I recently put my son on Vyvanse and Ritalin and neither of them worked. My psychiatrist was not super responsive during the process and I am currently looking for someone else as a result. I had 3 questions as I start my new search:
1) In my search for someone new, I want to find someone who not only focuses on medication management but also looks holistically at supplements, vitamins, diet therapies, etc. Does such a thing actually exist because I find most people specialize but there is not 1 person who knows about all of this? I'm wondering if i'm chasing a unicorn here and should just find specialized people?
2) Does anyone know anyone good in northern NJ - either a psychiatrist, neurologist or therapist? It would be a plus if they meet some of the criteria above, but i'll take any recommendations on anyone good who has really good follow up, who is knowledgeable and really made a difference in your kids life.
3) Does anyone know of a good therapist that follows Dr Barkley's 8 step program in northern NJ? We are finding success with it with our son, but our current therapist is against some of Barkley's methods (specifically around time out) so I wanted someone who knows it inside / out who can guide my husband and me through any questions.
Thanks,
Hiral
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Lolmama
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I am sorry I do not have the name of a professional to help you.
But wonder what did not go right with medication?
Also curious if you were able to provide the other 2 tools? Thearpy and an educational plan?
I was told that medication only helps with %60 of behaviors and that a good counselor helps them deal with behaviors and control.
Also our son had to go on a very very strict diet for over 3 months. He was only able to eat meat, vegetables and hard cheese. Nothing proceeded or colored and no sugar ( only honey). It did not change his behavior at all and in fact they considered it unsuccessful becuase he lacked energy and felt horriable. So they started to introduce rice and he felt a little better but they called off the diet.
We also introduced a number of vitamins with no luck in changing behavior.
We are all looking for what is best for our children.
So the first medication Vyvanse seemed to make his anxiety worse and he complained about his body hurting each evening. Since he is 6, we didn't explain to him that it was a medication but we indicated it was a vitamin that would make him feel better. So i'm not sure if he would be able to articulate better any side effects if we were more upfront with him, but I haven't gotten to that point with him yet. The second medication Ritalin, did not make any difference. We started at 5mg and the doctor told us to actually cut it in half which didn't make sense to us since it had no impact with 5mg. And when we sent her a follow up to ask, we did not hear back which is why we are looking for a new doctor. I personally don't feel comfortable with someone who is not responsive especially when it comes to this.
My psychiatrist has not suggested a change in diet at all and i guess I realize that these items are not proven, but I would expect some suggestions around things that could work for some kids. I have not stopped food dyes yet but i have heard that now from a few parents so I do wonder if there is something to it. I didn't know carbs were not allowed. We don't eat a ton of meat, but my son is a pretty good eater for being 6 (eats most veggies and all fruits) so I don't say no really to breads, rice, pasta, etc. as long as he is getting enough of the other nutrients.
I am not sure who or how your son got his diagnosis. But I know for us, once we found our child psychiatrist we had to try a lot of different medications until we found the correct type, dose and right timing.
When I look back at that time, I ask our son if he remembers it and he said "nope". We just got him stable and have been successful ever since.
Also, many children with ADHD have anxiety, it's like "chicken and egg" which came first.. have you tried treating the anxiety first to see if that makes a difference?
We just believed there was a better life with stable medication.
Thanks. I expected to go through several medications and for it to be a process to find the right one, but I also expected solid and quick responses from the psychiatrist. I guess my question is what should i expect in terms of response times when you have your kid on medication. I don't know if my expectations were too high, but i expected an email response back within 24 hours. I asked a fairly quick question. The flip side i am debating as i have gone 3 whole weeks without any major aggression without any medication and mostly just parent management + omega. I don't want to jinx myself but we haven't went this long for a while and so i'm wondering do i finally have a program that is working. We've been doing the program for 8 or 9 weeks now and the first few weeks were rough, but these last 3 weeks have been fairly stable (at least from an aggression standpoint). I figure will work on other things later if this program is proving successful.
You need to look for a psychiatrist who practices integrative medicine. I think more doctors are being trained with this philosophy. It’s a big part of the program at the University of Arizona. Broad spectrum micronutrients were recommended to us and managed by the psychiatrist. There are two companies, Hardy Nutritionals and True Hope. They can help you locate providers in your area.
So I remember you replying when i first joined and I did look into broad spectrum micronutrients a bit on my own, but when i saw that one of them is nearly 12 pills a day, I couldn't fathom trying to give that to my 6 year old or even remembering myself to stay on top of it. As far as psychiatrists that practice integrative medicine, I have yet to find one but i'm still on the search. I would love someone who is familiar with these micronutrients + other supplements to guide me on if and how best to start something like this.
Are you saying that Hardy and True Hope both provide a service to find providers in the area? Also, they look like they are founded by the same person. Do you know why that is? Aside from micronutrients, what else are you incorporating? I've been having him take omega with more EPA than DHA and have been noticing some improvements (although we started this at the same time we've been implementing barkley's 8 step program for behavior management) so not entirely sure what is leading to improvements entirely yet. It could be both.
I hear your concerns, and they are totally understandable. You have to do what is right for you and your family. We use the Hardy Nutritionals which is 12 pills a day. It can also be more or less depending on how someone responds to them. My son is now 8, and he takes 11 per day. Four in the morning, four in the afternoon, and three at night. He also takes fish oil from Nordic Naturals. Yes, if you contact the suppliers they can tell you who has signed up with them. If you want to tell me where you are looking for someone, I can always contact our doctor and see if she has colleagues in your area who practice integrative medicine. I've done that in the past. FYI, True Hope is a lesser number of pills. Yes, you are correct that the same doctor was involved in developing both. Why the breakoff...I couldn't tell you, but I can say the psychiatrist did not recommend one brand over the other.
We took our son to the Amen clinic, which has branches all over the country. We went to Atlanta. Got brain scans to find out exactly what kind of ADHD our son had… Who knew that there were different kinds and some respond better or worse to various medicines?!! Anyway, included in the diagnosis was a lot of information on lifestyle changes, not just diet, but exercise and sleep and discipline, routines, and parenting style etc. you might check out Dr. Daniel Amen and his clinics and see if it’s something for you. In our case The results validated our decision to not use medication, because the type of ADHD our son has does not respond to those medicines. Just a thought for you!
Wow i just looked on there website and definitely speaks to me in a lot of ways. Are all the types of testing they offer typically covered by insurance? That would be my only reservation as this seems quite involved which I love, but I'm definitely a bit maxed in terms of how much we have spent already on getting help.
Hi I have inattentive ADHD, got diagnosed in my mid 20s, and started taking low dose stimulant medication with supplements in order to help the other neurotransmitters people with ADHD have low levels of. I was thankfully able to turn my life around, and pursue my education and am now giving back to the ADHD community. Stimulant medication like what you mentioned above works with Dopamine and Norepinephrine, but this disregards other major neurotransmitters we have difficulty with. Some of the major neurotransmitters we have trouble with are the following:
Dopamine : A neurotransmitter in the brain that affects your levels of concentration, motivation, pleasure senses, and sense of pain.
Norepinephrine : A neurotransmitter and stress hormone that deals with attentiveness, emotions, impulse control, planning ahead, sleep, and interpreting actions of others.
Serotonin : A neurotransmitter that deals with mood regulation, sleep, nervousness, level of anxiety, empathy, appetite, digestion.
Acetylcholine : A neurotransmitter that deals with muscle contraction, pain responses, Mood regulation, REM sleep, and coordination.
If you're interested in further ADHD supplement information, click my pic and it will take you to my profile where there is a link in my biography of a google word-doc I made of every supplement I take, along with information about each of the supplements and how they help out people with ADHD. I also have a link to my youtube channel where I have a series of videos on ADHD, supplements, etc. (I have multiple posts on supplements on here as well). Hope this helps, and best regards.
I just looked through your google doc and wow this is great. Curious if the same would apply for combined type ADHD. I think my son falls more on the hyperactive that inattentive but just thought i'd ask. Also, it's awesome that you are just willing to share all this as a google doc and via your videos. The information is truly helpful and very useful for someone just starting on this journey of supplementation.
Thank you for your kind words, and glad to be of some help. The different levels of neurotransmitters of difficulty, vary among the different subtypes, and also vary amongst individuals, yet my studies have shown me that for the most part, the same neurotransmitters and gene mutations generally exists amongst the different subtypes. Some of us might need higher or lower doses of different supplements in order to help our unique neurochemistry imbalance. Remember to always check with your pediatrician/healthcare professional just to be safe.
Dr. Ronald Glick UPMC Center for Integrative Medicine does this (unsure if handles medication management anymore -but VERY VERY VERY worthwhile -last checked had televisits). This organization can provide extra info too which was mentioned to us: walshinstitute.org/biochemi...
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