ADHD - alternatives.to meds

[Anonymous]

We are likely close to an ADHD for my 8yo. He has a 504 that helps but academics are still falling behind and behavior can be difficult. I'm not opposed to medicating. But what do I need to make sure I try before going that route?

He rushes through work and chores, is a tornado at home, very impulsive. I feel like those aren't things that can be treated with therapy but maybe I'm missing something or don't understand this yet.

[Anonymous]

There's nothing you need to "make sure you try". It's a personal parenting decision and there aren't rules about it. Medication is not some reward for checking all the therapy boxes.

Those are things that you can try to treat with therapy and it might work, or it might not, and meanwhile he may fall further and further behind academically and the damage to his social relationships will get more and more entrenched.

[Anonymous]

Our DD is a bit older so I don’t have specific advice on your actual question but I’d also add that sometimes it seems therapy and medication are discussed like they are mutually exclusive. We do all the recommended non-medication approaches AND medication because neither is adequate alone. Starting to develop structure that you can build off of will always be helpful. Don’t be afraid of discovering you need to use every tool at once.

[Anonymous]

Parent coached therapy will give you strategies to use at home. The target window is 3-8years, so look for a program now. We also explored some co-morbidities to make sure OT/PT wouldn’t help.

[Anonymous]

My son with severe inattentive ADHD couldn't cope without meds. He needed meds in elementary, in addition to constant executive functioning coaching, implemented by us, since EF coaches are like $200/hr or more and only work during business hours.

My daughter who is borderline, and therefore a lot more functional, will not be medicated just yet. We're working on organization, building routines and checkpoints when she can remind herself of all she needs to bring or do. Including using a planner in middle school, which she is very resistant to.

[Anonymous]

Would you "try something else" if he was prescribed eyeglasses or anticonvulsants? It's a medical problem though it does have behavioral ramifications. I have watched so many parents go through the "we won't medicate" routine and end up medicating. Why? Because its the gold standard treatment according to the Academy of Pediatricians. If there was a different options, we would be the first to recommend trying that first.
I wholeheartedly disagree with the "it's a parenting decision " above. A relative (who's also an antivaxxer) refused to medicate and now has a senior student who has reading problems, is barely passing his classes, has no interests in anything, has depression and is on track to go work at the grocery store upon graduation. Total waste of a lovely child who had tons of potential

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's nothing you need to "make sure you try". It's a personal parenting decision and there aren't rules about it. Medication is not some reward for checking all the therapy boxes.

Those are things that you can try to treat with therapy and it might work, or it might not, and meanwhile he may fall further and further behind academically and the damage to his social relationships will get more and more entrenched.

This. So much this. I wish I had understood this and not waited so long. There is nothing as effective as an effective med and it's nit as hard to find an effective med (for most people) as you think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would you "try something else" if he was prescribed eyeglasses or anticonvulsants? It's a medical problem though it does have behavioral ramifications. I have watched so many parents go through the "we won't medicate" routine and end up medicating. Why? Because its the gold standard treatment according to the Academy of Pediatricians. If there was a different options, we would be the first to recommend trying that first.
I wholeheartedly disagree with the "it's a parenting decision " above. A relative (who's also an antivaxxer) refused to medicate and now has a senior student who has reading problems, is barely passing his classes, has no interests in anything, has depression and is on track to go work at the grocery store upon graduation. Total waste of a lovely child who had tons of potential

FWIW, my parents refused to put me on Ritalin when I was diagnosed with ADHD and they and my school proceeded to severely berate and punish me for my entire school career for not doing what I was supposed to yet couldn't. They said something about it stunting growth. And now when I read about medications for ADHD for me as a 46 yr old, it seems they can affect the heart. So while yes, I understand your point, I understand being wary of side effects too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would you "try something else" if he was prescribed eyeglasses or anticonvulsants? It's a medical problem though it does have behavioral ramifications. I have watched so many parents go through the "we won't medicate" routine and end up medicating. Why? Because its the gold standard treatment according to the Academy of Pediatricians. If there was a different options, we would be the first to recommend trying that first.
I wholeheartedly disagree with the "it's a parenting decision " above. A relative (who's also an antivaxxer) refused to medicate and now has a senior student who has reading problems, is barely passing his classes, has no interests in anything, has depression and is on track to go work at the grocery store upon graduation. Total waste of a lovely child who had tons of potential

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would you "try something else" if he was prescribed eyeglasses or anticonvulsants? It's a medical problem though it does have behavioral ramifications. I have watched so many parents go through the "we won't medicate" routine and end up medicating. Why? Because its the gold standard treatment according to the Academy of Pediatricians. If there was a different options, we would be the first to recommend trying that first.
I wholeheartedly disagree with the "it's a parenting decision " above. A relative (who's also an antivaxxer) refused to medicate and now has a senior student who has reading problems, is barely passing his classes, has no interests in anything, has depression and is on track to go work at the grocery store upon graduation. Total waste of a lovely child who had tons of potential

NP. Thankfully, that's not true.

Medication can be life-changing for some kids. And for others, not. This board is very pro-meds, others are the opposite. One of our kids takes meds, the other doesn't. And for the one who takes ADHD meds, it seems like it's two steps forward, one or two steps back.

[Anonymous]

Medication can take awhile to figure out. For example, we started Guanfacine first and are now trialing adding a small dose of Focalin for our 5yo whose adhd is severe enough that it was diagnosed at 4 by several doctors and has been an ongoing issue at school, camp, and to a lesser hut still significant degree at home.

So I wouldn’t say “things to try instead of” medication, but here are the things I have in place in general, as we sort out medication: extra services at school (we pay for a private SEIT to help with emotional regulation for a bit every day), OT at a sensory gym, and speech therapy. We also tried fish oil and an integrated listening system- mostly because by chance the first developmental pediatrician I saw was holistic and recommended it (it’s kind of a pseudoscience and months in, we still need to go the medication route for adhd.)

My sons adhd has really caused difficulty for him to develop his fine motor skills, coordination, and body awareness. OT has been very helpful for that. He doesn’t really have any speech issues but we’re working on some specific sounds- would only add speech if you need it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would you "try something else" if he was prescribed eyeglasses or anticonvulsants? It's a medical problem though it does have behavioral ramifications. I have watched so many parents go through the "we won't medicate" routine and end up medicating. Why? Because its the gold standard treatment according to the Academy of Pediatricians. If there was a different options, we would be the first to recommend trying that first.
I wholeheartedly disagree with the "it's a parenting decision " above. A relative (who's also an antivaxxer) refused to medicate and now has a senior student who has reading problems, is barely passing his classes, has no interests in anything, has depression and is on track to go work at the grocery store upon graduation. Total waste of a lovely child who had tons of potential

NP. Thankfully, that's not true.

Medication can be life-changing for some kids. And for others, not. This board is very pro-meds, others are the opposite. One of our kids takes meds, the other doesn't. And for the one who takes ADHD meds, it seems like it's two steps forward, one or two steps back.

NP. I don’t think medication is a cure-all for almost anything, but it’s often part of the solution. I think that’s true for ADHD, as it is for heart disease, cancer, or any other medical condition. And the side effects can be serious/significant and very personalized.

I have two kids medicated for ADHD, both young. I tried therapy alone for the first for a year, and then added in medication, and then things started coming together. Two years later, we tried medication adjustments and things were still going badly, had lots of terrible side effects trialing new meds, started therapy again, and things are coming together again (decided against any medication adjustments - didn’t see any additional benefits and some made things worse).

For my second, I started medication and therapy at the same time, and I think DC has benefited as a result. Now just on medication, but will add in therapy again if needed.

For my first child, the appetite suppression on medication is still significant, but so are the benefits of medication. Right now the benefits are greater, so they will continue to medication. My point being, those of us who are “pro” medication aren’t blindly holding that viewpoint, we understand the challenges of these meds.

[Anonymous]

There’s nothing further to try per se. You already have a 504 which isn’t working. Maybe
OT or counseling, but for many kids—mine included — the benefits of those services weren’t fully realized until we added medication.

If you decide to try medication, you can always stop. You aren’t obligated to continue medicating. Stimulants don’t stay in the body long so you could try it for a week or so and see how it goes. I’m not as familiar with guanfacine but I believe it works a bit differently. Regardless, it’ll take some trial and error to figure out the correct dose and medication.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s nothing further to try per se. You already have a 504 which isn’t working. Maybe
OT or counseling, but for many kids—mine included — the benefits of those services weren’t fully realized until we added medication.

If you decide to try medication, you can always stop. You aren’t obligated to continue medicating. Stimulants don’t stay in the body long so you could try it for a week or so and see how it goes. I’m not as familiar with guanfacine but I believe it works a bit differently. Regardless, it’ll take some trial and error to figure out the correct dose and medication.

Totally agree with the bolded above. The issue for our DC was that none of the therapies were effective until he was on medication. He went to OT twice a week and a reading tutor 3 times per week and made no progress. It just didn't line up with how smart he is and how hard he tried. The neuropsych evaluation made it crystal clear that his attentional difficulties and impulsiveness were going to always stand in the way of him making progress and his frustration was just going to keep building. It has been transformative to start medication and he made up for lost time on reading, writing, fine motor coordination, socializing. It took 3 trials until we found the right one but I'm so glad we started it when we did (7 years old). If your child is struggling, at least get a consult with a psychologist and/or developmental pediatrician who can give you all the information and then you can better assess what is in your son's best interest at this time. Good luck OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would you "try something else" if he was prescribed eyeglasses or anticonvulsants? It's a medical problem though it does have behavioral ramifications. I have watched so many parents go through the "we won't medicate" routine and end up medicating. Why? Because its the gold standard treatment according to the Academy of Pediatricians. If there was a different options, we would be the first to recommend trying that first.
I wholeheartedly disagree with the "it's a parenting decision " above. A relative (who's also an antivaxxer) refused to medicate and now has a senior student who has reading problems, is barely passing his classes, has no interests in anything, has depression and is on track to go work at the grocery store upon graduation. Total waste of a lovely child who had tons of potential

+1000