[To medicate or not to medicate that is the question??]

No specific advice other than that medication does work for my son - he learned to read only after he started the medication - but BIG HUGS!

 

Oh thank you!! I'll take hugs any time! :) I'm so glad that your son was so greatly helped. That's wonderful. I hope that there will be something to help my daughter too. She is so wonderfully bright and creative. She just finished writing a book!! No kidding! A 106 page book about kids who are spies! We're going to see if we can get it published. She's such a great kid, but she just really struggles in Math. I'm going to call her doctor tomorrow and see about setting up a consultation appointment. I pray that God will just lead us where we need to go to get this kid the help she needs. I have tried everything that I could do thus far and nothing has really helped her. I hope that this route will. Thank you again. :grouphug:

[To medicate or not to medicate that is the question??]

I think your doctor might be the best source for that. All I or anyone can offer are anecdotes. I have a friend for instance who's daughter tried (I think) Concerta when she was younger and it brought out some pretty alarming tics. But even that isn't very useful because it may have been very specific to her as she has a family history of Tourettes Syndrome. There definitely are some serious side effects with some of the meds but they're often rare, temporary and the only real way to know is to try them. The good thing about many of these meds is that theire effects diminish fairly quickly and they don't stay in the body for very long, let alone accumulate in any way.

 

Thank you for your reply. I appreciate it. I'll call her doctor tomorrow. I think for my daughter the side effects are going to be the tricky part because she has so many other issues. Her neurologist already alluded to that. She has ticks that go along with her OCD and she has the Asperger's too to contend with. Hopefully there will be some medication that she can take to be able to help her with the ADHD without exacerbating the symptoms of the other disorders. Thank you again kindly for all of the replies. I cannot tell you how much better I feel just knowing that I'm not the only one dealing with these issues. It really is a comfort. :)

[To medicate or not to medicate that is the question??]

Just the chime in on the diet issue... We tried the diet for over 2 years, with amazing results. Then, one day DS got and quickly scarfed down a sandwich. We waited for the side effects and none ever came. Slowly we started adding stuff back into our diet and his behavior remained the same. When we added milk back in, DS went crazy. As it turns out he has severe lactose intolerance. Because he was non-verbal, he couldn't tell us about his gastro-intestinal distress and just acted out.

 

The diet clearly works for some childrenm and that's wonderful. But usually I think it's about an underlying allergy or intolerance. When that's not present, dietary changes aren't going to make a big difference. Just my 2cents.

 

 

That is what I have noticed too. For kids who have allergies or intolerances, it really can do wonders, but for kids who aren't allergic, it really doesn't do anything.

[To medicate or not to medicate that is the question??]

My son is almost 9 and I've fought the meds for years. Last month I agreed to a 2 week trial of Strattera. I saw no improvement in his attention, only worsening anxiety, sadness, irratibility, and pychotic episodes. It was crazy.

 

I went back to the doctor today. He thinks I should have stuck with the Strattera, but I said I couldn't go through that again. So I'm starting a trial of Vyvanse(spelling?) tomorrow. I think my son may have depression and/or bipolar. So I'm sure the strattera excacerbated that, even though the doctor didn't seem to think that was the case.

 

I'm at my wits end with him and have to do something. I'm worried this new one will also have unpleasant side effects, but I would just like to see if anything helps improve his attention. Then I could narrow down whether it is ADD or something else. I'll let you know how the trial goes.

 

I'm so sorry to hear your struggle. I wish I could give you a hug. It is so hard. These kids are so special and wonderful but so challenging as well. Have you taken your son to a pediatric neurologist? They can tell you if he is bi-polar or ADD. They may also want to do tests to determine any physical causes to his symptoms. I wish you all the best. :)

 

Jennifer

[To medicate or not to medicate that is the question??]

Here's the thing about stimulant medication for ADHD: You can try it one time and you'll know if it helps. Or you can try it every morning for a week. There is no need to put her on it for 6 weeks to see if it will work because it either works or it doesn't. And you'll see certain negative side effects, particularly worsening anxiety, right away as well.

 

I didn't medicate my son for 12 years and everyone struggled with his symptoms. Now he is on a very low short acting dose of Adderall once in the morning on school days and it has made a *huge* difference in his ability to do his work.

 

I was at the same point with him that you seem to be with your daughter. I had tried everything and he was still taking 5 hours to do his math. I finally decided that maybe medication was the missing piece and so it was. I still don't like that he is on the stuff but I do like how it helps him.

 

You could do a short trial, see if it works and if it makes her other symptoms worse, and then you'll know.

 

It does seem that we are at the same point that you were out. It takes on average about 4 hours for us to do math each day. The other stuff we breeze through, thank God, and she loves to read and story time is pleasant for both of us and we do alot of hands on activities in school to keep it fun and to give her a physical activity instead of just sitting, but there's just no getting around the math. hehe I talked to my husband at dinner about the possibility of trying meds for her. I thought he would give me an adamant, "no", but he listened and he is willing to go to the neurologist with me and talk to him about it. I want to do some research first on what meds are being prescribed for this condition and the side effects/dangers. If someone can give me some information on that as well I would be very grateful. Thank you everybody for contributing to this thread and being so open and willing to share your own personal stories. It really helps me to know that I am not alone and that there are other people out there dealing with the same problems that I am. It really is quite comforting. :) Thank you all so much. :)

[To medicate or not to medicate that is the question??]

This is not something I face with my kids but rather I was the kid who was given medication. At 15 I was diagnosed with ADD and prescribed ritalin. For me it meant finally understanding that the problems I had with focus weren't the result of innate laziness or stupidity. It was like being able to slip on glasses after years of seeing everything through a fuzzy haze.

 

I think a lot of parents dealing with kids who have ADD and are reluctant to try meds often miss that part of the equation - How it might feel to be the child for whom the meds work. The stigmas around drugs is so strong that they're seen as more akin to addictive street drugs then glasses or hearing aids.

 

I don't know if that helps.

 

Thank you so much for your reply. This is exactly what I am asking myself. Am I harming her by not exploring meds. Can you tell me more about your experiences before taking the meds and how they changed after taking them? You can PM me if you prefer but I really am interested in how they affected you. Thanks so much. :)

[To medicate or not to medicate that is the question??]

I just saw Jenny Mccarthy on Larry King who touts the Gluten Free diet. Might be something to try, remember with anything natural sometimes it takes months to show results.

 

Have you tried manipulatives, these work well w/my niece. Something she can hold, like playdoh, or a squishy ball that she can play w/while studying. Also, gum, I hear helps.

 

Some people on the board have had luck w/caffeine.

 

I guess, what I am trying to say is not medicate.

 

 

hehe Thanks for your reply. I haven't tried a koosh ball or anything like that when she is doing math. We aren't doing the diet in my house because first of all, I couldn't afford that diet, secondly, I'm not entirely sure that it even works. My brother has 2 kids with autism and he has all 4 of his kids on that diet. They've been on it for years and I've never seen any difference in them. I think that diet is great for kids who have allergies that manifest themself in Autistic type symptoms, but that's not the case with my kids. They're not allergic to anything. I couldn't do the diet with my son anyway because he is already as thin as a rail. He only eats, white rice, cheerios and Digiornos pepperoni pizza. All of that is off the diet, but trust me, that kid is so head strong that he would starve himself before he would eat that other stuff. He has serious sensory issues. But my daughter's math problems are really more a problem with her ADHD than the Aspergers. I've learned to work around the OCD and the Asperger's in our homeschool by phrasing things different ways and explaining the nuances for her, but it's just the ADHD is killing us in the math area because of her inability to focus long enought to solve a complex word problem. We switched from Saxon to Singapore 2 years ago and she really likes the Singapore, but it's strong suit is that it teaches you to think instead of just how to solve a certain type of problem and that is where she is struggling. On the one hand, it is good for her to have her mind trained to think problems through to solve them, but that is also where it is difficult for her because of her disability. I'm just wondering if medication would even make a difference for her at all. She has two friends with ADHD and they are both on meds. I just don't know if my own prejudice against medication is hurting my daughter or helping her. Am I protecting her from some possibly harmful substance that she would have to take over the long term, or am I making her life more difficult by not taking advantage of all the options available??

[To medicate or not to medicate that is the question??]

Hi everyone. I'm new here. This is my first post actually. My name is Jennifer and I have 2 kids with special needs. My son (8) has severe Autism and he goes to the Autism cluster in Public School. My daughter (11) has ADHD, OCD and Aspergers. I have homeschooled her pretty much all of her life. She went to a charter school for 3rd grade because my husband insisted that her problems were a result of her not being socialized by other kids. After 2 months of her being in school he informed me that he wanted me to homeschool her again the following year. She is extremely bright, but she has trouble staying focused. It was fine when she was younger because the work load was not as much as it is now and the material was not as complex. I would teach her, she would get it, and we would move on. We did alot of hands on learning and would always do a fun activity after book work to give her a break and let her have an opportunity to move around and expend some energy and do something else. Well now that she is in 6th grade, the math is getting alot more challenging. It's not that she doesn't understand what to do so much as that she cannot focus long enough in order to complete more complex multi-step problems and she is making a lot of careless mistakes. I am so frustrated because I feel like I am failing her. I keep trying different things and to approach the problems in different ways, but everytime she has a test she is failing miserably because she just can't stay focused. We have never put her on medication, mostly because the thought of her having to take it for so long I find very troubling and on top of that, the neurologist told us that medication for the ADHD would worsen her other problems and visa versa. I have tried herbal remedies, relaxation techniques, aromatherapy, music therapy etc and nothing helps her. I just don't know what I should do anymore. Has anyone else had this problem that can maybe offer some advice? I feel like I'm failing her miserably and I just don't know what else to do for her. Thanks to all who reply. :)

 

Jennifer