~Tara~ Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 If you suspect your child may have ADHD, what's the next step in diagnosis? Do you just see the pediatrician or a specialty doctor? Anything at home I could do to further 'test' the theory? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest anglittle Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Actually we took our son to the doctor and they told us it was normal at his age to by hyper. At the request of the public school at that time, we took him to the ENT. The ENT stated that there was nothing wrong with him and that he was an average 6 year old. He was diagnosed by the Homepathic Dr as having ADHD. He is currently 8 and he still is somewhat hyper, but as he is growing older his attention is getting more focused. I was told several times that he would grow out of it or get accustomed to his daily activities. Sometimes we just have to wait and see what happens and be patient. I was also told to look at his diet and the foods/drinks he consumed. I have noticed if my son has a little sugar he is hyper for hours. So I have limited any items with sugar (koolaid, caprisons, milk, bread, etc.)to a very low minimum like one a day, but not during class time. Angela Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Your pediatrician may or may be very familiar with ADHD. I would call and see if he treats ADHD. Then if not, I would find a psychologist or psychiatrist who treats ADHD. The way you do this is you get your list of approved doctors from the insurance and go down the list calling receptionists. I have to do this each time we move since dd is already diagnosed but needs to be followed by a physician who is familiar with and comfortable dealing with ADHD. For something you can do at home- try coffee. If ADHD, that should help a bit but depends on how severe the ADHD and how much coffee. Also Driven to Distraction by Edward Hallowell is a good book that would help you understand what ADHD is like and then you could determine if you think your child has it and would benefit from treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Dh has ADD & his family doc suspected/gave the preliminary diagnosis but referred dh to a psychologist for further treatment. The psychologist (after months of behavioral therapy addressing important non-ADD issues) administered a test for ADD & referred dh to a psychiatrist for meds, and dh still sees the psychologist every few months for behavioral therapy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Also cut food dyes if at all possible. Red dye 40 makes dd3 INSANE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganicAnn Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 (edited) If hyperactivity is the only "symptom" then you might want to look at strategies that target hyperactivity - such as diet. If there is also the inattention element or if there is also some of the sensory issues, then you might want to look at the whole range of strategies. Depending on how severe it is and how seriously you are considering medication, you may want to make sure you get a real good diagnoses. The special needs board has lots of good info. Edited March 12, 2011 by OrganicAnn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Tara~ Posted March 12, 2011 Author Share Posted March 12, 2011 Thanks, I'll try to get over to the other board soon. Impulsivity (is that even a word? well, I made it one just now if not LOL), not major. Hyper, not in a complete bouncing off the walls way, but indeed 'busy' and fidgety. Inattentive, most definitely. Repeated issues due to lack of attention. The 'typical' food culprits, that I am aware of: sugar, dyes, caffeine do not play a big part as we are already pretty careful of what is eaten. Any others I should be aware of? Oh, caffeine is hit and miss in regards to 'correcting'. I'm not sold on this being ADD/ADHD, I'm just investigating a bit. Trying to figure out WHAT is going on. Thanks all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 On NPR later today I think there is supposed to be a researcher who just published a study on diet as ADHD management in children! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I'd do an elimination diet to see if dairy, corn, wheat, and/or sugar substitutes are causing/contributing to this issues. I'd also institute daily exercise/outside time running or bike riding. Impulsivity (is that even a word? well, I made it one just now if not LOL), not major.Hyper, not in a complete bouncing off the walls way, but indeed 'busy' and fidgety. Inattentive, most definitely. Repeated issues due to lack of attention. I think maybe the word you are looking for is impulsiveness. ;) The things you've listed above sound like typical boy behavior. I don't have a boy, nor have i played one on television, but every boy I've ever known (from my younger brother to dh to boys of friends) have had the issues you have described to one degree or another. And only one actually had/has ADHD. He made me crazy to be around. He was so in your face with the talking and the moving. Comparing him to other boys being boys, he was off the chart with the busy. Unless your boy is like that I'd check diet first. Selective male hearing might be coming into play. It is typical for kids to not be aware of their surroundings. I should have "pay attention to what you are doing, where you are, what is going on around you" on a replay loop for dd. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 (edited) If you suspect your child may have ADHD, what's the next step in diagnosis? Do you just see the pediatrician or a specialty doctor? Anything at home I could do to further 'test' the theory? Our doctor will treat ADHD, but refer to a psychologist for the initial evaluation and diagnosis. ETA: The psychologist who evaluated our dd had dh and I each complete a separate set of checklists. She also gave dd some pencil/paper tasks to do and then observed her from a two-way mirror, and used a computer program to assess impulsivity. There may have been some other things, but those are the three I remember. Edited March 13, 2011 by LizzyBee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 If you suspect your child may have ADHD, what's the next step in diagnosis? Do you just see the pediatrician or a specialty doctor? Anything at home I could do to further 'test' the theory? Here's a good checklist. Scoring instructions are at the end. I would recommend a psychiatrist for evaluation and initial treatment, if you want to go the medication route. There are a number of treatment options, and psychiatrists are usually much more familiar with the medications than a family doctor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetMissMagnolia Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 well in our case I mentioned it to our dr during one of our yearly physicals-he referred us to the behavior specialist in their medical group--she met with us and agreed that he should be tested and she sent home some checklists that I had to go through-then she evaluated them and it came out positive for some issues....If you search online you might be able to find some checklists concerning add/adhd diagnosis.....We are doing behavior modification as therapy---tried a couple of meds and one caused chest pains/stomach pains/not eating--so we tried another and he took it and it worked well for a few weeks but then he absolutely refused to take it so we are back to square one kind of.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Tara~ Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 Thanks again everyone. I'll look into the other diet culprit possibilities. And yes, he is very much boy, but I have 4 other boys in this house nothing like them. He has them 'beat' by a long shot. He does get daily exercise. A run and exercise (sit ups, squats etc) daily and wrestling practice 3x a week. Yes, I'm sure selective hearing comes into play at times. But I'm trying to disregard those in my evaluation. I can generally tell when that is the case. Ok, I'm going to give a seriously look into the food. As I said, that's not too 'free' already, very few dyes and sugars. No artificial sweeteners. So, I'll look at wheat and milk (outside of just the liquid as he doesn't drink milk) oh and corn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Yes, I'm sure selective hearing comes into play at times. But I'm trying to disregard those in my evaluation. I can generally tell when that is the case. Auditory processing disorder can mimic ADHD. Just something to think about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Here's a good checklist. Scoring instructions are at the end. I would recommend a psychiatrist for evaluation and initial treatment, if you want to go the medication route. There are a number of treatment options, and psychiatrists are usually much more familiar with the medications than a family doctor. Thank you, Perry. I bookmarked this thread to come back to when Tara first posted, and your link helped me a lot--it's one of the first checklists I've seen that didn't focus so much on schoolwork/school time behavior, which is obviously hard to evaluate in a home kindergarten situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Tara~ Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 so once you go through that checklist...what? If it raises concerns/confirms previous thoughts..what do you do? Bring that to your primary doctor? Or psychiatrist? Or just see that as your reason to follow through and see A doctor? And does anyone have any links so I can read more about the food sensitivity possibilities? Oh and yes, I liked the focus of that checklist better than anything else I've seen too. It went beyond stuff like 'is the child more active/busy than usual' 'does child lose focus easily' More specific. Also that it touched on depression and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Bring that to your .... psychiatrist? Yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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