About this Blog Some call it attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), others talk about being hyperactive. Here are the accounts of the life of a parent trying to help a child with ADHD.
About the Author I am the parent of a child with ADHD who believes that the one of the best ways to help such a child is by sharing experiences with other such parents.
The true story of a family trying to adapt and help.
05/18/2006 - 10:43:29
Latest visit to the neurologist
Today was our third visit to A.'s neurologist. For now, we have appointments every six months.
It's always a pretty uneventful meeting. You'll learn a bit more about those in a future post. For now, I just wanted to relate a couple of things that were mentioned that I thought were interesting.
First of all, the doctor told us that A.'s ticks would probably diminish when he turns 16 or 17. I hope he's right about this. They're not as bad as those of kids we see on TV, but I'm sure A. would feel a lot better about himself without them. We're crossing our fingers.
The doctor also mentioned that his behavioural, well, oddities (you'll also learn more about those a bit later) should diminish sometime in the future... Around his late twenties or early thirties. Sigh. I hope we'll be able to teach him some self control (as well as self understanding) before then. He's still young, but there are some social conventions he simply does not understand. Some of them he'll need if he ever wants to get a job, later on.
Oh yes, I forgot. I asked the neurologist if we should consider adjusting A.'s medication (Concerta) and what would indicate that a change is in order. He thought a bit and said that he feels that the current dosage is fine and should probably be maintained "as is" for another four or five years. Interesting. I would have thought that modifications would become necessary as A. grew older.
So, as I said, nothing earth shattering. For us, that's pretty good.
10/21/2006 - 12:00:58 John
We tried Concerta for 2 months for our 9 year old Grandson...Never again. It made his ticks worse. Really bad. Total body jerks, vocal noises etc, etc. Do your research on Concerta and other ADHD drugs. Stunted growth, enlarged heart etc.
Really Bad...
Also, DON'T let the teachers pressure you to put your child on drugs.
Do what is best for your child.
We tried the natural approach.
We put him on FOCUS and BRIGHT START from www.nativeremedies.com
NO SIDE EFFECTS.
His body ticks have gone...He still clears his throat but we are working on that. Grades are better.
He's still a gets a little hyper when he gets excited but we are adjusting his diet. No sugar ect.
All in all, we see a dramatic improvement using these natural methods with NO side effects.
I highly recommend the above website.
Good Luck
10/23/2006 - 10:08:07 Thierry
Well, hard to tell if some messages are spam or not, but I'll give the poster the benefit of the doubt.
As for our part, we tried many natural solutions and so far, none has helped. We don't enjoy giving our kid concerta, but we feel we have little or no choice besides sending him off to a "special" school. I believe that if you start with some medication, and it works well, you should stick with it for the school year. If you want to try natural solutions, try them during the summer vacation. You'll be able to see for yourself how well they work (or not).