Try to find a CNHP in your area...there are natural remedies for these disorders so the child does not have to be medicated. (CNHP=Certified natural Health Professional). Too many side affects from meds will cause more severe problems down the road. And, most importantly, DRUGS DO NOT TREAT THE ILLNESS, THEY MASK THE SYMPTOMS.

Such as? I am very, very intrested.

My nephew is 10 years old and he was diagnosed with ADHD . My concerns are : how to diagnose it for sure ?, can be there a mistake that he does not have it ?......etc. How long does a physician have to be sure it is what he or she thinks it is ...?. He was put on ADDERALL 10 mg for the first week, then after that 15 mg and after a month 20 mg . It is very expensive here . Is it expensive where you are ?. Also it comes only in 5 mg capsules so he takes 4 capsules of 5 mg each .

I 'm not going to cram a bunch of medical jargon down your thoart, I have it, really, really bad. ....And no meds for it. here's what it is from my experiance: 1. you can't focus on one thing at a time, but you can do everything at once. 2. You don't need coffe, for you are hyper as a MO*******cker ALWAYS. 3. You do not sleep unless you take sufficent trankilizers to kill a rhino. 4. You cannott sepll anthing. 5. You are extremely spastic, so stay away from sharp things, chainsaws are a no-no, and never, ever hold a gun. 6. expect mutipule persionalites and frequent mood swings without notice or warning. 7. Rittlin is fun to take, for you see funny things. 8. stay away from adderall, although it works quite well in making you "normal" it also makes you very, very, very ,very focused on one thing INTENTLY. It also makes MAD AS HELL FOR NO REASON!!!.... but meds and syomtoms are diffrent for everybody.

If what you are saying is true then my nephew was wrongly diagnosed as he does not have these symptoms or behaviours problems . He can write, read, play.....etc . He just loses his temper sometimes and breaks a thing or two, he likes to make funny and nasty jokes on others, and when he wants to study he gets A or B sometimes .
The most serious thing about him that makes everyone mad somehow is the fact he does not like to take commands from anyone .

Andy, as was said by others, every child is different. ADHD is NOT an "illness". It is a difference in the biological way the brain functions. There is a very broad spectrum of how severe the ADHD is in each person, and also what other conditions are comorbid with it. Your nephew could have a higher degree of opposition with it, as does my son. Some kids have no opposition with it but do have obsessive compulsions, to varying degrees. Some kids have learning disabilities with it. Some have anxiety with it. Those things are not the ADHD, but are other issues that are typically seen 'living' with ADHD. And like ADHD, they are all very individual as to their severity.

If your nephew saw a physician and was 'diagnosed' with it, that should mean that his mother and father and teachers and any other adults that spend significant time with him were given a rating sheet (Connors rating) to fill out to help determine what each adult sees in him as needing help and the severity. It's not like you can take a blood test or anything for it - it is not a disease or illness.

The person 'diagnosing' him should be a specialist in ADHD, not just a general practitioner. A psychologist or psychiatrist can get the ball rolling with the Connor's Rating Scale. Then, typically, a series of tests are done on the child to try to pinpoint where the trouble lies. Reaction time tests, the child rating himself on varying factors (anger management, time management, organization, anxiety, compulsion, opposition, etc.) and other tests that are typically done on a computer will be done. These take hours and are very expensive here - upwards of $600.

I got extremely, extremely lucky and a children's psychiatry firm was willing to give my son these tests pro bono. It was a good thing, too, since he was suffering hugely at the time from anxiety and the ADHD mixed in with it made it really hard to figure out what was going on inside of him.

ADHD is frequently misdiagnosed. It can be a lack of sleep, which I see a lot in schools. Kids that do not routinely get enough sleep can go into overdrive trying to keep themselves awake during the day and it looks like ADHD. However, keep in mind that kids with ADHD can many times have difficulty sleeping, and if anxiety is comorbid with it, you can just forget solid sleep.

I would not trust a general physician and a cursory talk with parents or a single teacher to make the decision that a child has ADHD. The meds ARE heavy duty and I wouldn't put my child on them unless I really, really thought that his life at home and at school was significantly disturbed, negatively effected, not able to be successful in home relationships (opposition) or academically without them.

They are fast acting drugs and typically people do not need to be on them for a long time to know whether or not they are working. They are not like antidepressants or other drugs that you have to wait 6 weeks to take effect and adjust the dosage from there. They take effect fairly immediately. you can tell within a day. That also means that you can choose not to take them on weekends or school vacations if the person takes them for school purposes.

Adderall (the brand name version) costs me $75 per month here for a month of 10 mg. capsules. That is WITH health insurance, believe it or not. If I got a generic of Adderall, I think it would be $30 per month, but they just raised the prescription copayment, so I'm not sure.

We are trying the brand name version this month since the generic bothered him with its side effects. So far, he says that the brand name does work better for him. Generics and brands do not always react the same way in people, no matter that the general wisdom says that they do.

In short, yes, it can be misdiagnosed and frequently is. I would not trust that decision enough to medicate the child unless I had a full team of people giving all Connor's Rating Scales to all adults he is frequently with, and go through the computer tests of reaction time, attention, memory and all of that. If all that comes out still pointing towards ADHD, then I would try the meds just the way your nephew is - a smaller dose at first, the gradually increasing if no benefit was seen. However, the side effects need to be taken into account.

There are many,many, many ADHD medications and all have slightly different effects in individuals. It is a very, very long process to find out which one works the best, in the least dosage, with the least side effects. It has taken us several years.

If there are other conditions comorbid it will take even longer, since the meds could have effects on each other, or on the other conditions.

Being loud, taking the easiest (fastest) way out, having trouble socially (being mean to others), making bad choices, low frustration levels, and grades that look like a roller coaster (A, F, A, F, A, F) are all very typical of ADHD kids. The grades can be falsely assumed that the child is lazy or not trying, when in fact, he or she is having difficulty with time management (when do I study, have I been looking at this for 5 mins or 5 hours?), frustration levels, and attention in addition to seeking the easy way out. Very typical ADHD student behavior. Time management is a huge issue for my son - not having a clue how much time has passed, when he is supposed to do what, how long something typically takes, etc. Also organization - he may very well do his homework but then completely forget to turn it in. And organization on tests - he skips right over problems many times. Not because they are difficult for him and he plans to come back to them (that would be successful time management and organization skills that are indicative of effective executive functioning in the brain) - but because he just doesn't have the attention, time management or organization skills to methodically answer one question at a time, one after the other in order, nor go over the test afterwards to make sure he didn't miss any. These are all things we are trying to teach him to do for himself.

I am making him sound like an idiot, but he is far, far from it. ADHD kids also typically have not too great executive functioning in the brain, so that is all related to it. And again, it has NOTHING to do with intelligence (or laziness, although it looks like it).

And again, meds alone are NOT the way to go. For my son, they have acted pretty much like an aspirin is to a headache - they take the edge off, but the rest has to be up to him and also the parents to take him to a specialist to help him learn coping strategies for life. Not just HOW to use a planner and all sorts of other organizational tools, but overcoming the opposition to using those things, coming to grips with the fact that his brain doesn't work like many other brains but that he isn't alone, coming to the point (gradually) where he seeks out and invents his own strategies to figure out time, be less oppositional, figure out distance/location (also part of the executive functioning aspect with many ADHD people), figure out how to keep track of what he is supposed to be doing, how to organize things so that he does what he is supposed to do. Those things will never come from a medication. But he needs the meds in order to hear what is trying to be taught both from the psychiatrist/psychologists, me, and teachers. And he very much needs the few seconds of extra time the med buys him before he reacts.

So again, that's my more than 2cents worth!

I would do some google searches if I were you, and read some research studies on executive functioning and ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder and ADHD or opposition and ADHD, etc. But make sure you read research studies. As in from the big organizations in health care whether from Canada or the US. Also, university studies, if large enough, provide valid information.

It is a ton of wading through information that I would highly recommend that his parents do. You truly have to educate yourself as a parent. The last 6 years of this (since he was 10) have been a huge learning experience for me.

This is a starting point as a well respected organization specializing in ADD/ADHD: http://www.chadd.org/

Nope, don't seem to have it then, I teach kids and babysits 6 little demons from time to time ( when I'm not at real work) None of them have ADHD, and they sound no diffrent from yours, he just soundws like a normal kid to me.

Thank you .
Always a big pleasure to read you .

From your experiences what are the minuses from meds taken for this disorder ?. .

DONT GIVE HIM MEDS!,try changeing his diet,cut out all suger,procesed food,basicly whole foods,fish,fruit,veg,and lots of water or pressed fruit juice NOT from concentrait!,its very important that you try everything before you give him meds!,i was undiagnosed untill last year!,just got called the naughty child!,finaly had a some sort of stress break down due to stuff not being perfect!,they tryed to call me paranoid schizoprenic!,but turned out A.D.H.D!,the meds made me angry as well,cannabis works for me but ive heard with young kids its all about the diet? goodluck

We tried the change in diet. It did nothing.

Again, be careful to get a pediatric psychiatrist specializing in attention disorders to help pin down a diagnosis and do not depend on "what it looks like" to others. ADHD is a biological difference in the way the brain functions.

That being said, the meds are in the amphetamine class. They are heavy duty, no doubt about it, and should be used with due caution. Each one reacts slightly differently in each person, so you have to try a LOT before you find one that helps some with the least side effects. My son reported side effects of nausea, loss of appetite (those being the largest), and then on some meds, especially Ritalin, the 'come-down' off of it in the afternoon was very, very jagged and made him extremely irritable. Time-release meds worked better for him, but may disrupt sleep at night if taken too late in the morning. If my son takes them by 8 (he usually takes them by 7), it doesn't seem to interrupt his sleep.

We've modified his food intake to accommodate the lack of appetite while he is on it. He doesn't eat much during the day, but starts being very hungry about 4 p.m. He eats a lot between then and bedtime and I make sure he eats quality healthy food as well as snacks. He also doesn't take the meds on weekends or during school breaks to give his body a break.

But most importantly - don't take my word for any of this, or anyone else's on here. Get a well respected specialist involved - a general practitioner is not enough, and research, research, research. His parents will be his best advocate with the school and md's and they can't do that if they haven't educated themselves about it.

ADhd; Foget it , it does not exsit ,if it does then i am adhd . Embrace the child with other avenues to release that abundant energy. We are all adhd , do you remember you childhood. Well they missed me. The child only needs to be understood with a lot of patience . The world has changed , there is no more room within for patience and the wild mustang running and roamang free .

Toss all that medication out. save the child. embrace him , love him , patience him.Talk to him . communicate. look and listen, you will find it, it is there. that money you spend use it for his activities. find him for he wants to be found.

Starsmoonearth,

That sounds great, but in reality, they also have to deal with school, and as they get older, work. While I, as a parent, may embrace my child's unique capacities (and I do), I also recognize that it ultimately hurts him in both the long run and the short run when he cannot be 'successful' by today's standards in school and work due to his difficulties. Again, all cases are different and affected to different degrees on a continuum. One person may be able to function appropriately with diet changes and no meds, others may not.

Let the man dream, It's the only thing that people like us have left.

The diet thing again...cancel out foods with RED DYE # 6...it has been shown to give kids a temper and a condition that makes it hard for them to take commands. Since cutting it from my adhd nephew with Dr.s ok...he is "normal..and dont have adhd. IMAGINE THAT...

Has anyone ever heard of or used becalm-d? It's supposed to be a all natural pill taken by adults or children. If you look it up online they have several comments left by parents and adults who suffer from add and adhd. I was thinking about getting my son to try it. I found out about it from a nurse who's niece put her child on it and now they have no out breaks and her child is doug really well in school.

Sweetboy - no! You have creativity, passion, intelligence, super imagination, depth and a ton of other goodies. It's ok for you to let others help you with some other stuff. We all need help in one way or another.

My kid has it. Never put him on meds, though. Those are addicting and can cause problems when the child grows to adulthood.

Children that have this are just as intelligent as others but have trouble focusing and they are easily distracted. If something is not interesting, they will not pay attention or will not put effort towards anything. They have many things going through their heads all at once and can not focus. The hyperactivity part of it had my son dancing during dinner. He would eat a spoon full, run away, come back and dance, and then eat, and then repeat, lol. He did this until he finished and then danced some more.

He's 21 now. He is in his 3rd year of college and multitasks, is involved in extracurricular activities, and has a part time job in his school to meet his needs. When he is at home, he is always on the phone and the computer at the same time.

It is often said that you can't get a child to do what you want him to do. Just find something that he has a passion for and nurture his/her talent and it will help them focus. My son is a genius as an artist.