ADHD

My daughter (nearly 12)  was asking me why she didnt know many other kids like her and thought they might be hiding, too scared to let people know about their condition in case some thing bad happens to them like it did her.

I wrote asking for people to let me know if setting up a minti group for our kids to talk to each other and share their symptoms and feelings was something people might want to do but no-one replied so I waill ask again here. Does anyone think this is something their children might like to take part in where they can speak to other children like themselves and be understood and not be ridiculed.

Erin was bullied for years and wishes to talk to other children like her so she feels normal and not left out. She would like a friend who understands why she does what she does and who wouldnt judge her because she is different.

Let me know what you think.

 

I feel so alone.  No one seems to truly understand what my son has to deal with on a daily basis being a child with ADD.  I feel as if his teachers, friends and our neighbors are judging him and labeling him as a troubled teen.  He is such a sweet boy with a heart of gold.  He loves the younger kids and often pulls them around the neighborhood by tying our wagon to his sting ray bike.  He has the biggest, most contagious smile that light up the room when he's happy, he has a passion for music and playing the guitar, he has a wonderful; albeit goofy sense of humor.  However, lately he's depressed and is alienating himself to his room most days.  He even tries to sneak his dinner to his bedroom to be alone which I won't allow as I do and always have insisted that we all eat together.  I have put him in counseling but he refuses to speak.  He says he hates school and feels as if no one likes him.  I just don't know what to do for him anymore.  I've been spending more quality time with him (taking him to movies, out to eat, playing video games  with him), showing him more affection and making sure he goes to counseling weekly.  I'm in constant communication (at least weekly) with his teachers to try and make school a more positive experience for him.  Nothing I've been doing seems to be working and I'm terrified that I'm going to find him dead in his room one night by suicide.  He's on Adderall 40mg daily and the doctor is thinking about incorporating an anitdepressant as soon as the counselor can make an assessment.  My son HATES taking his ADD medicine and some days its an all out battle just to get the pill down him and occassionally I fail at that.  He's just too big and strong to physically control so how am I going to get an antidepressant in him?  At our first counseling appointment the counselor told me that he's only had four children behave this way (head in lap refusing to communicate or make eye contact) and none of them turned out well.   What am I supposed to make of that?!  This counselor came highly recommended but it feels as though he's already given up on him despite his declaration that he didn't care how long it would take my son to verbalize his thoughts he would never quit trying.  I have no idea how to save my son from the despair that he's feeling or who to turn to for help.  In patient psych is out of the question as this would do more harm to him than good.   Any suggestions from anyone who's been through a similar situation?

Thank you,

Never giving up.

On Tuesday night Erin slipped and hit her head on the bulbar of my 4x4. She was chasing the boy next door and decided to use the bulbar to pull herself around the truck. I examined her then sent her off to play again while keeping an eye out for the "typical" symptoms. She displayed no symptoms except a bit of a headache and went to bed fine. Next day she still had headache but her co-ordination was off and she had an attitude. I just put it down to a bad ADD day and wrote it off. Next day she was having difficulty doing things and didnt seem "right" but begged that I allow her to go to KArate as she needs to practice some things for her upcoming grading.  While there I noticed that there was something wrong but couldnt put my finger on it so continued to observe until I could. She had difficulty remembering how to do things even after she had done the same thing over and over again, she was very slow to react, had to tell her partner when she was ready to start (sometimes she missed this) and her co-ordination wasnt the best, she also got really frustated that she couldnt remember what she had to do so got angry and mouthy.

I remembered a few years back she had been very ill and had not shown "typical" symptoms so no-one would take me seriously until she fell asleep 6 times during the day and twice in hospital while waiting for Doctor to get things. Next week Nephew came down with same thing and had to go to hospital. His mother told the Paed about Erin and he said they dont show "typical" symptoms because they are always on the go, medical staff need to listen to parents and take into account what is not normal behaviour for the child to make a diagnosis but not many are willing to do this as they are usually G.Ps who dont have an understanding in ADHD. Armed with this rememberance I demanded to see our G.P and spelt out everything that had happened and he concluded that she had a mild concussion but her symptoms were not what they would normally look for and ordered an x-ray to be on the safe side. He suggested I keep a careful note of injuries and symptoms from now on and if my intuition tells me something is not right to see him or demand the hospital call him so he explain Erin to the Doctor on Duty.

Many alphabet kids dont show "typical" symptoms and are overlooked until they are extreme. Write symptoms down and if things seem dodgy then take them to the doctor or hospital with the symptoms and demand they pay attention or call for a Paed who can tell them more about these children.

Hi All,

yust want to let everyone that will listen know I am so proud of my boy being the end of the year we all get tired and a bit on edge but I can safely say in 3 weeks I have only had two fights with Aaron, may sound weird but at one stage we were fighting every day!!

last night we stayed at my sisters house and a dropped him at school this morning and by 11am the school phoned me to say Aaron was at the office and had forgotten to take his meds thismorning he wasnt playing up but he knew he had a big day today because he had his grade 6 graduation tonight and it was to be a late night. for him to call and make sure his meds are taken tells me he is growing up and I need not worry so much.

this mum is a happy mum 

takecare of you and yours

Love Anita XXX

Hi,

I have an 11 y.o daughter with severe ADHD. We have gone down supplements, three medications and behavioural modification courses and not one single thing made a difference. I was introduced to a diet called the FAILSAFE diet and after researching it decided it couldnt hurt. We started the diet and found a new child but found that variations made her agressive so we did it from scratch, followed it to the letter and challenged certain foods and chemicals and found her triggers. I'm not saying this is a wonder cure but without it my daughter would be on more than just 36 mg Concerta to keep her in check and she would have been put in a "behavioural School".

THe diet alone doesnt keep her in check, neither does behaviour modification or medication but everything together along with a few supplements she can tolerate help her to be the child she is. We have many children with alphabet titles and others who have health problems that this diet is helping where doctors wrote them off or prescribed medication without looking further. Our Psychiatrist now recomends the diet to his clients as he has seen the difference it made.

The website is www.fedup.com.au by Susan Dengate a mother of alphabet children and it is recommended and endorsed by the RPAH in Sydney.

Other parents have had joy with biomed but that includes many blood tests that my daughter would not allow and lots of money I cant afford.

So there hasn't been much happening on the adhd group for some time and this is rather sad as we all know that with adhd children there can be tough times when we need people that understand.

I don't like to see a group wasted so would like to kick start this very important group back up!

So here's a start-my summer was awful and the last school term was even worse, more violence, more verbal aggression and his baby sister is in the process of being Risk Assessed because her brother (the one with adhd) keeps tryingt o ahrm her!

There you go easy peasy, let me know how we all are and let's start helping each other through support and listening as we all relaise that sometimes that's all what we want.

Hugs and hope to all.

 

 I am so worried about my 3 kid's. My 11 year old is on 54mg and 18mg of Concerta and has developed all the side affect's including pounding heart and chest pain, nose bleed's and pulling her hair out in bold patches, my 8 year old boy takes 36mg and has developed all the side affects too including digging at his scalp and skin saying there is something crawling, my 5 1/2 girl takes 18mg and has developed all the side affects too. They all have low sel-esteem,depression, insomia- they never laugh or play til their med's come off. They sit around the house inside all day playing computer games or watching t.v. but in school if they don't take their med's then they are always in trouble everyday, they make bad grade's and they will not do any of their work but I just can't take seeing my kid's like this anymore but I do not want them to fell in school. How in the world can I take them off of their Medication completely and still have them succeed in school too? They are all aggreesive toward each other and very very mouthy including every cuss word you could think about, they all say they are ungly and fat and nobody like's them. What can I do? Someone please help me? Plus I have found out here recently that there is alot of children that has died over medication for add or stuff. Their doc has failed to tell me of all these dangerous side affect's and they have been on this for a couple of year's know and been haveing all these affect's from concerta since they first started on the medication, I have told him of all the side affects they have but he saids it has nothing to do with the concerta at all but I just don't believe that. I really think it is because of the concerta, they never had any of those thing's til the concerta. please someone help?

hello all - i'm new to minti and to the group.  i have a four year old son who has just been evaluated.  we're looking at ADHD, Oppositional Difiance Disorder (?) and - just for kickds - possibly borderline OCD as well.  I've been learning everything i can (nightstand full of books, constant online research, etc) and i have a question for those of you with alot more experience.  I get all the structure - the rewards & consequences, the importance of routine & consistency, etc.  My question is, with all these guidelines, how do you manage to work in the fun?  i can live with the fact that raising Sam will not be exactly the experience i had anticipated, but i can't live with the idea that HIS childhood will be devoid of magic, sponteneity, etc....any advice?

Does anyone here know how much your ADHD child's behaviour can be accelerated by pressures around him. I can't believe the change in  my son over the last few days since he decided to have a break from seeing his dad.

I still get the rages, I still get the mood swings and the emotions, but the level of both is sooooo much lower, today he had an afternoon without medication and we coped with it fine. i would love to think I could slowly wean him off over time.

Hi everyone,

Just thought I would re-post advice I wrote regarding my son's problem and the changes that happened after giving him supplements.  Hope this will help some of you who are struggling.  You can click on the article directly from my minti site - i've attached the website link to order the supplements that I used (Ocean Essential Brain Health) also if your kids are too young to swallow pills (Braniums Gummy Bears- Cherry flavor is the best).   

  Omega 3 and Children with ADHD

  I was told I should put my son on ADHD/ADD medication, but after doing intense research and reading the statistics of the number of children who turn to drugs as adults after being on ADHD/ADD medication, I opted for a different method. My son who is now 18 years old was diagnosed with ADD and a learning disability (which is very common with ADHD/ADD), at the age of 12.  I started him on Omega 3 supplements.  I chose a highly concentrated EPA & DHA supplement that also contained a natural triglyceride (which helps maintain the potency in your system during the digestive process). 

After six months of taking the fish oil, three times a day, I saw amazing results!  My son not only had better concentration, but his mood swings were less severe, and frequent. His memory also greatly improved.  After one year of being on the supplements, my son tested out of the Special Education/IEP Program for speech and language therapy. His reading and comprehension test results jumped from a 3rd grade level to a 9th grade level.  The team of teachers could not believe the results and wanted to know what I had done differently.  When I told them that the only difference was the supplements, they said that they wish I could tell other parents.

In closing, don't just take my word for it, please do your own research as to the benefits of Omega 3 supplements.  There are several studies done by major Universities such as Harvard and Pittsburgh to back up my statements.  As a mother, who has walked in your shoes, I feel your pain and hope my experience will lead you on a path that will be beneficial not only to your children, but your entire family.