Today my son was diagnosed with innatentive ADHD.
The paediatrician was quick to suggest Ritalin and is quiet a firm believer that "alternative" treatments have not been proven to be affective.
I won't lie, I am scared to put him on Ritalin, with all the hype that surrounds the drug.
I'm looking for other forms of therapy to try before medicating. Has anyone given anything a go? I thought behavioural therapy but the paediatrician gave me the impression it's not worth it.
I don't expect a miraculous cure. I'm looking to learn how to better work with my son.
7 Replies
The best person to talk to you about ritalin is a pharmacist. They know how medication is absorbed into the body.
I would find a good pharmacist to have a chat to, they can help you with alternative natural supplements and tell you how ritalin can be a good/bad thing.
The reason I say this is because I work in pharmacy and the pharmacist (a good one) will have no trouble sitting down and talking to you about this.
Try an elimination diet.
What hype? I've seen it help so many. It's just a case (ongoing) of finding the right medication and dose.
My son was diagnosed at age 3 with ADHD. He was meant to be medicated back then but i definitely was dead against any drug in children for these things unless it is so extreme that there is no other option. So I tried behavioral therapy for over a decade. He's now 15 and although behavioral therapy is ongoing, daily, and repetitive, it does help. My son is living proof it does work, but its relentless and hard work.
These days he's still medication free and although still sometimes needs constant reminders, it's nothing like he was. He's very independent now, more focused, and has better control of his impulses. It's by all means not perfect and can take many years with behavioral therapy, but you have to be willing to put in the hard yards. It's exhausting. But I have a happy, healthy, child who can follow instructions and unless I inform someone, you can't actually tell he has it anymore. Its just been well managed and he's had to learn damn hard to adapt as behavioral therapy alone isnt a quick fix like ritalin etc .. . It's a slow release treatment and is often used in conjunction with medication. I don't regret doing it without medication and looking at my happy teenager, he's pretty chuffed about that too.
But each case is different and each level is different.
Hello,
I have a 5 year old. We struggled with his behaviours since he was 3. We got him into behaviour therapy when he was 3.5 years old. We took him to see an OT every month a d a Child Pshycologist each month also. We completely changed his diet and put him on fish oil. We did this for 1.5 years until he was finally diagnosed and put on ritalin. I can tell you from my experience, the natural remedies dont help. They masked the behaviours for a day or two but it really didnt help.
We were so against medication also, but we had worked out butts off as parents with all the natural stuff and nothing helped.
Ritalin has been amazing. Our son is a completely different child. He is only on 15mg per day. I must admit, we felt really guilty putting him on it, but we lost all guilt when he said to us that 'things arent going as fast'. He can see within himself that it is working.
It's all trial and error. Put him on the ritalin for a month or two and see how it works. It's not forever. Dont dis it before you try it though
My friends give their son and strong coffee each morning and taken him off all meds and he does great by drinking coffee. Worth a try.!
My daughter has the same diagnosis. Ritlin has changed her school life for the better.
She only takes it school days first thing and it’s worn off by the afternoon. She’s able to participate and Stay focused while she needs.
I’m a Paeds nurse and I worried due to awareness of amphetamines but have only seen amazing improvements.
A paed is a specialist.. they are responsible for the dosage.
We had a short acting dose for a short time and then increased the dose slowly with input from the teacher ect and then after a few weeks changed to a Long acting form.
The school has no responsibility to giving it she just has it a few minutes before we walk out the door for school so it’s working by the time she starts class half and hr or so after.
Only side effect for my daughter is that she’s not hungry at school. However as soon as she’s home she eats well breakfast and dinner and over the weekend when she doesn’t take the medication.