Hi there! I have a little girl, age 8 recently diagnosed with ADHD inattentive type and dyslexia/dyscalculia. We have a VERY STRONG history of addiction in our family, particularly my brother, who was dx-ed and placed on Ritalin at age 6 in the 1980s and still struggles with substances which has had terrible fallout for all of us, so I am hesitant out of the box to use meds until our daughter is old enough to be an informed partner in that conversation. This is a decision that I have reached for the moment, so please no posts trying to convince me right now of the benefits of updated medications, or that she'll eventually self-medicate if I don't medicate her now, etc. I have heard and considered these arguments and that is not where we are at right now. What I am interested in is hearing if essential oils have been useful for your kiddos and/or fish oil and/or other alternative, non-pharmaceutical therapies? If so, how did you use them and specifically what brands and combinations? Thanks so very much. New to this whole world.
-Robyn
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Hi, I can relate to you my son Is 7 and has ADHD and we are not doing meds as of now. He has a 504 plan for school which is helping him. His teachers have to give him breaks and re- read him questions if he is having a hard time. He also has to sit close to the teacher. We have him in travel hockey, lacrosse and try to keep him involved activities. He does like his PS4 , but limit his use because he would be on it all day if he could. I try to keep him on a routine as much as possible. He tends to get angry from time to time which is frustrating, but I try to be understanding. I have changed his diet to gluten free it’s been two weeks I heard it takes up to six weeks, so I will post an update later on.
We use a combination of different essential oils in a diffuser in my sons room at night and in the morning for about an hour each. Vetiver is very grounding... there is a good website about essential oil uses (especially for children) that I refer to a lot. thehippyhomemaker.com
Sorry, I really disagree with this statement, this medication usage. This drug is used for people that early stage memory issues. I would not give this to my son. It is also $190.00 a bottle.
I talked to my doctor about fishoil/krill oil. He said they don't really cross the blood-brain barrier so they can't have much effect. He said they are pricey and so you're just producing expensive urine.
I have an 8 year old non medicated ADHD girl. We have decided to not consider medication until she is at least a teenager. We didn’t find essential oils to be helpful with her. We haven’t tried fish oils. The two things that have been the most helpful for us are
1.Exercise. She had done dance and gymnastics but right now she is on the swim team and plays water polo. If her activities go on break, we notice a huge difference in her ability to self regulate. She needs to really exert herself for about an hour a day.
2. Believe it or not, YouTube! Or specifically the YouTube channel, “How to ADHD. “. Our daughter loves it and it has made her feel good about herself and given her ideas on how to cope and compensate for some of the things she struggles with.
Good for you for trusting your gut with your child!
Yes exercise and when not exercising keep her busy with something she enjoys. Maybe cooking in kitchen with you. Structure and you hang in there. But you will need bteaks for your owen stringth.
Yes ADHD education is key, no one child is alike. Find out what works best for her. I really believe it’s all trial & error and figuring out what will work. When my son was 7 we did Brain Training or neurofeed back. It did help somewhat with his ADHD mental status & definitely his balance.
My son, age 6, has what I would currently describe as fairly mild ADHD. He is currently unmediated.
Personally, we have not seen any changes with essential oils or dietary interventions. The only non-prescription things that make a huge difference are sleep, and caffeine (basically an OTC stimulant.)
Exercise helps him in the long term, but not in the short term. It wears out his self control before it barely makes a dent in his activity level (not saying don’t do it - we just don’t see immediate results at our house.)
Behavioral modifications, different parenting strategies, and some mindfulness activities has had varying degrees of improvement. Though we try to be pragmatic and stay aware if we’ve crossed a line where stronger treatment options are necessary.
Hi Robyn, I just seen this post. My son is 7, not medicated until very recently, and essential oils were working great along with diet restrictions and a nearly Nazi level scheduled routine. His outbursts were extremely rare, was on track to be in general studies classes with his peers. We use a few different synergies, most of them bought from plant therapy. They have a great selection, and have even made roll ons that can be applied to the skin throughout the day. I highly recommend them. My son was just diagnosed as bipolar so we are still contemplating a plan, but the oils were very effective for us.
My child was never medicated until he was 19. My husband has lived with it without medication and runs a successful company. I did put my son in structured schools and structured him at home by keeping him very busy with swimming, and other year round sports. He had difficulty focusing on books, so I would take him to the library 3x a week and search for interesting books. I started reading Greek Mythology books to him when he was young and that started his curiosity in reading. He has been an avid reader after that. Our struggles started when he was in high school and went away to college. He is now in a very low dose of Adderall. I also struggle with all medication. When they are older they can have conversations with the doctors and with us, it was then that I understood he needed the meds now. I do not regret the decision of not giving him meds when he was young.
Try a hobby with a lot of hands on and is ever changing. Growing up with adhd and coming to understand it a bit better in my now early middle age it was boredom that always brought the negative aspects of having Adhd. Institutional learning was boring,church boring,movies even at a theater unless gripping right off the start boring,anything where it was notorious for being a still setting boring. But it was when I found skating that I was first fully able to give my undivided attention because it was very hands on and the scenery always had the possibility of change and if I didn't focus I fell and like most people I don't enjoy pain so it taught balance both mentally and physically. I'm not saying skating is the hobby to chose but really a trip to a skatepark may not hurt otherwise how about good ole nature, give a kid an hour with no awkward looks and an open mind an just ask what them what fascinates them at the moment if it holds water of being anything other than a detriment to brain or body dive the F in.
There is a lot of great advice here. Exercise has been found, in many studies, to be the second best, consistent thing after meds that really has an impact on outward symptoms and focus. Many can manage their ADHD with high cardio exercise on a consistent basis. Start them young and they have it for a life time.
There is also a growing body of evidence that "mindfulness" can help with focus. Mindfulness has become a catch all but I think of it as taking a moment to allow your thoughts to slow down, flow freely (don't try to stop them and don't get hooked) Every time you come back to your focus (breath, candle, etc) its like lifting weights and strengthening their focus muscle. So you can't lose - lose focus and come back YAY! you are getting stronger. Stay focused longer YAY! You are getting stronger.
I suggest meditation/mindfulness of the moving sort for younger kids - count your steps to the mail box, see how slowly you can walk to the mail box - stuff like that.
A few studies have shown some impact with a diet change mostly non-dairy gluten free diet. Of course sugar is not a great combination with ADHD so keeping that down can help also.
Physical contact like hugs can also go a long way to grounding a kid.
Let your daughter know she is a different thinker, if you haven't already, it can really give them armor when they need it. I asked my daughter to do a word search with me and she didn't like it - it's just jumbled letters to her. But she loved mazes. So I went out of my way to point out examples of how her brain worked differently, and many times better, than mine. I would ask "OK Maze brain how would yo do ____? My word search brain can't figure this out" She almost always had a great idea (even as a very young kid) and it reinforced that thinking differently is an asset not a problem to be solved. When a teacher or peer didn't get her she let it roll off "Obviously they are not a Maze brain like me" and that's very empowering.
Keep learning and you will find what works best. It is a lot of trial and error so hang in there and acknowledge everything you are doing right, and what has worked.
Good luck,
BLC89
full disclosure I am an ADHD parent coach, and have raised two kids with ADHD (all grown up now)
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