Question for ADD ADHD parents......

[MagicalMom]

I would normally never post my personal business on a website, but I don't have many people I can talk to about this. I am going to have my son, 8yo, tested for ADD. We have been having issues with him for as long as I can remember. He has always been a challange. I have always chalked it up to "boys will be boys" & ignored the issue. Terrible I know, but denial can be so easy sometimes. He doesn't get in much trouble at school, but he LOVES school. He would love to go all year long. I think he likes the structured atmosphere. At home he often throws "fits" Yesterday he threw one at the dentist. He threw one for the eye docotr of the summer. He actually growled at the Dr as if he were an animal. At school he is talkative, acts silly & has issues with learning. He hasn't gotten into any serious trouble at school. His behavior at home has been quite disuptive to the entire family. I realize I should get him evaluated, but don't know what to ask the Dr. How will he be evaluated? What should I know before going in there? Any adive would be great. This has been such a heart breaking experience. Thank you.

 

[tar heel]

Well, your description does NOT sound like ADD (without the H) and not much like ADHD. Talk to your doctor and ask him/her what they recommend as far as evaluation. Good luck.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I saw Dr. Phil yesterday and their were parents on there asking about alternatives to meds...
This is from the Dr. Phil site...

Are kids being overmedicated? Dr. Phil is joined by Dr. Frank Lawlis, author of The Add Answer: How to Help Your Child Now, to look at the ADD crisis. How do you really know if your child has Attention Deficit Disorder or ADHD that should be treated with medication? Plus, find out about alternative treatments that could change your child's life. Is your child on medication? Are you and your spouse at odds about the best way to treat your child? Join the discussion.

My older dd has mild ADD and I won't medicate because of her heart issues. So I found his info very good & plan to check it out.

 

[keenercam]

Magical Mom--
I sincerely encourage you to have him tested. Our daughter was "diagnosed" by her day care director when she was 3 1/2. It was only after the school psychologist told us when she was 5 that he was certain she was ADHD that we had her evaluated. Even then we were reluctant to use medication. The school psychologist (he was testing her for the gifted program and could not get her through the IQ test, even though he re-started 6 times and said he knew she was exceptionally intelligent) urged us to try medications. Said we were depriving her of the tools she needed to succeed academically and socially. Our experience has been amazing. She is 16 now, an Honors student, highly organized, very social, in leadership positions in many activities and a real pleasure to be around. She has the sweetest temperament, too -- who would have thought?

when she was a pre-schooler, I despaired of her ever being successful as a person and even considered boarding school because we could not cope with her tantrums and "high maintenance" personality.

I have summarized a lot and skipped over even more. But feel free to PM me. I am firmly convinced that ADHD medication saved my daughter's life and gave her a future.
Fortunately, you are very near AI DuPont Children's Hospital -- the amazing and compassionate team of doctors there will be so helpful to you.
Best wishes and

 

[MagicalMom]

Thank you all for your help. The following is an email I received from his teacher. Reading it broke my heart, but I can't ignore this issue any longer. I'm going to check DH's schedule before making an appointment b/c we would both like to be there. When DS find out why we are making this appt. he will be very upset. I think we'll need each other there for support.

Here's the email:


Thank you so much for asking a very good and important
question. I think I mentioned to you in earlier in a letter
that I was concerned about his attention issues. I didn't
want to just jump to a conclusion about what I was seeing
and tried to "weed out" the concept of getting used to a
new environment. After about a month of watching Peter
and how he interacts with adults, peers, and in small
group situations, I can honestly say that I was planning on
talking to you about this exact topic. From what I am
seeing, Peter demonstrates many of the characteristics or
an ADHD child. He is highly distractable even in very
small group situations. He rushes through work that he
should be taking more time on. He has conflicts with
others that seem to be stemming from impulsive
behaviors. The "sillies" I wrote about on his progress
report could very well be attributable to a lack of control
over his impulses.

Now, you know that I am not a doctor and could never
make a diagnosis about anything. I can tell you that his
behavior, achievement and the like are very characteristic
of children with ADD and/or ADHD. If you are considering
having him evaluated for this, I whole heartedly agree that
is it worth the time and effort. If he is diagnosed with one
of these things, then we can help him, reduce his
frustration, and give him more success with school in
particular. If he isn't diagnosed but evaluated, then we
have at least eliminated something from the list of
possible causes for the problems he is experiencing.

I want Peter to have a successful year. I know you do to.
It sounds like there are situations at home which would
also be helped from getting clarification on this topic.
Anything you need me to do to help, I am willing to do. I
know there are surveys that teacher's often fill out which
help with this diagnosis. Just let me know. I can do what
you need me to. Thank you so much for a thoughtful
question.

 

[aimee11621]

Talk to your doctor and don't take no for an answer. Tell him you want to visit a specialist. Whether it be a neurologist or pyschologist.

My daughter had an e.e.g and mri. Routine tests . She was sedated. (don't freak out) The neurologist concluded everything looked normal. HOWEVER, HER problem could be invisible to the machines.

She has been diagnosed ADHD/LEARNING DISABILITIES.

The label is horrible. But the help from schools and counselors is excellent.



She takes medication ADERRAL 25MG IN THE MORNING. Wonderful stuff totally concentrated and no outbursts of laughter or weird behavior. TOTAL LADY LIKE.

Edited :
the sillies thats exactly what I see with my dd10. THE SILLIES.

 

[Snow Dog Mom]

Have your DS referred to a neurologist. My DS had to have an EEG and MRI. He was struggling with 3rd grade and just very inattentive. I finally decided to try medication and it has really helped him. He is now 11 and doing much better in school.

It was a real struggle for me to put him on meds since he also has heart issues. I just made sure that the heart dr approved the meds and he has not had any problems.

Kim

 

[KarenC]

Here's a link to the surveys my son's doctor gave us to evaluate him for ADHD. http://www.nichq.org/resources/toolkit/

I would recommend a book Driven to Distraction that gives you an idea of what ADHD is about.

My son was diagnosed at 15. There were plenty of clues beforehand, but he's smart and always managed to get by until he hit high school.

It never occurred to me not to give him the inhaled steroids he needed for his asthma. The meds he takes help him so much, and he's turned completely around. His Freshman year, he barely managed to avoid Ds on his report card. This year he has the highest physics grade in the whole school.

I used to worry about him constantly. Now I'm excited to watch him plan what college he wants to go to.

Good luck!

 

[Desiree]

Devyn was also diagnosed by a teacher at age 5 when she was in Kindergarden. At the school's request, we had her evaluated by a psychiatrist and she was evaluated in class also. She was diagnosed with ADHD and recommended to be put on medication. Well for the next few years, we decided to hold off on the medicine until it started to affect her grades. Well, lo and behold, 3rd grade came upon us and she was really struggling. At her Pediatrician and psychatrists evaluations it was decided that we'd try her on 15 mg of Adderall. The change was like night and day. My normally, hard to handle child, was sitting still and LEARNING! She went from straight c's, d's and f's to a's and b's. Now we've had to up the dose to 25mg so far, but she is doing well.
For us, the medicine was a god-send.

 

[ElizK]

Make sure the school does a full evaluation. There are so many learning disabilities that are masked by ADHD (my daughter's was). Read ADHD:The Great Misdiagnois by Dr. Julian Haber.

Also, go to the bulletin board at www.schwablearning.org . This is an awesome source of info from parents who have been there.

If the school won't evaluate just at your request, have the teacher request it. That made the difference for us.

Good luck!

 

[elemusing]

My son was just diagnosed. I am a teacher and see children with it all the time. (Some in my opinion are improperly diagnosed. ) But some are helped immensely by taking medication. Anyway, Concerta was his medicine and it broke him out in a rash. I went to research the rash on the web and was horrified to come across this website: www.ritalindeath.com I researched and came up with other sites stating that the medicine in most stimulant ADHD meds is methylphenidate. It has caused some deaths. Some were due to preexisting heart conditions, but some were just due to a build up of the drug from years of taking it. I decided that we will just have to learn to live with my son's hyperactivity. I just don't want to take the chance with his life (no matter how small that chance may be.) And to think I have been teaching for 11 years and never even heard that this could be a tragic side effect of the drug.

Now Strattera is one that doesn't have methylphenidate. We are still investigating this one.

Just be aware - doctors will rarely tell you about this. When I asked my Dr. about the deaths and if she had statistics, she said no and all drugs could possibly have the side effect of death. And I know she's right, but I am just not willing to risk it with my child.

So anyway, that is one thing you need to consider. Good luck with your decision and I hope all turns out well for you!
Angie

 

[TEENEE]

My dd is ADD. She had a wonderful teacher in 2nd grade that really helped us. It sounds like your ds's teacher will be very helpful. Our ped gave us questionaires to fill out. One for me, the teacher and my ex. After we filled them out we returned them to him and he compared them. Mine and the teachers were almost identical, my ex was out in left field. My dd has been on adderall with no problems. She went from barely passing 2nd grade to honor roll and perfect attendance in 3rd grade. This year has started off kind of bumpy but seems to be getting better. We had to increase her meds. It's really hard to watch our children struggle. My dd is much happier since she started taking the medication. She knows it makes a difference for her. Some parents feel terrible when their children are so called labeled. We shouldn't feel like that, we should be happy that we are able to help out kids. ADD can be a tough road. Good luck.

 

[missypie]

DS13 has Asperger's Syndome and is way ADD. Wasn't diagnosed until 4th grade. We really didn't catch the ADD part ourselves because he didn't have the hyperactivity component. We took him to the Ft. Worth Child Study Center. He had an all day session with a diagnostic psychologist, then a later appointment at the same location with a pediatric neurologist, who prescribed meds. I was very comfortable with the level of testing and detail they went into, so I have always been comfortable with the diagnosis.

Please go into this with an open mind. I know that active boys are overdiagnosed as ADHD, but medication can be a lifesaver for your child and the entire family.

In rare moments, DS has been able to describe what it is like to "be him." He said that without his meds, his mind is very "jittery"...jumping from one thing to another. At first he felt odd, having to take pills. But now he knows that they really make learning and concentrating so much easier for him.

 

[MagicalMom]

Thank you all so much for your help. The great thing about the Dis is that no matter what you are going through, one of the other 60,000 may have done through it too. I called a friend this morning & tried to tell her of my concerns for my son & she was appalled. She made me feel as though I was terrible for even thinking such a thing about my own child. I ended up feeling ashamed & embaressed. Thank you all for making me feel better.

 

[northern michigan]

My mother has that same attitude about my daughter and her ADD. She sends me articles about ADD and mis-diagnosis, natural treatments, etc. I try not to discuss it with her. I feel bad enough having to medicate my daughter. I'm a little more relaxed now that she's on the strattera (not a controlled substance).

Keep in mind that individuals with ADD/ADHD often have other things going on as well. In my DD case it's an anxiety disorder. It's an every changing and challenging road when a child has ADD. Their growing bodies require medication adjustments along the way. We've been on this road for 6 years now, but this year is off to a good start.

Take a deep breath and find a good psychiatrist.