Hello:

Thank you for your post - it was very heartfelt and honest, and contains a lot of raw emotion that many parents can relate to, I'm sure. I don't have first-hand experience to share, but I would like to pass along a few articles that I think will help you come to a decision about using ADHD medication with your son...

ADHD Medication or Alternative Treatments?

Top 10 Questions about Medications for ADHD Children...Answered!

Preschool-Age ADHD Children: Too Young for a Diagnosis?

Alternative ADHD Treatment Options

I hope this helps!

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Stac said: My 5 year old son was just diagnosed last week with ADHD. The doctor said he was primarily on the hyperactive end of the spectrum. He has no learning disabilities. He started kindergarten this year and has done really well. My husband and I work so he went to daycare and preschool before going to kindergarten. He knew his abc's and 123's, colors, shapes, etc. before entering kindergarten as I guess most children do. His preschool teacher would tell me that he would be wrestling and cutting up with his friends or looking out the window during their learning time but he could answer any question you would ask him. In kindergarten, he is now actually reading and doing math. My child does get bored very easily and I'm wondering if this is where the "ADHD" branding could be coming from. With all of this being said, his teacher says he cannot sit still during "carpet time" which is when she teaches the lesson in the morning; however, she also says he is very bright, super smart, and picks up things instantly. He gets a conduct sheet each day. Some weeks he goes all week with no marks and some weeks he gets a mark 2-3 out of 5 days. My child is a very loving, outgoing, vivacious child. He is also very active (hyper) child but aren't a lot of 5 year old boys this way? I'm wondering when hyperactivity became a "disorder". His father, teacher, and I answered the questionnaire provided by his prediatrician and then she said he fell in the ADHD "range". I reluctantly got the Vyvanse prescription filled for my child and he has been on it 3 days. I did this because he is out for Thanksgiving break and I have taken off work so I can observe his behavior before sending him back to school on a medication I am unfamiliar with. I can definitely tell a difference. He is much more calm and actually picks up toys without being asked. While this is wonderful behavior, I am not used to seeing it in my child without me asking and wonder if this is typical of a normal 5 year old not on medication. I am reading everything I can get my hands on but there is so much conflicting informaiton available. It is my job to take care of my children regardless of their behavior. I don't want him to be on a medication for my convenience and neither does his father. I'm not sure if we are doing him a service or disservice by having him on this medication. We are going to give it 2 weeks and see how things are but I am very, very upset and confused right now because I'm not sure if as a society we are "creating" what we want our children to be and what others say our children should be. I've read comments from parents about how their real child is now able to shine now that the medication has the ADHD under control. As crazy and wild as my child can be, I love and like him; he loves life. I am in now way judging anyone because I'm still trying to figure out what to do but am I suppose to believe for the past 5 years, my real child is not who I've been seeing everyday? How are our children going to learn to function properly in life and become responsible adults if we continue to give them medications which control their emotions for them? It seems like these days everyone thinks they should be happy all the time and when they are not, they pop a pill to make themselves happy. I don't want my child growing up believing this is okay. Please help. My husband and I are thoroughly confused parents at this point. I just want my child to be the best HE can be; not the best compared to so and so.

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I can relate your pain. My son was diagnosed when he was 3 and he is now 8. I would like to share with you some things that have made a huge difference. My #1 miracle was the homeopath I found that has treated my son. They are not that easy to find who specialize in children but if you can find one, you will be so thankful. He has put my son on natural remedies over the last 4 years and many of his issues have disappeared such as bed wetting, nightmares, not able to fall asleep, impulsive behavior towards classmates, physically aggressive with classmates which includes punching and kicking, and anger towards his dad (never did understand that one since my husband is a wonderful dad). We are still dealing with some issues like not being able to pay attention at school and he still has difficulty making and keeping a friend. Working with a homeopath takes a lot of patience since this is not a quick fix type of situation. The remedies they give are not an immediate positive result. It is actually the reverse. The child gets slightly worse before they get better BUT the long term affect and positive results we have seen is so worth it. I feel like I have 75% of my son back and we are still working on the other 25%. My son is almost a different person from 4 years ago and although nothing is perfect, we still have challenges but not nearly as bad it was in the beginning. We came across a recent stumbling block as he is in 2nd Grade and still has a hard time paying attention. I have recently removed him since the teacher had no interest in helping him succeed. She was very good at telling me what he did wrong though. We are currently homeschooling and in search of a new school that will treat my son as a bright child who just learns differently. Waldorf and Montessori are two we are checking out. Another helpful option is to keep your child's diet as organic as possible. The artificial colors are really bad for these kids and sometimes vitamin supplements could help. I have tried the supplements but never notice any improvement but will continue it anyway since my son's homeopath seems to think it is important for his brain function. Fish oil, B6 and Magnesium is suppose to be great for ADHD kids. We take a liquid vitamin called Body Balance which is a liquid with tons of great things in it. Some people swear it helps their ADHD kids so it might be worth a try. I hope you didn't mind me rambling on and I hope I helped. Stimulate drugs is an option and I don't pass judgement on anyone who uses them since I can understand the frustration. I personally think homeopathic remedies treat the condition instead of masking the problem. If you would like to post any questions, I would be more than happy to respond.

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On a day when your kid is not on medicine, go and observe his classroom. ADD kids really do stand out. All of the kids in my 6-y-old's class are fidgety, but my kid is in another world. There may be 2 or 3 other kids like yours, but not the whole class. You will see the difference when you go there.

Your kid may be gifted, which has a lot of the same traits. If he is ADD and gifted, he is "2E" or "twice exceptional".

I would suggest you find a doctor on naet.com and have him tested for allergies. It's a whole lot easier than an elimination diet, and your kid might be allergic to his clothes, or something in the classroom. This doctor can also test to see if medication is right for him, and how much, in a few minutes, rather than the weeks your current doctors will take. This doctor can also advise about homeopathy.

Homeopathy helped my son stop snoring, but didn't help w/ his ADD symptoms. It also didn't help my 10-yr-old's temper tantrums-he is now on Trazadone, which I am grateful for! My younger son's doctor wants to wait to put him on meds. Do know that true ADD is genetic, therefore there is no "cure", and it is lifelong. Therefore, any meds will probably need to be lifelong also. There are many positives about ADD, so don't get depressed about the diagnosis! Knowing can help you adapt so he can suceed and use his strengths.

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Thank you to those of you who responded. I truly appreciate you taking the time to do this. I would appreciate any further information you can give me as to how a child can learn at an average or above average pace and still have ADHD which causes him to have focusing problems. It seems to me like ADHD and learning diabilities would go hand in hand. I am still trying to educate myself so any help is welcome. I am going to look into the allergy testing and organic route to see if this will help. I would rather do this than have him on medication if at all possible. Also, I keep reading about kids with ADHD either having no friends or having trouble making and keeping friends. My child doesn't have this problem either. With this being said, he's only in kindergarten. This is why I'm primarily concerned with a diagnosis being made at such a young age. I'm really not sure I have enough comparisons in order to justify classifying him as ADHD and putting him on medication until who knows when.

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My daughter is 13 with adhd. She started taking adhd meds when she was in 2nd grade, she is now in 8th. It helps them focus, but I think teachers need to deal with all types of kids with adhd or not. Why is the answer always to take the meds. I think it stunted her growth taking it so young. Now, she is the smallest kid in her school. She stopped taking her meds this year. She is almost failing school. We tried making her take her meds but she simply refuses, so we stopped bugging her about it. We help as much as possible with school work. All the school does is notify us how bad her grades are. I think teachers need to learn how to deal with these type of kids.

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Reading your story brought back memories when my son was 1st diagnosed. The thought of putting him on medicine just killed us. We couldn't understand why the stats say that 30% of kids have AD/HD but yet when talking to friends and co-workers we realized that almost everyone we new had a child on these medications and felt that Doctors may just be looking to get some sort of a kick back from these drug companies or something. In anycase, we also realized after y son started taking the meds (and after having to get the right medicine for him) that he really has a muchbetter quality of life with taking the medicine. He is able to have the self confidence in his school work because he can focus easily, he isn't as impulsive so socially he is more acceptable and can keep a friend... so many other benefits. As parents, I think you need to first look at working with the medical professionals as well as a behavioral analyst (invite one in from your school board to evaluate the classroom & they can make recommendations to your childs teacher). Work with your childs teacher and a medical team to find the right mixture of treatments. It will be worth your while. You can also go to www.southbrevardchadd.com for more news, articles and videos.

Hope this helps.

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Hi, I was put on ritalin for add when I was 10. I am 21 now and have just gone off of vyvanse, and all add medication for good. I am not a parent, but I feel like I know about the pros and cons of being medicated as well as anyone. I would not recommend putting your five year old on medication. He's five for godsakes! What kind of doctor or teacher tells a parent that their five year old is abnormal because he can't sit still? I would absolutely encourage you to look into alternative ways of helping him to focus. I found that I was able to calm myself when I was younger by reading really interesting books and getting a lot of exercise. One of the benefits of not medicating your child would be that when he learns skills and develops self discipline he will be absolutely sure that it is him and not the medication doing the work. I could write for days about the different side affects I experiences as a child, but one of the most debilitating was paranoia that lasted for about a two or three months in sixth grade. If you would like to know anything else about the side effects please message me and good luck!

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The first treatment should always be diet and food sensitivity testing before resorting to meds. Rule other things out first. There have been studies proving food dyes are linked to hyperactivity. And the blood test you can have done for food sensitivies will be faster and more effective than elimination diets. Start reading labels, you would be stunned at how much colour or dyes are in pre-packaged food. Even beef looks more red then the organic beef I buy. So far the only symptom is hyperactivity? There should be more symptoms for an ADHD diagnosis. If he is looking out the window but can still answer the question? --He is listening, or the teacher keeps repeating the lesson over so many times that he got it the first time and is now looking out the window out of boredom perhaps? If your gut is telling you otherwise, trust it. Children didn't come with manuals, but a mother's instinct can be valuable.

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My son is 6 1/2 yrs old he was diagnosed at 5 with ADHD combined so he has impulsiveness/hyperactivity. I always thought of him as my "go-go" kid. He was full of life and never seemed to stop. His kinderarten teacher said that he couldn't keep still during circle time, he rolled around on the carpet, touched other kids etc. During the parent meeting I knew what was coming...your son may have ADHD. So, I got him tested through a pvt doctor who specializes in ADHD. We ran the route of the pediatrician prescribing meds then she was uncomfortable due to his age sooo now we see a therapist and a nurse practioner. He's been on every stimulant it seems like. I research everything and have my questions and I'm referred to now as Binocular mom! I can see the difference in my son on meds and off meds. These meds take a piece of him away. I feel your frustration as everything out there is either positive or negative. But YOUR his mom and deep down you know what's best! Keep researching keep advocating for him! I find that sticker charts work really well for my son one sticker equals say a pokemon card or if he wants something bigger he has to go longer. The key tho is to keep the rewards short and follow through with it. We also give him med holidays on the weekend so that he eats. On stimulants they lose their appetite so watch his weight carefully my son lost 10 pounds in a matter of months. I'm now at the point where I want him re-tested and the major places have waiting lists. So I got him into a partial hospital program where they will observe him for hours a day instead of 20 mins in an office and here you go try this stimulant. Doctors are too quick to hand out meds. Boys are supposed to be active and what they don't conform drug them?? Some meds are great and really help kids but at this age its sooo hard to know what's right! If you son is only having difficulty in school I suggest that you explore other options. There are great resources here and on the web. This is just the beginning of your journey but know you are not alone!

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