a LOT of support out there. Good luck.

 

[PolyAddict]

It got a little hot on that thread, didn't it?

We are still new to this - our younger daughter, who is five, was diagnosed three months ago. We have been treating her autism since she was nearly three but only recently realized that it was complicated by ADHD. We held off addressing these issues with our older daughter, who is seven, because we hoped she would just grow out of her inattentiveness. After a really rough start this year she was diagnosed just a few weeks ago. The decision to medicate my daughters was the toughest thing I have ever done. I still worry about it, even though I rationally understand why it is helping them. I worry about side effects - they are potentially quite scary. I worry that their personalities might be affected, even though really it is just their behaviors that are affected. They are still the same zany little girls, they just have more control and focus. I worry that there are long-term affects that we will find out about in ten or twenty or thirty years (although these medications have actually been in use safely for 50 years or more). I worry about everything. I am their mom.

However, as much as I worry, I feel I have made the right choice knowing that they are doing better in school and in their activities. Their job, for the next ten to sixteen years is getting an education. Their futures hinge on it. If they can't pay attention in school and learn new strategies for dealing with life they will just be marking time. Once they are adults, I don't want to look back and wonder if ignoring their problems made them worse. I also did a lot of research and found that many people who reach adolescence with ADHD and who aren't properly treated begin to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. Alcoholism runs in my husband's family and it scares the crap out of me.

You can only do what you feel is right for your child. Like I said about the little boy in the budget board thread, I sincerely hope your child doesn't have it. But if she does, educate yourself and realize that there is a LOT of support out there. Good luck.

ya know, i must have stopped reading before it got heated. thanks for the info, especially about the alcoholism since DH's family has a history there. I know i don't know for sure but i just feel very strongly that something stands between my child and getting things done. the stuff i read about the epilepsy was interesting, too, because we have family history of that. I will bring that to her pediatricians attention. I felt the same way as you do about hoping DD7 will grow out of her innattentiveness, i even soemthimes feel a different school would help because she has 30+ other kids in the class. thanks for the advice and good luck for you, too.

 

[freckles and boo]

ya know, i must have stopped reading before it got heated. thanks for the info, especially about the alcoholism since DH's family has a history there. I know i don't know for sure but i just feel very strongly that something stands between my child and getting things done. the stuff i read about the epilepsy was interesting, too, because we have family history of that.

Definitely ask that your child has an EEG to rule out seizures before they prescribe ADHD meds if you have any concern about epilepsy. Kids with autism often have seizure disorders and our pediatric neurologist ordered an EEG to rule OUT seizures before the ADHD diagnosis for our younger daughter. Fortunately that was one less thing we had to worry about.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Hi PolyAddict and to disABILTIES. You might want to look at some of the other threads in this forum concerning ADD/ADHD/Autism, etc. You will find a lot of useful information here.

 

[PolyAddict]

Hi PolyAddict and to disABILTIES. You might want to look at some of the other threads in this forum concerning ADD/ADHD/Autism, etc. You will find a lot of useful information here.

Thank ya! I kinda looked around but didn't find any threads yet. Maybe I am not awake, yet. I a will keep looking.

 

[pcparamedics01]

I happened upon a thread on the budget board about ADD, and thought i would head over here for support.

My DD7 is about to go through testing for ADD through a specialist. She is in 2nd grade at an advanced private school and has been there since pre-k 3. Every teacher starting in pre-k 4 has told me that she has trouble staying on task and finishing things. They also said that it may just be developmental and she could grow out of it. She is young in her grade and i always kind of figured she would grow out of it. I have 2 older DD's and didn't experience problems like this.

SHe has dealt with some minor ocd and anxiety issues and we got her help through a local pshycologist (sp?). She also talks at home incessantly, this is not a problem at school as she has excellent behavior there. She just has to be redirected constantly and doesn't get her work done. Homework has become at best a nightmare getting her to complete and i am very concerned that medication is going to be advised and am very nervous about that. SHe is a sweet, creative little girl and I hate to imagine medication making her a different person.

Anyone going through the same thing want to share your stories?

thanks

Well my son is ASD but along with that he is ADD as well. Homework was also a nightmare until we put him on concerta. He is now focused in class. Does all his work without a fight. I am not sure if you agree with medicating, but I really did not have a choice if I wanted him to not fall behind. Without it it is a nightmare...

 

[barkley]

my ds is 10 1/2 and has been on adhd meds since age 4. we too were worried it would change his personality but figured we could always discontinue the meds if it had a negative impact on him. our worries were unfounded in his case-his personality remained the same but he was able to better focus and control himself.

we were lucky in that the first med he was prescribed worked well and he remained on it until this past spring. the only reason we changed was he hated taking pills and it was a daily argument-when i learned that a patch adhd med was available i asked his ped neuro if he would consider it. we gave it a try and it's worked realy well.

 

[Hasil72]

Most of us can tell you that the meds vs. no meds decision is amazingly hard. We really tried for a few years not to give DS (8-also has ASD and anxiety) meds because of all the risks and the stories that we heard. Then it came to a point that DS was having such a hard time we needed to give him that chance to see how he would react. (My family thought by medicating him I was "abusing" him!) Initially, they had to try Adderall. Apparently the insurance company wouldn't pay for anything else until we had tried it. That was horrible. It made everything ten times worse. Then we tried Strattera, a non-stimulant, and that has worked out really well. Helps curb the anxiety and the impulsivity. Unfortunately, we have also been using the Daytrana patch in addition to the Strattera since February which again we really didn't want to do. It has made an amazing difference.

Now don't get me wrong, it's no easy task, we had to play with the dosage. As soon as we saw that he was not himself or was just zoning we knew he was over medicated and called the dr. ASAP to change something. Also, one of our most valuable resources has been DS's teachers. Before each appointment, I email them to see if they have noticed any changes or if they have any concerns. I rely on their feedback.

Hang in there. It's a tough choice that only you can decide if the benefits might outweigh the risks for your DD. Do as much research as you can. And if you choose to try meds; it may not be long term.

 

[bairdbeth]

I am a special ed teacher and worried about my DD being ADD in Kindergarten. The teachers in K-2 thought it could be immaturity and she might outgrow it. She had major handwriting issues so we did a year and a half of occupational therapy. We discovered in OT that she had vision issues in how her eyes worked together. She had 1 year of vision therapy. I had hoped that those were the reasons for her ADD characteristics. When the work load increased in 4th grade, it became apparent that there were issues and she was diagnosed ADD. She began concerta and at the end of the first day she wrote a thank you note to her doctor for giving her her "smart pill". She also told her grandfather that she finally felt normal! I had no idea she felt otherwise! I still hope she may outgrow her ADD in her teens, but for now, in order to get the most from her education, she needs the meds. She is on a low dose and it, luckily, has not adversly affected her personality.

 

[5 for WDW]

My oldest son is ADD and was diagnosed at age 6. He is 10 now. We went through every available test, consultation, discussion we could with our Ped and the school. There was no question about whether or not it was ADD. Their words at the time were that DS was "Textbook ADD".
We had the same concerns most parents have about medication. DS is an extremely bright, caring, creative, happy, well rounded child. He has a wonderful personality and we were afraid meds would alter it. On top of the medical concerns of course. After months of discussion with our Ped (We go to a group practice but, we only see on Dr for our son. We trust him 100% in regards to dosing, etc) we decided to give Adderall XR a try. We were very lucky that one low dose in the am, has worked since the beginning for DS and we have not had to go through the struggle of finding what medication works and not works. It was important to us that he was given an extended release med. I did not want him having to take a second pill during the day. That was actually one thing I insisted on.
We have never seen a personality difference with our son. He is still the great kid he was before Adderall.
He does, however, have the ability to focus and stay on task now. He thrives in school. He is able to keep his impulses in check. He is a great student. He knows the difference of when he is on his medication or not.
We give him his meds on weekends but, he does not take it during the summer or on school vacations that are longer then 5 days. That was the plan we came up with our Ped and it works for us.

Best of luck with your DD. This is a tough situation and lots of decisions will have to be made. Trust that you are doing what is best for her and that whatever decision you make will be in her best interest. I know that the decisions we have made were the ones to level the playing field for my son. He needed help to be the best student he could be (he is already the best kid he could be..ADD or not ) and choosing to give him a pill once a day did that. We no longer look at it as a negative thing. We know that this was what was right for our child.
Ask tons of questions, read books and the web. Just don't ever let anyone make you feel badly about what decisions you make for your child. No one knows what a parent has to go through to make a decision like this for their child.

 

[BeckyScott]

Here's my tale:

Youngest DS was in therapy for Developmental Disorder at 18 months, diagnosed with autism at 2 1/2... in the meantime, his brother who is two years older is totally obviously ADHD, and I was in complete denial over it.

The youngest later got an ADHD diagnosis along with the autism, and was on Concerta for a short period of time, but it didn't really do much good and he lost weight like crazy. Autism, you've got a picky eater anyway, put some speed in there and we were almost having to force-feed him. 4 years old, and lost 10 pounds in 8 weeks and that was with him putting away two Boosts a day. Fortunately he was a chunky kid to begin with, we grow 'em sturdy. And that was the end of that, we stopped, wasn't worth it.

Oldest was finally diagnosed ADHD last year... after seeing signs of it when he was 3, finally I get him diagnosed six years later... I think my big problem was that I didn't want to medicate him, and if he never got diagnosed, then we wouldn't have to make that decision. Right? That's some wierd logic only a mother would come up with. But it just got to be too much. He's on a very low dose of Adderall right now, and it seems to be doing just enough, or it just makes a little difference. Probably could go a little higher without being a zombie, but I don't want to do that.

We just took youngest GFCF and are doing the whole DAN route with him, and I really want to investigate that more with the oldest to see if it helps with the ADHD. He's part of the way GFCF now because that's what I cook at home, but wondering if Feingold... anyway, I digress... point being I'd like to find another way to help him that doesn't involve the meds, but I'm still working on that part of it.

 

[PolyAddict]

Our appointment is Nov. 26, so I will post what I find out after that.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your stories.

 

[Selket]

I just want to add that we too hesitated for a long time before putting our older son on ADD meds. He is in 5th grade now and finally I figured I HAD to do something - none of the other things we tried helped. The medication (concerta) has worked well so far and there has been a big change in his being able to concentrate and get his work done (he isn't hyper). I was also afraid of the changes in his personality but that hasn't happened. I also know I can take him off of it any time if there is a problem.

 

[Sammybeau's Mom]

My youngest son, age 10 (4th grade now), is ADD. His kindergarden teacher (a wonderful person I trust) told me in her 25 years of teaching that she had seen 2 children that she felt needed medication and my son was the 2nd child. He is on Concerta now. We tried Stratera first but it made him feel sick. It was a difficult decision to try medication but it has turned out to be a good thing for him. He does not take it on the weekends or in the summer (unless he is going to his tutor) and he does so much better in school.

 

[PolyAddict]

My youngest son, age 10 (4th grade now), is ADD. His kindergarden teacher (a wonderful person I trust) told me in her 25 years of teaching that she had seen 2 children that she felt needed medication and my son was the 2nd child. He is on Concerta now. We tried Stratera first but it made him feel sick. It was a difficult decision to try medication but it has turned out to be a good thing for him. He does not take it on the weekends or in the summer (unless he is going to his tutor) and he does so much better in school.

It's funny i saw this post today b/c I was about to come back and update you guys. My DD was found to be innatentive. She scored at or above her age/grade level on most things but her processing score was very low. In other words she takes forever to complete things (something I already knew). We tried focalin XR (lowest dose possible) yesterday for the first time and she did complain of a tummy/headache within an hour of taking the meds(very mild) and did not eat much of anything but they said to expect this initially. I did have her sit down to do some missed schoolwork(she had been out sick) and was very impressed with the fact that she needed little to no direction and spent a good hour on it with no compaints. I will come abck and let you guys know how the first full weeks goes. Thanks to everyone for sharing their stories.

 

[Selket]

My DS on concerta had stomach problems for a couple of days but after that he was fine. It is amazing how much better he is doing in school without any personality differences or other side effects. We have been very pleased.

I hope you have similar success!

 

[LindaBabe]

I am 60 next week. I was diagnosed with adhd at 50 and started Ritalin. My life would have been totally different had I been able to have Ritalin 50 years ago! All the things you're writing about your kids - in attentive - can't get started - can't focus long enough to finish - that was me. People kept saying 'just buckle down to your studies' - 'you're smart if only you'd TRY'. I WAS TRYING! I spent my whole school career not living up to expectations - My whole LIFE - not living up to my potential.

Let me beg you - if there is any debate about it at all - give your kids a chance to be all they can be - if your doctor wants to try meds - LET THEM! It could make a world of difference - not just today but for the rest of their lives.

 

[PolyAddict]

Just to update everyone DD7 was diagnosed as ADD and started on 5mlg of focalin XR. She is now up to 15mlg per day and is doing much better. The evenings are still a nightmare (3 hours for homework that should take no more than 45 minutes) but we are working on getting through the school day 1st. I try to get through the week by justifying that it is only Mon thru Thursday for homework and that we will survive. Thanks for all of the advice and support.

 

[kirbydog48]

Hi Polyaddict. My son is also on Focalin XR, currently taking 5mg. To help him do his homework, I give him a small dose of short-acting Focalin, which usually lasts about 3 hours. Maybe it will help your DD?? I do know that, with my son at least, there is a huge rebound effect when the meds wear off. That little extra boost around 3:30 has helped a lot.

Liz