Looking for suggestions

[Guest guest]

My 5 year old son who has PDD-NOS just got diagnosed with ADHD and I

am adament about not going the medication route for as long as I can.

Can anyone suggest specialists in the Queens or surounding areas that

specialize in non-medication treatments for ADHD? Or could someone

suggest alternative treatments that would be beneficials to look into?

Thank you!

-

[Guest guest]

,

Your son is ADHD, but how bad is it? Even within the diagnosis there is a range of severity of behavior. I think with most parents, how bad it gets is the determining factor for med/no med. Does he have sensory issues or receive any occupational therapy? My son's hyperactivity increased the older he got, starting at 2-3 yrs. Is this a new issue with your son or something that has now increased into a problem? When mine was around three, he had become a wildman. Oh, he was always happy and carefree, but moving at the speed of light, never stopping, so continually active and bouncing off the walls that you could tell he didn't have the time to complete a thought. You could tell him not to jump off of the 8 ft. bookcase 30-40 times a day but there he'd be again 1 minute later. He was a very bad 'runner' and always looking for escape from the house. Two pediatricians told me (while he was climbing into their windows/blinds and tabletops) that he was the most hyper child they had ever seen. Originally at this time I was looking into ADHD diagnosis which led me quickly to autism also. I put him in pre-k, in a structured teach class. We had speech and occupational therapy (for sensory issues) from Baylor. I learned a lot of his hyperactivity was sensory seeking or overload driven. I spent the next year researching and trying all types of diets and extra help -Feingold, GFCF, no artificial anything, vitamin, etc. The sensory/OT therapy would calm him for about 1 hour and then here we go again. It was so bad it seemed he couldn't slow down enough to learn anything. Finally, I had to make the difficult decision to try meds. We started Drae on 5 mg. of Adderall XR. I researched and decided which med to try, I told my doctor what I wanted, not the other way around. I cannot tell you what a difference it made -like Jeckyl and Hyde. He was able to focus, deal with his emotions, and Learn. At first it was scary because compared to the wild child I had before the new version was a zombie. In the beginning, we had appetite problems (Adderall is speed) but now after a few years (8yr old) he does great with it, his growth is still in the 90th percentile, now he eats like a horse. I have slowly increased his dose over time(with growth) to 25 mg. On summer break he is not medicated and completely retains all learning from med time. I only give him the minimum to get him through the school day smoothly and then it wears off about 6-7pm -he sleeps like a log at night.

I agree that medication should be your last resort and there is still some prejudice about this from the 'Let's give all the boys Ritalin' era of the 90's. If your son's condition is mild to moderate I would try the dietary/sensory route for quite a while before (if ever) considering meds. I hope your not trying to catch the Tasmanian Devil on a 300mph bullet train like I did - I don't wish that on anyone. Good Luck.

In Hope,

Shauna

[Guest guest]

,

Your son is ADHD, but how bad is it? Even within the diagnosis there is a range of severity of behavior. I think with most parents, how bad it gets is the determining factor for med/no med. Does he have sensory issues or receive any occupational therapy? My son's hyperactivity increased the older he got, starting at 2-3 yrs. Is this a new issue with your son or something that has now increased into a problem? When mine was around three, he had become a wildman. Oh, he was always happy and carefree, but moving at the speed of light, never stopping, so continually active and bouncing off the walls that you could tell he didn't have the time to complete a thought. You could tell him not to jump off of the 8 ft. bookcase 30-40 times a day but there he'd be again 1 minute later. He was a very bad 'runner' and always looking for escape from the house. Two pediatricians told me (while he was climbing into their windows/blinds and tabletops) that he was the most hyper child they had ever seen. Originally at this time I was looking into ADHD diagnosis which led me quickly to autism also. I put him in pre-k, in a structured teach class. We had speech and occupational therapy (for sensory issues) from Baylor. I learned a lot of his hyperactivity was sensory seeking or overload driven. I spent the next year researching and trying all types of diets and extra help -Feingold, GFCF, no artificial anything, vitamin, etc. The sensory/OT therapy would calm him for about 1 hour and then here we go again. It was so bad it seemed he couldn't slow down enough to learn anything. Finally, I had to make the difficult decision to try meds. We started Drae on 5 mg. of Adderall XR. I researched and decided which med to try, I told my doctor what I wanted, not the other way around. I cannot tell you what a difference it made -like Jeckyl and Hyde. He was able to focus, deal with his emotions, and Learn. At first it was scary because compared to the wild child I had before the new version was a zombie. In the beginning, we had appetite problems (Adderall is speed) but now after a few years (8yr old) he does great with it, his growth is still in the 90th percentile, now he eats like a horse. I have slowly increased his dose over time(with growth) to 25 mg. On summer break he is not medicated and completely retains all learning from med time. I only give him the minimum to get him through the school day smoothly and then it wears off about 6-7pm -he sleeps like a log at night.

I agree that medication should be your last resort and there is still some prejudice about this from the 'Let's give all the boys Ritalin' era of the 90's. If your son's condition is mild to moderate I would try the dietary/sensory route for quite a while before (if ever) considering meds. I hope your not trying to catch the Tasmanian Devil on a 300mph bullet train like I did - I don't wish that on anyone. Good Luck.

In Hope,

Shauna