| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| brightmeadow |
Posted - Dec 16 2013 : 04:49:50 AM
My 10-year old grandson (he lives in another state) is on Adderall for ADHD. Anyone have any experience with this drug? What I read online is pretty scary.
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
http://brightmeadowfarms.blogspot.com http://brightmeadowknits.blogspot.com
http://www.ravelry.com/people/Brightmeadow |
| 14 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| mommatracy |
Posted - Dec 31 2013 : 8:11:22 PM
I recently read an article written by a women who's sister was dying. The sister knew something strange was going on because she was young and no one could quite pin down what was slowly poisoning her.It turned out to be the diet drinks in her fridge. Her sister was being poisoned to death by aspartame. She took her off it and she recovered. Doctors were stunned and looked into some other patients who were suffering from different maladies. As it turned out a team of doctors went over some medical cases, the increase in MS, Autism,,,,,and found that when taken off artificial sweeteners many recovered! This is so scary. Please look at what this child is ingesting and do some investigating. I have not and will never use any artificial sweetener again. If I can find this article I will post it. It was on FB I beleive. I hope your grandson can recover from this.
www.cottagebythebay.blogspot.com
~Trust in the Lord...but row away from the rocks~ |
| Tapestry |
Posted - Dec 31 2013 : 6:57:17 PM
Brenda,
My youngest son was on adderall for a very short time for ADD. He had scary side effects. He became depressed and threatened suicide. It was bad enough that I left my job one night to go home as I was afraid for his safety. I phoned the Dr. the next morning and he was taken off that drug. He was 13 at the time. This was many yrs ago and fortunately he outgrew ADD if he ever truly had it at all. The Dr. who diagnosed him eventually lost his license as there was some concern over his practice. My son is now 30 and is on NO medication. He functions extremely well, is married to a wonderful young woman and has a great life. There are so many new avenues for treatment including non-traditional treatments. Just remember you'll have to be your child's advocate. If you don't feel he is doing well on meds demand they be discontinued. Stay in close touch with his teachers if he attends school away from home. Good luck to your son and family in 2014.
Happy farmgirl sister #353
Look for rainbows instead of mud puddles 
http://pinterest.com/ctapestry/
http://tapestrysimaginings.blogspot.com/ |
| QuiltyMom |
Posted - Dec 27 2013 : 2:49:41 PM
My son's on the patch and he likes it so far. What's nice about it is he can leave it on longer if he needs to stay after school or do an extended amount of homework. We did get a coupon for it from the doctor, but it meant taking monthly phone surveys and other stuff that I just didn't want to be bothered with. But we may have to reconsider that because of the cost savings it gives.
Insurance companies are strange with the hoops they make people jump through. Oh we'll. good luck to them! |
| brightmeadow |
Posted - Dec 27 2013 : 07:40:52 AM
thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughtful advice. I talked to my daughter at Christmas, she is going to talk to the doctor and let him know that the Adderall is given my grandson stomach problems. Evidently they previously discussed another option "the patch" but insurance won't pay for that until Adderall has been tried?
it is really hard being so far away from them.
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
http://brightmeadowfarms.blogspot.com http://brightmeadowknits.blogspot.com
http://www.ravelry.com/people/Brightmeadow |
| QuiltyMom |
Posted - Dec 21 2013 : 06:24:40 AM
The martial arts idea is a good one. The Asst. principal of my son's elementary school recommeded it to us, and he went all the way through to black belt before he quit to do another sport. It gives the kids so many benefits: physical activity and control of their own bodies, respect, discipline, self control. And it gets kids away from the electronic babysitters. Many studios will offer after-school transportation for a nominal fee. As others have said, physical exercise is an important part of learning to manage ADHD. My son is a much happier person after be has had physical activity of any kind.
The benedryl issue is a bad one. Personally, I will take it for a sleep aid on my doctor's recommendation for the occasional use (it's the same thing as Tylenol PM without the Tylenol) but daily use is a bad thing - especially for a child.
Is there any way you could contact the child's pediatrician with your concerns? That is a good place to start. All you can to do is express your concern and then let them take it from there since you're not the guardian. Please use caution in the conversations that you have, whatever you choose to do, for you don't want to ruin relationships over it. Sit down with the parents and give them your support and offer to help out in whatever way you can, either through researching options to making daily calls to your grandson, to be a sounding board for the parents to talk over this with. Express your concerns and offer to be there for them, no matter what as they go through this journey. That will be the best gift of all.
Also please remember that ADHD meds are there to HELP. They do enable the user to take the uncontrolable "active" edge off, giving them the ability to be able to settle down and focus on the tasks at hand. They do get a bad rap, but they are a good thing if no other option works. |
| oldbittyhen |
Posted - Dec 20 2013 : 08:52:26 AM
giving a child benedryl everynight is dangerous, if he is "SO STUFFY", why isn't he been taken to an allergy docter, and tested, it is a fact that people give children benedryl as a means to make them sleep, and is cild endangerment, which would open a case with childrens services at the least, or removeall from the home, please stay on top of this and if you have to, involve childrens services...
"Knowlege is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad" |
| brightmeadow |
Posted - Dec 20 2013 : 08:31:15 AM
My reaction is to get him off the drugs. Thanks for the answers, you are just reinforcing my gut feeling. Unfortunately I moved out of the state four years ago due to a job loss and now he spends most of his time with another grandma, since his mom works evenings. This grandma is feeding him Benedryl every night for at least the last six months, supposedly because of his allergies. She sent them with him on this visit. After reading your comments I realized how "RED" the Benedryls are. I gave him no Benedryl and no Adderall while he was here. Even though he is an active little boy, by the end of the visit he was pretty settled down.
Without taking legal action, how do I get her to stop feeding him the Benedryl? While I was dropping him off, I mentioned that red dye may make his ADHD worse, and she said "He needs it because he is so stuffy all the time" but she also said several times "He can't control himself" to which my reply is "He CAN control himself, he just doesn't have any practice at it!" They give him everything he wants, how many 10-year-old kids have a Wii, an iPad, a DS and an X-Box?
I think martial arts, like karate or judo, would be good for him in this regard, and I have offered to pay for his lessons but I cannot be there to pick him up or drop him off unless I retire early and move back home. It's asking a lot of the other adults in his life. It's a pretty big life change decision for me and my husband (he wants to move the other direction when we retire, to his family farm.)
It is really hard to monitor his diet from 200 miles away. I think he does eat a lot of drive-through window fast food.
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
http://brightmeadowfarms.blogspot.com http://brightmeadowknits.blogspot.com
http://www.ravelry.com/people/Brightmeadow |
| FebruaryViolet |
Posted - Dec 18 2013 : 8:09:46 PM
Brenda, Adderall is the "first" drug they usually try. There are many. And it might not work for him. I suggest like other posters that you all really try to support him by changing diets--my husband has ADHD and he goes through times where he really craves sugars--all kinds. Potatoes, breads and other carbs, pastas, cookies, etc...and they all break down to simple sugars and whammo, he's either crashing or he's so scattered he can't see straight. I try not to keep that stuff around the house. This is, of course, simplified. There are some really great webpages and chatrooms out there for ADHD, and then there is some REAL misinformation. Doctors are going to prescribe meds and that's ok--but you guys can do other things to help out, too.
'
"Hey, I've got nothing to do today but smile..."
The Only Living Boy in New York, Paul Simon |
| Rosemary |
Posted - Dec 17 2013 : 6:23:27 PM
Brenda, drugs are only one weapon in the healing arsenal. I hope your grandson is also being encouraged to get a lot of physical exercise, and that the family is trying out some of the excellent suggestions other farm girls have posted here.
|
| QuiltyMom |
Posted - Dec 17 2013 : 2:54:18 PM
I can speak from experience. I have two with severe ADHD, one of which also has Aspergers.
We've tried everything: neuro-feedback (for my son), restricted diet (no gluten/casein/all organic/no additives or preservatives), meds for the two of them. The only thing that has worked for both of them are the meds. I know that it would be a LOT worse without them being on an organic diet. The one thing that sets both of them off is Red #40 food dye and the additive BHT. Those things are banned from our house!
You need to know that there is NO singular way to great this. The treatment is different for every child, and then the treatment will change with time. It all depends upon genetics, body make up, maturity. What works for one person may not work for someone else. You also need to take what you read online with a grain of salt for you will get the entire spectrum of comments from good to bad to in-between. I'm not thrilled with either of my kids being on meds, but they are much better for it. They wouldn't be able to function without them.
We are now working with a psychiatrist to find new meds for my son. He's 15 and is actively involved in how the particular medication is/is not working. It is indeed a process where you need to see what is the correct fit. He also has a good relationship with a child therapist. It's a delicate dance, that's for sure. The best thing I can say is to have patience. Patience and lots of prayer! |
| rough start farmgirl |
Posted - Dec 16 2013 : 6:43:11 PM
It is difficult to be a parent with "experts" telling you that your child needs to be evaluated, seen by a specialist, or on medication. Try to understand that this is probably not the parents' ideal solution either. Hopefully, they will watch the youngster for anything unusual.
I agree that many food additives exacerbate the symptoms. It is a fulltime job to find out which ones bother each child. And then even more difficult to control their diet and educate everyone else about it. On top of that you have to have a child who will keep themself on this diet. Since ADHD children have difficulty with impulse control, it is indeed a challenge. But, it can be done, knowing there will be lapses. We had great success with it. The lapses when an eliminated substance was ingested where VERY noticeable.
Good luck. It is really hard. But, sometimes grandparents have to just watch and hope for the best.
Marianne |
| oldbittyhen |
Posted - Dec 16 2013 : 6:16:32 PM
ADHD can be controled a great deal by proper diet, eliminate sugars, fake sugars, processed food, artifical flavors and colors, and glutens, my middle son was both ADHD and delexic, he is now married and has 2 great kids, and he is a wildlands firefighter...get your grandson OFF the drugs...
"Knowlege is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad" |
| sjmjgirl |
Posted - Dec 16 2013 : 4:37:50 PM
Brenda, have you thought about using essential oils? There's a great website, that has an essential oil blend that has been a life saver for some families. It might be worth checking out!
http://www.richestoragsbydori.com
Farmgirl Sister # 3810
Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
- Dalai Lama
April is Autism Awareness month. Autism affects 1 in 88 children (1 in 54 boys, including my son). Go to http://www.autismspeaks.org/ to learn more and help Light It Up Blue on April 2nd!
|
| ddmashayekhi |
Posted - Dec 16 2013 : 06:11:33 AM
Brenda, my youngest son is under the autism spectrum and is 10 years old. We were originally told when he was younger that he was ADHD and they tried several medications. My son had very severe reactions to the meds. When I changed to a pediatrician who specializes treating kids under the spectrum, he said my son wasn't ADHD and that is why the meds. had such adverse effects after only one dose of each type. The pediatrician had recommended that we get home autism behavior therapists to work after school 4 days a week with our son since there is no medication for where he's at. He's been working with the therapists for a year now and it has made a tremendous difference. We have 2 more years with them to complete his care program and are hopeful that when he hits high school he'll have all the coping skills he needs to get through the day.
ADHD is different for every child. The adults who are with your son on a regular basis need to keep a close eye on him while he is on any medication. Any adverse reaction should be immediately reported to whoever wrote the prescription. Neurological conditions are different in every person, making it nearly impossible to come up with one medication to work for everyone.
I hope and pray your grandson's dosage will be correct, but don't be surprised if it takes several tries to find the right med for him. It is possible he can't take any medication, but they will most likely try what is currently on the market before giving up. All medications have scary side effects, but that doesn't mean your grandchild will experience any of them. The pharmaceutical companies are bound to list every little thing that can happen while taking that particular drug. Many people can take Adderall safely.
Dawn in IL |
|
|
