I welcome anyone to comment,
I really feel we are at the end of our rope.
My Son is 14 .. we have been dealing with the Medication route since 5th grade. He has taken Ritilan and Adderall.With both meds I noticed a quick change in his school work..But that wore off really quick.He has now been off the Adderall since March. He has put on 30 pounds and looks great.. Growing like any other child his age..He has caught up with everyone else finally.
He started 8th grade 3 weeks ago..( A new school) and the day dreaming has began.. He even tells me he just cant focus.We had our Blood work done and we are going to see the Doctor on Monday....Should we give Concerta a try? I wonder just what else to do??

I really hate for him to go through another dose of meds...emotions and the mood swings.. he is really a loving child and really easy to talk too.

They want to give him something to help sleep, increase his appetite.. Is all this safe??

ANY HELP WELCOME?????
We are at a loss... what next?

Bren

..........................

Thanks for the reply..
I am reading everything about both drugs..
Alot of post on Healthboards.. How do you know what to try? Im going to ask alot of questions at our doctor visit.

Non stimulating would be wonderful..

Hey Bren,
Strattera would be good to try if he really has to be on medication. However, I would suggest first trying some alternative treatments. I myself take beCalmd. It is all natural and has helped a lot of people who have ADD and other problems. You can buy it off the net. If you wanted to you could go to a vitamin store and get all the same ingrediants but the problem with that is he would have to take a lot more pills and it would probably cost more. I take beCalmd for ADHD and it has worked better than anything else for me. When I was younger I was on adderall and I recently did a breif trial with strattera. BeCalmd has helped me more than any medication has and I encourage you to try it for your son. It can take about one week to two months to notice positive changes. So, is your son in high school now? He should be able to recieve accomodations in class to help him out. Think about asking his teachers if he can bring a tape recorder to class and record all the lectures. Also he can request written copies of homework, lectures etc.

"I was trying to daydream, but my mind kept wandering."
--Steven Wright

Omega 3 is good too.

"I had a terrible education. I attended a school for emotionally disturbed teachers."
--Woody Allen

[This message has been edited by LiLMissADDitude (edited 09-07-2003).]

When my son changed from Adderall XR to Concerta, I noticed a big change immediatly. First, concerta stays in the system longer so when he got home from school he was still able to sit down and do his homework without me asking him to do it.

We are having a much better experience with Concerta then Adderall XR.

bren30, it's great your son is feeling so well. That is more important than grades. Perhaps the new school isn't very stimulating for him, or he is distancing himself from it because it is unfamiliar(and thus a little intimidating) by daydreaming. I hear tutors can help sometimes, and as far as natural stuff, fish oil and cal/mag supplements have been reported as helpful. Getting back on the medication merry-go-round may still yield the same results as your last experience in the long run. Also, his brain could still be in recovery from the drugs although it's been awhile since he took them; sometimes it can take a long time.

[This message has been edited by Jennita (edited 09-07-2003).]

Bren,

I have an 11 daughter. We tried all the Meds. None worked. She got worse. MOODY oh my god! There were many days she was a zoombie. Took away her smile. I didn't like that. We now have been on Strattera for about a month. It has been the best med for her. She is happy. Able to follow directions better and not so moody. We were told to take it at night. It makes some people very tired. Who cares at night, she falls asleep easier. I was also told by my doctor to take it with peanut butter, it helps with any stomach ache, sometimes another side affect. This has worked pretty well for us. Everyone is different and has different results. Good luck and I wish your son well.

Thanks so very much for all of your advice.
My Son should be a freshman this year but had a horrible time with 7th grade and had to repeat.That is why we are at a new school..They wanted to have him stay back again..With his Iowa test scores being in the high range I put him in public school system at a new school. They also did not follow the 504 program he had set up while there..They ask him if he needed those extra things and because of embarassment he said no.He is a great test taker and a very good reader.He just is very bored with the daily routine of school.The worksheets get done but he loses it before the next day... We have worked on organizing his folders daily.Everyone tells me being organized is the most important thing with ADD.
I have done everything short of turning in his papers my self..When he was younger 5th grade I sat through his classes and watched him turn in his papers..Now in JR high I cant push his hand and his pencil for him.When will he see how important these grades are??

We also do vitaimins... and I know what you eat has weight on how your preform.. But I'm at my wits end on getting him to reailize how important school is..

Thanks again...Everyone.

Bren,

I feel your pain! My 13-year-old son is in 8th grade. 7th grade was very difficult. I would have to stay on top of him constantly to see if he had homework, and then to make sure he completed it. Then he would go to school and forget to turn it in! It was very frustrating, and it happened over and over. At one point, he was failing or nearly failing all of his core subjects, and it was almost completely due to his poor homework scores. (On tests, he would get mainly B's, some A's and some C's.) His Reading teacher discovered that he was having a reading comprehension problem, even though he could verbally read at his grade level. Finally in June I had him tested and he was diagnosed ADHD inattentive type. He is on Concerta now, and I have a tutor working with him on his reading comprehension skills.

I am hopeful that this school year will be better, but it is too early to tell. He says that he doesn't feel any different on the meds, but I think I might be seeing some subtle improvements over last year. He has had no side effects at all from the Concerta, and he is on the highest recommended dose (54mg). I haven't asked the school to implement the 504 plan for him yet, but they do know that he qualifies, and they have a copy of the psychologist's report.

I think that we as parents have to have a great deal of patience and understanding with these kids. Unfortunately, the teachers don't always give them the extra understanding that they need, especially when they get to be 7th or 8th graders. At that point many teachers just expect them to become responsible, and they have little patience for the kids who just can't seem to make the jump to the next level.

You are right about the organizational skills. I am using a rewards system this year with my son. Every day he must write his homework assignments neatly in his assignment book for every subject. Upcoming tests, projects, etc. must also be written in the book. I am giving him an extra 50 cents per day in his allowance for every day that he does this, and I will take away 50 cents per day for every day that he doesn't. He will also be penalized for having loose papers in his backpack. Everything must be in the proper folder at all times. This might seem rigid to some, but his lack of organization has been his downfall for his entire school career, and I know that it is just going to take a lot of practice to get this skill to improve.

I wish you the best with your son, I hope that this year will turn out to be a good one for him.

Neelie

Neelie6...
My gosh ...You are so right...I am going to try the 50 cent method on the daily agenda..that just might work.,,Its comforting to know that other Parents are dealing with the same problems.
The Doctor today put him on non stimulant Strattera
He said he has had great success with other teenage kids. He also told me it does not work overnight..So be patient. Its all I have at this moment is Patience...I have to have a lot of faith too.

I take a lot of the blame for my childs actions...It reflects back on his upbringing.. and I feel like a failure when he doesnt do what he is suppose to do..This has caused alot of problems with his grandparents..they feel they could raise him better than his Mother.That they could MAKE him do his work and make better grades with them.Its not a team effort here...Its a battle..within our family.

Thanks for all your replys,,Its comforting.

Bren30, your last message disturbed me because it is not your parenting skills or lack of that causes your child to have ADHD. My daughter's dr. asked me to read "Taking Charge of ADHD" - what a wonderful book. I no longer blame myself for what my daughter does or doesn't do.

My daughter is an adult-sized 11-yr-old and was just diagnosed with ADHD this summer. She is taking Ritalin LA and Strattera. The Ritalin LA worked wonderfully, but it did wear off several times during the day. So, her dr. added the Strattera - I hate it. I believe my daughter has ODD also, and the Strattera seems to be compounding the unpleasantness of the ODD.

She has to eat before taking the Strattera or she vomits, it made her very tired for the first week or so, and now emotionally, we are back to where we were before she took any meds. I read about other meds having negative reactions with children who have ODD. However, the one positive about Strattera is that she does seem to be able to stay focused all day. Good luck to you. I have a call into her dr. today to take her off the Strattera.

Just a note for those who are thinking of switching to Concerta from Ritalin (methylphenadate):
If Ritalin didn't work for your child, Concerta may not help either. Concerta is just a time-released form of Ritalin. I changed my son from methylphenadate to Concerta because the methylphenadate was working well but it wore off too soon. By the time he got home and started his homework, it was almost like he hadn't taken anything. Medications have to continually be evauated and adjusted as the child gets older.
It's not easy being the parent of an ADD child, but I wouldn't change it for the world!
Barb

Hello, I just have to ask if anyone has tried Metadate? My 9 yr old son has been on this for about a year - what a godsend it has been- no "zombie", no significant weight gain or loss, same child and personality- just is now able to focus. This has worked wonders for him, however, I don't see many posts regarding this medication and thought I would throw it out there- it is a once a day time released medication.

Good Luck to all!!!!

Maak

My daughter did try that med. We were on it for about 3mos. She started off doing well. She thenlost too much weight, got very moody, and never smiled. We now are on Strattera. It seems to have worked the best for us, and we tried them all! I am happy that your son is doing so well.

My 6 year old son was on it. The improvements in school were amazing, but they only lasted for two months. After that Metadate CD lost its effectiveness and my son is no longer on it.

Thanks to all for the replys..this board is a Blessing I have found for understanding ADD better.

I know blaming myself for his failure is not right..But other people around me still point the finger ..and not at him.I am dealing with these people.This also causes added stress on my Son, because of their behavior.They openly blame me and his Father for his actions at school..In front of him.
The time he spends with these People has been limited to a few hours every few weeks..

I would like to look into reading the book you noted..I know I need a better way of dealing with this..

After seeing how much my Son has grown and the weight he has gained while OFF Adderall..I dont think we can go back to any type of stimulant..I pray we see a change with the Stattera...I belive it stunts the growth in children..I feel guilt about what I have done in the past...But we do what we have too?

Thanks everyone..Bren

I also owe him $1 for this week already ,He wrote down his assignments for the past 2 days.A milestone.
Thanks for the Idea.

[This message has been edited by Bren30 (edited 09-10-2003).]