I'm of the mind that doctors are way to quick to put kids on medications that they may not need.  A friend of mine (in her teen years) was put on it, and her behaviour never changed.  In fact, she stopped taking it and was selling it to her friends.

If children who don't need it get it then it can cause severe problems with them too.  Using meds with other forms of therapies are the way to go, and then over time, taking the meds away altogether as the child has outgrown the problem or has learnt how to control their actions.

hi,

I have a friend who had two sons diagnosed with ADHD.  My god I wish I had her patience!  if my children had been that badly behaved I think I would have left home.

Jen refused medication of any sort. her reasoning was that she would not eat chemically modified food and was not about to  chemically modify her boys.

  Instead Jen went with love, patience and definately no yelling as she beleived their behaviour esculated with her screeching.  I still remember the day she laughed as one of the boys put the garden hose in the car.

Both boys are now in their twenties both have out grown the bad behaviour and are the nicest guys you could meet.

the chemical modification comment stuck with me and I now seek a second opinion before going down that road for any condition.

It's one of those strange medications that it either works or it doesn't. Apparently ADHD is actually caused by some sort of brain chemistry problem. Ritilan, if taken by someone that genuinely has ADHD at the correct dose, will balance that and make them a "normal" person. If they don't have ADHD, it can act like a stimulant and get them more hyped up like they were taking speed (they are actually very similar chemicals).

The biggest problem is if your child doesn't have ADHD, ritilan will make him worse! If the dose is not high or often enough, it won't have the required effect and may seem to not work at all. If the dose is too high or too often it can have too much effect, and he can end up like a zombified sloth while he's on it.

Getting the right medication at the right dose can be a game of trial and error in any circumstance, but even more so with regards to any mind-altering medications. Make sure you keep in regular contact with the paediatrician, if something doesn't seem quite right, get back to them as soon as possible and tell them exactly what is going on and what your concerns are, and make sure they pay attention to you. If you aren't satisfied, get a second opinion.

My son is on Ritalin and hasn't had a problem with it. He had been on Dexamphetamine prior to that which he had to take twice a day (he's only on low dose). His paediatrician put him on Ritalin mainly as with it he only needs one tablet a day, being a slower release tablet.

Like any medication, different people are affected different ways. As I said, my son has had no problems at all. Try him on it, see how he goes, if you are not happy after a few months (you need to give it time to get into his system properly) then go back to the paediatrician.

I am surprised the paediatrician wants to put him on Ritalin as usually kids are started on the Dex first until they get a bit older. Ask the paediatrician about the difference between the dex & ritalin & why he thinks your son needs the ritalin.

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.

I say this cause we had Alex on it and it was so scary. find an alternative chicki.

dont medicate, unless he is beyond controlling. there are so many other things you can do to help him like diet (get rid of all preservitives and additives, there are some trigger foods too find them and remove them) more outside play. structured days. these all help my son and daughter. Charlie (dd) is 4 and ADHD (not diagnosed but i know the signs) hubby is 26 and ADD he is on meds but that is his choice and alex (ds) is 6 autistic and ADD.