9 yr old with adhd

[jennifer425]

hello im new here i also have a 9 year old with adhd , not alot of people will understand them. my son is on focalin 10 mg daily it works for him but it only last for a few hours , i started giving him 15 mgs but once he felt bad , anxious , nervous so i decreased to 10 mgs .

[EJsMom]

I understand how you feel! It’s so difficult, a lot people don’t understand what adhd is and how it affects our kids.

[jennifer425]

oh yes , 90% of people dont understand; i have family issues because of that, you have a kid with it?

[Cjkchamp]

My son is 6 and we tried 10 mg Focalin XR but it was too much for him. We backed him down to 5 and added 3 mg Guanfacine in the morning.

[jennifer425 in reply to Cjkchamp]

my son used guanfancine once also risperdal and he gain so much weight like 20 pounds or more it wasnt even him already so becareful with the weight , it didnt work for my son at all im just doing the regular focalin not focalin xr 10 mg daily it works for him but just for a few hours.

[Ldydy24]

Welcome! Your right unless you have ADHD it’s hard to relate with someone who has it. My 13 yr old son has ADHD and we’ve been on this journey for 8 years. He also takes Focalin and after trying several meds this is by far the best fit for him. He has a very high metabolism and generally the pill only last 3 1/2 hours. I believe 4 hours is the norm. We tried the XR which works great for some kids as it slowly releases medicine throughout the day and is supposed to last up to 8 hours but it didn’t work for my son. Have you discussed with your doctor trying the XR? It sounds like the 15 ml may b too much for him at once. My son takes 15 ml twice a day but in the am we give him a 5 ml with breakfast so he will eat then we give him a 10 ml like 30-45 min later. If Focalin is helping him these are some other options to consider with your dr. Good luck!

[jennifer425 in reply to Ldydy24]

thank you so much for the comment, i think 15 mg is too much for him , the thing is my son is a really bad eater (picky eater) he does not like regular food like rice and beans with chicken things like that his more like mac and cheese , soups, spaghetti those that comes in the cans, and thats not healthy at all. once we takes the focalin pill in the morning hes appetite is gone.. i also tried alot of different medications but they didnt work like the risperdal maked him gain so much weight, the doctor reccomended omega 3 also she said is good for adhd im going to buy it this week, How does your son behaves in school? and is he in any sport or something what does he do when he gets hone from school?. im just asking so i could get ideas maybe i could also do for my son...

[Ldydy24]

Happy to help. Make sure you give the medicine with breakfast so he will eat. Not too early before he eats or he won’t eat because it will suppress their appetite. Load him up on food at breakfast and dinner as those will be the times he will be hungry. And he may be hungry before he goes to bed because all of the meds are out of his system so let him eat (within reason) . You may have to let him eat some things he likes while trying to sneak in healthier options and I find breakfast is the perfect time to do this. I load my son up with fruit, proteins and carbs and it helps and he doesn’t fight me given it’s early and he’s starving. He picks through the day and generally will eat a couple of bites of a PBJ and some chips but that about it. He has to take several small doses of meds throughout the day because his body eats up the meds quickly. He gets a 15 ml 3x’s a day and that holds him. His last dose is 1:30 so that can b a challenge if he doesn’t get his homework done before I get him at 5. Sometimes we give him a 5 ml around 4 to help with homework or sports and that helps a lot. Any sport to get out their energy helps. My son used to run Cross Country and is switching to soccer in the fall. He goes to a Catholic school which works well given it’s so structured but it can be challenging. He’s very smart but hates to read and write so I have a tutor to help him. He gets A/B’s with me helping him study and keeping him on schedule. Without the meds he would be struggling so they definitely help. I’m here to help if you need any other advice.

[jennifer425 in reply to Ldydy24]

thanks so much even thought i have so many years dealing with this sometimes i get stress out , my son goes to school at 7:30 am the program his in they only have like 2 weeks vacatiob in the whole year, so his always in school , he doesnt wants to eat in the morning sometimes he just drink a cup of milk sometimes he doesnt want anything, then i will give him food when he comes back from school. but how do you give him the pill in his school hours? my son is the same way he doesnt wants to do his homework sometimes well most if the time i have to help him every day , his also very smart his on top of everything. i think the focalin helps alot is just it goes away after 4 hours .. i will talk to his doctor i have an appointment july 23 to let her know whats going on. sometimes my son could be saying bad words also i think he doesnt understand at the moment his not supposed to be saying those stuff.

[cristinarodriguez in reply to jennifer425]

I feel for your son ,I dont know how old is he, I have a 9 year old with ADHD and the same , he does not want to do homework, for another child without ADHD it would take 45 minutes to one hour for my son that turns into 3 hour ordeal, so I battle it though is IEP and I got on his IEP "no daily home work", and extra time for home projects,

he is more happy and relaxed, I dont think children should have to do school work at home after spending so many hours at school, adults dont bring work to home?

I think that should be optional

[jennifer425 in reply to cristinarodriguez]

oh yes it also takes me alot of time with the homework , sometimes they leave 3 to 4 homeworks they out of their mind lol im going to talk about that in my next meeting mine is also 9 yrs old.

[Ldydy24]

Wow only 2 weeks of vacation that’s rough. Kids generally need more down time than this. Is this a private school? All schools should have a nurse to help with medicine. As long as you have a prescription bottle showing the dose and times the meds should be taking talk to the nurse. What time is your son getting meds? Most ADHD kids are very bright but need some extra help. The trick is keeping up their confdence as much as possible. I’m surprised your son isn’t hungry when he gets up. What time does he get up for breakfast? If he’s on short acting Focalin it won’t last more than 4 hours. He will need a 2nd dose before the 4 hrs to make sure he is sustained throughout the day and possibly a 3rd dose to help in the afternoon. That would also help with homework, My son takes 5 ml at 6:30 with breakfast then 10 ml at 7:15 before we leave for school. Then he gets 15 ml at 10:30 and 1:30. So around every 3- 3 1/2 hours given he has such a high metabolism. At 9 your son may be testing the water with bad words to get a reaction from you or like you said he may not realize what he’s saying. I would simply sit him down and explain what you expect and help him understand what he’s saying.

[jennifer425 in reply to Ldydy24]

my son gets up at 7:00am he wil brush his teeths and wash his face then i will tell him to drink milk or if he wants something to eat maybe sometime he will want a cup of milk then after that i give him the 10 ml he leaves at 7:30 am thats about it thats all he takes for the whole day in school if they give food that he likes he will eat it but mostlikely i will have to send something so he can eat something. its a private behavioral school here in nj they have this kind of school is for behavioral purposes hid in special ed, im scared of the burse giving him medication what if shes gives him more?, i always give the medication i dont trust nobody with that, anyways yes i always talk to him about the bad words this started because he hears other kids in school ,,, but i think he finds it funny, is your son aggresive because mine his not.

[Ldydy24]

If he likes drinking only the milk you may want to consider adding Carnation breakfast powder to it. It has lots of protein and vitamins and I occasionally add this to my son’s milk because he doesn’t eat enough veggies. Getting up a 1/2 hour before leaving for school may be another reason he’s not hungry. I would definitely pack him some snacks/food he likes. My son likes eating the little bite muffins and even though they are not the healthiest I let him eat them and I give him fruit and a hard boiled egg or string cheese to help balance it out. Keep trying new things with him and small snacks that are quick to eat. My son also likes beef jerky or trail mix. Nothing big as they generally graze throughout the day, I’ve had the school nurse give meds to my son since he was 5.. trust me a professional nurse being paid by the school will take this seriously and will givr the meds correctly. Plus your son is 9 so teach him what meds he should b getting and at what time. I have taught my son to be accountable with his meds (he is 13 and understands his body and how he acts without meds) and during school he wears a watch that alarms him when his meds r due and he goes directly to the nurse. I’ve never had a problem. With your son going to a private behavioral school they will b well versed in administering meds. My son wouldn’t be able to function in school without more doses of meds throughout the day. He’s not aggressive but has no impulse control or ability to focus without them. I live in Delaware and also sent my son to a private behavioral school for 3 yrs before I transitioned him back to a main stream school last year. A lot of kids at his old school plus his current school get help getting meds to ADHD. If the meds are needed they are needed. No parent likes having their child on medicine for ADHD but unfortunately if the ADHD is severe it’s needed. Here is my email address if you would like to talk more [e-mail].

[jennifer425]

yea is better if we talk private lol im goinng to email u

[Fireball1171]

My 9 year old son was just diagnosed with ADHD, ODD, and Anxiety. (He had heart surgery as an infant, and now his cardiologist does not want him medicated!) I am looking for any/all info on CBD oil and/or essential oil!! Anything will help!! Thanks in advance!