ADHD

[Elizabethdela]

Hello everyone i'm new to this site i hope i can get advice or opinions about adhd my daugther was just diagnosed with adhd a few days ago and she's also very emotional her doctor wants her to get on meds right away but i'm not sure any advice will be hepful.

[Pennywink]

Welcome!

I’m not sure what info your doctor gave you, but I found this video a great starting point in learning about what we are dealing with. It’s long, but so good!

youtu.be/SCAGc-rkIfo(Not working as expected?)

[Elizabethdela in reply to Pennywink]

Thank you for answering my question as I'm very nervous about what to do or not to do her doctor gave me a month to decide whether I want medication but first we're trying a physcoligist .

[Pennywink in reply to Elizabethdela]

That sounds like a good plan. Whether or not to medicate is a tough decision for any parent. My son was diagnosed 4 months ago, and we still haven’t decided - lol!

[Kellypeters in reply to Elizabethdela]

I was about to reply and tell you to watch the same video! It’s very good place to start and he is an expert. I was really reluctant to medicate but agreed to a trial. The first drug was a disaster and I thought I would never ever medicate. I relutantly agreed to trial one more medication and it changed his life. I would have a hard time not giving it to him now. He is so much happier! It is such a stressful decision but I recommend doing a trial. You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to but you will be able to see the difference the medication makes and then make an informed decision. Our trial only took 3 weeks. Hope that helps. I was actually diagnosed at 41 with ADHD too after my son. Mine in inattentive so it wasn’t pick up when I was a child. My diagnose has meant I get to experience first hand the medication my son is on. It’s chanfed my life too. I wish I had had it when I was at school. I finished uni but it was a lot harder than it could have been. The difficulty regulating emotions is part of the ADHD and the medication has help me do much in that area. This is just my experience and I think every child is different so you can feel free to decide what is best for your child! All the best! Kel

[Jaxy53]

Hello Elizabethdela. It is a hard decision on whether medication are right for your child. When my son was diagnosed in January of this year I was completely against mediation. I tried the diet and supplements to help him with focus in the classroom. Nothing was working. He was impulsive, his grades where being effected and teachers found him disrespectful and distracted all the time. After a few suspensions under his belt in a new school we decided to try medication. He stared on Concerta. It was okay. We saw changes in grades and work but as everyone states changes do not happen over night. I found he was more aggressive and his swearing picked up a lot. We increase his dose and he became more aggressive on Concerta as well he was having headaches. I ended up (with advise on this site) to complete a gene test on him to see what meds metabolize correctly in his system. This will take out some of the trial and error as well as side effects. Surprisingly the results came back stating the concerta was not a good choice and was non-responsive. We switched him three weeks ago to Adderall XR. He started on 10 mg and is now on 25 mg and so far so good. He is not aggressive anymore and his swearing stopped. He is focused in and out of the classroom and his grades have increased. It is still a work in progress and some days we have set backs. I have him in therapy once a month to work on behavioral such as his impulsiveness. I watched the video Russell Barkely and it is really good. I huge eye opener on ADHD and medication. Good luck with whatever choice you decide for your child. I know with us medication is the right choice.