Childhood ADHD - school me.

[WAAZ]

My 5 y/o granddaughter is going to get diagnosed at the Dr. today. I'm looking for some insight as to what we're up against if the tests come back positive. I appreciate any input - thanks.

 

[BingerFang]

What does a 5 year old do wrong that requires her to be diagnosed with ADHD?

 

[ElAzul]

At 5? Jesus no. I went down that road as an adult and honestly it's bullshit. Nasty med's(amphetamine) that change you in the head make you grind your teeth like a junky. I tossed that shit changed my diet and outlook and stopped listening to prescription writing doctors. Find a better way to challenge her and look at every angle to naturally help an active 5 year old get by without the med's. I have lots more info PM me if needed

 

[Singleton]

I would start researching alternatives to meds.
My nephews were diagnosed in elementary school and my sister put both on meds. Both are now in their 20’s and both have side effects due to the meds they take / took. Below are the side effects I see with both of them. The last being a huge issue. My oldest nephew is now in treatment for alcoholism and the younger one cant go 6 hours without cannabis.

• Sleep problems, such as insomnia.
• Loss of appetite.
• Nausea
• Changes in mood, such as irritability or being tearful.
• Dependence and/or addiction.

A well-balanced diet, exercise, and meditation are all good options for individuals looking to reduce their ADHD symptoms. Therapy (behavior therapy, talk therapy, and family therapy) is another option.

My daughter showed signs of ADHD at 8 (school identified) and we did the above with behavior therapy. Wife and I also attended therapy on how to handle difficult situations and reward her for demonstrating good behavior in house and out. Daughter also did talk therapy at school twice a week for 30 minutes and that helped. She is now 11 and via diet, exercise everything is under control and all therapy was stopped 18 months ago. I was against meds after seeing the side effects my nephews have.

 

[Racey]

I never understood this, what 5 year old isn't easily distracted and hyperactive?

They just want to throw meds at these kids. Personally i think they over prescribe, by a lot.

Slippery slope here, these meds can have long term affects on person, requiring the.patient to be perpetually on some form of them for life.

Look at what finally came out about the SSRI drugs after 20 years, the entire "chemical imbalance" thing was based on 100% faulty data, if not outright lies....

 

[DrunkenSailor]

Hopefully you get a negative back. Physical exercise and diet make a huge difference. I don't know anyone who says the drugs were the answer after long term use.

 

[EmpirE231]

#1….. CUT out sugar! Most kids eat so much sugar, it is insane. Parents don’t even realize it until they start reading labels.

My older daughter, was in second grade when her teacher recommended we get her tested for ADHD. I went to town on researching things, videos, books, asking questions… etc. did not want to put her on any meds and never did. We started by cutting out / reducing a few things (sugar, dye’s, gluten) and quickly learned sugar was the #1 culprit for her. Slowly reintroduced the other stuff and saw it did not have an impact. Sugar would make her head spin… even she noticed it after we started focusing on it. Now going through 8th grade… straight A’s in advanced classes… great behavior etc, never medicated.

Her sister does not have the same hyper sensitivity to sugar. She can drink a sprite and still function normally. Now that my daughter is older and knows what to look for / can handle herself better… she’ll have sugar here and there, but knows how to control it.

We still limit sugar overall in the house, because obviously that shit is bad for you. Most people think they’re giving their kid a yummy meal by packing them a go-gurt, juice box and an uncrustable PB&J sandwich…. But look up the sugar content on all that crap. You’re literally putting your kid on crack, and expecting them to behave properly.

Anyway… changed my daughters life drastically and we are so glad we didn’t medicate. Have had so many friends ask us how we did it etc, and we explain… but most end up medicating their kids because they don’t want to do the hard work on following a strict diet. It’s sad.

 

[Tom Slick]

Great info and advice in this thread. As said, sugar and food coloring are huge components in causing what some label as ADHD. Sugar is in everything and often disguised as other things. Be vigilant in reading ingredients in everything and eliminate food and drinks that contain this garbage. The food industry is just an arm of the pharmaceutical industry. Food makes people sick and drugs are prescribed to make it better. It's a vicious domino effect. Stop drinking juice, soda, flavored milk, etc. I can go on and on, but I think you get the idea. Oh and exercise. Take away the damn screens and get the kids outside and enjoying physical activity. Kids now days are sitting sedentary all day long and consuming copious amounts of sugar. Can you say ticking time bomb.

 

[bonesfab]

At least it isn't ADD All Different Dads.

 

[BIGRED9158]

At least it isn't ADD All Different Dads.

I think only kids in Compton get that one

 

[bonesfab]

I think only kids in Compton get that one

The definition of mass confusion??? Fathers day in Compton.

 

[MPHSystems]

I never understood this, what 5 year old isn't easily distracted and hyperactive?

One with downs syndrome or heavily sedated.

especially boys under 15, running around bat shit crazy is normal human development. Why would you medicate that?

 

[rivermobster]

At 5??? I vote no on this as well.

My son was on ADD meds for a few years, but that didn't start until late grade school I think? (He's in his 20's now, kinna hard to remember).

His grades started to suck. No amount of punishment or motivation made any difference, so after a lot of eval, the doc and his mom got him on the meds (I fought it as best as I could, I was dead set against it!).

So next thing we know...

He's getting straight A's again. I had to STFU at that point.

He was on em until HS and hasn't been on em since. He quit taking them about the time he got Seriously into martial arts.

His grand master said when I enrolled him...

We teach self discipline And self defense, in That order.



At 5 years old??? No freaking way.

 

[Meaney77]

Diet, physical activity, and rest does wonders for kids.
Its seems like most kids these days get thrown into the ADD/ADHD bucket when in reality they are whacked out on the crap they are being fed and allowed to eat.
Get them off the electronics and get them outside.

 

[JD D05]

I wouldn't allow my kids personally to be medicated at that age. I have a 7 year old son who is an extreme example of high energy, kid never stops. But it's him and he wants to be involved and do shit. During the warm months we play catch almost everyday etc.

At 40 years old I did go to a doctor about adhd and was diagnosed as a severe case. I started to realize all kinds of examples in my life of this. One example is I have never read one book in my life. I physically can't do it, I get a page or two in and my mind is gone. I always have different thoughts running through my head sometimes many at a time. I do take Adderall and it helps me a lot. But I also understand addiction and dependence on drugs. How they can convince you that happiness or whatever emotion is impossible without them.

 

[manxman]

I have a son that was diagnosed with ADHD just about 5th or 6th grade. He was combative and very hard to manage. Had me and his mother in tears on many occasions. We were told thru the school counsler and a family therapist to check into meds to help control his behavior. We did put him on meds for a short period (maybe 1 1/2 to 2 years) and it definetly changed his behavior and mellowed him out, but I also think it stunted his growth a bit. He completely lost his appetite. We didnt like having him on meds, but felt kind of hopeless without them. Me and my wife went to counseling and learned some ways to manage the situation and that really helped. When covid hit and the kids were stuck at home, we took him completely off the meds. At first we were scared, but we gave him allot of outlets to get his energy managed. I think puberty also helped as well. He is now an active 15 year old that gets A's and B's in school. He rides his mountain bike and weight trains 5 to 6 times a week. It has really changed his development and confidence. He still is a 15 year old punk occasionally, but I can at least communicate with him and reason with him now.

 

[pronstar]

My oldest is 2 and sometimes shows mild signs of being on the spectrum, but then he blows right past other milestones. Doc got us in a state program for assistance.

Two therapists who came to our house both fired us, said their services were for kids with extreme autism…they didn’t officially disagree with the diagnosis for our son, but it was implied.

Honestly I believe there’s money to be made by labeling our kids to have one issue or another.

We are fortunate that our au pair has a degree in child psychology, and also has an autistic brother. She’s been great.

 

[wzuber]

I would start researching alternatives to meds.
My nephews were diagnosed in elementary school and my sister put both on meds. Both are now in their 20’s and both have side effects due to the meds they take / took. Below are the side effects I see with both of them. The last being a huge issue. My oldest nephew is now in treatment for alcoholism and the younger one cant go 6 hours without cannabis.

• Sleep problems, such as insomnia.
• Loss of appetite.
• Nausea
• Changes in mood, such as irritability or being tearful.
• Dependence and/or addiction.

A well-balanced diet, exercise, and meditation are all good options for individuals looking to reduce their ADHD symptoms. Therapy (behavior therapy, talk therapy, and family therapy) is another option.

My daughter showed signs of ADHD at 8 (school identified) and we did the above with behavior therapy. Wife and I also attended therapy on how to handle difficult situations and reward her for demonstrating good behavior in house and out. Daughter also did talk therapy at school twice a week for 30 minutes and that helped. She is now 11 and via diet, exercise everything is under control and all therapy was stopped 18 months ago. I was against meds after seeing the side effects my nephews have.

this^^^^^^
PLease, plEAse, PLEASE....for the love of God.......do not destroy that precious little girl with chemicals, drugs, etc. Please make that the last resort.
ADHD is absolutely environmental 99.9% of the time.
Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

 

[paradise]

I had something typed up about one of mine but nothing better than what everyone else posted. Try to figure out their triggers and work around them, check diets and understand their head may work a little different than the other kids.

Go watch the Pateys on Youtube. Full on ADHD but incredibly successful BECAUSE of (not in spite of) it. Try to make it a positive and play to their strengths. Find a school that will do the same.

 

[WAAZ]

As mentioned, lots of great advice in this thread - thanks for the input.
The very last thing I want to see is her being subscribed medication. I agree, wholeheartedly, with the diet, exercise/activity, therapy/counseling approach. I will get deeper into researching this.

 

[GreenEnergy28]

Teachers tried to get my wife to have our son tested around that age (Kindergarten). Chances are he does have a bit of it, as well as her. However, we chose not to have him tested for the fear of the doctors trying to medicate him. School was tough, he had a hard time staying focus and maintaining grades, but we were determined to keep him off meds. He's now 17, a senior in high school, varsity water polo, varsity swim, with a 3.0-3.5 GPA. My wife has to stay on him about school work but overall, we think we made the right decision.
Do what you think is right for you and your family.

 

[BabyRay]

I had something typed up about one of mine but nothing better than what everyone else posted. Try to figure out their triggers and work around them, check diets and understand their head may work a little different than the other kids.

Go watch the Pateys on Youtube. Full on ADHD but incredibly successful BECAUSE of (not in spite of) it. Try to make it a positive and play to their strengths. Find a school that will do the same.

Yep, many successful business leaders are diagnosed as having ADHD; Richard Branson, Howard Schultz and Charles Schwab, to name a few. Running a business is like handling controlled chaos, and people with ADHD often fit the bill perfectly.

 

[Warlock1]

#1….. CUT out sugar! Most kids eat so much sugar, it is insane. Parents don’t even realize it until they start reading labels.

My older daughter, was in second grade when her teacher recommended we get her tested for ADHD. I went to town on researching things, videos, books, asking questions… etc. did not want to put her on any meds and never did. We started by cutting out / reducing a few things (sugar, dye’s, gluten) and quickly learned sugar was the #1 culprit for her. Slowly reintroduced the other stuff and saw it did not have an impact. Sugar would make her head spin… even she noticed it after we started focusing on it. Now going through 8th grade… straight A’s in advanced classes… great behavior etc, never medicated.

Her sister does not have the same hyper sensitivity to sugar. She can drink a sprite and still function normally. Now that my daughter is older and knows what to look for / can handle herself better… she’ll have sugar here and there, but knows how to control it.

We still limit sugar overall in the house, because obviously that shit is bad for you. Most people think they’re giving their kid a yummy meal by packing them a go-gurt, juice box and an uncrustable PB&J sandwich…. But look up the sugar content on all that crap. You’re literally putting your kid on crack, and expecting them to behave properly.

Anyway… changed my daughters life drastically and we are so glad we didn’t medicate. Have had so many friends ask us how we did it etc, and we explain… but most end up medicating their kids because they don’t want to do the hard work on following a strict diet. It’s sad.

Let me add NO MORE FAST FOOD. That garbage they put in everything they sell is deadly. GMO everything has been screwing up kids and adults for years. I can't understand why this isn't investigated more.

I will also say that good discipline is also important. I have witnessed a lack of discipline can do to a child mentally and how they carry themselves all the way into adulthood.

 

[was thatguy]

Diagnosed st 5 years old?
That’s ridiculous.

 

[wzuber]

some common denominators here in this thread......
ENVIRONMENT
-Exercise and mentally challenging activities. She's likely very smart, creative and not challenged and engaged enough.
-DIET-------SUGAR is literally like crack to most/many even as adults but especially to little bodies .........children
-the MEDICAL ESTABLISHMENT and PRESCRIPTION DRUGS..........the covid vax was NOT their first rodeo. Even the most diligent doctors were told to stfu or lose their license if they contradicted the fed. gov't, CDC etc. Over prescribing ADHD meds is old hat... nothing to them. standard operating procedure. Pharmaceutical co's are not our friends and neither are most Dr.s. It's just more $$$$ to them.
- martial arts is an excellent way to get exercise, self confidence, discipline, strength and also learn to defend herself from an ever more dangerous world. win/win/wins here.
- Counseling----quality counseling. We can all learn something from others. There's no operators manual for being a child, parent, husband, wife etc. we all have to learn how to work together to the common benefit of our marriage, our children etc. We all come from different back grounds and experiences, some good, some not so much. How we make those work for or against us will determine the quality of the world...... we create..... around us.

ATTITUDE... especially angry ones..........undermine and destroy the potential for joy and happiness in our lives. This single emotion causes so much destruction in good, smart and highly capable and successful people as well as every other person on the planet. Repressed anger, resentments, depression etc. destroys from the inside out and literally makes us humans fukin crazy.....lol This is my family back ground, generations of it. We're experts in it and it has ravaged our family despite being good "christians", successful, people.....business owners, teachers, police officers, firemen, Dr's, lawyers, engineers, architects, builders, pilots, machinists and mach. shop owners etc. etc. etc. you get the idea here I'm sure. It owns at least a piece of most everyone on the planet.
If this is in yours too, to any degree, please do everything you can to learn about it, change it and grow from it.

Within the solution to this currently small potential problem is a WORLD of potential rewards and benefits such as better and stronger family relationships and bonds.
Quality of life for you, your daughter and her family and especially that precious little life dependant on the choices of those in charge of her world.....right.... now
A deeper love for others and most especially oneself.
True joy and inner peace.
finishing your life with the joy and satisfaction of knowing you did everything you can to help grow and support your family. It doesn't stop..........ever
You have the power within yourself to do this..
It takes courage and you have that courage inside you........we ALL do.......sadly, we don't ALL CHOOSE it. Just look at the world around us as an example.
Trust in yourself, choose courage and heal your family with this opportunity.
What will you Choose?

I support you and I'm pretty certain most here on RDP do as well, they have responded above. There's a lot of really great people on here, and a few stinkers....

This is but one small example of what love for another fellow human being looks like.

 

[MK1MOD0]

Get her into sports, exercise, off the couch , and a balanced diet with zero sugar. Amazing what a healthy lifestyle can do. many of these kids are all hopped up on sugar half the time and the parents can’t figure out why the kids are bouncing off the walls. I’ve seen the difference first hand, and it really works for the little ones.

 

[pronstar]

I think therapeutic meds have their place, but generally not for developing minds.

My buddy is super high up at CitiBank, reports directly to the CEO. He can’t function without ADHD meds, which is literally a low-dose of meth.

 

[MPHSystems]

My oldest is 2 and sometimes shows mild signs of being on the spectrum, but then he blows right past other milestones. Doc got us in a state program for assistance.

Two therapists who came to our house both fired us, said their services were for kids with extreme autism…they didn’t officially disagree with the diagnosis for our son, but it was implied.

Honestly I believe there’s money to be made by labeling our kids to have one issue or another.

We are fortunate that our au pair has a degree in child psychology, and also has an autistic brother. She’s been great.

I'm pretty sure I'm on the spectrum and many of my friends are too.

DGAF, I have a great life.

 

[Orange Juice]

My sister put my nephew on it, at 11-12 years old. He’s 32 now, and still takes it. I don’t think the “experiment” was a complete success.

He has a masters degree, and a $40k a year teaching job.

 

[Shlbyntro]

Most of you know my situation by now. My parents put my sister on meds when she was very young and the difference in how we were both raised even being within the same household was staggering.

My opinion is these meds fucked my sister up and she will struggle for the rest of her life because of it.

DO NOT FUCKING PUT A CHILD ON MIND ALTERING MEDS.

 

[Onetime12]

Waaz,

My son was diagnosed when he was around 8, I was initially against medication similar to many of the opinions in this thread. My son was hyper active, bouncing around in class, hard to focus, among other issues. We initially held off 6 months, as we did not want to medicate our son. After talking with my wife and doctors, I reluctantly agreed to medication. We started with the most minimal dose and only used during school days, we monitored for side affects as mentioned above (which he had none). His behavior and school work improved. Summer rolled around and we took him off the meds. We did this for a year with good results. During this time we also started swimming several times a week along with hockey. Then Covid hit and we stopped all meds. He hasn't been back on since.

He is now 12 and is in AP courses in middle school, we do have to keep on him with school work, we keep him active with activities (water polo). We haven't seen the need to go back to meds.

I know it is a hard decision with many different opinions, I do agree that we (society, Dr, Teachers) are quick to medicate but there is a time and place. This was my experience, hope it helps.

Will

 

[Wheeler]

The definition of mass confusion??? Fathers day in Compton.

You must be ready for another lecture from Ardy!