Posted on 09/30/2012 11:37:29 AM PDT by goodwithagun
I'm interested in how your child's ADHD diagnosis came about and how it affects your lives. I'm particularly interested in those using non-medical approaches to ADHD treatment such as vitamin/mineral supplementation and diet.
When I was a kid there was no such thing...just kids.
I agree. After much research, I concluded ADHD is a fraud. I was among the first generation (born 1956)to be (mis)diagnosed as having, then called, ADD and put on Ritalin. I think that every kid could arguably be positively diagnosed with ADHD. Be wary - please - drug have many very dangerous side effects, particularly damaging to the heart.
There is a good book in the subject: The ADHD Fraud: How Psychiatry Makes “Patients” of Normal Children by Fred A. Baughman Jr. check it out on Amazon.com.
I’m now 48 and have fully recovered from that hell, which I suffered as a child until age 34. In hindsight, I would recommend weight lifting, running, and/or any strenuous sport for exercise. Then, at age 18 or later, begin ritalin. As per diet, low carbs and high on fruits and vegetables. Lastly, at least 8 hours of sleep. As per mental simulation, good books and visually intensive classes are a huge help. This is where I disagree with Rush Limbaugh... This disability is quite real and (can be) horrible!
I know. Everyone wants to tell me my kid is normal. He wakes up at 7 and goes to bet at 8. He hasn’t napped since he was 16 months old. He uses his bounce house and trike for 2-3 hours, when he is not doing that or eating he is running in circles either singing or making as weird of noises as he can. The only time he sits down is on the potty and during meals, and even then he’s constantly hopping down. It’s frustrating because no punishment discourages this behavior. he has even become self tattling. Despite spankings and time outs, he constantly repeats his misbehavior. Just now he was in the bathroom singing in various tones, “Get out of the toothpaste!” when I walked in he had toothpaste all over the place. It is getting beyond frustrating. The one thing I know is IF he’s diagnosed I won’t put him on drugs.
ADHD is not a made-up disease. It is over-diagnosed and often mistreated.
Remember when it wasn't a disease, but when boys were called 'day-dreamers' ?
When the source of the problem was that those boys were mentally very active, and were being bored to death in the classroom?
Remember loading up old model planes with firecrackers, setting them on fire, and throwing them across the yard while visualizing a major aerial battle ?
They'd put us in jail if we did that now.
I STRONGLY encourage you to visit this site: LDONLINE. Here you will find a wealth of information on ADHD as well as other learning disabilities. It is through this web site that I was able to connect with the professor who directed me to that local college that assisted my daughter and helped to get her on track.
Even though your response was meant to mock and insult me, I will answer you. It’s not just a question of food, though that is important. Is the child’s mother at home or at work? Children who can’t stop talking are anxious and need more attention than they are getting. Sometimes they have very high I.Q.s and don’t have enough to engage them. None of what I say is intended as criticism of you. I’d have to see how you live to give good advice. Your child might have strong musical talent and not have an outlet for it. He might be a genius who is bored. Take him to get serious drawing lessons. There could be a hundred reasons for his behavior, but one of them is not a disorder that was made up out of whole cloth fifteen minutes ago.
ADD and ADHD is a result of magnesium deficiency. Take mag malate, glycinate or citrate. Do not take oxide.
You’ll definitely see the attention deficit go by the wayside if you give mag regularly and high enough doses.
Unfortunately, I think schools don’t want to deal with busy active children (especially boys) so quickly go for sedating them after convincing parents there is a problem with active and busy.
I would agree. Add to that the tendency of today's parents to not (want to, have the time, or even know how to) discipline their children, and the parents and teachers WIN, the child LOSES.
“Remember loading up old model planes with firecrackers, setting them on fire, and throwing them across the yard while visualizing a major aerial battle ?”
That wasn’t ADHD, it was just having fun.
For me, the success of the student is number one. Medication needs time for adjustment and if a child is a zombie, then the dose isn't correct. Also, the stop and start of taking the child off meds on weekends and summers is never reccommended. Meds like these need consistency and once your doctor has gotten the dosage worked out, stopping it for two days, then starting it up again puts the child on an up and down roller coaster.
Again, the success of the child, which in turn makes them feel better about themselves, is the most important factor in my book.
They learned control by collage and have gone on to do great things.
I can not say it was a lot of fun but they were mine to love and raise and I wanted the best for them. At the time I did not think drugs and labels would give them the best in the long run.
Thank you for your share! I re-read a lot of the comments from the skeptics, and after some more thought, ADD and ADHD really doesn’t MEAN ANYTHING. The problems that your son and I suffer can be a combination of many of the problems described by many, here. As an aside, I also remember never drinking enough water, which became a bad habit. I was also afraid of public toilets (I laugh, today, but as a neurotic germaphobic kid, it’s NOT healthy!). I bring this up to see if you can identify these symptoms as well? I can’t imagine the toxins that must have been in my body at age nine, just based on the latter two poor habits.
Just the schooling part. The rest was wonderful and I am very glad I changed my life plans and put them first.
All normal boys are diagnosed as being ADHD when in the public school system. The schools are designed to destroy Virtue and the protective nature of boys-—and make them into dependent zombies.
I was asked to considered my son as ADHD. I laughed. He was reading in kindergarden and the most coordinated boy—and could sit for hours and draw elaborate scenes of army tanks and aircraft and explosions. That was the problem-—he was a very intelligent, normal BOY!
Our government schools want dummies who take orders and don’t question authority.
The drugs they proscribe are toxins to the brain and are very harmful to all children. It is toxins which make them abnormal. Clean up their environment—food supply-—water-—and for goodness sakes—get their minds away from the BF Skinner curricula which is trying to de-masculate them and turn them into dress-wearing zombies.
John Wayne types—God-fearing men-— can NEVER be controlled by fascism.
He’s grown now, and a journalist.
My sympathies to your family. ;)
1) Boy diagnosed at 5 years old by a young doctor with the latest up to date education and training.
2) Sister 16months older, raised exactly the same way, totally normal.
3) Difference between the two is black and white, night and day.
4) Both very intelligent, in gate-advanced education programs etc.
5) Boy treated with concerta (slow-release) a few years. Became less effective with time. Switched to ritalin.
If he does not take meds, it’s obvious. If he takes the meds, he’s able to concentrate and focus and control himself.
Anyone who still believes (in 2012) that ADD/ADHD is a made-up disease is operating off extremely old steretypes and misinformation. I used to think it was just an excuse for bad parenting. Having a kid with real ADD, and seeing the irrefutable affects of the medication, converted me to being more open minded.
Supposedly, many grow out of it.
We try to keep him off medication on weekends, or during the week after homework is done. However, anyone who wants to roll the dice and let their kid suffer through the formative educational years, don’t buy it.
A typical day might begin with me going to the car to get my lunchbox so I can wash it. I notice that the car needs to be cleaned, and pick up a few cans and bottles. I need a garbage bag.
Go inside to get a garbage bag, notice that the garbage needs to go out. DO that, get back to the car - no garbage bag. Go back inside to get bag, see lunchbox, and decide to clean it before I forget. I get the cleaner, notice that the dryer is finished, take clothes out and fold them. Remember the car. Go out there - no garbage bag.
I take Vyvanse now, and it helps sort things out. Not a cure-all. To avoid a day like the one above, it takes meds, and a lot of to do lists and sticky notes. #39;t imagine not being able to focus on a task for more than a few minutes. I often have 5-6 projects running simultaneously
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