Meds for add/adhd?

[marylovesbennyhill]

My 8 year old dd struggles with schoolwork, especially math. She is on an IEP,gets extra help,etc. She just does not get it. We had a educational psych eval and both her teacher and I filled out questionaires. It looks like the next step might be meds.
I am scared. She is a happy, sweet,loving and smart kid but to put it in perspective she got a 28% on a math "test" that was review:( Does anyone have any experience with this?

[vludmilla]

Sorry that your DD is struggling. Do you think that she has AD/HD? Have you ever suspected that attention was a problem for her? There are several things that can mimic AD/HD (learning problems, anxiety, spectrum disorders, etcetera). I would want to be sure that a careful evaluation ruled out all other possibilities for attention problems before settling on that diagnosis. Rating scales are a key part of an AD/HD evaluation but they are not an effective way to diagnose when they stand alone. Was a good social history taken? Were cognitive and achievement tests given? What is the input of the teachers? Is the behavior that is seen in school observed in other environments?

[marylovesbennyhill]

Yes..she has been assessed..given exams...tested...there is something definitely going on. The educational psychologist felt there was something going on. Her dad had ADD backs in the 80s and was medicated for it. It just hurts to see her struggle and her self esteem suffer:(

[vludmilla]

If you are confident that it is ADHD I would consult with a pediatric neurologist about medication. If that isn't possible, a pediatrician would do. The medication used to treat ADHD is extremely helpful for most children who truly have the disorder. It can make a huge difference, especially early on before the child gets too turned off to school (not a given but fairly common is poorly controlled and severe ADHD).

[lalasmama]

I'll fully admit that between an elimination diet and Concerta, our word has changed drastically from what it used to be.

Pre-meds and pre-dye-free-diet, DD was a handful. In fact, "handful" is the NICEST way to put it. She was nearly kicked out of more than one daycare because she wasn't able to think through her actions--to the point of lightly "stabbing" the daycare lady's son in the hand, because she was mad at him when they were drawing. Her days were filled with nothing but behavior correction. It was hard to "have fun" with her, because her moods would shift without provocation. And, really, I worried about how she would fair in school, and socially, when she was always being corrected on what to do about every little thing. I didn't want the other kids (or the teacher) to label her as a handful/always in trouble. So, she went on meds (first Metadate, then Ritalin, and now Concerta).

It took a little bit to figure out the right dose and such, but now she's on a stable dose. She had a rough start in utero and early infancy, and, statistically, she was expected to have low reading skills, learning disabilities, and be a "challenging" child (she started out in the foster system). Let me tell you though... Once we got her on the Concerta, her world turned around. We switched the summer between kindy and first grade, at the same time we switched to a different school district. Her first grade teacher was amazed to learn of her history, because she said she was one of the best-behaved children in class. Now in second grade, she's working on early multiplication, double-digit carrying addition, can tell time on a quartz without thinking about it, etc. They are supposed to be at a level 36-40 at the end of second grade, and she's already approaching level 30.

The first many months of having her on meds, I cried. I was positive that it meant that I failed her as a mom, that I couldn't give her what she needed, etc. .... And then I talked with enough people who reminded me that if she needed it. That, without it, she was an unmanagable (and dare I say, not well liked) kid, and with it, she's able to be a confident, enjoyable, bright child who can figure out how to do what comes naturally to most kids. She likes people more, and is in a better mood, because she's not being corrected all the time now--she can think about what she's supposed to do, and do it.

We went through a developmental pediatrician and the local mental health place for assessments, so we have no question that she has ADHD. And medicines, along with routine adjustments and the diet changes, have worked miracles for her (and for our family).

[tiapam]

I thought of two things, #1 that if you have not done so, her hearing and vision should be checked. JIC, you would not want to miss that, even if it might only be a part of what is going on. #2, my standard reply on this, after researching thyroid issues for me and my family, is to rule out thyroid definitively. You need a lot of tests for that, not just TSH. You need to do a lot of research yourself. If thyroid disease runs in your family, then you really, really need to look into it.

This might be a useful link but it's just one of over 5,000,000 hits I got when I Googled thyroid add adhd:

http://discovermagazine.com/2007/sep/vital-signs-misdiagnosing-adhd/article_view?b_start:int=0&-C=

There seems to be a noticeable onset for this particular case, but if a child has it at a younger age and it goes undiagnosed, then school might be the first time noticeable problems come up.

[niccig]

I thought of two things, #1 that if you have not done so, her hearing and vision should be checked.

I'm back at school to be a speech language pathologist, my audiology professor just spoke about hearing loss and audiology processing disorder. 50% kids with ADHD/ADD have audiology processing disorder and symptoms are the same.

[marylovesbennyhill]

Her behavior is actually very "good". Everyone adores her and she is easygoing. Her vision and hearing have been checked. She just has a heck of a time focusing on anything:(

[niccig]

Her behavior is actually very "good". Everyone adores her and she is easygoing. Her vision and hearing have been checked. She just has a heck of a time focusing on anything:(

How was her hearing checked? If it was the school screening or the Dr.'s screening, there are limitations of those protocols. eg. don't screen all the speech frequencies etc.

[pinkmomagain]

Her behavior is actually very "good". Everyone adores her and she is easygoing. Her vision and hearing have been checked. She just has a heck of a time focusing on anything:(

DD2 also doesn't misbehave, she is more spacey and she was dx'd with ADHD inattentative type a few years back.

She's been on meds for a few years now and they have helped her alot. But they don't help everything. Don't know if your dd has organizational/planning issues (ie. forgetting books, losing papers, etc.) but the meds aren't very helpful for this. Also, while she is able to focus better at school, she has a very hard time with math. She hates it with a passion and has a hard time applying herself at it. This is usually her worst grade. She has failed some tests but passes the class. She has the worst time with cummulative tests because while she may understand a particular topic when you go over it with her (let's say adding fractions), if you put that on a test with other things (subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions) it's just seems to be too much for her to keep track of. Here I am not sure if there is something else at play besides the adhd, but she is coming along OK with the supports currently in place and is trying her best and she knows whatever grades she gets as long as she is trying her best and doing the work, is OK with us. We all know she is not going to be an accountant when she grows up.

Anyways, I guess you need to find someone to work with who will give you an accurate dx and who can determine if your child would benefit from meds right now or not. We work with a child psychiatrist.

[OKKiddo]

I'm back at school to be a speech language pathologist, my audiology professor just spoke about hearing loss and audiology processing disorder. 50% kids with ADHD/ADD have audiology processing disorder and symptoms are the same.

Not wanting to hijack here but my second son was diagnosed (likely mis-diagnosed) with autism/pdd-nos with adhd when he was 2.5. At 3 we were fighting the 4th ear infection in a 7 month time frame which made it his 6th ear infection total in a year. A referral finally got us an audiology appt. and ent referral for tubes. Once the tubes went in his autistic symptoms went almost totally away. What we were left with was a mildly speech delayed child (mostly mush mouth and ramming words together) and the hyperactivity. Tantrums still occurred but were no longer the 45 min or longer ordeal.

So, (here's where I get to it) now we want to test him for the auditory processing disorder but everyone has told us we can't until he's 6 years old. :( He's 3.5 now and still doesn't know how to count to 10 (only gets to 3 or 4) or his ABC's (only knows the letters O, and Q) because he can't sit still and learn and he can't follow directions well at all.

What's a parent to do but seek out medication for the younger children when they can't be tested for the auditory processing disorder? For the record, we haven't put him on medication yet, but we're getting to that point because he is so hyper/hard to manage.

[crl]

Not wanting to hijack here but my second son was diagnosed (likely mis-diagnosed) with autism/pdd-nos with adhd when he was 2.5. At 3 we were fighting the 4th ear infection in a 7 month time frame which made it his 6th ear infection total in a year. A referral finally got us an audiology appt. and ent referral for tubes. Once the tubes went in his autistic symptoms went almost totally away. What we were left with was a mildly speech delayed child (mostly mush mouth and ramming words together) and the hyperactivity. Tantrums still occurred but were no longer the 45 min or longer ordeal.

So, (here's where I get to it) now we want to test him for the auditory processing disorder but everyone has told us we can't until he's 6 years old. :( He's 3.5 now and still doesn't know how to count to 10 (only gets to 3 or 4) or his ABC's (only knows the letters O, and Q) because he can't sit still and learn and he can't follow directions well at all.

What's a parent to do but seek out medication for the younger children when they can't be tested for the auditory processing disorder? For the record, we haven't put him on medication yet, but we're getting to that point because he is so hyper/hard to manage.

I'm no expert but IME most doctors won't diagnose AD/HD before age 7. I think there are some hearing tests that can be done on little ones. Who have you been going to for diagnoses? What does that person recommend? If that person isn't helpful, maybe it is time for a second opinion? Do you have him enrolled in special education? My ds made great progress in special education preschool settings.

As to the OP, we go in tomorrow to "officially" get a diagnosis. I know it will be either ADD or ADHD. I know the psychiatrist will be recommending medication. I am still not sure what we should do. I am not opposed to meds per se. But we are just getting the diagnosis (though it has been years in coming) and I always thought we would try "everything" first.

Catherine

[kboyle]

ds1 has ADD, no hyperactivity. he has been on Vyvanse since the last month of 1st gr and is now in 3rd. his focus and understanding have increased significantly. we don't give it to him in the summer, he doesn't take it on the weekends. he eats much less, and has a hard time falling asleep on some nights. you can tell when he doesn't take it, his teachers can tell, he understands that he has to take it to help him focus at school and he's fine with that.

other than being a bit quiet his personality hasnt changed at all. he does get emotional from time to time.