Bluejay,

Your daughter may or may not have ADHD. Unfortunately, there is not a blood test or lab test that can verify it one way or the other. (Certain brain scans can assist in determining if there may be problems but they are not normally done and are not perfected enough to be a diagnostic tool at this point in time). The history of symptoms is the recommended tool for diagnosis. However, you may want to get a second opinion and if so, try to find someone who is very knowledgeable about ADHD. Pediatricians and other doctors' level of knowledge and expertise on ADHD can vary greatly. I would also get some books on ADHD and read up on the condition and the symptoms. You may then get a better feel as to whether or not your daughter fits the criteria. In my opinion, hyperactivity is the least important symptom of the diagnosis because hyperactivity can occur for several different reasons that are not ADHD and some children are naturally more active than others. Even children with ADHD can sit quietly at times and behave under different circumstances. They generally behave better in a one on one situation or in an intimidating situation (such as dealing with doctors or authority figures) or with something that is new or interesting. It is when they are bored, that they struggle most with paying attention and behaving. Educating yourself about the disorder and getting a second opinion from a knowledgeable professional should help to determine whether or not your daughter does have ADHD. There are quite a few myths and misconceptions about ADHD and becoming educated about the disorder should hopefully make the situation much clearer, whatever the determination turns out to be.

Good luck to you, Elaine

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Boy I know how you feel. I have a son who is seven and I didn't know if I was going to make it past 3 with him. He was very violent, didn't listen, couldn't sit, hated preschool. It was a nightmare. I had to get 2 opinions on him before I was satisfied with the results. He was diagnosed by two different therapists. I am pretty confident with the results. I put him on ritalin and adderall at age 4 and I wil never do that again. Medicine is extremely bad for them. It is very hard on their hearts and I just couldn't be the one killing my son. Teachers and many others will tell you medicate, medicate, medicate. Don't you can go to behavioral therapy as a family and she can learn to deal with her problems and you can too. I am not going to say that it is easy and takes a few years but who said raising kids was easy. If you love your daughter you will get help and decide what makes her tick and what doesn't. My son is a wonderful boy now he is on the honor roll 2 years in a row. He is able to manage his anger and we are too. He is totally different. He loved going to behavioral therapy he thought it was fun.. The most important thing they taught me was that it had to be a tight ship at your house. Set schedules and structure is the most important thing you can do for her. The reason they get all in frenzy is because to much is going on and they rev like an engine. Make disipline and everything very labeled and very clear make lists post notes label from getting dressed in the morning to going to bed at night. The other important thing is to know everything you possibly can about the disorder and that will help. Good luck and I would be happy to help you through if you have questions. Dawn

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I would take your child to a child psychologist who will administer testing specifically for ADHD "traits". The pediatrician can prescribe the meds to you, but if they have not done conclusive testing, it is difficult to say if she does or does not have ADHD. Has the school asked you to test her? I knew from a very early age that my son was a prime candidate, however, luckily for us, our school was proactive in trying to come up with alternative options before medication. By 3rd grade he was not reading, but the school knew he was bright. The child study team did some observations and then they sent him for further testing. His IQ was very high, which is what they suspected! Halfway through the year, they put him on Concerta (36mg), he is now in 4th grade and is an honor student. He is still behind in his writing skills, but is grade levelin reading and is 1 grade ahead in Math. Medication for him was the best thing that could happen to him. He is old enough now to tell the difference. We do not medicate him on weekends, but now he is begining to realize his behavior patterns. I have read many books, articles and publications. Educate yourself!! We have our son on a balanced diet, and he has a very firm routine. This seems to help him..... GOOD LUCK!! Be an advocate for your child!

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I'm in the same boat with alot of you. My 7yr old has adhd. He hasn't been "professionally" diagnosed but everyone who knows him knows he has it. The teachers and principal at his school have urged me to try drugs and I have to say NO NO NO!!!!! I have researched very deeply into the issue of weather or not to try drugs and it is NOT worth the risk!!! The drugs the doctors are handing out like candy are NOT thouroughly tested. They are treating our kids like lab rats. They don't even know what the long term effects are. The human brain is not fully developed untill the age of 30 and I think it is a horrible mistake to throw chemicals into a developing brain. I know you're at your wits end and quite frankly so am I, but there are other methods that don't involve drugs. Please do your children a favor and do some research yourselves. The doctors get all kinds of perks from pharmacutical companies to test these drugs on your children. And that's exactly what they are doing. Why do you think they have to keep trying different dosages and drugs? Sorry I'm going on a rampage, but I feel very passionate about this issue. I belive these drugs are going to hurt our society in the long run. Many great minds and inventive creative people were belived to have had some form of adhd or asphergers and if they were drugged to suppression as children where would that leave us? Please don't take the easy way out.

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She definately needs to be tested by a doctor who specializes in add/adhd. Not just her regular doctor. There are many, many natural alternatives to choose from. The drugs cause a lot of unpleasant side-effects, plus long-term health risks. Check out Vaxa's ATTEND for ADD/ADHD at: www.attentiondeficit-add-adhd.com.

Mother & grandmother of add'ers

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As a guidance counselor and nurse my advice for you is that you should consider having her tested independently by a psychologist. The psychologist will test for learning disabilities and will also be able to rule out ADHD or confirm that diagnosis. If your insurance is a problem or if you prefer, you can ask the special needs department at your school to have her tested due to learning concerns. They can use a school psychologist to test her to determine if she has any specific learning disabiliities and also give the teachers a questionairre to determine if they are seeing signs and symptoms of ADHD during the school day. Then you have the answers you need to look at "other" medications that will assist her to listen and sit still during the school day but when she is home, she will no longer be impacted by the medication. Good Luck. Quote:

bluejay003 said: My daughter was "diagnosed" with adhd on december 5th. I don't know if I'm satisfied with the diagnosis though. My daughter has always been very active ever since she was younger like the terrible 2 stage. She had tantrums when she didn't get what she wanted, especially when out at a store. She got a little worse after her brother was born when she was 3 1/2. She started school in september and they teacher told us she couldn't sit still in class and always seemed like she was "lost" when asked to copy something from the board. The school suggested getting her tested. They wanted a hearing test as well to rule out a hearing problem. Her hearing was fine. So we made an appointment with a pediatrician AGAIN. (First time she was at a pediatrican's office, pediatrican said she was fine and your typical child-that was summer of 2007) This time pediatrican sat with us for 45 minutes and did one of those behavior surveys and said she needed to be on ritalin--That didn't sit well with us..For one, how are you going to diagnose her without doing any kind of tests? She took ritalin for a couple weeks 20mg twice a day. That calmed her down so the pediatrican tried her on the 12 hour release. That made her more hyper then I've ever seen her. To the point where she failed her vision testing at school. So the pediatrician prescribed dexadrine. Some days it works okay then other days it doesn't do too much for her. There's not much change between her taking it and not taking it. When she takes it, she sits and watches cartoons and doesn't want to do much of anything else, not even play with her brother. She doesn't eat hardly or drink all day. she is whiny, tells mean things, cries for no reason sometimes. She is definately not the same child anymore. She's lost weight from not eating. She doesn't look healthy at all. We didn't give her any meds this weekend (doctor said she doesn't have to take them when she is home) The only behavior change was that she was louder. She ate, she played with her brother all day instead of sitting around in front of the tv. She was fine. Tolerable for sure. Unlike some days when she is medicated. School secretary said she noticed changes in her as well. She goes and sits up on the secretary's knee to be rocked at lunchtime==that's new for her. My husband and I don't really know what else to do. Getting her pediatrician to do anything is hard. It took her almost a week and a half to do a bloodwork requisition that we requested to rule out anything. Does anyone have any suggestions? Is it possible she is not ADHD and it's something else? When we went and had her bloodwork done-from the 1 1/2 ride there and back and the 1 1/2 in the waiting room, she was perfect. She didn't act up once. I'm getting frustrated with the situation because some days I feel helpless. What else can I do for my baby?

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I can sympathize w/ you. My daughter displayed the behaviors you mentioned. Coping with the behaviors can be daunting at times, often frustrating, for child and family. My son has Autism, daughter ADHD. Please don't rely on the opinion of one doctor -- esp. not a pediatrician. Most pediatricians don't have the training or experience to really know the business of ADHD or any of the other neurologic disorders. You/your daughter need to see specialists (in ADHD and related neuro disorders). This would include a Pediatric Neurologist (check at the Children's Hospital near you -- inquire); Child psychiatrist and/or Child Psychologist (who has particular expertise and experience with ADHD and/or Autism spectrum disorders); and other behavior specialist. Only an MD (ie, psychiatrist, neurologist, pediatrician, ...) can prescribe meds. Medications aren't the answer -- you really have to take a holistic approach. The right pill may take the EDGE off some of the "symptoms" (inappropriate or objectionable behaviors), but it WON'T SOLVE your child's ADHD. You need help w/ managing her behaviors, teaching her how to listen & learn, etc. If you can, get help at her school too; but getting help -- the right kind of help -- at school will be very difficult unless/until you have your daughter evaluated and tested by experts/professionals who really know their ADHD/behaviors/interventions. Word of mouth is one way to find out -- seek out an ADHD support group in your area as one place to look. You can do this online, through google-searching. Also, check at your school district's website, and find your local school's (or district's) Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC). The SEACs are comprised of parents in the area who have children with a variety of conditions and disabilities. They us. have monthly mtgs. which are free and open to the public. You can learn a lot by attending one, and also network with folks and gain more contacts and information pertinent to you/your area. Hope this helps. Sounds like you're on the right track though. You know your daughter better than anyone else. Advocate for her and look out for her best interests.

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I want to add that my son (high-functioning Autism) has ADHD-like symptoms. Many children with an autistic spectrum disorder have similar ADHD-like behaviors/difficulties. Autism and ADHD are neurologic disorders. I don't like institutionalization in pillform. I don't like giving my son medications to "control" his behavior, on many levels and for different reasons. My son took many different kinds of meds. from the time he was 3 yrs. old. B/c he couldn't communicate effectively, I was unaware of the side-effects he was experiencing when he was younger. As he got older, he was better able to communicate what was happening. He had been experiencing hallucinations. He was robotic, his feelings were blunted, and, he didn't laugh anymore; he lost weight, and didn't eat much. He wasn't himself. The meds really didn't help him very much at all. Be aware that children w/ a neurologic disorder may not be able to decipher what they're experiencing when they're very young, and also may not be able to effectively communicate w/you about it. Please go to outside professionals/experts. I hate to say this, but you really can't put your trust in the school system to do what your daughter needs, or to give you much help, until you have your child thoroughly evaluated and YOU become your child's expert first. You are your child's best advocate. If you need more support yourself in this area (w/getting the right kind of help for your daughter at school... like a 504 plan or IEP) look for an advocate -- a child advocate who has experience w/ ADHD and issues in your school district -- to help you. Many advocate on a volunteer (not for pay) basis. If your daughter is having learning difficulties at school (difficulty reading, doing Math, etc.), you would want to have her tested for that as well. A neuro-psychologist who specializes in testing/evaluating for learning difficulties would be someone to see. You could have some types of testing done through your school's special education department (if they're willing/able), but it is by far best to have the testing and evaluating done on the "outside" -- by expert individuals who aren't politically connected to the school system in any way. Besides local children's hospital, also check out local universities which may have special programs or research in ADHD/Autism/neurologic disorders. Ask questions. Dig for information.

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I sympathize with you as I have a husband and a 9 yr old daughter who are both ADHD. There is a lot of information out there and it can be overwhelming but I must ask you if your child needed insulin, which has side effects would you say no? Many of the meds ADHD children take are VERY well tested. Ritalin has been in use for 20 years. I am not a big "give em drugs" person but I know how they can help if given the right dose and the right meds (NOTE the word used is medicine not DRUGS. ADHD is a brain chemistry illness and is a group of symptoms more than a specific illness. While one medicine is wonderful for one person it may not be right for the next person because our brain chemistries are different. My husband cannot take Dexadrine because he becomes mean as a snake. My daughter cannot take Adderall because she throws up but both can take other medicines. Also remember that meds are not a magic bullet that you give and every symptom is eliminated. Study after study has shown that behavior modification ALONG with meds is the most effective treatment. When using medicine you need to check dosing during growth spurts and puberty as these things can change the effectivness of the dose. Don't let teachers or others medicate your child into a Stepford kid. Choose a behavior and medicate to correct that. "Normal" children have issues and teachers and others deal with those. As to your child not seeming out of sorts at home or with you, off the medicine- I must say we learn to tune out and tolerate our ADHDers way more than others. Unfortunately the others are who they will have to deal with in the real world after they leave us. We are here to help them learn to deal with themselves and the world around them in the most effective way. I always tell people to try everything to help your child and that does include medicine. Remember the way these meds are with non-ADHDers is NOT the way they behave in their brains. The meds are the chemical bridge that let self control and concentration drive smoothly through their brains.Good luck in what ever you choose just keep an open mind.

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Ritalin has been around for a long time and is one of the most researched and tested drugs. I am not aware of any long term health risks but I can tell you what long term effects have been found. They found a reduction in auto accidents, drug abuse and cancer, particularly breast cancer. Ritalin is used in coma patients to help them come out of a coma sooner and is given to astronauts to counter the effects of the anti-gravity medication which makes them groggy. The Ritalin keeps them alert.

Just because one individual had a bad reaction to a particular medication does not mean everyone else will. My daughter is allergic to penicillin but I wouldn't tell everyone else they should avoid using penicillin. The risks of not treating ADHD can be much worse. Be careful where you get your information from. Stick to professionals knowledgeable about ADHD. The media is not a responsible source of information most of the time. You can also get more information from www.chadd.org Chadd is a national organization promoting education and awareness of children and adults with ADHD.

Elaine

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