Any Doctors/Pharmacists here? Help with A.D.D. "Drug"

[BadAss88GT]

My girlfriend's daughter has the A.D.D. thing going for her and she has a tough time concentrating. The slightest little thing distracts her, her nails, her hair, her foot, anything can distract her and it is really affecting her schoolwork. A friend recommended this vitamin that is supposed to help, be all natural, no side effects, etc.

The pill is called Attend, for specific info click here.

We dont want to give her any sort of medication or drug her up, this is supposed to be all natural and all safe, but we know very little about this stuff. Can someone help out, is this stuff ok, is there something better to try, etc?

Thanks for the help-Dan

[wavery]

My girlfriend's daughter has the A.D.D. thing going for her and she has a tough time concentrating. The slightest little thing distracts her, her nails, her hair, her foot, anything can distract her and it is really affecting her schoolwork. A friend recommended this vitamin that is supposed to help, be all natural, no side effects, etc.

The pill is called Attend, for specific info click here.

We dont want to give her any sort of medication or drug her up, this is supposed to be all natural and all safe, but we know very little about this stuff. Can someone help out, is this stuff ok, is there something better to try, etc?

Thanks for the help-Dan

One of our grandsons is seriously A.D.D.

It's important to find a doctor that will give her the attention that she needs. It is easy for Dr's to "Experiment" with different drugs and have the parents report the results of these experiments. The problem is, each one of these drugs will effect the child differently by altering the brain chemistry. This is NOT a good or kind thing to do to the child.

Most children will grow out of it and twist the nerves and test the patience of their parents. Others need to be helped with medication but it takes a Dr that is willing to dedicate time with the child to really understand that particular child's difficulties. Each child's "deficit" is unique and it takes time and experience with the Dr interacting with the patient to get it right.

Too many times, Dr's (or parents) mess kids up worse than if they just left them alone. If you take the child to a Dr and he makes a 10 minute diagnosis, walk out and find another DR. It takes a couple of visits with at least an hour of concentrated attention with a one-on-one with the Dr.

If you get the child on a roller coaster ride of drug cocktails, they can become screwed up for life, become violent, suicidal or worse. This is a very serious condition that takes a lot of time and effort from the parents and DR. As you may already know, discipline must be handled very differently. Traditional discipline can make an A.D.D. child worse as they feel more and more like a failure.

In some cases, educating the parents can be more helpful than drugging the child.

BTW.....experimenting with vitamins and herbs can be just as dangerous to an A.D.D. child as experimenting with drugs. The bottom line is, it is messing with the brain chemistry and that is often the problem in the 1st place.

If a person's brain is having difficulty establishing a proper chemical balance, it is a very serious thing to try to correct this problem on your own. It takes a very dedicated professional to have any kind of a chance of helping. Medaling on your own, without knowing what you are doing can be very dangerous. Remember, you are working on a BRAIN......my God....would you take the engine out of your car and try to overhaul it on your own or wipe out the operating system on your computer and reprogram it on your own?? I don't think so, unless you are a highly skilled professional.

Good luck and God bless.

[MotherNature]

I just want to start off by saying that I hope everything works out for you!

I haven't had such a good experience with 'all-natural' remedies.  After my 2nd child, I had problems with postpartum depression.  My Dr. recommended St. John's Wort, citing the 'all-natural' advantage.  Well, it helped with the depression BUT I became so sensitive so sunlight that I couldn't even stand next to an open window or go outside.  Also, I'd never had allergies of any kind but suddenly developed pollen allergies/sinusitis and more seriously, started going into allergic shock every time I was stung by a bee or wasp (never had problems with that before either).

I'm not trying to say that 'all-natural' means bad.  I just wanted to share my experience.  I was lulled into complacency by the words 'all natural' and 'organic'.  I still find myself being swayed by advertising of that type; I just try and remind myself that things such as Radon gas are also 'all natural' as well as the deadly Ricin poison.  I recently bought some organic 'all-natural' acne wipes for my 12-year-old; they were advertised as 'gentle' and I thought they'd be suitable for his still-babylike (yet pimply) skin.  I was shocked when I tried one for myself and noticed that it removed my fingernail polish!

I'm not trying to say that this medicine is bad or won't work, but I do want to say BE CAREFUL!

Good luck & best wishes in resolving this.

[austinado16]

I've got a couple of suggestions:
1) limit the sugar/processed sugars/junk food/caffine and other "mood" altering foods to just about none.  Otherwise, you have a child who is always chasing the sugar and cafine dragon.  That rollercoaster makes for a real mess with kids.

2) Meals on a schedule.  3 good meals a day, dinner by 5, 6 at the latest, and snacks of wholesome fruits, vegetables, peanut butter, cheeses, ever couple of hours between meals.  Kids have a nice bio-rythm, so watch it and work with it, not against it.

3) Under 5 year olds will usually still take a nice nap in the middle of the day.  Watch for that dip in their little time clock, have a quiet time, and let them nap.

4) Bedtime on a schedule, 7:30-8:00 is usually a perfect window.  Give kids a "program" and they do great at working within it, and sticking to it.  Don't change the program!

5) Excersize.  If the child isn't yet in school, get to a local park every day for about 2hrs.  Feed during park time, and then hit the nap right after.  If the child is in school, get them into something organized.  Dance, Ballet......and I can't speak highly enough of gymnastics for building confidence from within, incredible self worth, strength, and deterimination.  Sports work the brain like nothing else.  Kids love to bounce off the walls, so put them in an environment where that is the name of the game!  Again........gymnastics!

6) Smoking/alcohol/drug use.  I'm not pointing any fingers, so let's get that out of the way up front.  A house where people are smoking, drinking, and/or using any sort of drugs is going to have altered kids.  Moms who did any of the above during pregnacy and/or breast feeding are going to have REALLY altered kids.

I have a theory....since I grew up when there was no such thing as A.D.D./A.D.H.D.:  This is just the latest and greated label on the jam jar and in 20 years, we're going to hear on the news about how millions of kids were harmed because parents couldn't "take it" and doctors were throwing drugs at the "problem" like there was no tomorrow.  There's too much sugar and caffine, too much TV, too much IPOD, WII, XBox, and video gaming, too much texting and cell phones, and too much, "My brain needs new stimulation every 3 seconds or it throws a fit" type of addiction in our society.

And now a short story.  Our next door neighbor moved in with her then 6 year old son.  Single Mom, into the party scene, definately drugging (socially acceptable-like) and got herself prego.  We got to watch the son grow up.  Dinners started around 8 or 9 at night, he was labeled with ADD/ADHD, and whatever else you could brand a child with.  Ridelin this, prescription that.....something to calm him down, something to smooth him out, something to take the edge off, something to tune him up, and on and on. Back and forth to the doctor's for more or different cocktails of pills, and of course the never ending chain of therapy and psychology.  Failing in school from early on, failing socially.  Started getting into trouble at a very young age.  By 12 or 14 he was put into Foster Care because he was so out of control that his single mom still couldn't manage him.  By 16 he'd been arrested.  By 17 he'd been kicked out of the Foster Care home.  By 18 he'd been in Jail.  By 19 he was on probation and involved in something like CCC or some other court mandated program.  He's in his early 20's now......life destroyed, criminal history and who knows where the next turn will take him.  Thankfully, they moved away a year ago!

[Dee4j]

My girlfriend's daughter has the A.D.D. thing going for her and she has a tough time concentrating. The slightest little thing distracts her, her nails, her hair, her foot, anything can distract her and it is really affecting her schoolwork. A friend recommended this vitamin that is supposed to help, be all natural, no side effects, etc.

The pill is called Attend, for specific info click here.

We dont want to give her any sort of medication or drug her up, this is supposed to be all natural and all safe, but we know very little about this stuff. Can someone help out, is this stuff ok, is there something better to try, etc?

Thanks for the help-Dan

I think that's what my friend uses for her son..she says it works, unfortunetly she moved to Ohio before she started giving this to him and I've only been there on a weekend so I couldn't tell you for sure

My daughter has it also. I found good results from eeg biofeedback.

http://www.eegspectrum.com/


also proper sleep is real important.

[wavery]

I think that's what my friend uses for her son..she says it works, unfortunetly she moved to Ohio before she started giving this to him and I've only been there on a weekend so I couldn't tell you for sure

My daughter has it also. I found good results from eeg biofeedback.

http://www.eegspectrum.com/


also proper sleep is real important.

and cactus coolers....... :-() ..............(alcohol free...of course).

I'm sorry..... :morning: I just couldn't help myself.... :rolleyes:  :banghead:

[NCSunshine]

I have a daughter that is ADHD and is in the third grade.  I noticed her problems very early.  She was severe to where she was indangering herself and others.  I took her to our local pediatric doctor and they referred us to a psychologist.  She was diagnosed by age 4, which they do not usually do.

She was so severe that it was also considered that it could be borderline bipolar.  And again they usually do not diagnosis this until later in life.  But when your child does things to themselves that could lead to death, it is time to take action.  

She is on Ritalin and has been for years.  Watching her no one would ever know that she was on something.  She is NOT a zombie, spaced out, or anything close to that.  She tries any sports she likes, she makes A's and B's in school, she has friends, and is a thriving young lady.  She is also happy now, where as before she acted like she was in a depression.

The main thing is that you are your child's voice and you have to act for your child and not what someone else says.  Many people have told me, family and friends, that they would not give their child that medicine.  But they changed their minds when they seen how happy she has become.  

Organic and all-natural remedies are great if they work for your child, but if they don't then you need to re-evaluate the situation.  Your are the only person who can help your child.  Dr's can only go on what you say.

I just wanted to let you know that children on medicine for ADD or ADHD do not act like zombies, spaced out, or become addicted to anything just because they take this medicine.  If they are zombies or spaced out then their medicine may need to be lowered.

I wish you the best because this is a hard road to go down and it has lots of twists, turns, and different ways to go.  Good Luck.

[butterflyfish]

My son has post traumatic stress that in children, is just like ADHD.  We resisted for so long medicating him.  I researched online and also found natural remedies.  DS also has a congenital heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome.  He had 3 open heart surgeries and 3 heart catheterizations by the time he was 3 (hence the reason for the PTSD). Anyway because of his heart, I always check with his cardiologist before giving him so much as cough medicine.  I told the cardio's nurse what I wanted to give him and the ingredients.  The nurse called me back and said the cardio said he'd rather him not take that...  and said he should be put on strattera since it is the one they prefer.  It is a non stimulant and he is not a zombie when he is on it and he will still get "in trouble."  What I did notice since he's been on it is he can focus much better.  He never ever liked to draw or color (remember, he is 6 years old) and now he is drawing all these pictures and with amazing attention to detail.  His handwriting has also dramatically improved.  He will now listen about 80% of the time whereas before it was 50/50, so that is an improvement.  Of course he needs to get enough sleep and we try to keep him on a very strict schedule and that means missing parties and functions that start after 7pm on school nights.  Our only regret is that we didn't do it sooner.  Our younger son is so much the opposite... energenic, but he can "turn it of" when he is told.  The older one can't, but with the med we usually only have to repeat ourselves a few times and he will listen and usually do not have to resort to the arguing stage with him.  


I guess what I am saying is that check with your doctor before trying anything herbal.  I thought the natural/herbal way would be better for my heart child and the cardiologist said no.  So just because it is herbal, doesn't mean it is safe.

As far as the ADD/ADHD label... no, it wasn't around years ago, but there were kids who were always "weird" or not quite "right" the ones who did poorly in school or spent the majority of the day in the principal's office, had no friends...  As they got older, they learned to self medicate... from caffiene to drugs and alcohol and they probably dropped out of school... maybe even got arrested.  I am not saying that there isn't an over diagnosis of ADD/ADHD, but after having a child with it, I know it exists (I too doubted it's exsistence)...  

Remember, years ago you also never heard of a lot of things (hypoplastic left heart syndrome, for example), many medical conditions were kept hush hush, people were ashamed, but that doesn't mean they didn't exist.  When my son was born, he needed to be fed with a feeding tube through his nose fro the first 11 months of his life.  The tube stayed in his nose all the time and was taped to his cheek and the remainder was left to dangle and as he  got mobile, I would pin it behind his shirt.  I didn't hide him away and I was ready to talk to anyone who asked about it.  Years ago, I would have never gone out in public with my child like that.  Just a thought (and not meant to tick anyone off.)  

['tiredTeacher]

(This is not meant to demean or apply to the small percentage of children who really are ill and need help.)

I've got a couple of suggestions:

Your suggestions are on the money. Resonsible parenting doesn't require reinventing the wheel. Gramma knew how to do this and she didn't need no stinkin' child psychology book.

I have a theory....since I grew up when there was no such thing as A.D.D.:  This is just the latest and greates label on the jam jar and in 20 years, we're going to hear on the news about how millions of kids were harmed because parents couldn't "take it" and doctors were throwing drugs at the "problem" like there was no tomorrow.  There's too much sugar and caffine, too much TV, too much IPOD, WII, XBox, and video gaming, too much texting and cell phones, and too much, "My brain needs new stimulation ever 3 seconds or it throws a fit" type of addiction in our society.

Right again. After 20 years in a high school classroom teaching English I can tell you I have watched the slow, inexorable decline in students' mental abilities. The ones who emerged on top were usually in the band. They had no time for artificial entertainment. Athletes, especially the young women, did well for much the same reason.

Pardon us for high jacking this thread.

[austinado16]

(This is not meant to demean or apply to the small percentage of children who really are ill and need help.)
After 20 years in a high school classroom teaching English I can tell you I have watched the slow, inexorable decline in students' mental abilities. The ones who emerged on top were usually in the band. They had no time for artificial entertainment. Athletes, especially the young women, did well for much the same reason.

Pardon us for high jacking this thread.

That's my point exactly.  If you watch what's going on, from an observer's perspective (as you have for your career), you see the well estiblished patterns....which boil down to:  The kids who's parents have them "engaged," thrive, the kids who are left to chart their own course, will, and it never turns out good.

[fourkids]

I am the Director of Education for a compounding pharmacy in RI.  Prescription compounding allows specially trained pharmacists to customize medications based on an individuals unique needs.  From a patient's perspective the wonderful thing about compounders is that they will not try to "sell" you on a therapy; but will help you to understand your treatment options and how they are different from traditional manufactured medications.  

If you would like you can email me mmartin@bayviewrx.com with your location and I can send you a link(s) to compounding pharmacies in your area.

It may also be worth your time to schedule an appointment with a Certified Nutritional Specialist to discuss the important link between diet and ADD.

Good luck!

[AzRon]

I have noticed that Drs will treat the symptoms but not the cause, they do not like/trust natural remedies because they no little to nothing about them. Look around your Drs office next time, look for all of the drug companys freebies, pens,pads of paper, calenders the list goes on why is that? because the Drs office gets ""perks" for prescribing a certain medicine when a cheaper or natural choice is available.  The point being diet and exercise is a good place to start, along with educating your self about natural remedies (yes i know a couple of kids that are messed up because of these so called drugs, they only helped the parents. I also know of one that only needed attention and love to become successful so...)  AzRon

[austinado16]

Couldn't agree with you more Ron.  100%.

Here's a good example:  Our daughter has always been the poster child for health.  Colds, rarely gotten, would last a couple days.  Then suddenly about 20mos ago she got a really bad virus during a trip back east to VA.  She had a snot nose pretty much 24/7 after that.  Months went by, in and out of colds all the time and the snot nose continued.  We tried to wait it out because kids are so good at bouncing back.  Finally went to her pediatrician and were shotgunned with a stack of medications.  Steroid nasal spray, boxes of Claritin and on and on.  "She must have allergies, she must be allergic to a food, blah, blah, blah. Put her on the pills and the spray and come back in a month and let us know what happens.  I refused.  I said there's no way it's an allergy because it doesn't come and go with exposure to anything.....it's always present.  So if it's not some long term infection (and it wasn't) it must be mechanical.  I took her to a nose/throat specialist and guess what.  Adinoids were huge, blocking the natural drainage from the nose, swollen and blocking her breathing, etc.  We had them removed and in a matter of days she was back to sleeping so quietly and soundly that we'd actually go into her room to check her!  Had I listened to the pill pushers, we'd still be shoveling steroids, antihistamine's and psuedoephedrines at her.

[MotherNature]

Couldn't agree with you more Ron.  100%.

 I took her to a nose/throat specialist and guess what.  Adinoids were huge, blocking the natural drainage from the nose, swollen and blocking her breathing, etc.  We had them removed and in a matter of days she was back to sleeping so quietly and soundly that we'd actually go into her room to check her!  Had I listened to the pill pushers, we'd still be shoveling steroids, antihistamine's and psuedoephedrines at her.

I had problems w/tonsils & adenoids for 20 years.  At that time, the "natural' thing to do was to leave them in place no matter how infected they became because "it's nature's way to fight infection - the tonsils and adenoids catch all that stuff"  no matter how hard my parents campaigned to have the tonsils removed.  I missed lots of school (about 2 weeks at a time) but then the problem was dormant for about 10 years afterward.  When I became pregnant with my 2nd child, it started acting up again.  Having fevers of 104 that would not respond to acetominophen/antibiotics was quite unnerving with a child growing inside me.  Drs had no excuse/remedies and the high/low point of all this was that I had to have a peri-tonsillar abscess drained on an emergency basis WITHOUT anesthesia (due to concerns about harming the baby).  I took maintenance antibiotic meds for the remaining 7 months.  I would do it again without question but I still keep thinking that it (and associated risk to the baby) could all have been avoided in the first place.    On a positive note, I think that enduring that pain prepared me for having my 2nd son without any meds whatsoever (before I seem like I'm on a soapbox, I want to add that I only had a 2-hour labor)!  

I don't feel sorry for myself but I just think of all the many years of trouble that could have been avoided (particularly during the pregnancy) if the tonsils & adenoids would have been removed sooner!  Hope nobody else has to go through this!