Medifications Options

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone:

I need advise. My son, 8, started 3rd grade and we are thinking of

starting medication to help him focus on school. We tried Ritalin

once and the reaction was very bad. His doctor said " stimulats " are

not the way to go. Anybody has tried that new patch or a more natural

aproach. Everytime I read about the adverse reactions and

consequences I freak out and cannot figure out what to do.

Thanks for being there.

IAH

[Guest guest]

I think medications are highly individualized for every child. Our son

was thought to have ADHD since he was in kindergarten and we are just

getting the AS diagnoses. I can tell you that Strattera works wonders

for our son. The stimulants like adderall brings out tics and anxiety

in our son. Strattera doesn't. He also has an anxiety disorder and is

on prozac for that. I was scared to death to start him on it but we

had to try something! He was having panic attacks at the thought of

school. You are doing the right thing reading as much as you can on

the medications, etc. I wish you luck and it may take several trials

of medications before you find the right one!

>

> Hi Everyone:

>

> I need advise. My son, 8, started 3rd grade and we are thinking of

> starting medication to help him focus on school. We tried Ritalin

> once and the reaction was very bad. His doctor said " stimulats " are

> not the way to go. Anybody has tried that new patch or a more

natural

> aproach. Everytime I read about the adverse reactions and

> consequences I freak out and cannot figure out what to do.

>

> Thanks for being there.

>

> IAH

>

[Guest guest]

IAH,

You said your son had a bad reaction to Ritalin, What kind of reaction?

Does your doctor know there are four kinds of Ritalin. And you can mixed them.

My son is 10 and has been taking a mixture of Ritalin SR and Ritalin XR . Our

doctor likes the Ritalin because she can mix and match.

cher

[Guest guest]

My son is also 8 & started 3rd grade last month. He has a diagnosis of

Aspergers/ADHD/Anxiety. We really did not want to put our son on a

stimulant either, but he has done very well on 5mg of Adderal XR every

day. It is the lowest dose available. He focuses sooooooo much better

on his homework now, and struggles less with math. AS kids tend to do

better on lower doses of most meds. The new patch is also a stimulant,

so that really isn't an option if you are strongly against stimulants.

The only other medication to help them focus that is not a stimulant

is Strattera. But it doesn't work for many kids unless it is added on

top of stimulants that are not working. Also Strattera takes 4-6 weeks

to work, but stimulants either work or not pretty much the same day.

You could always try Strattera first.

You will hear many passionate arguments against stimulants. I'm a

pharmacist and didn't want to put my son on stimulants. But the lowest

dose of Adderal has worked well for him. Every child is different. We

found a child psychiatrist who has experience in prescribing

medications to children and he sees my son once a month to stay on top

of things. Finding a doctor who is experienced in the therapy you want

to pursue is key.

>

> Hi Everyone:

>

> I need advise. My son, 8, started 3rd grade and we are thinking of

> starting medication to help him focus on school. We tried Ritalin

> once and the reaction was very bad. His doctor said " stimulats " are

> not the way to go. Anybody has tried that new patch or a more

natural

> aproach. Everytime I read about the adverse reactions and

> consequences I freak out and cannot figure out what to do.

>

> Thanks for being there.

>

> IAH

>

[Guest guest]

Hi IAH,

My son was only diagnosed 11 months ago and he is 13. We are having a few issues

at school at the moment and were considering medication (mainly because of anger

outbursts which are getting violent and he is strong). I know it has its uses

but for my son, I'm leaving it as a last resort. We have just enrolled him in

the DORE program (www.dore.com.au) as an alternative. We are hopeful but time

will tell! I'll keep everyone here updated on our experience.

Hugs,

PS My son is on a 4 week suspension from school at the moment. He is nearly

through all the work they have given him for the 4 weeks in 3 days. It's amazing

what a bit of caring can do! My father is tutoring him at the moment as my

husband and I both work. He is a Dutch immigrant and English is his second

language but he is teaching Clinton more about reading and language than the

school system has! Clinton's biggest problem is he can't read very well, makes

it difficult when everything else revolves around that!!!

( ) Medifications Options

Hi Everyone:

I need advise. My son, 8, started 3rd grade and we are thinking of

starting medication to help him focus on school. We tried Ritalin

once and the reaction was very bad. His doctor said " stimulats " are

not the way to go. Anybody has tried that new patch or a more natural

aproach. Everytime I read about the adverse reactions and

consequences I freak out and cannot figure out what to do.

Thanks for being there.

IAH

[Guest guest]

My son also tried the stimulants when he was younger, terrible. Just made

the anxiety worse.

My son is now on buspar, risperdal, and stratera. We have tried some other

things that didn't work well, but I have seen mentioned on the list for

working for others. The thing to remember is that the meds work different

with different people's chemistry, so what might work for one kid, won't for

another. I can't imagine not trying the med with my son though, it was

worth trying some to find what works, because they really do help him think

and function. I can't imagine him at 13 without his meds.

Kathy K

toozie@...

_____

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of Sullivan

Sent: Monday, September 18, 2006 11:47 AM

Subject: ( ) Re: Medifications Options

I think medications are highly individualized for every child. Our son

was thought to have ADHD since he was in kindergarten and we are just

getting the AS diagnoses. I can tell you that Strattera works wonders

for our son. The stimulants like adderall brings out tics and anxiety

in our son. Strattera doesn't. He also has an anxiety disorder and is

on prozac for that. I was scared to death to start him on it but we

had to try something! He was having panic attacks at the thought of

school. You are doing the right thing reading as much as you can on

the medications, etc. I wish you luck and it may take several trials

of medications before you find the right one!

>

> Hi Everyone:

>

> I need advise. My son, 8, started 3rd grade and we are thinking of

> starting medication to help him focus on school. We tried Ritalin

> once and the reaction was very bad. His doctor said " stimulats " are

> not the way to go. Anybody has tried that new patch or a more

natural

> aproach. Everytime I read about the adverse reactions and

> consequences I freak out and cannot figure out what to do.

>

> Thanks for being there.

>

> IAH

>

_____

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[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/19/2006 11:23:37 AM Eastern Standard Time,

toozie@... writes:

what might work for one kid, won't for

another

Hi,

the problem with stimulants is there have never been any long term

studies on them, only short term studies. They work fine in low doses for about

1

year, then they stop being as effective, so the doctor say " oh he's developed a

tolerance, we need to raise his dose " . the paradox doesn't seem to work once

you have a little " addict " in the house though. eventually the doctor finds you

will " need to add another med " which will probably be a powerful anti

psychotic med with serious side effects, and he will still want to keep your

child on

the stimulants too. I don't think its worth it, my son can get a passing

grade most of the time he doesn't need to get A's and he can get help without

drugs for a few D's. He certainally has anxiety and he is on meds for it which

also seems to help him (the less anxious the better focus btw).

Just my 2 cents. Meg

[Guest guest]

Don't they have to provide services for that long of a suspension?

Jackie

On Sep 19, 2006, at 7:09 AM, Terry & Hocking wrote:

> Hi IAH,

>

> My son was only diagnosed 11 months ago and he is 13. We are having

> a few issues at school at the moment and were considering

> medication (mainly because of anger outbursts which are getting

> violent and he is strong). I know it has its uses but for my son,

> I'm leaving it as a last resort. We have just enrolled him in the

> DORE program (www.dore.com.au) as an alternative. We are hopeful

> but time will tell! I'll keep everyone here updated on our experience.

>

> Hugs,

>

>

> PS My son is on a 4 week suspension from school at the moment. He

> is nearly through all the work they have given him for the 4 weeks

> in 3 days. It's amazing what a bit of caring can do! My father is

> tutoring him at the moment as my husband and I both work. He is a

> Dutch immigrant and English is his second language but he is

> teaching Clinton more about reading and language than the school

> system has! Clinton's biggest problem is he can't read very well,

> makes it difficult when everything else revolves around that!!!