I Think I Can Now Say With The Utmost Confidence . . .

[Kris]

that my son does *not* have ADD/ADHD! ARGH!!!!!!

 

I had some problems with my son over the past two weeks and wanted to get an opinion from someone I trusted -- and who knows him -- about what might be going on, and what the appropriate consequences might be. The consequences I had in mind would really mess up something all of us *really* wanted to do next weekend, and would also affect this trusted person.

 

So when I asked him about it, the first thing he said was, "Does he have ADHD?"

 

HUH??!! :eek:

 

*That* never occurred to me! I know this friend *does* have ADD/ADHD, and he went on to tell me that the thought had occurred to *him* from time to time, but, and I quote, "You're always so on top of everything . . ."

 

Yeah! Right! Well, I got the impression that he thought my son was actually diagnosed and we were just dealing with it.

 

We talked for a long, long time and he suggested the Mountain Dew Experiment. So I spent the weekend reading up on this stuff -- and man, THAT was confusing!!! -- and this morning The Kid chugged a Mountain Dew with his breakfast. (I won't go into how hard it was for me to give my blessing to THAT! But, in the interest of science . . . :tongue_smilie: )

 

While the experiment was definitely a success, at this point I just hope I don't strangle him before that stuff wears off!

 

Good GRIEF!

 

He's bouncing off the walls! My smooth, cool, calm kid is a twitchy mess! "I'm not tired!" he says! I guess NOT!

 

One plus is that I love this little smilie, but I've never had the chance to use it. Now, a couple dozen seem appropriate! :willy_nilly: :willy_nilly: :willy_nilly: :willy_nilly:

[JudoMom]

that my son does *not* have ADD/ADHD! ARGH!!!!!!

 

I had some problems with my son over the past two weeks and wanted to get an opinion from someone I trusted -- and who knows him -- about what might be going on, and what the appropriate consequences might be. The consequences I had in mind would really mess up something all of us *really* wanted to do next weekend, and would also affect this trusted person.

 

So when I asked him about it, the first thing he said was, "Does he have ADHD?"

 

HUH??!! :eek:

 

*That* never occurred to me! I know this friend *does* have ADD/ADHD, and he went on to tell me that the thought had occurred to *him* from time to time, but, and I quote, "You're always so on top of everything . . ."

 

Yeah! Right! Well, I got the impression that he thought my son was actually diagnosed and we were just dealing with it.

 

We talked for a long, long time and he suggested the Mountain Dew Experiment. So I spent the weekend reading up on this stuff -- and man, THAT was confusing!!! -- and this morning The Kid chugged a Mountain Dew with his breakfast. (I won't go into how hard it was for me to give my blessing to THAT! But, in the interest of science . . . :tongue_smilie: )

 

While the experiment was definitely a success, at this point I just hope I don't strangle him before that stuff wears off!

 

Good GRIEF!

 

He's bouncing off the walls! My smooth, cool, calm kid is a twitchy mess! "I'm not tired!" he says! I guess NOT!

 

One plus is that I love this little smilie, but I've never had the chance to use it. Now, a couple dozen seem appropriate! :willy_nilly: :willy_nilly: :willy_nilly: :willy_nilly:

 

Mmmmmm....Mountain Dew.....:cheers2:

[Spy Car]

We talked for a long, long time and he suggested the Mountain Dew Experiment. So I spent the weekend reading up on this stuff -- and man, THAT was confusing!!! -- and this morning The Kid chugged a Mountain Dew with his breakfast. (I won't go into how hard it was for me to give my blessing to THAT! But, in the interest of science . . . :tongue_smilie: )

 

For those of us not-in-the-know (namely me) what is the "Mountain Dew" experiment? What is it supposed to prove?

 

Bill

[CalicoKat]

For those of us not-in-the-know (namely me) what is the "Mountain Dew" experiment? What is it supposed to prove?

 

Bill

caffeine calms down a child with ADHD and they're able to focus too. A child who doesn't have ADHD . . . gets hyper. :D

 

My mother gave ds3 a sip of of her iced coffee when he was a baby--I know, terrible--He head banged in his crib all night long unable to sleep. No ADHD there. :)

 

Now dd7, we carry bottles of Water Joe in the car, pull through starbucks (for her), etc. Mountain Dew we've never tried because of the HFCS.

 

HFCS and food colors will set off her ADHD behaviours too.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Mountain Dew we've never tried because of the HFCS.

 

HFCS and food colors will set off her ADHD behaviours too.

 

Which is why I wouldn't trust that experiment to tell anyone anything.....BTW, I don't buy these experiments anyway, but if I were to do one, it'd be with black coffee, not with a sugary, colored soda!

[Renee in NC]

Mt. Dew works just fine for my off-the-wall 7yo and his 15yo brother! My 15yo has tried energy drinks (not with my permission) and it was too much - he isn't allowed to do that anymore!

[Kris]

For those of us not-in-the-know (namely me) what is the "Mountain Dew" experiment? What is it supposed to prove?

 

Yup -- what she said. Apparently -- and I did *not* know this before -- Mountain Dew is loaded with caffeine. As a matter of fact, when I talked to Sweetie about it over the weekend, he told me that truck drivers who don't drink coffee (the acid is a problem), guzzle that stuff.

[Spy Car]

caffeine calms down a child with ADHD and they're able to focus too. A child who doesn't have ADHD . . . gets hyper. :D

 

My mother gave ds3 a sip of of her iced coffee when he was a baby--I know, terrible--He head banged in his crib all night long unable to sleep. No ADHD there. :)

 

Now dd7, we carry bottles of Water Joe in the car, pull through starbucks (for her), etc. Mountain Dew we've never tried because of the HFCS.

 

HFCS and food colors will set off her ADHD behaviours too.

 

Thank you for the explanation, this makes sense.

 

I have a friend whose daughter has serious ADD/ADHD and she's been helped by drinking "Yerba Mate" (which is high in caffeine) every morning.

 

Bill

[Kris]

Thank you for the explanation, this makes sense.

 

I have a friend whose daughter has serious ADD/ADHD and she's been helped by drinking "Yerba Mate" (which is high in caffeine) every morning.

 

Bill

 

I've heard of that -- didn't know it was a good source of caffeine, though! I found this list. *Now* I understand the Red Bull commercials! :lol:

 

I'm thinking we might try this again with just coffee to rule out the issues of additives and the like. I might need a few recovery days first, though. :lol:

 

 

:willy_nilly:

[Spy Car]

I've heard of that -- didn't know it was a good source of caffeine, though! I found this list. *Now* I understand the Red Bull commercials! :lol:

 

I'm thinking we might try this again with just coffee to rule out the issues of additives and the like. I might need a few recovery days first, though. :lol:

 

 

:willy_nilly:

 

I just wonder about, and was indeed thrown off by, the "sugar factor".

 

While I see the notion "poo-pooed" in studies, it is my consistent observation of my son (and other children) that when he (they) get too much sugar they act "wild". So I'd want to eliminate the "sugar" variable in the caffeine test.

 

Bill (who's feeling a little under-caffeinated himself)

[Kris]

I just wonder about, and was indeed thrown off by, the "sugar factor".

 

While I see the notion "poo-pooed" in studies, it is my consistent observation of my son (and other children) that when he (they) get too much sugar they act "wild". So I'd want to eliminate the "sugar" variable in the caffeine test.

 

Bill (who's feeling a little under-caffeinated himself)

 

Yes, I've seen it "poo-pooed" in studies as well. They can "poo-poo" all they want, but . . . :D

 

Sugar definitely *was* an issue when he was little.

 

We also found that milk was a problem, too. We discovered that doing the Milk Experiment! No milk for two weeks, drink a glass of milk, pry The Kid off the ceiling.

 

As he got older, though, it didn't seem to be much of a problem *but* we're not "sugar loaders" anyway -- just the occasional treat which hasn't been a problem.

[Plucky]

Just so you know, I did the caffeine test on my ds and it didn't work. It's part of the reason I thought he was in the clear. My son has a raging case of ADHD. It's likely your ds doesn't have it, only 7% do.

[Kris]

Just so you know, I did the caffeine test on my ds and it didn't work. It's part of the reason I thought he was in the clear. My son has a raging case of ADHD. It's likely your ds doesn't have it, only 7% do.

 

In going over all the checklists, I've been back and forth and back and forth again. Yes, no, yes, no, yes, no -- my head is spinning as badly as his is right now! :lol: I would be *very* surprised if he does have it, and was, frankly, quite speechless (hard to believe) when it was even brought up!

 

If you don't mind my asking, how did you finally get it figured out?

[Plucky]

Ours was extreme. He always had problems focusing but I worked with him a lot and in small chunks. He has a photographic memory and loved memorizing stuff. Finally, last year I don't know if the work became much hard and/or if his ADHD spiked. He has always struggled but I thought working with him would do the trick. It became so bad that he couldn't do anything and it affected his whole life. I have another post on here about it. I'm starting to feel like I'm putting too many personal items about him online.

 

My son is a severe case and I should've seen it coming. It really is likely that your son is fine. If you have any doubts you can have him evaluated. If he's doing fine I wouldn't worry about it. Is this the 16 year old?

[KidsHappen]

Yup -- what she said. Apparently -- and I did *not* know this before -- Mountain Dew is loaded with caffeine. As a matter of fact, when I talked to Sweetie about it over the weekend, he told me that truck drivers who don't drink coffee (the acid is a problem), guzzle that stuff.

 

Yep, I have ADD and Mountain Dew is my beverage of choice. I will also occasionally drink a latte as well. Unfotunately, while it does help people with ADD calm down and concentrate it still has an effect on sleep patterns. So I can either be able to think straight and accomplish things during the day or sleep at night but not both.

[cathmom]

Maybe I'll try this with my younger dd...

[klmama]

Just one thing, for those of you who are now considering trying caffeine to help your dc focus - caffeine can increase anxiety in those who struggle with it.

[Kris]

Ours was extreme. He always had problems focusing but I worked with him a lot and in small chunks. He has a photographic memory and loved memorizing stuff. Finally, last year I don't know if the work became much hard and/or if his ADHD spiked. He has always struggled but I thought working with him would do the trick. It became so bad that he couldn't do anything and it affected his whole life. I have another post on here about it. I'm starting to feel like I'm putting too many personal items about him online.

 

Yes -- I understand that completely.

 

I've only been digging over the weekend, but one of the things that I did find was that, when the kids are younger, and if they're smart, they develop coping mechanisms and manage to get by. It's when the work gets harder and they have to concentrate more that the problem becomes more obvious.

 

This got my attention because my son skated through school until the middle of fifth grade. He hit a total wall in seventh grade -- when his organizational skills should have started kicking in with the different teachers, keeping a schedule and the like.

 

My son is a severe case and I should've seen it coming. It really is likely that your son is fine. If you have any doubts you can have him evaluated. If he's doing fine I wouldn't worry about it. Is this the 16 year old?

 

Well, he's not doing "fine" -- but I'm not exactly sure what the problem is. Might be just that he's a spoiled rotten little brat! :lol: Actually, I was talking to the other person about what I thought was a behavioral issue when the subject came up. If he has a problem, it is definitely not "raging" -- but it is holding him back. And the closer he gets to college age, the more I'm realizing that, despite everything we've done, he wouldn't survive in college for a single semester with all the "I forgot" and his failure to get organized. He's at the age now where "he's just a kid" sounds kind of silly, and I would expect *some* progress by now, and I'm just not seeing it.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Kris,

 

I didn't realize you were talking about a 16yo! Did you know that my daughter was just put on medication a month ago? It really did make a difference. It might be worth the consideration of a professional. BTW, dd started with dual enrollment this semester and has done very well so far :) I'm glad we went this direction.....FINALLY.

[wagnfun]

that my son does *not* have ADD/ADHD! ARGH!!!!!!

 

I had some problems with my son over the past two weeks and wanted to get an opinion from someone I trusted -- and who knows him -- about what might be going on, and what the appropriate consequences might be. The consequences I had in mind would really mess up something all of us *really* wanted to do next weekend, and would also affect this trusted person.

 

So when I asked him about it, the first thing he said was, "Does he have ADHD?"

 

HUH??!! :eek:

 

*That* never occurred to me! I know this friend *does* have ADD/ADHD, and he went on to tell me that the thought had occurred to *him* from time to time, but, and I quote, "You're always so on top of everything . . ."

 

Yeah! Right! Well, I got the impression that he thought my son was actually diagnosed and we were just dealing with it.

 

We talked for a long, long time and he suggested the Mountain Dew Experiment. So I spent the weekend reading up on this stuff -- and man, THAT was confusing!!! -- and this morning The Kid chugged a Mountain Dew with his breakfast. (I won't go into how hard it was for me to give my blessing to THAT! But, in the interest of science . . . :tongue_smilie: )

 

While the experiment was definitely a success, at this point I just hope I don't strangle him before that stuff wears off!

 

Good GRIEF!

 

He's bouncing off the walls! My smooth, cool, calm kid is a twitchy mess! "I'm not tired!" he says! I guess NOT!

 

One plus is that I love this little smilie, but I've never had the chance to use it. Now, a couple dozen seem appropriate! :willy_nilly: :willy_nilly: :willy_nilly: :willy_nilly:

 

I reallllyy don't want to burst bubbles but... well, medically there are 6 types of ADD/ADHD. Not everyone has the caffeeine puts you to sleep issue. I think for your lil ones sake, if you think he may struggle w/ ADD, you should get him tested.

 

My daughter has ADD and can't drink soda at all or she stays up all night.

I also agree with the other poster, a soda contains sugar which could make you feel "not tired"..

 

:)

[Lovedtodeath]

 

Epic Ganoderma really helps me. It is a drink with Reishi mushroom and a tiny bit of coffee for flavor. I am thinking of weaning so that I can drink it again!

[Kris]

There are a lot of things that mimic symptoms of ADHD. I suggest the book "Kids in the syndrome mix". It goes over a handful of disorders that are similar to one another. Your son might fit one of these. Also check out "non-verbal learning disability". Kids with this often excel in school until they get older and need more organizational skills than they have.

 

Also , my dd doesn't have ADHD but she does have some nebulous "issues" and very challenging behavior. She has been greatly helped by a non-stimulant ADHD med.

 

Thanks, Christina. I just gave it a quick look -- I am exhausted tonight -- and while there are a few things there that sound familiar, there are others that don't apply at all. So there's no "Ah HA!" moment yet.

[Kris]

I reallllyy don't want to burst bubbles but... well, medically there are 6 types of ADD/ADHD. Not everyone has the caffeeine puts you to sleep issue. I think for your lil ones sake, if you think he may struggle w/ ADD, you should get him tested.

 

My daughter has ADD and can't drink soda at all or she stays up all night.

I also agree with the other poster, a soda contains sugar which could make you feel "not tired"..

 

:)

 

Well, unfortunately, there's no insurance. So I'm trying to do my homework before we go to the GP. He's already told me that he won't be able to handle this -- he'll have to refer us out. I'm hoping that the more I know, the better I'll be able to answer questions and the more efficient we will be. So far, I'm only more confused.

[Kris]

Kris,

 

I didn't realize you were talking about a 16yo!

 

Yup -- that's him! :D

 

Did you know that my daughter was just put on medication a month ago? It really did make a difference. It might be worth the consideration of a professional. BTW, dd started with dual enrollment this semester and has done very well so far :) I'm glad we went this direction.....FINALLY.

 

No! I didn't know that! That is really wonderful news!

[KidsHappen]

Ask him what he thinks. How does he feel? Does anything help? Does he notice any difference based on changes in his day or routine? Honestly, it is so much easier when they are older and can verbalize what they are going through. Try talking to him. You may be surprised by his insight and perspective. I wish you and your son the best of luck with this. :)

[Amy in Orlando]

Ask him what he thinks. How does he feel? Does anything help? Does he notice any difference based on changes in his day or routine? Honestly, it is so much easier when they are older and can verbalize what they are going through. Try talking to him. You may be surprised by his insight and perspective. I wish you and your son the best of luck with this. :)

 

:iagree::iagree: I was going to say the same thing.

 

I hope you can get it all figured out.

[Kris]

Ask him what he thinks. How does he feel? Does anything help? Does he notice any difference based on changes in his day or routine? Honestly, it is so much easier when they are older and can verbalize what they are going through. Try talking to him. You may be surprised by his insight and perspective. I wish you and your son the best of luck with this. :)

 

He has always told me he's doing great, everything is fine, yes, he understands it, yes, he feels fine.

 

Okay -- then why does everything take him so long? Why can't he find his notebooks? Books? Papers? Why, with a list right in front of him, does it take him ten to fifteen minutes to decide what he wants to do next? He's had the same chores for two years -- why can't he remember to do them?

 

I want to make sure my expectations are high enough to keep him challenged, but not so unreasonable that he feels defeated. So I recently did one of his assignments myself. It took me an hour to do it. It took him two hours to do it -- actual seat time. A book that took me five hours to read took him almost ten hours -- and his reading scores have always been way above grade level. Why does it take him twice as long to complete a task as it should?

 

Both of us have been completely baffled by all of this. And it doesn't help that I was, apparently, a self-starter from the time I could sit up. So I don't understand people who aren't! I can't relate to it at all, and I figured this must have something to do with it. Up until this month, it was "Well, he's still just a kid." But he's *not* just a kid anymore and he really should be able to manage these things on his own by now! It's not like he hasn't been told and shown how to do it -- and I really didn't understand why I *had* to show him and tell him -- Over! And over! And over!

 

We are only just now actually making any progress. Maybe I'm finally asking the right questions?

 

He has just, in the last two days, actually TOLD me he's having trouble concentrating -- that he has to re-read paragraphs because he doesn't know what he just read, for example. Why didn't he tell me this before? Because he thought that's "just the way it is." *sigh* But this I *can* understand. Until I got my first pair of glasses in sixth grade, I thought the Moon was just a big white ball. I had never seen any of the colors before because they were all blurred out!

 

So we're digging, digging, digging and I'm reading, reading, reading. There is definitely a doctor's visit in his near future, but we have to do our homework first so it isn't a total waste of time -- there is no insurance.

[Unicorn.]

Just an FYI, but did you let him drink the whole Mt. Dew? W/ our ds, if he drank 1/2 of one, it worked. The whole thing- well, you've seen the results first-hand!

[Kris]

Just an FYI, but did you let him drink the whole Mt. Dew? W/ our ds, if he drank 1/2 of one, it worked. The whole thing- well, you've seen the results first-hand!

 

Thanks for the heads up! There is no more Mt. Dew in this boy's future. I'm too old. :D