~the rest of the results of the ADHD survey. You
will find resources other ADHD people use to help them,their reactions
to synthetic drugs, and more advice from those who know. Once again
we are sending you on a journey around the Internet so bookmark this page
and you will find your way home!
Resources
you will find helpful:
32% of the ADHD people surveyed use support
groups to help them with ADHD. This support comes from CHADD, family, friends
with similar children, and ADHD groups on and off line.
66% use available literature to help them,
8% use internet pages, 16% use school teachers and personel and 6% use
their doctors and health professionals. Why doesn't it all add up to 100%?
Because it was very clear from the survey that most of the ADHD people
use resources from more than one place. The conclusion seems clear: Read,
ask, and learn as much as you can from any resource avaliable to you.
One member of the list spent considerable
time listing their recommended reading and websites. For your convenience
we have linked each of these recommendations to the place where you can
find out more, so be prepared, you are about to click all over the Internet!
We suggest you bookmark this page so you can find your way back!Have you
got your seatbelt on! Recommended
books to help you if you have an ADHD/ ADD child:
And now the Internet websites recommended
by ADHD people!
Diagnosis,
and treatment for ADHD
Family Physician's diagnosed 30% of ADHD people surveyed,
58% from Psychologist or Psychiatrist, 4% from a school source and 10%
had diagnosed themselves. Pediatricians, a neurobiologist and an Occupational
Therapist had also helped . 48% had been interviewed or had filled in a
questionnaire and 42% had a Physiological test. Quite a few had been through
several diagnostic systems.
From this, one person had had no course of treatment recommended.
For 66% of those who answered the survey, Ritalin, Drexedrin etc
had been recommended and 16% had had nutritional supplements suggested
to them. 8% were told of exercise regimes and for 30% coping skills training
was recommended. No medication was the recommendation for 12% of the people
surveyed.From these percentages you can see that some people had been given
more than one way of approaching ADHD.
To
help you through this next section we have added links to more information
as meds are mentioned. Look for the blue underlines and click if you want
to know more.
So
for those who were prescribed Ritalin, what happened? Here are their comments.
-
"Mom and one daughter responded well to Ritalin, the other
daughter had a reaction to Ritalin, but did well on Dexedrine and Prozac.
. All three experience weight loss, and one had an allergic reaction
to Ritalin."
-
"Ritalin 10 mg.. 2X daily gave me more focus Side effects?
It raised my blood pressure"
-
"Our 8 year old son
was seen a few times by a psychiatrist, who seemed more interested in writing
prescriptions than visiting with his patient. He prescribed at least
4 different meds. With each of them, there were side effects.
He was acting out of character, i.e., obsessive and compulsive and docile.
He couldn't sleep through the night. We quickly stopped medication.
Normally, he is a very affectionate, outspoken child, who did not like
his school environment nor his teachers. Our son was diagnosed by
his summer school resource teacher. We transferred to the school
where this teacher works and he is a happy young man. We have not
taken him to another psychiatrist. In my opinion, and I have not tried
this yet, I believe we may lessen his inattention and some of his excitability
through some dietary changes."
"In my cousin, age 9, he is severely underweight because
his medicine takes his appetite. For myself, the meds have been very
helpful, no side effects."
"Calms him down but doesn't help with his distractability
decrease in appetite"
"I started off first with Ritalin. I never noticed
any side effects. I went all the way up to the max dose and it seemed as
though I
was taking nothing at all. At the same time I was taking
Wellbutrin to treat the depression, which the counselor said was a result
of the undiagnosed ADHD (I had been struggling with school
since I came to college and was finally suspended for such poor
grades)."
"He went on Ritalin for a year but he grew immune to it.Had
had no medication for 2 years now"
"Short acting, still has bad times, doesn't sleep without
being drug induced (this is a 4 year old )eats all the time but gains no
weight"
"Excellent. Yes, my husband had some mild headaches at
the beginning"
"Results with Ritalin have not been what we hoped.
Problem with sustance abuse by my child. Currently are on Wellbutrin.
Onlyon for a week, so I can't comment on that yet"
"Very beneficial to all three of them.Youngest child had
trouble on Dex so went across to Ritilan. Better however she must eat with
them or similar results to Dex."
-
"We take Ritalin and
it has turned my world around. Before I could never stay at one task
and never seem to get any thing done. The same thing at work would
happen at home. I would always forget things and had all this nervous
energy. I told my doctor, it is like putting on glasses for the first
time. For someone who can't see very well and get glasses it makes
a total difference. My whole world changed. I could never go
any where in my work as far as promotions. I am now the manager where
I work and the boss leaves almost everything up to me. My self esteem
is a lot better. My son was in the third grade when he was diagnosed, and
was failing a lot and having a hard time with most of his work. But
as soon as he started the med. he was a different child almost. He
always has a hard time focusing and sitting still but not now."
"The response to Clonodine (sp?) was short lived.
We just started Ritalin weeks ago and the response has been somewhat noticable
(much the sameas Clonodine). Hannah has an eating disorder as well so we're
concerned about the appetite depression side effect of Ritalin."
"He becomes somewhat subdued, quiet, and a loner. The
side effects are lack of appitite, not as tall as his twin."
"ritain-dexadrine span-adderall and the side effects were:
(ritalin )had dips and more behavior problems (dex) no real dips but had
problems with behaviors (adderall) no real problems just have to adjust
meds as he grows. one son is also ODD and the other is gifted. ODD
is controlled by wellbutrin and he uses risperdal to help sleep."
"Ritalin Good response; calms impulses and lack of attention
span .Possibly some slow growth but it's hard to tell because there are
so many petite people in her genetic families"
-
"decreased hyperactivity,
able to concentrate better"
"Child much better organized and more managable".
"my daughter had no response to a small dose and we discontinued
- my husband has had no noticable difference - continues totake it
but with depression involved etc it is difficult to tell,"
"Support and advice from caring people on the internet
and information about multi-modal treatment, because Ritalin alone is not
enough."
There
is an underlying thread it seems of weight loss for many who take Ritalin.
Keep reading as one ADHD mum has found an answer for that in this next
section.We have added direct links underlined in blue so you can find out
more.
And
then there is Adderal
-
"After 3 months my
doctor and counselor had me try Adderall and I have been taking that for
about a year now. I have not noticed any side effects with the Adderall
either.....the Adderall does help me to sit down and concentrate on my
studies, but it's my attitude that has helped me improve everything in
my life. It's just understanding that you may have to do things differently
than other people. Sometimes that means more work for the same results,
but it feels good when you can finally do it!"
"Ritalin-great, adderal, she was off the wall, cylert
for my son but the dr removed because of listed side affects that are coming
to light"
"Adderal - Changed mood and increased depression - could
not sleep"
"adderall, wellbutrin, clonidine,zoloft yes-they all make
him hyper except for the clonidine-it knocks him out"
"adderal excellent with no side effects."
"With Ritilan, Adderal my son was tired all the time,
upset stomach, headaches, and grouchy"
-
When my son is on
Adderall, he is a totally different child! My husband and I absolutely
love it. He is a normal child!
"Works very well for my boys. They are severly ADHD
and the medicine helps them to slow and learn. Side effects are headaches,
decreased appetite, dizzy spells, hyperfocuses"
"With Cylert, no affect even at the max dose, with
Adderall, improved focus and coordination Side effects have been
loss of appetite, weight loss, insomnia, nightmares Supplements
help considerably with the side effects of Adderall and has meant
my son can continue to use it .The GABA
Plus ( with inositol and niancimamide) helped with the
insomnia and nightmares immediately, the affect of B
vitamins took a little longer to notice, but he was able to put on
a 3 pounds over 2 months. He's been using the B's a year now and
is up to a regular weight, still slender but no longer skeletal.
We just started the Omega
3 and E, and I'm starting to notice a difference. It seems to
help the staying power of the Adderall, smoothing it out, but we still
have to do a mid-afternoon dose."
"Nothing except medication was recommended by the pediatrician.
After a few years, I (ADHD child's mother) decided it was timefor psychological
treatment of the symptoms not affected by medication of Ritalin, Adderall
At first the doctor prescribed Ritalin. There was an
immediate improvement in attention span and behavior in school, although
hyperactive behavior continued at home. Seemed to have developed a tolerance
for Ritalin, so was switched to Adderall 4 mo. ago. Adderall seems to have
the same effect as Ritalin. Side effects have been loss of appetite, headaches."
And
then the other meds!
-
Prozac - Good Results in Adult
-
Some worked some not so good. Sometimes it made the behaviour
worse.
-
Dexampphetamine - crazy major meltdown was taken off
-
Dexedrine and Ritalin Dexedrine when upping the
dose made him sick and dizzy and Ritalin he is doing much better but I
keep forgetting to up the dosage.
-
I have a son whom
they thought has ADD/ADHD for almost a year.Thank God I had a goodpsychiatrist
who diagnosed it correctly as anxiety.He
is now on BUSPAR and is the child
I remember.He is also gifted and talented, as I said before, he is the
child I remember!!!!!Yea!!!!! He complains of dizziness for about 1/2 hour
after taking the pill.
-
Clonodine (sp?) made step-daughter lethargic each time she
adjusted to higher dosages.
So
we have come to some very unscientific conclusions for this section.
 Enhance
your medication with natural supplements that can work alongside the synthetic
solutions and help minimise the side effects. Don't only rely on
what you ingest.
Find
the medication that will work for you.If the side effects are too much,
find another medication that you are better suited too. |
Become
informed on other strategies that you may not have been told about by doctors.
Explore
coping training, exercise regimes, biofeedback exercises, brain gym
exercies, audio tapes,
Join
a support group online or in your community,
and keep going until
you are satisifed that you have the right solution fot you and your family!
