My son 9yrs old and has been diagnosed with ADHD. We have not put him on meds because of all of the side effects. What are the alternatives?

[Aj01]

Has anyone been successful without meds?

[EJsMom]

I didn’t medicate my son until he was old enough to ask for medicine himself. Which was age 10. He told me he was tired of being in trouble at school and he wanted to try the meds. He was In trouble ALOT at school so at that point I tried it. But he was diagnosed at age 6.

After two years and multiple meds, we still have found the exact right thing.

Anti anxiety meds help him the most, he is a lot happier when he’s taking them. However school is still hard.

There are quite a few peeps on here that use vitamins and minerals and modify diet... etc. sounds like they have been successful.

What side effects do you mean?

A lot of this depends on your individual child and how his adhd manifests.

I’m hoping one of the people who use the natural remedies will respond here.

[Pennywink]

We haven’t used any natural remedies, and diet changes didn’t do much of anything for us. However, home accommodations have been helpful, if not quite as effective as medicine. All the things folks with ADHD have trouble with internalizing, we’ve had to bring to the visual external. Basically: posted daily calendars & dry erase boards to help their working memory issues. Analog clocks & timers for the time management issues. Incentive systems and posted house rules to help their interest-based thought systems, Posted checklists/ breaking down projects. Organization systems & just getting rid of clutter.

I’ve had to become a much more Type A person than comes natural to me. Lol!

We’ve also had some success with fidgets, squishies, mindfulness activities and calming bottles.

[Malcomsmom]

I am actually in the process of going natural from being medicated because my child is a completely different person off of his meds this is the first time in six years he’s off and he’s great he’s not out of control yes He is unfocused , does he need some extra reminders of course what kid doesn’t my biggest worry is school of course and getting in trouble because he does have ODD also he was taking Adderall and tenex and he was irritable ,angry, mood swings, emotional, talked back. I can tell you he has done a complete 180 since being off this medication for the last two weeks. He is happy he interacts more with myself and fiancé plays less video games wants to do more things only thing I can say is now he’s more bored. I have found synaptol and calm keeper. I am also looking into cbd oil. I am trying to get my son in with a neurologist Instead of his psychiatrist. I’m definitely interested in more information if anyone has any.

[Pennywink]

We also see a neurologist- so hopefully that will be helpful to you. We’re going reverse from you - we’re just starting the process of looking at medication. Lol!

Also, not a cure all, but a consistent sleep schedule w/ early bedtime, lots of media-feee wind down time first, in a dark & quiet room helps.

I’ve heard behavioral therapy / parent training can really help a lot with ODD. So that may be an option to explore if you haven’t already.

[Mmagusin]

I read that ADHD kids are able to learn from mistakes, but they are not able to execute against that knowledge in certain moments. So, it's a frontal lobe executive function disorder that effects performance. They literally can't do what they were told an hour ago because their brain can't access that vague memory. So we get frustrated, like they didn't listen to us or didn't learn from mistakes. Understanding that, I try to be less judgemental & give more frequent reminders closer to the time performance of the direction is needed. Even An hour ago is ancient history.