Re: to Grace

[Guest guest]

Dear Grace,

I still have 20 (!!) new posts to read so I don't know what everyone

else said about this - but at this rate I may never get to the end of the

list... so sorry if this covers territory someone else already covered.

As far as caffeine and stimulants go: yes, caffeine can help people

with ADHD in the same way it helps everyone!! And many ADHDers self-medicate

heavily with it. But you should not assume that a positive response to

caffeine or stimulant medications will mean that your child has ADHD - all

children focus better on these meds (just as studies have shown that caffeine

improves concentration and short term memory for all students). The response

does not mean a diagnosis of ADHD has been made. I absolutely echo what Joni

and have said about not avoiding medication when it is necessary, but I

would also be careful about giving your child stimulants if you aren't nearly

100% sure she has the diagnosis of ADHD. I think we walk a fine line between

treating children who need it and teaching children that all problems can be

cured by means of a pill.

Which brings me to my second point (sorry this is so long) : I have

NO IDEA when you decide that OCD has been conquered and the rest is just your

child's personality. I am struggling with that right now with Annie. Do we

attempt to cure our current crisis by trying a different medication regimen?

She has been SO irritable lately, has been picking her scalp incessantly, has

been in a horrendous fight with her best friend for two weeks, etc. So here I

sit, wondering whether this means we should think about adjusting her meds?

Or is the irritability just because she had a fight with her friend (normal

fourth grade girl nightmare stuff) or is the fight because she is more

irritable than usual BECAUSE she is having an OCD flare-up??? This is one of

the hardest parts of this whole thing. I really don't know what my daughter's

" base-line " personality is because we never see it. Sad.

So if you come up with a good answer to this question, clue me in!!!!!

Best wishes,

[Guest guest]

Sorry , and thanks for asking,

I was responding to 'a post about the doctor not diagnosing her

son's ocd, or feeling that it was not serious, and how she felt

about this, and then your response as to how to measure if ocd

behaviors are creating a problem (how many hours does it consume " ?).

In my son, I see behaviors (and I am alert to them b/c of my older

daughters) that could be diagnosed as OCD, but I am not finding them

to be distressing currently, or time consumin in the current

setting (pretty relaxed), so am wondering what other moms do in a

similar situation with possible OCD. Is it procative to get a

diagnosis, or better to wait and see?

nancy grace

@y..., " msmichelle " <msmichelle@k...> wrote:

> :

>

> This was underneath your recent post, but I didn't understand it.

Were you just cutting and pasting? I don't want to not respond if

you were asking me something or sharing something with me.

>

> Were you asking about a psychiatric evaluation for a diagnosis of

OCD or an evaluation by the school, or what regarding your son?

Excuse my lack of brain cells today.

>

> Warmly,

>

> in Missouri (Luke's mom)

>

>

>