Medication or herbal solution to ADD

[BStron]

My son is 11 years old and is the youngest in his class! He is currently in 6th grade. He is extremely bright but lacks emotional control and sustained focus. He has been doing very well in school but constantly struggles with friendships. He is emotionally very sensitive. He always feels i put too much pressure on him. I try not to yell. I have to remind him to study which he doesn't like. I tell him to exercise but he doesn't like to do that either. It is very hard to get him to do anything. My husband and I have been debating whether medication will help. We have been trying herbal remedies with little success. Maybe we haven't found the best solution yet. I am worried about the long term effects of medication. There seem to be a lot of side effects on heart, psychiatric issues, etc. I am wondering if its better to wait for at least a year or two before starting. This journey is hard and lonely.

[eaw49]

Hi, medications are tricky. My daughter is almost 30 and looking back I wish we would of tried medications more. Her self esteem has taken such a hit because she has felt like a constant failure. I completely understand your concern with longtime effects. That was me throughout her childhood. We tried it and she didn’t like how it made her feel so she stopped. Because we were worried about the long term effects so we didn’t continue to try it. What we didn’t count on are the long term effects of poor self esteem. She hasn’t been able to keep a job long enough to support herself and we are constantly helping to supplement her. We often wonder if we would of tried meds more how successful and independent she would feel now. I wish you and your family the very best.

[BStron in reply to eaw49]

I can already see self esteem starting to get impacted plus he is the youngest in the grade! Thank you for sharing your experience

[MomofOne13]

Have you tried Daily Essential Nutrients by Hardy Nutritionals? Might be something to try as a last step before going for an Rx. We've had good results with our 10 yr old son, who was extremely resistant to taking stimulant meds. He's very willing to take these, knowing it's just 'super duper vitamins' rather than medicine. The company has really good reps to help get you started.

[BStron in reply to MomofOne13]

Thanks, let me check it out !

[JupitersMuse]

My husband as ADHD, diagnosed late in life because his family was scared of labelling him. There's an amazing book by Gabor Mate called Scattered that explains what ADD is and how it impacts the individual living it. It has helped him understand what he is and isn't wired to be able to succeed at. (There are some ADD "superpowers")

He takes "Bacopa Monerii" which is an herbal supplement we found through Tierona Lowdog, a native american MD & herbalist. He also takes super low dose adderall, but as a tool to complete a project. I.e. he will set up his project, clear his space of any distractions, and THEN takes it.

Originally, adderall was meant to be a training tool, give a dose and slowly taper off as the brain started being able to adjust to "oh this is what focused feels like." That way of perscribing is way more intensive so we don't do it, but it is the goal.

[BStron in reply to JupitersMuse]

Thank you for sharing. I grow bacopa monnieri and I am trying to give my son fresh tea

[Eclecticentric77]

Hi there, I'm sorry to hear about the difficulty your son is having. I myself have Inattentive ADHD (non hyperactive type). A lot of your son's difficulties remind me of myself at that age. I and felt down, irritable, melancholic, and tired a lot in middle school/high school. My grades also suffered because of this. I was thankfully diagnosed in my mid 20s, started taking treatment, and was able to turn my life around for the better, and complete grad school in order to work with the ADHD community. After doing extensive research I started taking low dose stimulant medication, along with supplements in order to help fight off the side effects/oxidation of the medication, and also to help and assist the neurotransmitters people with ADHD have lower levels of/difficulty with. In this manner the ADHD as a whole is being attended to. I have a few resources in the bio section of my profile on here where you'll find a google doc I made that mentions every supplement I take for my ADHD and how it helps, and I also have a video on my ADHD youtube channel "wilhelm the esoteric", that goes a bit more in depth about supplements/ADHD. The video is titled "ADHD Supplements and Nootropics". I hope this helps, and best regards!

[BStron in reply to Eclecticentric77]

thank you! very detailed and helpful

[cindaroo]

Click on my profile and read my replies I've left for others, especially the two I wrote today. I know each child has their own special situation regarding ADHD, mine and yours and many others, but there's a common thing I keep seeing amongst parents struggling with their kids and that's wondering if they should try medication, finding the right medication or getting kids to take medication...but it's honestly so much more than that. You'll see in my history of replies to others. I'm a mom of a 14 year old boy who has ADHD and has taken meds since K...and we've all been on this journey since 2 years old. (As his mom, I've been on this journey since he was born because I knew the day we brought him home that he was a baby unlike his older brother.)