My child.

[Joce90]

Hello my name is Joce. I am hoping that this support group can help me find ways to be a better parent for my children. My son was recently diagnosed this year with ADHD. I have yet to decide to put him on medication. I am honestly afraid to do so. I was wondering for the parents who chose to not medicate their children how are they doing? How long have you been not medicating your child? What all did you do to keep your child on the right path?

[Janemariekathryn]

Hi Joce, that’s a great question but the answer isn’t the same for each child. At age 11 my son was diagnosed with ADHD and ODD. We tried Ritalin then Aderal. Neither made much of a difference for him with his academics. What helped him was therapy, talking with a psychiatrist . Eating healthier, adding more protein less processed foods. Getting more sleep. He likes to take hot baths, they seem to relax him at night. My husband and I try our best to be positive and offer more structure. Now that we all understand what we’re dealing with the battle has come to a truce that we are living and working with each day together as a family. I read about Parents who are trying different medications to help there children. I read about there struggles and heart aches. I read about parents who have very positive results from medication that work well for their children. I think it maybe trial and error . What works for my child may not for yours. You will receive a lot of great advice from parents here but you will have to decide what’s best for your child. Good luck and God Bless!

[NiksK]

Hi Joce. I am Nicole and have a 9 year old son who was diagnosed a year ago. I was afraid of the medications also and my husband was completely against it. We tried what the therapist suggested (mostly redirect, healthier diet, and Improved sleep along with consequences when needed) but he nothing we tried worked. It was exhausting for us all. He is a very smart boy but the ADHD started to interfere with his learning and his grades were going down quickly and he disrupted class a lot. I went to a class our therapist suggested where they went over all the different medications and I still wasn't convinced until after the class I spoke to a few parents who already had their children on medication and they said it was helping. Then a grandmother came to me and said that she was just like me for over three years until she finally decided to try and her granddaughter has been doing very well and she wished she would have tried them earlier. Since it was affecting him at school I went ahead and tried. The first medication made him very emotional even at the lowest dosage so stopped that immediately. The second one has helped quite a bit. His grades are up and he's back to meeting or exceeding his bench marks at school. His teacher says he still has moments of losing his attention but he's easier to get back on task. At home we still have some problems but we have him on a very low dosage of the meds and have been told we can go higher but we have decided to keep it low. He's good at school and we can continue to work with him at home. I am not telling you this to talk u into medicating just wanted to tell u my story since u sound like I did. It's still a struggle for him (and us) but not as bad and he also notices the difference and says it's easier for him to do things that seem hard before. Also we don't have to give it to him everyday so when he says he doesn't want to take it for whatever reason we let him skip that day. The specialist said the medication he is on is fine to skip every once in a while. Good Luck!

[Kaysmom84]

Hello Joce! I am the mother of a 10yr old inattentive type adhd little boy! We have also chosen to not medicate, at least for the time being. Our pediatrician suggested we try many new things at home before considering medication, and they have worked wonders! First i would suggest the book smart but scattered it really changed things around for us! Next i will say the changes we made were pretty drastic and involved a monumental effort from the whole family! We altered the family diet to include much less sugar and carbs and much more protien and good fats! We have our son on a very strict schedule which is posted in many places around the house, which includes a special watch called the watchminder which has 11 custom alarms to remind him throughout his day. We have also moved his bedtime significantly earlier he has lights out at 8:30! Lastly my son loves video games and has a passion for not only playing them but making them as well, these are highly motivating for him so we restrict his time to 2 hours on the weekend only! Then he may earn video game passes for additional time by meeting certain goals throughout the week for example my son struggles to line up math problems which makes it hard for him to get the answers correct so if he uses graph paper all week when solving math problems he gets a 1 hr video game pass! These are some things we have had great success doing! Hope this helps! Don't forget one of the best things you can do for your kids is to take care of yourself! My son is also an a and b student and in accelerated 5th grade classes so it can be done without meds!

[Janemariekathryn in reply to Kaysmom84]

I’m so happy for you Kaysmom84! I have also read the Book Smart But Scattered. I found it very helpful. Now I’m reading Smart but Scattered Teens. Another helpful book I read is ADHD is not a Four Letter Word ( Drug Free Strategies for managing the gift that is ADHD). It’s so nice to hear a positive story ! Good luck!

[ha11 in reply to Kaysmom84]

what video games please share if you can my son also have mild adhd symptoms...

he never played games before just he used some educativ site

sonif you know good games according to his age of 6 andhalf do share please

[Kaysmom84 in reply to ha11]

My son loves all things Minecraft!! But in all honesty he has a passion for all video games! If you find what your son loves, it can help motivate him!

[ha11 in reply to Kaysmom84]

awww thankyouu very much.

actually my whole family lives far away from me

husband works long hours .

i cant drive as well due to less resources .

so sometimes i feel so alone where to take my two boys to play

they dont have any friend

they have robo routine school lunch tv hw lil play if they rvin good moods then sleep.

can smbdy give me suggestions as adhd kid have study problems so it take me longer to help in hw as well . i too feel exhausted.

as i have to do all house chores cooking and taking care of my disable brother as well .

husband just help in bringing groceries home eat and sleep.

i feel teared and down .also due to cultutural difference no bdy like to mingle limted to school hello good morning and bye bye .

[nawilliamsjr23]

Joce90

My child was diagnosed at 3. He did not take meds till he was 5. We did trial and area with Vyanese and found Focalin works best for him. It helps with him staying calm and his studies. Make sure he has an IEP evaluation at school and is staying in the IEP. It has helped my son because he is full blown ADHD. Listen and see what his Pediatrician says.

Multivitamins and non processed food helps!

Hope that helps!

[HOLLYBOSE]

My son is 7 and my husband struggled with ADHD as a child so I saw things very early at age 3. We started counseling at age 5 since in my state he can not get diagnosed until 6 which we did. We have tried vitamins, counseling, strict parenting (since people say ADHD doesn't exist), oils; you name it. Struggles at home; temper tantrums at everything, fighting constantly with younger brother, arguing about everything, no reasoning with him, not able to complete a task without getting side tracked. School was a struggle, focusing, distracting others, impulses, impulses, impulses. It is like he could not stop and think of the consequences or if it was right or wrong. We just decided to try medication. We were so against it because we don't like medicating if not needed and didn't want him to be a zombie because we do like his personality. He has been on Vyvance for 2 weeks now and it is a miracle. I am getting huge positive feedback from his teacher. At home it is like night and day. I can reason with him, no temper tantrums. He follows directions with no issues. I really wish I would have started when he was actually diagnosed. I will not go back. The only side effects we are experiencing is a little less of an appetite. I have just been making sure he snacks a lot with good foods. My advice is try it. You can always stop. I wish I would have started sooner, so much less stress and happier family life. Good luck.