Why so many kids on meds???

[barkley]

I can't believe the amount of ignorance regarding ADHD and medications I've read in some of the posts. You think we medicate kids to calm them down? As my doctor put it, if we wanted to calm them we'd prescribe valium, not stimulants. ADHD kids have 1 of 2 miscommunications going on in their brains. Either they don't produce enough neurotransmitters to fire the messages along or for some reason the neurons are blocking them. The medications either stimulate neurotransmitter production or they "unblock" the neurons so the chemicals can be received, depending on what the problem is different meds are prescribed. It has nothing to do with calming them down, it's making their brain function normally so they can actually process thoughts like everyone else.

I have twin sons. One has ADHD and one does not. They are both rough, tough, active boys and until you live it you can't understand I guess that there is a world of difference between a normal active rough boy and one suffering a medical issue. I knew my son had a problem when he was about a year old, but didn't (couldn't) do anything about it until school age. He went through kindergarten diagnosed but unmedicated. He struggled with simple things, often wandered and was quick to hit anyone who angered him. BTW, most ADHD kids are highly intellegent. We sure didn't have to medicate him to achieve better grades or test scores. He already did (and still does) outscore his non-ADHD twin brother. Meds don't make the kids smarter. They are already smart. I don't medicate my son so he's "better" than anyone elses child. I medicate my son so he can function like everyone elses child.

Without medication my son can't focus on anything. He cannot look at you when you speak. He cannot follow 1 step instructions let alone 2 or 3 sucessive tasks. He couldn't write legibily. He has difficulty playing with other boys because his brain was everywhere else but where he was. He was extremely impulsive and did many things that could have resulted in serious injury. While a normal child might think "I wonder what soap tastes like" they leave it at wondering......my son would actually EAT the soap. It took us the better part of a year to get the right medications at the right levels. Under medicated he was emotional and subject to crying meltdowns. These have ZERO do to with tantrums. Finally he is on the right meds at the right levels and now is no different in his "hyperness" or "inattentiveness" than your average 7 year old boy.

To the person who's family is double dosing....they are not calming the child down, they are making him hyperfocused. So focused in fact he cannot STOP the single activity he's doing. Overmedicating is abuse plain and simple. And yes, to be able to focus on somethings but not others is exactly how my son is. He could sit and watch a movie, build legos or play a video game for hours. That is because that is the only stimulation around. But provide 2 or 3 other stimuli like other people or something going on outside and he'd be right back into his mode of all over the place. In ADHD it's not that the child can't pay attention, it's that they pay attention to EVERYTHING at the same time and cannot focus on the task at hand.

I would no more withhold my sons Focalin than I would withhold antibiotics for an infection or Motrin for pain. A medical need is a medical need no matter the diagnosis.

no kidding on the 'already smart' issue. for a couple of months ds (then in 1st grade) kept drawing dna double helix's. since he was going to a private school that exposed him to more advanced subject matter than the norm we assumed he had taken a unit on dna and decided he like copying the diagrams. did'nt find out until the parent teacher conference that he was doing the same thing in free time in class and his teacher had assumed we had taught him about it at home. sat ds down and asked him to explain what he was drawing-he told us in ACCURATE detail, asked him where he had learned about it, said he saw it on a cartoon and just 'kinda figured it out by myself' kid is below grade level in handwriting, reading and spelling-but in the things he can get a 'taste' of and either research or 'figure out' on his own he excells incredibly. his docs. say it's totaly not unusual with adhd kids-and if those kids (like ds) are in a learning environment that allows them to move at their own pace in at least a few subjects-they will often demonstrate that they are well above and beyond their age peers.

 

[riu girl]

My two cents:

I am completely on the fence regarding ADHD medications for DD.
Our story:

DD10 was diagnosed at age 4 with severe/profound ADHD. Was reassessed at age 5 with same diagnosis. Age 8 was reassessed again and now has mild/borderline ADHD. In the last few years, she can focus for long periods of times when reading, drawing, writing stories, swimming, playing sports etc.

She has been in numerous therapies including OT, PT, 3 behavioural therapists. psych , social therapy, naturopath etc.

Also: meditates, takes karate, yoga, vitamin supplements, plus TONS of active sports.

Socially she is immature and is very impulsive. She still has difficulty looking at you when she speaks and sometimes (but not all the time) speaks quickly, interrupts, loses things all the time, has a hard time following multi-step directions etc etc.

Due to all of this she only has a couple of friends and generally is thought of as being odd by her peers.

She is very intelligent and last year we finally told her all about her ADHD and talked to her about meds including probable benefits. She informed us that she feels great the way she is and is very happy with her life the way it is. I have brought the subject up a few times in the past year and always get the same response.

But I can't help but wonder if she had meds would she in fact be happier, mentally healthier and be more accepted socially by her peers. Talking to her is like watching 2 or 3 videos on televisions all in high speed at the same time since she switches topics constantly and half the time simply ends up making no sense. I can't imagine how it would feel to have her brain/body, being in hyper mode most of the day.

On the other hand, she NEVER gets angry/abusive/aggressive so then I think she does not need meds. I feel that perhaps if she experienced the benefits of the meds she would choose to stay on them since she knows nothing but the ADHD symtpons and does not know how much better she has the ability of feeling. I get exhausted just watching her sometimes. I can't imagine how she feels mentally healthy the way she is now.

As I said, I am so on the fence about this one.

My heart goes out to all parents of kids who do end up putting them on meds. It is such a huge and personal decision to make.

Please no flames. Earlier I listened to DD talk for 51 minutes straight (yes I timed her) about a new chapter book she is writing, plots, sub-plots, characters. It makes no sense to me at all. Sounds like several stories meshed into one Can't handle any more stress tonight!!!!

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

I am currently struggling with this decision as to medicate or not. DD has difficulty with attentiveness at school, home, church and just about in every activity I can think of that she has been involved in. From the time she was 3 until Sept. last year she was having seizures, but we only knew that's what they were for 2 years. She was on Depakote 250 mg. twice daily. For those of you who don't know what this drug is, it is perscribed for Bi-polar disorder, as a result we now have a child who is having behavioral issues. Ok, so now we have her off meds for almost a year and the behavior is not any better. She is agressive to her sister (who is older), argumentative with her father and me, and the psychologist is saying that their diagnosis is ADD and possibly a little ODD. Do I medicate her and help her out, or do I continue to watch what is going on in her world, older DD is scared of her, DH and I are tired of fighting with her. Everything is difficult, I can tell you with a great deal of struggling of this issue we are leaning towards medication, we have tried everything, behavior modification, taking things from her, giving her others, changing her focus to something different. We have tried to alter her diet, anything you can name we have tried, but having someone else throw out the question as to why, just makes me question as to whether I'm doing the right thing again, I don't need that stress. This is a topic that I wish people who have not walked a day in my shoes would stay out of. This is not an easy choice and yes I will question myself and doubt myself about this for a long time. I do hope I make the right one, but I don't want anyone else making it for me nor judging me for what I decide to do.

 

[robertsmom]

just say no...to all drugs

Well my diabetic son would die without his insulin, so I think I will keep giving him his "drugs". BTW, he also has severe ADD. I fought meds for years - tried many other things - nothing worked. I finally broke down and put him on Adderall - WOW! He can now sit in class, pay attention to his work, and his grades have gone from mostly C's to A's and B's. Please don't judge a parent until you have walked a mile in their shoes.

 

[eeyoregon]

Thank you to all of you have opened up and shared your personal stories. Maybe this thread isn't so bad afterall. Your willingness to share has really given me a positive boost regarding my own situation.
THANKS!

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

Hi all! Please, please, please try to keep this civil. I know this topic is very close to the hearts of many parents here. Don't stray over the line to personal attacks though. I really don't like handing out infractions, but I do when I need to.

Sometimes it is better to walk away from a thread than to get pulled in.

 

[Arvandor_Ilfirin]

I have ADD, when I was younger I did not want medication. However, in my teenage years I began failing all of my classes...I could not focus, I was unhappy with my grades and upset with myself for not being able to perform on par with my fellow classmates. I tried organization, notes, tutoring, nothing helped.

I can function without my medication, but I cannot function on a higher level than satisfactory. On my medication I can take pride in my accomplishments, I remember things more often, I focus and can carry on a conversation without jumping topics on a whim. I feel in control of myself and my actions.

I understand that not every child needs medication to get through each day, but I am grateful that my Mom was willing to get me the care that I needed. I believe as medical science advances every day that many amazing miracles can happen. There are side effects, but if they are the lesser of two evils, I'd rather be relieved of my condition than to suffer needlessly. I believe many of these parents here feel the same, they would rather see their children happy and healthy than to neglect care that could otherwise allow them a normal life.

 

[famofsix]

I do want to stick up for the OP in the sense that the people he may or may not be judging are not the parents on this board. If you are on this board, albeit for Disney research, etc. than you are probably a decent parent. The parents that I believe are overusing meds in certain cases wouldn't have the time to sit on the computer to defend themselves. They are the parents that almost neglect their children and use the meds as a way of shutting the child up. Their children probably never make it to WDW. I still also stand by the fact that there are correct ways to get tested and I believe that some pediatricians may overdiagnose.

Oh, and to the OP, I wanted to explain the "not being hungry" because I do face this each day. The way an ADD/ADHD medication works is that it makes you focus on one thing. If you choose it to be hw, teacher, or tv, then your brain is not focused on the other signals your body is sending. It is not that the kids don't need to eat. It is just that they don't feel hungry because the hunger signal essentially gets lost but its there. Eating while on meds is just another adjustment that parents and kids need to get used to.

I just wanted to respond to this and say I have never met a parent that uses ADHD/ADD medications to "shut up their children" or as a form of neglect. I think this is a stero-type that was created because people are opposed to the idea of using these types of medications for children.

I also believe that the medical community works very hard and there are some cases that medications may be overused but that I believe that the rampant misuse of ADHD/ADD medications is not the norm. I say this because it is a rigorous process to diagnosis ADHD/ADD and it is not simply achieved by a pediatrician writing a script. Neglectful parents would not have the time or energy for such a process.

In addition, when researching the need for medications it is important to understand who performed the research and the variables of the researcch. Also, not all ADHD/ADD medications work for every person. Someones bad experience does not negate the usefulness of the medication for others.

We all have biases but when you live through something like ADHD with your child you begin to find a mutual ground. In our case, we were opposed to using medications because of the stero-types and biases. We also felt shamed by others who thought we were harming our child but using medicine. However, we found in the end, we needed to do what would help our child the most. And believe me, the medication is not an easy way out... we still have to exhibit a lot of patience and creativity with our ADHD child. I wouldn't change anything about him either...he is a great kid

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

I have ADD, when I was younger I did not want medication. However, in my teenage years I began failing all of my classes...I could not focus, I was unhappy with my grades and upset with myself for not being able to perform on par with my fellow classmates. I tried organization, notes, tutoring, nothing helped.

I can function without my medication, but I cannot function on a higher level than satisfactory. On my medication I can take pride in my accomplishments, I remember things more often, I focus and can carry on a conversation without jumping topics on a whim. I feel in control of myself and my actions.

I understand that not every child needs medication to get through each day, but I am grateful that my Mom was willing to get me the care that I needed. I believe as medical science advances every day that many amazing miracles can happen. There are side effects, but if they are the lesser of two evils, I'd rather be relieved of my condition than to suffer needlessly. I believe many of these parents here feel the same, they would rather see their children happy and healthy than to neglect care that could otherwise allow them a normal life.

I personally want to Thank You for what you have had to say. It only confirms for me the difficult decision that DH and I have had to make based on our family dynamics. This has not been easy and we feel that we have given it enough time and tried other solutions and exhausted them before we came to the choice we felt we needed to make for her. We know it can be frustrating for her to feel as though she isn't keeping up with her classmates and that only adds to her anger, which she takes out on her family. This decision was not made easily nor without much trepidation. I will still question myself once treatment starts as to whether this is the right choice, but we feel as though we have to do this for her. I hope that we are openning a door for her to an easier life or at least one in which she finally feels as though she fits into.

 

[Befferk]

I have not read all the posts here, nor do I have time to, but wanted to add our experience with my niece, who is now 18. When she was in kindergarten, she was held back, and the teachers pushed the term ADD. Her mother took her to a doctor and she was put on meds. She was a zombie, she wouldn't hardly talk to anyone, she was not herself. It was terribly heartbreaking. Her parents were divorced and her dad pushed for her to be off the meds. They finally agreed on taking her off the meds and putting her into private school through their church where the class sizes were very small and she got more individualized attention, and the whole environment was less "chaotic" and distracting for her. She improved dramatically and never had to touch meds again. She wasn't an "A" student, but more like a "B-C" student, but she became a wonderful person. After 8th grade, she went back to public high school and continued to do well. If her parents had listened to the public school teachers, who knows where she would be.

I also have a brother in law that was on ADD/ADHD meds and was a zombie, so to speak. He slept all the time. My personal opinion for my family is that I am totally against meds unless it's life or death, and I believe there are other ways to deal with a lot of "ailments", I have done a lot of research on a lot of things and have always found natural remedies for many things, including my high blood pressure.

Beth

 

[MidgeD79]

I have had 6 kids and 5 grandkids. My youngest child (9) was diagnosed with ADHD at age 4 and was put on meds. He has a few other diagnosis and meds, but they are work great. My youngest grandson (4) was dianosed last week-end with ADHD. He started Adderall today. I was close to tears of joy with his behavior today. He is such a wonderful little boy with a great imagination, but he couldn't focus and very few people wanted to be around him. He is NOT a zombie, but he's not literally running around in circles. This was a good decision for HIM.

 

[famofsix]

]I have not read all the posts here, nor do I have time to[/B], but wanted to add our experience with my niece, who is now 18. When she was in kindergarten, she was held back, and the teachers pushed the term ADD. Her mother took her to a doctor and she was put on meds. She was a zombie, she wouldn't hardly talk to anyone, she was not herself. It was terribly heartbreaking. Her parents were divorced and her dad pushed for her to be off the meds. They finally agreed on taking her off the meds and putting her into private school through their church where the class sizes were very small and she got more individualized attention, and the whole environment was less "chaotic" and distracting for her. She improved dramatically and never had to touch meds again. She wasn't an "A" student, but more like a "B-C" student, but she became a wonderful person. After 8th grade, she went back to public high school and continued to do well. If her parents had listened to the public school teachers, who knows where she would be.

I also have a brother in law that was on ADD/ADHD meds and was a zombie, so to speak. He slept all the time. My personal opinion for my family is that I am totally against meds unless it's life or death, and I believe there are other ways to deal with a lot of "ailments", I have done a lot of research on a lot of things and have always found natural remedies for many things, including my high blood pressure.

Beth

There have been many advances in treating ADHD since your experience 13 years ago....I encourage you to read the thread. It may open your mind to see that natural remedies don't always work and the reason why medication can be very helpful.

 

[LindaBabe]

I'm an adult diagnosed with add at about age 50. It explained so much of my life from about age 5 onward. Believe me, if there had been add meds in the fifties my life would have been MUCH different - much better - I never 'lived up to my potential.' Ritalin is a god-send. I can now sit through a meeting quietly, only speaking well thought out statements at appropriate times instead of blurting my half formed thoughts before I forget.

Would you send a child who had vision problems to school without her glasses? A diabetic without her insulin? Of course not! So for pete's sake - if your doctor wants to try her on a course of meds for ADD - DO IT!

Why is there so many now? America was founded by ADD people (the others stayed back in the old country, where it was safe!) - so there's plenty in our gene pool! Public information is better, so parents are more aware and more likely to seek answers. Society has become more restricted as a whole, particularly in school due to security and standardized testing and so forth, so the ADD person is more obvious. There's a dozen reasons, all valid.

PS. Beth, I too grew up to be a "wonderful person" but not without a lot of pain along the way. I COULD have grown up to be a wonderful person with the opportunity for a Phd, a stable career, and only one marraige, if medication had been available back then!

I believe people should use the tools the good lord provides, and that includes the miracles of modern medicine.

 

[lnh'smom]

I also have a brother in law that was on ADD/ADHD meds and was a zombie, so to speak. He slept all the time.

Sometimes you have to try more than 1 med and/or dosage to get it right!

 

[famofsix]

I'm an adult diagnosed with add at about age 50. It explained so much of my life from about age 5 onward. Believe me, if there had been add meds in the fifties my life would have been MUCH different - much better - I never 'lived up to my potential.' Ritalin is a god-send. I can now sit through a meeting quietly, only speaking well thought out statements at appropriate times instead of blurting my half formed thoughts before I forget.

Would you send a child who had vision problems to school without her glasses? A diabetic without her insulin? Of course not! So for pete's sake - if your doctor wants to try her on a course of meds for ADD - DO IT!

Why is there so many now? America was founded by ADD people (the others stayed back in the old country, where it was safe!) - so there's plenty in our gene pool! Public information is better, so parents are more aware and more likely to seek answers. Society has become more restricted as a whole, particularly in school due to security and standardized testing and so forth, so the ADD person is more obvious. There's a dozen reasons, all valid.

PS. Beth, I too grew up to be a "wonderful person" but not without a lot of pain along the way. I COULD have grown up to be a wonderful person with the opportunity for a Phd, a stable career, and only one marraige, if medication had been available back then!

I believe people should use the tools the good lord provides, and that includes the miracles of modern medicine.

Thank you for this It takes a lot of courage to write what you did and some of our decision to try meds was a result of talking to adults that have been diagnosed that wished they had had the information available to us today.

 

[Pineymom2]

WOW! What inspiration I have found here today! My DS6 is currently being diagnosed with ADHD. I have not decided on meds or not yet. i think some people are misunderstanding the results as motivation for the meds. CHildren doing better in school are a result of the meds not the motivation for putting them on the meds. I feel that if the meds will help my son be more focused in school, get alng better with others and keep my sanity then so be it! You have no idea what it is like to parent a child with ADHD! The hyperactivity is the least of my worries! We could say that there is an overabundence of a lot of things in the medical field, not just children on meds. I think there are too many weight lose surgeries being done and too many plastic surgeries, and botox injections etc. So when children need help being the best they can be and meds help them reach that goal-who are we to judge?

 

[LilGMom]

(donning flame resistant suit)

I would suggest that if anyone's teacher or school suggest that they get their child tested for ADD/ADHD to do some research, talk to your ped. and get another opinion. Here is our story briefly:

My ds is a June baby so he started kindergarten when he was 5 yr. 2 months old, a very young kindergartener. He was, still is to some degree, emotionally immature but breezed through school work at Pre-K so he has the smarts (not saying ADD/ADHD people don't, please don't read that into this). His kindergarten teacher was a second year teacher (not saying that was bad but she didn't have as much experience in the classroom as others) and after our ds was in her class for two weeks she suggested that we have him tested. Part, not all, of the problem was that there was another child in the class that had autisim so the teacher was spending the majority of her time with that child. My child, being immature, thought that if he acted like the other child he'd get special treatment too - didn't work because he instead got sent to the principal's office. He spent many days in the office and one day spent it writing sentences. The principal and vice principal both told me and my dh that we should have him tested and that they could do it through the school. We met with our ped and I even spoke to a child psychologist. We didn't want to go through the school because it would then be a part of my child's school record for the duration of his academic career plus I know my child and while he might be spirited I didn't feel he honestly had ADD. Not to mention that in my opinion there have not been enough studies as to the long term effect of putting a child that young on meds will do and I don't want to disqualify him from certain future professions.

We pushed to have our son moved to a different classroom and the school after initially rejecting the idea did move him. He was an entirely different child. He was excited about school for the first time since starting kindergarten, he was bringing home good behavior awards, he was starting to read and write better and it was 120% because of his new teacher. There were still a few incidents throughout the school year but never once did his new teacher suggest medications, she chalked it up to him being immature. He was recognized by the principal and vice principal as one of the "Excellent Students of the Week" twice and the vice principal called me once to tell me how proud she was of how he had improved.

Had we listened and blindly followed the school our child would have been put on medication for no real reason other than they wanted to be able to control him better. Yet his second teacher was able to find a way to tap into him to get that control without medication. We have a friend that is a teacher and he told us that they aren't supposed to approach parents about that, if they have a suspicion they are to take it to the counselors who will then observe and speak with the parents.

While I do believe that ADD/ADHD does need to be addressed and people with it do need the medications, I feel that too often people are too quick to jump to that diagnosis especially in small children.

 

[julm26]

I am a mental health professional that works in our city's public schools for a mental health agency. I have worked with children for over 10 years and I can tell you that lots of children do much better on medication once they have been given the correct medication, dosage, etc.

Children with ADD/ADHD have lots of trouble at school doing things such as sitting still, listening, following direction, acting out, and huge behavior issues. Their minds are going a mile a minute - its a sensory issue - try listening to the teacher give direction when your mind is spinning a mile a minute. It is frustrating to a child when he/she can not understand his schoolwork or what the teacher is doing because of his/her ADD/ADHD.

Many children, after they have a psych evaluation with a psycholigist and are put on the correct medication (not all ADHD meds are stimulants) and correct dosage see a world of difference in their grades, relationships and behavior.
Meds are not right for every child, but in my ten years doing this work I have seen so many children that meds have made all the difference.

Unfortunarely, many parents are afraid to give their children medications but they do help and can be a lifesaver for a child. Just my two cents....

 

[LilGMom]

Children with ADD/ADHD have lots of trouble at school doing things such as sitting still, listening, following direction, acting out, and huge behavior issues. Their minds are going a mile a minute - its a sensory issue - try listening to the teacher give direction when your mind is spinning a mile a minute.

Quick question because I am honestly curious and have no clue. What is the deciding factor of a child being a child (possibly immature and just generally fidgety) or a child needing medication?

My ds improved by leaps and bounds once moved to a new teacher but there are days when I feel like I am constantly telling him to do the same thing over and over and he can be spazzy,f but for the most part he is like most other six year old boys I've come into contact with. Where is the line drawn between slightly spazzy and ADD/ADHD? Our ped has always told us that our ds is just a very active boy, he has never mentioned getting him tested for ADD/ADHD.

 

[julm26]

Quick question because I am honestly curious and have no clue. What is the deciding factor of a child being a child (possibly immature and just generally fidgety) or a child needing medication?

My ds improved by leaps and bounds once moved to a new teacher but there are days when I feel like I am constantly telling him to do the same thing over and over and he can be spazzy,f but for the most part he is like most other six year old boys I've come into contact with. Where is the line drawn between slightly spazzy and ADD/ADHD? Our ped has always told us that our ds is just a very active boy, he has never mentioned getting him tested for ADD/ADHD.

I honestly believe its when their behavior starts interfering with everyday things, grades, relationships and acting out in school - starting to get in trouble, phone calls from school, etc. Don't flame me but I don't think all medical doctors get ADD/ADHD. An eval from a psychologist is the best thing to find out if its ADD?ADHD than just an active child.