Mamagus

The drugs ADD kids take for their condition are not sedatives. The same drug that works for ADD also works for Narcolepsy (People who have trouble staying awake). The drugs help the synapses in the nerves to fire correctly and with better connections.

Every child I ever taught who had ADD and was on drugs did better. The ones that did really well, were the ones who had supportive parents.

Drug "holidays" are a good idea for children... But I'd predict that you'll be a happier family if she does adjust to Concerta

kwhite

Try this:

http://www.thrivewithadd.com/

I have ADD and so does DD. We are both medicated. She has been on Concerta for 5 or more years. It was a vast improvement in 24 hours. The above website will give you lots of resources and information. I have the Self Coaching workshop and it is wonderful. I will be happy to talk further to you anytime you need.

Bill'sBonBon

I have a Granson that is ADD. He is 27 He is still ADD. It is hard for him to focus. He cannot sit still. But He loves baseball,video games any thing that make him focus. As a Grown man He has to work with his hands,keep his body and mind busy. He has never been on meds. He works with a company in Airconditioning for businesses. Does super, now they want to put him behind a desk as a supervisor and getting different contracts. He is not happy. He knows He will not be able to sit and talk on the phone all day but the promotion means more money and He is married with a DD and a DS.
As A Paraprofessional I was involved in more than a few ADD children. One Mother absolutly refused the meds for her son. She said I have to deal with him at home and you have to deal with him Here. She really was a good Mother just didnt want him on meds. When in class he never finished his work,Was a smart young man, just couldn't focus. I took advise from a Phsycologist for the school and gave him one task of seat work at a time. When He finished one paper He got another. This worked very well. Seems He was overwhelmed because He couldn't focus. But is someone didn't do one to one with him He was lost.
Giving your child meds for ADD is a hard thing to do. Even though My DD didn't put her son on meds. sometimes I wished she had maybe things wouldn't have been so hard for him. May God be with you about what ever you decide.
BillsBonBon

SaraSewing

My oldest son, now age 33 was ADD. I started him in meds about 4th grade. His grades improved, his teacher sighed relief, home life was much better, and it was a great thing. I took him off at age 15 because he was kinda small for his age, and he grew, but it was a struggle to keep him focused. He's full time Army now, and they frown on any "head meds", and he has learned to realize how to help himself. I totally agree with meds when you are sure it's not just a behavioral issue. Not giving meds is like telling a diabetic "get over it without insulin, it's JUST diabetis". Keep us up to date.

quiltwoman

My 15 yr old son just started meds 4 months ago. He managed to make good grades in grade school but high school hit him like a ton of bricks. He is not hyper--he just doesn't have the attention span. He started meds but he also has a teacher's advocate at school who not only checks on all his homework assignments, but she meets with him to discuss how HE thinks things are going. together, they work on different approaches to organization. (Teenagers seem to think their parents are dumb so she has been a godsend.)

At first he was mad at us. He did not want to meet with his advocate, thought we thought he was "dumb". My dh and I decided he must be a genius. For a kid who took NO NOTES for an entire semester, what he learned, he learned by sight/sound. He cannot process listening to a teacher, watching it get written on the board and then take all that stimuli in, and produce something on paper.

Organization for him is still frustrating. He has not come up with a system yet to keep him on track. Writing papers is also VERY very hard for him and we are really working with him to find what makes sense to him.

He is on Vyvance. He has lost 10 lbs and we are pushing calories/shakes. He has no appetite. The meds have helped him in our eyes. He can carry on a conversation and seems to know what homework he has and how he's going to start things. I think it has been a good thing. We saw many signs, we just never connected the dots. I wish we had been able to intervene earlier. His self-esteem took a beating. he is positive these days and I think if we gave him the choice, to stop the meds, he would not do it.

HTH, hang in there.

kwhite

Quiltwoman there is a college in Vt that is for students with learning disabilities. They have classes towards degrees and workshops for learning skills for those that want to go to a "normal" college. your 15 year old may benifit from them. Check it out.

http://www.landmark.edu/

blzzrdqueen

Wow! Everyone is really great! From what I am reading here and all over the net, I think it's more ADD then ADHD. Angela is not hyper..she's seems pretty normal in hyperness for a girl her age. It's definetly more a focus thing and she has a hard time remembering to do one task right after the other. I don't know about seeing a difference today or tomorrow, but I'm sure I'll know by the end of next week if the meds are working.

As for her diet, she eats pretty healthy, but I will start cutting out sugary stuff. I don't let her have sugary things after school except maybe a couple cookies or ice cream after dinner. I know I will definetly pay more attention to what she eats.

Thank you all for sharing your stories with me. It helps knowing there are people out there going through what I am.

kwhite

blzzrdqueen the lack of "H" is the problem as I saw it. Because my DD was not hyper no one would say she was ADD. It took me years to get someone to listen to me. Once I did the whole world changed for her. Be persistant. you are fighting for your child. No one else will. I did not tell the school when she began to take Concerta. They did not help me when I needed them and I was not going to let them brand her the way this school district does. So as far as the school knew she just "outgrew" the problems she had from first grade to 10th when I finally got her meds. Good luck.

MadQuilter

My nephew-in-law had ADHD and he took meds during the week. Then his imbacile of a father took him off the meds for the weekend and that poor boy would literally bounce off the walls. What a roller coaster.

The message here is to find the proper dosage and stay consistent. I have read quite a bit about the relationship with foods (removing sugars and chemicals in processed foods) and the severity of ADHD. It's worth a try.

In addition to the meds, it is important to find out what motivates your daughter (and use that effectively) and to develop a routine for her. ADHD children tend to do better in a routine because their internal life is so hectic. I think it is important to break instructions down and dole them out in smaller doses. Where most people can retain and act on a list of instructions, ADHD sufferers can get sidetracked by too many details.

Good luck with your DD. She is a lucky girl coz her Mom loves her and wants what's best.

dreamdanzzer

I just wanted to share something my daughter's doctor told her when she was 13. School was constantly a battle, she couldn't stay in her seat, she was always in trouble for talking and disturbing other kids, homework was a nightmare and a constant battle of the wills. Combine all that with having a rare disorder that left her with no sweat glands except on her nose, skin that cracked wide open in winter months so even holding something like a pencil could be painful, body temperature that could not be easily regulated -- life was one roller coaster ride after another. At 13 she was diagnosed as ADHD but could not be put on medication because there was no way to know how it would affect her and because I was dead set against medication. Her doctor sat her down and told her "you need to understand that there is nothing wrong with you ~ it is just that your brain works at a speed faster than all the other people and so while they are talking about something, you have already moved on to a whole new topic. What I need you to do for me is to work on slowing down your brain so the rest of us can catch up to you." She walked out of his office feeling confident, rather than like she had one more thing that made her different. We had a great LD teacher - we worked with her on a plan for school work, we put together a schedule that was taped on every surface of the house and she had to check off each thing as she accomplished it, we set a time limit that she had to stay on task for each day and worked at increasing that time every two weeks. She took her tests at school in time increments - one part of the test on day one, second part of the test on day two and within the task time frames we developed. Within just a few months her school work had improved tremendously, her grades jumped way up, she could stay on task for the time limits and started increasing the time limits on her own. Her behavior at home and school improved -- it was like having a whole new child!! :) When she would get off task, we'd remind her, as would her teachers that we needed her to slow her brain down so we could catch up. She is 28 years old now and to this day she keeps a list of things she needs to get done, she is the most organized person I know and one of the most patient with kids and adults with disabilities ~ because she has been in their shoes.
So ~ tell you're little one she needs to slow her brain down so all of you can catch up.