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Post by puzzled on Mar 8, 2008 14:17:53 GMT -5
hey rakuflames (interesting id!), the innattentive ADD thing kind of confuses me, I am taking my daughter to see a physc today to further look into if she might be that or if there is more LD stuff happeing with her or anxiety or whatever. But, back on my question to U - why do you think the innattentive is more serious? My observations are that my daughter struggles in some ways like I do, but then she does this total shut down thing when she is feeling challenged by school or overwhelmed! Somtimes she really like falls asleep at the table doing homework when she is not totally tired like that, she glazes over a lot and I also have to make sure I have her attention on me for her to listen to half of what is said. I read a long article recently on this site by a doc that talked about some challenges with innattentive and it is very different for me since I am the way hyper ADHD! Oh welcome to the board too! lcdc, my oldest daughter is ADHD inattentive as is Chase. Jonna was undx'd and unmedicated. The end result is that she is unfocused, unorganized and does not do well in social situations at all, despite being extremely smart, she barely graduated high school, and did not go to college, she cannot pay her bills on time, makes poor decisions on how she spends what money she has....the list goes on. Before Chase was dx and treated, his self esteem was quite low, he felt he was too dumb to learn anything and could not see why his teacher and I had faith in his ability to learn or his intelligence. He was a sad, withdrawn little boy. After dx and meds, he is a totally different guy, self assured, and happy, he KNOWS he is smart and that he can do whatever he sets out to do. I have hopes that the end result will be different then his sister. I think that inattentive children fall through the cracks much more often than the hyper kind, they just don't get in anyone else's way or disrupt things, they are thought to be lazy underacheivers and come to think of themselves in that way, which is very dangerous indeed. |
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Post by puzzled on Mar 8, 2008 14:20:49 GMT -5
Also it is not typical for childen with AD/HD of either type to benefit significantly from omegas. I don't think schools should be repeatedly telling parents to put their children on meds, and they should be providing any needed accommodations no matter whether the child takes meds or not. I disagree that its not typical fot ADD kids to benefit from Omegas. I'm on 3 different ADHD support boards & ALL the kids who've taken Omegas (Whether otherwise medicated or not) have shown a significant improvement while taking Omegas. My daughter is otherwise UNmedicated , inattentive type ADD & her concentration is MUCH MUCH better when on Omegas than it was off of them. We also have a lot of info & links to studies in our Alternative meds board. Heres the link to the Omega studies: adhdldsupport.proboards107.com/index.cgi?board=alt&action=display&thread=1146From what I remember when chase was on the omegas, he may have focused better, but they disagreed with him in a big way, with the acid reflux and vomiting, so we discontinued them. I wish that he could still take them. I know I still recommend them to people, specifically family, who do not want to jump straight to meds. I tell them that the omegas may be the only thing needed, you never know. |
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Post by puzzled on Mar 8, 2008 14:23:40 GMT -5
Carol, I missed your post the first time around, so I want to reply now. First of all, I don't think you owe the school any explanation in why you choose not to medicate. That is your choice, and I applaud you for it. I wish when we started this journey with ADHD five years ago that I would have been more informed to the alternatives. I know for a fact that that would have been the road we would have taken. With that being said, Josh has made some wonderful stride with the meds, but all isn't perfect. We deal with side effects, the ups and downs of rebounding, and the struggle of "Are we doing the right thing?" It's funny, because no matter what you do, your going to be questioned by the school. My son is EXTREMELY HYPER, can't sit still in class, blurts out whatever comes into his head, sings in class, I could go on and on. Even though we DO medicate, they will ask me on some days if he even is. It never ends. We medicate as well, but only on school days. While we have never had to deal with the rebound side effect, we struggle with appetite issues and weight gain, so we take weekends and school holidays off. I realize at some point, he will need the meds for driving focus, etc, but for now, at age 11, the only time he needs that level of focus is for schoolwork. |
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Post by puzzled on Mar 8, 2008 14:28:58 GMT -5
I personally believe we should try supplements first, look at tonsils, how our kid is sleeping, all the things which can bring on ADHD symptoms but not be true ADHD or may be comorbid with the ADHD. Once we are sure it can't be remediated by diet or life changes, we can be comfortable trying meds. When my ADHD inattentive son was acting up badly, the omegas helped his behavior immensely. I saw some improvement with his ability to focus but not as much as I would have liked. I suspect that was from being able to sit still without an attitude problem. Even though he didn't benefit from them as far as the ADHD, they were beneficial in other ways. We have to remember also that any supplement which can affect the body or brain has the ability to cause side effects and be dangerous. The safest way to treat your child with anything is to discuss it with your ped first, have any tests he feels may be necessary to be sure your child has the best chances of being helped with the lowest risk factors. Tonsils, CG? What about tonsils? Both Jonna and Chase have tonsils that are abnormally large, and at times touch the uvula. Could this be a problem that contributes to their ADHD symptoms? Chase snores LOUDLY most nights, the ped told me to listen for breaks in his breathing that last too long, I did so and did not hear any....should I maybe look into a sleep study for him at some point? |
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Post by lcdc1 on Mar 8, 2008 15:03:51 GMT -5
yeah puzzled that is the confusing part for me. Socially Ran is on it and is good at that part, excels in sports - BUT has the organizational and motivational issues with school, she tries really hard and is intelligent, but with all the hard work she loses stuff, doesn't focus on schoolwork (more than a typical teen), has anxiety with school, gets overwhelmed and all that with inattentive stuff. I have noticed some baby step improvements with some changes in her recent IEP with notebook checks, weekly reports, change in her seating, teachers looking out for stuff, her having to do the carry card thing, staying after school just about 20 minutes each day to check in with 3 teachers, and stuff.
She has high self esteem in all areas but school! At school they say she is shy, quiet, anxious, unfocused, gets F's on all tests in any subject, but does well on daily work, she loses homework she does, incoplete homework, etc.........
I am waiting in the physc report still, it will be a week monday and 2 of the teachers mailed in the Conner thing, so we will see.
But that is my point in the inattentive one, seems hard to nail it down as opposed to the HYPER type with behavior problems associated with it for some kids.
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Post by puzzled on Mar 8, 2008 15:10:05 GMT -5
Yes that is the problem, and some parents are not on the ball.....me and Jon had no clue that jonna could have benefitted from some intervention at all, back then, no one really knew about or talked about inattentive ADHD, it was all about the hyper kind. I kick myself almost daily for not seeing and trying to help her, but you can't go back. It is so good that you are going after treatment and dx for your lucky daughter! I am so happy that she is excelling in the other areas of her life, for jonna, dance was her one outlet, today it is her career, dance teacher/studio owner.
I am so glad we did get help for chase, hopefully he will reach his full potential now.
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Post by charliegirl on Mar 8, 2008 15:17:18 GMT -5
I personally believe we should try supplements first, look at tonsils, how our kid is sleeping, all the things which can bring on ADHD symptoms but not be true ADHD or may be comorbid with the ADHD. . Tonsils, CG? What about tonsils? Both Jonna and Chase have tonsils that are abnormally large, and at times touch the uvula. Could this be a problem that contributes to their ADHD symptoms? Chase snores LOUDLY most nights, the ped told me to listen for breaks in his breathing that last too long, I did so and did not hear any....should I maybe look into a sleep study for him at some point? Yep! Tonsils! Obstructed breathing during sleep can cause or exacerbate ADHD symptoms. Check this out. www.webmd.com/news/20060403/tonsil-surgery-helps-kids-adhd |
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Post by puzzled on Mar 8, 2008 16:01:54 GMT -5
Very interesting CG. I have noticed that on many of the teacher forms Chase brings home (the ones that the ped has me bring in every med check), there are comments about him being sleepy or tired. He almost always gets in his eight hours of sleep, so that has always made me go 'hmmmm'. I may have to print this out and take it to the ped the next time we go in. If he does not have to go in before the summer, I may just call her and discuss it...maybe over the summer, we can have things checked out....
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could get chase's meds lowered or gone completely? I do know that his tonsils have always been large, and the ped has commented on them a few times.......so it would not hurt to have them taken out and see if it improves things.....
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Post by mary2 on Mar 8, 2008 16:04:38 GMT -5
I had to stop at this thread and say that my son Marcel does have large tonsils. Now, he hardly gets an infection, so we have never considered having them removed. But I have heard this fact many times and it is really interesting. My son will have his neuro appointment quite soon, so I will ask what he thinks about this.
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Post by puzzled on Mar 8, 2008 16:06:51 GMT -5
I also find it quite interesting that of my four kids, the two with the large tonsils are the two with the ADHD issues.....
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I was about to conquer the world but then I got distracted by something shiny.
