Why I drug my child, Top 5 Supplements for ADHD

38 Responses

1. Hi Came across your site my son also has ADHD and some other things as well. He takes Intuiniv wondering what your son takes and can you recommend a good vitamin? He can swallow pills have tried so many chewable ones but he doesn't like any of them. We also take fish oil as well. Would,love to incorporate a multi vitamin he is 8 . Looking for a really good one w magnesium vitamin bs etc the store brands are not sitting enough Thanks !!!!

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   1. Hi TraCey, sorry it took me a bit to reply I had a ton of emails go into a trash folder for some reason. My son takes Intuniv at night, Focalin XR in the morning and if he needs it for lots of homework or sports sometimes he takes an adderal booster in the afternoon. My son loves the gummy vitamins so we have not switched to a swallowable yet but I would try your local health food store they may have something that is better. I keep saying some drug company needs to come up with an ADHD blend that has Magnesium, fish oil and others in it!

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2. Thank you for this post. I came across it from seeing your crock-pot cake on pintrest. We have experienced the same with our son, last year he started school and had some really bad behavior, I was embarrassed by what happened that I immediately contacted his teacher and Sp. Ed. Teachers and after talking with them I decided I needed to contact his Birth Grandma. After doing some research I learned that his birth mom has dealt with ADHD, I practically ran to the doctor to get him help. The medicine immediately helped but depending on the dose, it also changed his personality to being really serious and lethargic and I didn't like that either. I decided I needed to do some more research and observations of him, I learned that when he got really good exercise at least an hour a day of running or swimming I didn't need to use his meds. I also learned that the supplements you mentioned were really important. I did an experiment for two weeks in the summer and I didn't tell my husband because I wanted to see if he would notice and what a difference. I gave him a really good multi vitamin, omega, magnesium and b6 supplements and made sure we swam every day for at least an hour. I didn't have to give him the medicine during that time and he was able to fall asleep on his own with out melatonin at night. Now that we are back in school I have been able to reduce the meds as long as he takes his vitamins every day. Sometimes he needs a little help for concentration after school to get us through homework, so I asked the doctor for a smaller dose of the meds for that time, and I don't have to use them all the time but it is nice to have. I firmly believe in vitamins and supplements with my child's meds, they have made a huge difference in our entire families lives. The biggest thing for me was to realize that ADHD was a diagnosis and it wasn't him choosing difficult or bad behavior and then me being proactive to figure out what avenue of helping him is best for him. I no longer feel like I am losing my mind because I have been able to reduce my "nagging" considerably. Thank you for your post.

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3. my grandson will be six this november. He has a sensory disorder and also some attention disorder. He has ot in and out of school. I have taken him to several doctors...school actually thought he might be on the spectum...he did not qualify...maybe special ed....not there either...does well in reading and math...I am still not giving up..he has difficulty focusing, figety, talks constantly, moves often when eating and sitting. I am still searching for the right doctor...he is a very bright young man..I am currently looking into organic supplements for him...or what ever it takes to get him where he needs to be. A wonderful journey having a grandson!

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4. My son is 16 and a junior in High School. He has been on Vyvanse for over a year now. He is able to stay focused at school. Once he gets home that is another story. He'll start his homework and then get side tracked this is an ongoing problem day in and day out. He will be up till 12:00 a.m. with homework still not complete and then get up again at 5:00 a.m. to finish. He isn't meeting many deadlines so many assignments are being turned in late or not at all. I don't want to increase he med's because he has already lost 40lbs since the time he started it. Does anyone have any ideas?

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   1. Hi Rachel my doctor explained to me there are 2 categories of meds. My son was on Vyvanse and was not gaining any weight and was really underweight. Our Doctor switched him to Focalin XR and he is eating much better. Even though he is on an XR it only lasts to about 3:30 in the afternoon, we also give him an afternoon booster of Ritalin to get through homework and afternoon sports. It has worked really well and he has gained some good weight. Might want to ask your Dr about it.

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   2. Good Morning Kelley. His weight is very healthy and we are keeping it stable. :) He goes to the doc on Monday and usually goes by himself because there isn't any changes. However, I'm going to take your advice and talk to the doc about his situation...again.

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5. Thank you so much for this!! We are on week 3 of meds. It was a hard decision, but the best. Our son struggles in school. Not so much of being loud and such, but he cannot focus. Only on week three (tried 3 different meds-I think we might have the right one now), we are seeing a small improvement in his concentration. People can be so judgmental on this topic!!

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6. I am so glad my son is NOT medicated but I appreciate the information here on additional supplements :)

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7. I am 33 years old and have had ADHD my whole life. I did not come from a caring family so I was considered to be misbehaved. I was very intelligent so i was able to make my way through school. ADHD in itself is not a huge problem. The problem is that ADHD gets in the way of emotional and behavioural development which can lead to other personality disorders like narcissism, anti-social behaviour, social phobias etc. It is these disorders that cause the damage. The single most important thing for a child with ADHD is to grow up as normal as possible so different behavioural and emotional development takes place. it is important for the parent and the child to be aware exactly how the disorder effects the child so the child is able to control themself as an adult. Having ADHD under control is a gift as it gives the child other amazing gifts that are hard to come by without this disorder. ADHD usually creates a sensitivity in a person that can lead to the most amazing perceptive ability possible. ADHD is a gift, but if it is not developed properly in the child it turns out to be an illness.I never took medication through my whole life, instead i opted for meditation, spiritual development/behavioural therapy, exercise, I went through stages of recreational drug usage. I have always been very big on herbal medicine, tried to stay away from pharmaceuticals. But the truth of the matter is this:-medication has its place within the treatment profile of patients. and it is better to have you child on medication than him to grow up in abnormal circumstances and have arrested emotional development. Being different, or the naught child. or the child who fails at school will affect the child his whole life. And believe me even though modifying thinking and behavioural and emotional impulse patterns is possible as an adult. its very very hard to do. A parent who has an ADHD child also has to develop emotionally, spiritually and mentally. Because you have to have unbelievable balance in yourself in order to teach this balance to your child. What i have found is that usually if a child has ADHD at least one parent will have some lesser issue (maybe highly strung, obsessively tidy, worry a lot) As a parent you have to calm these behavioural traits in yourself because what your child needs is balance. No extremes of parenting. If you tell your child they are amazing and let them get away with everything. then they will develop an anti-social/narcisistic selfish personality. if you don't give them any love, they will develop social phobias, self worth problems and will under achieve. You need to have balance in your parenting style to develop balance in their mental/emotional behaviour.i wish my parents gave me the proper care, love, guidance and medication when i was growing upI do not want them to drug me, but I believe that there are stages in a ADHD childs life that medication is important.What I have found in the feedback loops of my own life, is that when I am run down/stressed or experiencing enviromental stress. My ADHD will get worse which will have knock on effects on almost every area of my life. In situations like this, after 32 years of no medication. i will take medication. i believe there is a natural cure in a perfect world. where the food chain is not contaminated. Where we dont have every type of pollution and where the world is not full of suffering. but frankly speaking we dont live in a world like that. And so we need to take 'artifical drugs' This is a sad state of affairs, but its not the medication that is sad. Its the state of the world we live in that is sad.my advice is make your childs life as easy as you can - live somewhere that is natural, with a garden. be close to schoolset your child up with a structured life that does not change much, friends that stick around for a long timedont make your child change schools a lotgive your child a balanced upbringing.if you have to use drugs, go ahead....believe me after not taking drugs, there are times i wish i had of.

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8. I write over at www.minilyon.blogspot.com. We have a 4.5 year old that we just put on meds and you're right - what a difference it has made! He also has SPD and we are about to embark on 30 intensive OT sessions. Anyway, there are millions of blogs out there and I have always thought it was interesting that I very rarely come across a blog that talks about the things that we deal with everyday. I typed in "young son adhd blogg" and your site came up. It's comforting to know that there are other people out there dealing with our issues AND they're writing about it ;) Blessings to you all.

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   1. Thanks Jessica. You will be so surprised how much the OT will make an improvement! Please feel free to email me if you have any questions and need another Mom's point of view.

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9. Dear Kelly,I may be very late in commenting or asking this question from your blog article... but I must try. My kiddo (DD) was diagnosed with ADHD when she was in first grade. As a teacher and a mom, I knew something was not like it should be. She was highly intelligent, yet could not stop moving or find a place of calm her whole life. Now she is 10 and is doing very well (because of medication) in school, yet after school she seems to loose her concentration. I am very saddened by the fact that I have kept her from any real afterschool activities because of this. This year she has the opportunity to be in a big production put on by the local high school. She auditioned after pleading with me that things would be fine. Well... auditions went well! (Unfortunately, they were timed at mid day when her medication was at its full potential) She was called back, and in the end has 4 parts of this awesome production. The play practices are every day after school for 2 and 1/2 hours. As I sit far away, I watch all the reasons why I didn't let her do these types of activities. She begins to dance around, moving constantly, without any care of what she is doing ... distraction is a constant for herself and the rest of the cast. My question is "If I give her the supplements you described here afterschool, do you think that this will help her?" Also, she is 10 and weighs 62 pounds. How much do I give her of each supplement for her age and body weight? I hope you can answer these questions as soon as possible. She loves acting, thanks me everyday for taking her for the audition, and wants to do a great job. Unfortunately, her little body and brain aren't giving her the ability to work with the parts she would be perfect for. Thank you so much for any advice you can give me.

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   1. I hope you get this as you replied Anonymous. I do not know that the supplements would do what you are asking but I can tell you we had the same problem with Garrett. I talked to my Dr about it and she gave me some Ritalin that he could take in the afternoon and it would only last for 4 hours to allow him to focus for soccer practice. I only used it on those days. Then we started him on an SR (slow release) with Intunive and that has solved the problem for us, it last pretty much all day he only starts getting floppy around 7 at night or first thing when he wakes up. I know weight is an issue with all ADHD'ers but I would follow the directions on the bottle because it varies by brand or go to a health food store and they should be able to direct you.

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10. I'm glad you have the courage to speak out so publicly and so justifiably on the subject of this neurological disorder and its need for treatment. Not all need meds, like autism (my son't neurological disorder equally misunderstood by the general publlic) it's a spectrum disorder with varying degrees. I know because my daughter has ADHD. They're adults now, but when they were kids and before treatment was successful, you can imagine what our house was like. Wishing you well. Glad I came over from Homemaker in Heels.craftythriftydecoratingwifemom.wordpress.com

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11. Amen and thank you for speaking out. ADD is real and treatable. We also opted for medication and it allowed the doors to open for my children to actually see and hear. It made further strategies work eg Sensory integration training. They no longer take meds as adults but they have developed other strategies now (like having something like a die or plectrum in the mouth at all times) and are thriving. diet and supplements were also crucial. Thanks again

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12. Fantastic Post!!!!!My nephew is almost 4 and as ADHD but everyone just thinks he's a naughty boyThanks for linking up to Serenity Saturday link party. hope to see you there today!Natasha xxx

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13. You are so right! You do whatever it takes to help your child lead a happy and successful life. I believe to do otherwise would be insensitive to your child. Good for you to speak up and you stand on your soapbox anytime. I didn't learn how to stand up until I was older and I love it when I see or hear a confident young lady. I am still following you on Linky Followers.

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14. Thank you Laurie, It is crazy that more kids have it but I think that there are 2 reasons, people understand it more and today we have more avenues to figure out how to help our kids so we are. I also feel that even though heredity is a big factor, that environment may be a part as well. We have more friends these days with kids with problems from ADHD, Tourettes, to Aspergers and BiPolar than friends with kids with no issues.

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15. Thank you Kim, OT is the best I became so fascinated through that process it really is amazing. I ended going to my son's school with his OT and doing an in-service and got so much great feedback from the teachers. I have found a lot of teachers really don't know that much about it and educating them is just as important. Most of what I read says that SPD is a co-morbidity to something else so it is good you are on the look out. He is SO lucky you have started early.
    I have found that being in regular contact with his teachers has helped and I look out for the next year and really talk to his teachers about where to place him the next year so I get him put in the best place possible. Of course it is always the schools decision but I do let my feelings be known and respect the outcome. You do have to be on top and be an advocate, most of my drive is from the abuse I received as a child from teachers and I refuse to have that happen to my kid.
    Please stay in touch and let me know how the OT goes.

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16. Shiloh, I don't know if you got my email but YES I am sure of it because everything they say about my child was everything they said about me. I do still struggle and these and anti anxiety meds help. I have not been formally diagnosed. My husband was very ill for a while which you can read on my about page so our medical deductible is now $10,000 per person per year so as usual Mom is the low end of the totem pole. I will say knowledge is power and now that I know I can think more and understand more about what I do to try and correct it.

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17. Yeah! Another mommy who believes in the power of food and supplements. I'm assuming that you've read Dr. Kenneth Bock's book on the 4As {Asthma, Allergies, ADHD, and Autism}...if not take a look.
    
    My son is 4 and has ASD, but I think it falls more into the realm of ADD with a severe speech delay... regardless, biomed and supplements have helped our son tremendously.
    
    Thanks for putting this out there. More mamas need to be aware, and the more open and honest we all are about our lives and our children's neurological and medical struggles...the greater the understanding and acceptance will be...

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    1. No but thank you I will be getting it ASAP!

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18. Yeah! Another mommy who believes in the power of food and supplements. I'm assuming that you've read Dr. Kenneth Bock's book on the 4As {Asthma, Allergies, ADHD, and Autism}...if not take a look. My son is 4 and has ASD, but I think it falls more into the realm of ADD with a severe speech delay... regardless, biomed and supplements have helped our son tremendously. Thanks for putting this out there. More mamas need to be aware, and the more open and honest we all are about our lives and our children's neurological and medical struggles...the greater the understanding and acceptance will be...

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    1. No but thank you I will be getting it ASAP!

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19. Your son is very fortunate to have yo uand your husband for parents! As a public school educator, I can attest that it si rare these days. Yes, peopl eare embarrassed about having ADHD and there are more kids diagnosed with it these days for whatever reason. I view it as you do, that if her had diabetes or some other disease, you would also choose to medicate him. My duaghter is BiPOlar and trust me, we defiantely medicate her. Makes her tolerable and alot more level headed. In my mind the medication just levels the playing field. For wnatver reason, out kids were dealt a lopsided field and the medication just levels it. You are wise to keep him in the loop, as he can better defend himself and understand it. Kids who understand it can better deal with it and advocate for themselves! Well done!

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    1. Thank you Laurie, It is crazy that more kids have it but I think that there are 2 reasons, people understand it more and today we have more avenues to figure out how to help our kids so we are. I also feel that even though heredity is a big factor, that environment may be a part as well. We have more friends these days with kids with problems from ADHD, Tourettes, to Aspergers and BiPolar than friends with kids with no issues.

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20. Kelley!!!!!I am so glad you wrote this, and linked to my party, so i was able to read it! I am a former first grade teacher and have had tons of experience with kids who should and should not be on meds. You are informed, use other resources, and meds were the last resort. I truly believe you should try things like OT and natural remedies, but some kids really NEED meds. I am on antidepressants and my doctor used your same analogy, "If you had cancer, you would get chemo..."Sidenote, my wild 3 year old was just officially diagnosed with sensory processing disorder and has been in OT for 7 weeks and he is already a different person. However, we have discussed to possibilities of other issues, but are trying to work through the sensory stuff first. When I imagine him in a kinder classroom I shudder, I am not sure how that will all go and I foresee fighting for testing and being a big advocate to get him the services he needs. Luckily, I am very familiar with our public school system and hopefully can fight to get what he will need. Thanks for your thoughtful post and sharing some of yourself with us!xxxKim

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    1. Thank you Kim, OT is the best I became so fascinated through that process it really is amazing. I ended going to my son's school with his OT and doing an in-service and got so much great feedback from the teachers. I have found a lot of teachers really don't know that much about it and educating them is just as important. Most of what I read says that SPD is a co-morbidity to something else so it is good you are on the look out. He is SO lucky you have started early.I have found that being in regular contact with his teachers has helped and I look out for the next year and really talk to his teachers about where to place him the next year so I get him put in the best place possible. Of course it is always the schools decision but I do let my feelings be known and respect the outcome. You do have to be on top and be an advocate, most of my drive is from the abuse I received as a child from teachers and I refuse to have that happen to my kid. Please stay in touch and let me know how the OT goes.

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21. I, too, drug my child. It was a hard decision for me to make but after a couple years of very little sleep because he couldn't sleep well at night along with major hyperactivity during the day I finally asked the doctor for help. And medication has made an enormous difference. Michael is dealing with ADHD and a mood disorder but is so much calmer and happier with his medication. We recently had to go four days without his meds due to a mix up and there was such a major difference in his behavior that I know we're doing the right thing. Thank you for this post.

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22. I have run across many friends with parents that think this is something to be embarrassed about but I feel the more we talk about it and make it normal it will be. I talk very frankly with Garrett about it so that he will never feel like he is bad or "different". It is amazing to see the transformation once they start meds and they notice the difference as well I think.
    Maybe you should forward my post to your Mom and Dad LOL

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23. Thanks for posting this. I get a lecture from my parents about how awful it is to medicate my child and how I should never ever tell anyone that my son has ADHD. I felt like we were struggling with this as a family in silence. I hated it and we finally talked about it and decided that Tiger needed help. After just a few short months, he's sleeping better, he's not in trouble as much and his motor isn't running as high. I love this new kiddo he's become. More loving and helpful.

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    1. I have run across many friends with parents that think this is something to be embarrassed about but I feel the more we talk about it and make it normal it will be. I talk very frankly with Garrett about it so that he will never feel like he is bad or "different". It is amazing to see the transformation once they start meds and they notice the difference as well I think.Maybe you should forward my post to your Mom and Dad LOL

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24. I love to hear your perspective. I love the vitamin supplements you left also. Do you think you may have been diagnosed with ADHD growing up? And if so, as an adult, do you still struggle? Are those supplements helpful to you also?

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    1. Shiloh, I don't know if you got my email but YES I am sure of it because everything they say about my child was everything they said about me. I do still struggle and these and anti anxiety meds help. I have not been formally diagnosed. My husband was very ill for a while which you can read on my about page so our medical deductible is now $10,000 per person per year so as usual Mom is the low end of the totem pole. I will say knowledge is power and now that I know I can think more and understand more about what I do to try and correct it.

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25. Thanks for posting this. My son is ADHD and I am hesitant to admit to people that we medicate him. Your post makes me feel less isolated.

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26. Thanks for your post! My son has SPD although he's only 4 so no educational 'statement' which is what is required to get help here in the UK.

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27. Good day, I came across a link to your blog from an former high school chum and thought the title interesting. My middle son is special just like yours. I knew from the time he could walk (or rather run) that he was different. Nothing wrong with being different. I brought it to his Pediatrician's attention early on with no luck because of the "we don't diagnose before 7yrs" rule. Well, he is now 8 and I have still yet to get his Pediatrician on the bandwagon. My son's pre-k teacher told me that she thought Daniel needed some extra assistance because he was very active, vocal and constantly in trouble.Daniel was sent to a Special Ed Kindergarten class which he had to repeat a 2nd time. Since Daniel was still not diagnosed I did not have him on any sort of medication. At the school they brought in an outside Child Psychologist who after 2 years of testing concluded that Daniel definitely had ADHD and Sensory disorder. Daniel was disruptive, hyper, frustrated, a little violent and always distracted. I took all the paperwork given to me from the school back to his Pediatrician who filed the forms but said that unless his new teachers in 1st grade make it an issue he saw no need to place him on meds. Luckily, Daniel is in a new school where he attends Reading, Math and Language Arts with a Special ED teacher and then the rest of his subjects in Gen. Ed and has done really well this year. He is still behind in his reading and also completing tasks independently because of his distraction but I know for a fact that he is aware of his issues and tries his hardest to fight his own demons. Daniel has a hard time going to sleep at night so I have been giving him melatonin which his Pediatrician did happen to approve. I really appreciate you posting the additional meds on your blog. Super helpful.Aidni Molina

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