A.D.D. real or fiction

My daughter was on medication for many years and only in the last couple has done without. We saw no problems and it greatly helped her.
They naysayers will say it will not help or leave them like zombies. The truth of the matter is it takes the right amount. Too little it won't work, too much it makes the lethargic.
Untreated ADD and ADHD can lead to drug abuse, alcoholism, promiscuity and other things.
It is a combination of medicine and behavior modification. Plus knowing when it is the condition and when the kid is just misbehaving.

Out of my four children, 2 have ADD and one has ADHD. They are grown now but my daughter with ADHD had a very difficult time both in school and out until I gave medication a try. She could not concentrate in school...everything distracted her and there was no stop gap between what popped into her head and what came out of her mouth. She had no friends because she was unble to take turns or even give someone the chance to get a word in edgewise. After she was on the correct dose of Ritalin she was not a zombie, she was the lovely young girl I knew her to be. She did better in school and made friends. She was so much happier because she knew that there was something different (I refused to use the word "wrong") about her but was unable to help herself. If your son isn't already being followed by a specialist, please try to find him one. There are many treatment options available to help him. You and your wife have to be his advocate, in school and in life, because you are his best chance at having a happy life.

On a side note, one funny characteristic she's always had due to the ADHD is her ability to retain phone numbers. It used to drive her older brother and sister crazy because if she saw a friend's phone number or even watched them dial it, she remembered it and would call them herself. But, I took advantage of that talent and let her look at all of the family phone numbers. If someone moved or changed their number I told her the new one. It didn't happen too often but there have been times when I've had to ask her what so and so's number is and she always knows.

My son Is ADHD, and I didn't drug him either, his teachers tried to talk me, into drugging him but I never did it.
I guess they thought I was crazy, because they had to deal, with his behavior, that's the part they didn't like.

I'm studying to become a pedagogue and I've had my first year and I made a website about ADHD as an assignment, unfortunatly it is in Dutch so supplying a link isn't very helpfull.

Drugs can help out kids with ADHD or ADD a lot as it provides them with a certain chemical in their brain that helps them focus better.
This way they can block out all the other signals that usually bother them and make them experience trouble to keep focussed. It also calms them down.
The key to not get your kid drugged into a zombie (let's just put it that way because that's basicly how those kids look) is to get the right drugs in the right proportion; your doctor can help you with this but it might take some experimenting to get the dosage just right. After that it will help your for months or possibly years.

There are also programms out there for parents that provide methods to handle ADHD children without drugs, they are said to work well but I can't say from personal experience.

All the best!

My son is 9 and he had ADHD. About when he was 7-8, i got him checked out because I wasn't sure if he had it or not but everyone kept telling me to get him checked out. Well i did and he does..lol..When he was put on medication the first time it was called Focalin 10 mg. I didnt like the way he was when he would come off it. He was mean and when he would get mad he would hit things. And if he ran into a table or something, he would get mad and start hitting it and blaming the table because he got hurt. I know it may sound funny, but he wasn't like that before he was put on the meds. So i seen what it was doing to him and i took him off. Now, i was looking around and I saw something in a newspaper about a nutraceutical drug called ATTEND. I checked into it and it isn't suppose to have any side effects. If you like, search for it and see what you find. I am going to talk to my sons doctor and see what she has to say about it. If it is ok by her, then im thinking very highly of putting him on it. I think it may help a lot. Just search for ATTEND FOR ADHD/ADD and you will find many links to check out on the subject. I hope this helps.

My daughter has adhd and we were in a test group for a new medication. The study really helped us however we found that she had issues on the meds. They used different medications on her however she became very constipated and the results of that were awful. She would get so sick from it that I finally just said forget it and stopped all meds. So she is not on meds and yes there are days that I just shake my head but have found that if we keep do certain things it really helps. When in school she takes all tests in a quiet room. This helps a lot. School can be hard but the teachers are aware and they know if they class is out of control then our daughter will get hyper so they watch for that. When she gets hyper at home we tell her and redirect the activity that is going on in the house. I am not saying this will work for every child but it sure helps us. I wish you the best of luck and know whatever you do it is the right thing.

I don't know if it's just me or not, but I'm not one for taking pills unless it's absolutely necessary. If you feel it may help him though, you may want to give it a try. I don't believe there are any serious side affects to it, but I wouldn't see you as a bad parent for trying to do the right thing for your child. Who knows, it may help him out.

I took some medicine for ADD for a period of time, and it really helped me stay calm and focus. Talk to his doctor and ask the doctor's opinion.

I do not have any experience with the medications for ADHD. We are facing the same problem of weighing in on the good and bad or medicating him. He is such a wonderful and special guy and we don't want to lose his personality and the possibility of other drug dependencies.

I think that it is a real condition. I also think that some are tagged as having this condition who really aren't ADD or ADHD. I thought it was strange when one teacher said he definitely has it and the other teachers said no he is just high spirited. We switched schools and so far no problems. He even gets stars for good behavior and is happier. I think that there was an oil and water thing going on between him and the teacher before and she decided it was ADHD.

I pray for your guidance in making the right decision for your child to medicate or not. It is a very hard call for a parent to make. Please keep us informed as to what you did and how it is coming along.

I have six children. My 2nd oldest was diagnosed as ADD when she was in grade school. I was very opposed to putting her on drugs. Not because of the whole "zombie" thing. Because I knew her father's family had alcohol and drug abuse in their history. I didn't want to "wake up" any predisposition to drug or alcohol abuse. I took her out of public schools and home schooled her where I could control the surroundings ergo the distractions. I taught her thru repetition. The whole experience was scary because I wanted to make sure she was a well adjusted person who could function well and succeed in life. I enrolled her back in school in her Senior Year so that she could go to homecoming, prom, etc. She is now 23 and very well adjusted. Works and has been promoted on her job.
I know what ADD stands for. What is ADHD? Thanks.

Coopstar,
I totally respect not wantint to put your child on drugs, but it may be needed. One alternative treatment my brother's girlfriend uses for her son deals with diet. She basically removed processed foods rom his diet that contained food dyes, and other unnatural substances. She starting making sure he was eating more whole foods, and today you'd peg him for any high spirited 10 year old. They do no medcate him. It's just a thought, but it might be something worth looking into before you for medication.