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| posted Jan 9, 2008 7:43:35 AM | To All |
| My son has ADD and he is having a really hard time with the medications for it. One made him gain weigh one made him not hungry so he lost weight and looked sick. I would like to find a happy medium, something that is natural and has no harmful side effects to it. Does anyone know of anything that works or have any suggetions that might help? |
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| posted Jan 15, 2008 5:14:11 PM | To All |
It's not a more natural medication that I want to recommend, but something as simple as replacing all of your toxic household products with non-toxic products. Bleach, ammonia & detergents have actually been proven to make ADD symptoms worse in children. Not only your cleaning chemicals should be changed, but also your soaps, shampoos, laundry detergents etc. These changes could help your son's symptoms. Good Luck! |
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| posted Feb 14, 2008 7:05:16 AM | To All |
If I may I would like to point out to you a few things about ADD. It is all over right now many of our kids came to this earth with "ADD" .I think we are doing an injustice to our kids if we make them feel that we have to fix them because they are broken. If people involved with your son could hear what his message is, what does He like, how does He like to get things done? If He is loud it's only because He hasn't been heard yet in what ever situation He is loud in. If He is ignoring you it's because He's trying not to fight. If He doesn't like what He's being taught it's because He needs to learn a different way. Our kids are not broken! God did not make a mistake! ADD kids came with a message and all we have to do is hear what they are saying and then LISTEN. Some hope for you- I have a son with ADD school was real tough for him, He learned more about life and people while in school than any text book could ever teach Him. Big plus -awesome education for what really counts! He was well liked by his friends He wasn't too concerned about what the teachers thought . Big plus -He learned how to be true to himself! He is now 22 years old. Never on meds. because I felt strongly that God didn't make a mistake, also if you can look up these meds and see the side effects you may want to weigh that out. Did you know that some street drugs being sold are drugs for ADD, and we say to our kids don't take drugs ??? So He's now 22, a Foreman in a very big construction company (the youngest in this company) He works hard and plays hard, awesome with people, making real good money, goes to work everyday and all this without a diploma because the school could not teach him the text book stuff. He quit at 18 because I allowed it and praise Him to this day for sticking it out. My suggestion is Love, Encouragement, and Praise and most of all HEAR what He's trying to say and He will have all the tools to make it as an adult with no side effects. God doesn't make mistakes!!!
Light Always |
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| posted Mar 6, 2008 1:26:19 PM | To All |
| I think the other suggestions have merit and would like to also suggest that diet can play a huge role in our mental, emotional and physical selves. Is there a way to incorporate more whole, homemade foods into your son's diet? You could also try reducing the amount of sugar and animal products he eats. Foods that are intense and complicated may compound his problems, but foods that are simple could help. |
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| posted Mar 10, 2008 4:11:36 PM | To All |
Diet, a green environment, balance in choices are all good.
Craniosacral therapy has been effective in many cases. Lots of info on the web about the therapy. You can also check out www.aquacranial.com
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| posted Jun 6, 2008 12:42:22 AM | To All |
My son, who is now 35, started life hearing a different drummer. He threw himself into life, often landing on his head. At 5 he contracted juvenile diabetes and his hypoglycemic episodes (low blood sugar, which affects the brain and causes irrational and hard-to-deal-with behavior) were legendary in his school, added to his already unique views on how to behave in the classroom. In 7th grade two teachers demanded that I "do something" about him, but refused to let me put him in another teacher's class because, they said, "He's the only one in the class that knows anything!" As a freshman in high school he decided to try medication for his diagnosed ADD (I was diagnosed as well) and his grades started matching his IQ. After graduating with honors, and setting some kind of school record for detentions as well, he began putting himself through college (I had become disabled and couldn't work or help him). He spent 4 years thrashing around and not getting anywhere, then pulled himself together and graduated from a California State university.
I haven't mentioned how much medical ad psychological help he needed, or that his father abused him, physically and emotionally, or that he struggled to take care of his physical health in college because he had no health insurance, or that when he was 6 and again when he was 12 he tried to take his own life.
If there had been a medication for all his pain, I would never have kept it from him--but there wasn't. And all the medication in the world only changes illness; the dynamics of relationships inside our family that developed to deal with the chaos that followed him everywhere had to heal as well. And the only chance to do that is to find medication that helped him behave, so we all had a chance to make our own changes.
I know there's been so much talk over the years about children being "overmedicated." What about the cruelty of UNDERmedicating? There is a medicine that will restore the balance of the brain, giving a child (or an adult, and I speak from experience here) some peace and finally a chance to live without constant frustration and anger--and a parent decides that the child won't even be allowed to try it? That is some kind of abuse, as far as I'm concerned. |
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| posted Jun 8, 2008 7:50:55 AM | To All |
Since at least one is four, if not one in three, children in the school system are medicated to "control" them, not to cure them, there is a lot of medicating going on.
Unfortunately both over and under medicating. In many cases the medication is not helping other than turning children into zombies or changing neural programing (the way the brain works) to force someone to be "controllable". On the other hand, in the cases where medication is helpful, it is the miracle.
Even when medication is successful, greater quality of life can be found in eliminating toxins in the environment, (nontoxic cleaners etc) adjusting diet (less sugar and additives), more fresh air, exercise, complementary additions such as craniosacral therapy and therapies for emotional processing.
Sometimes surgies are overdone, sometimes lifesaving. Every child or adult deserves to have thier situation evaluated on a case by case basis with an open mind. Whatever works. |
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| posted Jul 27, 2008 2:16:24 PM | To All |
| I worked as a teaching assistant for 16 years. From what I've seen, not enough progress has been made in helping children who don't fit the outdated labels that we are still clinging to. There is some research being done on the brain that suggests that everyones brain is "wired", at least, a little bit differently. As with autism there is still so much we don't know. From my observations in the classroom (elementary) children who may fall into the ADD category are usually very personable, intelligent individuals. The problem as far as school is concerned, in my opinion, is that the educational system is a dinosaur, and hasn't changed nearly as much as it could, or should have, since I was a child (in the fifties). And our schools are failing to meet the needs of the majority of our children. There are children who are going to suceed regardless. Children with "ADD" are just some of the "square little pegs that don't fit into the "round holes" of our education system. Your child is a unique indiviual who, barring any medical issues, just has different needs when it comes to learning, and interacting with the world. Focus on his strengths, and if possible try to provide an enviroment that supports those strengths and interests. Public schools don't always fit that bill. Too often I've seen children who become depressed because of the negative feed back they experience just because they stand out in school. Also learn ways of helping your child cope with how they are (maybe unorganized, or forgetful). One young, insightful teacher I worked with arranged for a boy who was forgetful and disorganized, to have a buddy to help him keep his desk clean and remember his homework. She did it in a respectful, nonjudgmental way. The boy being helped was much happier after that experience. Maybe it could be arranged for your son to have regular breaks from the classroom setting to destress. I think you'll find that these children with love and support can grow up to be happy, productive people. Trust your instincts as a parent and do what you feel is right for you and your child. |
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| posted Jul 28, 2008 8:05:00 AM | To All |
As one of those square pegs (I have ADHD, been diagnosed for nearly 20 years) it really all comes down to what works. If it weren't for the medication I took as a kid, I never would have been focused enough to find the behavior modifications that worked for me.
I was not a zombie; I was not robotic; I was considered a model student! Not because of my few behavior problems (which I did have, but I learned the difference between home and school early on) but because I was smart and learned quickly. I went off Ritalin (and all my meds) when I was in high school. My grades dropped but went back up the next semester -- so that wasn't bad. I never could learn how to drive because I couldn't focus on the road, and in my area that was actually a pretty needed thing.
In college, I went on Strattera, after a fairly disasterous second semester. It worked well for me. I didn't want a stimulant again, nor something that could be addicting. I finally learned how to drive, my grades improved and I again finally could learn those behavior modifications so that I could be successful in college.
I too work as a Teaching Assistant (I'm in a holding pattern while I gain work experience and eventually go to grad school for my MLIS), and while I know some kids are very wrongly labeled, and some need the labels but don't have them, and some don't need them -- I see a huge difference in the kids whose parents are involved, and when the kids who are on medication actually take their medication ( I had one student this year who was a repeat offender, and I mean by fighting and harming others, and when he took his meds he was our best student. It was maddening!)
As a person who has ADHD, I get really frustrated when someone says that it doesn't exist. Because I've had to work so hard to get where I am, it feels as if they say that this big part of who I am is false and just an invention of doctors. But what is invented isn't imaginary. While it is a label, it's one that fits me, it's one that fits how my mind works!
Here's what I see as the best "natural" recourse for ADHD. Natural consequences coupled with physical exhaustion. Your kid doesn't get a break because of their disorder, but they also get rewarded when they work with it to succeed. Get your kid in something that is exhausting. For me, my worst part was middle school, so I joined cross country. I sucked at it, I came in last at every meet. But I came home focused and able to work on what needed to be done. Make sure to get your kid involved with other kids -- ADHD tends to have a social side as well.
At the same time, stress an organization strategy that works for you and your kid. Eat a good diet -- mine wasn't that fantastic, but I do a better diet now. I haven't seen much a difference in other chemical influences, but hey, people are different. I never had an IEP (my twin brother, who is an Aspie, always did), never went to student services, but other kids might.
At the same time I say this, I'm also planning on going back on Strattera once I find a new doctor. It helps me be more like who I am, rather than the person who is controlled by her disorder.
Now may not be the time for medication for you child. Later it might be (I work in middle school, and there's a special set of problems there) so don't rule it out. They can work and when paired with other forms of help, they can be sucessful so that you learn what you need to without them. |
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| As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness. ~Henry David Thoreau |
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| posted Jul 28, 2008 8:19:29 PM | To All |
I agree wholeheartedly with Cherre comments regarding cutting out sugar and eating a diet of whole grains, lean meats, and fresh veggies. I've seen many children and adults with ADD and ADHD do well on a low glycemic diet. Remember also to provide children with supplements so their body can heal itself 'if' any healing is necessary. I believe that if we put in place the correct conditions the body with do the rest. Correct conditions means correct lifestyle of with correct diet is the most important and easiest to control. Unconditional love and support as another writer states is clearly why you asked for others input; because you unconditionally love and want to be the best support possible.
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| posted Aug 7, 2008 3:11:13 PM | To All |
| The other thing no one has put out there is Omega 3's. They are great for the brain and have been great for my son with ADHD, plus the whole foods diet. As parents, we need o love them as is, but we also have the NEED to help them be the best them. |
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