Ritalin for Hyperactivity

yes - school wanted my oldest son to test for this, I said no

prayed about it - went to the health food store - prayed some more

got a call from a friend - discussed with her - she was using what I saw at the store

felt it was a confirmation from the Lord, so we tried it

both my boys have used this as an alternative to ritalyn

it's called PediaActive A.D.D. (advanced dietary delivery)

it's a supplement with DMAE

works wonders

the oldest was only on two tablets a day (bottle says you can use two tabs 3-4 times a day) for about a 1.5 years

the youngest is still on it - two tabs every morning

helped curb temper tantrums in the youngest

helped the oldest while he was learning to keep his mouth shut and not act out in school

both boys have high I.Q. (hyper active children tend to be very bright)

made sure that the oldest understood that this is not a "magic" pill and that he would have to do his part ... got the teacher to work with me and send home a note each day on how he was doing ... weaned that down to a note each week ... no note needed the following school year

glad you're checking out alternatives

My son started having trouble in Kindergarten. He's got cousins who have been on drug therapy for hyperactivity, and I've seen the damage that has been done to the kids who were not controlled by drugs and/or counseling. I did NOT want that for my son, and we sought help immediately.

He was placed on Dexedrine, and the change was dramatic. It ALLOWED him to be himself. I've had people question my sanity and my love as a parent because I let my son take an amphetamine. Believe me, I blasted anyone who tried to cross me on this. I researched and I have SEEN the consequences of ADD to the child, and to the family.

My son, unfortunately, would build up a tolerance to the drug, and he'd have to be removed from it for six-eight weeks, and placed on something else. One of the drugs tried as a substitute was Ritalin. It had the opposite effect on him. The second time he was placed on Ritalin, he actually attacked a child on the playground, and he had to be hospitalized. It was beyond horrible.

The thing to understand about ADD is that you have it for LIFE. Fortunately, most children may outgrow the need for medication in the teen years, but they still must be taught coping skills on how to manage their lives. In hindsight, we know that my father-in-law had ADD until the day he died.

My son is a senior in high school now. It was rough, very, very rough for the entire family. This is a disability with far-reaching effects, and it takes a tremendous amount of counseling and prayer to accommodate it. However, thank God, we seem to be over the worst. My nephews who also have ADD were never able to progress to the point where my son is now.

If you don't want to use Ritalin, at least do NOT write off the medical community completely. Your child can still benefit greatly from counseling. Be prepared for the battle of your life with the school system, though. I was VERY disgusted with the complete lack of help I got from our schools here, when I know that neighboring cities often had group counseling and other help available to ADD children.

You will be in my prayers.


Peace,
~VOW

I would be wary of any medicine that is not FDA-approved that you have not extensively researched. FDA approval means that you know all of the ingredients and that the researchers know pretty much how it will react with the human body. Even after all of that research, some items still have to be recalled.

Without FDA-approval, you don't know the long-term effects that supplements will have on your body. Also, many health-store supplements are not required to list their complete ingredients and are not held to high manufacturing standards. It's definitely something to be wary of--especially when giving it to your children.

Personally, if my (hypothetical) child needed medication, I would see if there was behavioral therapy that could work before I used medication on hyper-activity. That said, I am NOT suggesting that ADD is not a medical condition--my mom works in public schools and has more than enough stories of children with this. She also has seen parents who want their children on Ritalin because it makes them more manageable. (I am not in any way suggesting that this describes anyone here.)

Like VOW says, ADD is something that doesn't go away and coping skills need to be developed.

And I wouldn't write off all schools either--most want to have learning and behavioral problems accurately diagnosed so that the child can be taught most effectively. There are bad apples in every bushel in life.

--tibac

To OTR:

Please understand, true ADD cannot be corrected with "discipline." This is a physical problem, caused by an imbalance of neurotransmitter chemicals in the brain. No amount of punishment will force the brain to correct itself. If the imbalance is mild, then coping skills can be learned, but it takes a great deal of patience on behalf of the teacher, the parent, and the child. Professional counseling is highly recommended. The problem is, the teacher often will not have TIME to give the individual attention this child needs. That is what happened to my son, in second grade. The teacher simply had too many students, and when my son would act out, she would just remove him from the class. The kids were in parochial school at the time, I was PAYING for the school, and yet my son missed over half the school year because he was sent out of the classroom. Despite that, he was at or above grade level in every single subject by the end of the school year.

We placed him in public school the following year, and I literally beat my brain to a pulp because of the inability of the PUBLIC school to address the needs of my child. Since he tested at grade level, he didn't qualify for any "special education," yet the school pleaded poverty when it came to providing him with group counseling. Further...each classroom had a BILINGUAL aid or teacher's assistant to help the kids with little or no English, and my son had to go without assistance he was entitled to by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. I'm AMAZED my son didn't end up with lasting behavioral problems because of the ineptitude of the school system.

Thank God we at least were able to get him medical treatment, and also counseling. However, most health insurance plans have abysmal coverage for mental health services. We maxed out the insurance I had through my place of employment, and fortunately were able to then get coverage through CHAMPUS, available because my husband is retired from the Army.

I am the first to admit, too many people are too quick to stuff their kids into a pill bottle, rather than work with them and with the schools to enable them to learn. However, ADD is a real ailment, and thank God there are medications available which can treat this disorder.


Peace,
~VOW

I agree with what VOW said about the discipline as far as it being "physical" discipline ... a child with ADD has a real hard time controlling their emotions. My oldest son would laugh and cry at the same time - his emotions were so hyped up he didn't know which one to do and would invariably do both - pretty confusing to those around him. Balancing out the chemicals helps them to control their emotions and their actions "better" ... but like VOW said, they also need the reinforcement of counseling and understanding teachers that will work with the parent to help the child be at his best, socially and academically.

I agree with what tibac said about being wary of what products are out there that have not been approved by the FDA ... the following is a link to the Nature's Plus website and their description of the product I mentioned ...

This is what they say ...

Pedi-Active is a precisely calibrated formula designed for the active child. Each naturally sweetened, delicious chewable tablet supplies a complete profile of the most advanced neuronutrients available, including a diversified combination of phosphatidylserine, DMAE and activated soy phosphatides. Pedi-Active is a state-of-the art nutritional supplement that naturally complements an active child's delicate system.

Note: Nature's Plus recommends that any person buying PediActive or any other product sold by Nature's Plus should not make any representations that the products treat or mitigate ADHD, unless, at the time the representation is made, there is competent and reliable scientific evidence that substantiates the representation.

Click to expand...

Be sure you do a search on the ingredients listed and make your own decisions ... I am simply sharing with you what works for us and has worked for others that I know ...

The link ...

http://www.naturesplus.com/products...ber=3000&goThereButton.x=37&goThereButton.y=3

I have heard before that sometimes children have food allergies which is a main cause in them acting hyper. Could it be from allergies,just a thought?

I worked in a Dr.'s office for over a year. Ritalin doesn't work. I think it's more for the parents, so they don't have to deal with their children. Although I KNOW some of you disagree, I think strong discipline CAN work. I think SOME cases of ADD are just children who aren't disciplined strongly enough. They use their hyperactivity as an excuse for poor behavior. Not tolerating that behavior can certainly make strides in changing it...just my 2 cents...and that's from several different cases I've seen firsthand...

To OTR:

Discipline doesn't work because it isn't immediate enough. You would literally have to respond to your child's behavior at the speed of light. There's a step missing in the way he processes information. What medication does is slow things down in the brain so that missing step can be accessed. And on the chemical level in the brain, you're talking about something happening quicker than you can blink.

A "for-instance": You are cooking spaghetti. You have the pot of boiling water and spaghetti in your hands, and you are walking over to the sink to drain it.

The normal-functioning brain has this thought: Gee, it would be terrible if I dropped this!

Then the normal-functioning brain thinks: I better be careful, walk more slowly, don't move suddenly.

Then the normal-functioning brain carries the pot to the sink and drains it carefully.

NOW, the ADD-brain works like this: Gee, it would be terrible if I dropped this!

Then the ADD-brain, instead of the careful-thinking step, skips ahead, like a needle skipping on a scratched record: OH NO I DROPPED IT!

There is nothing INTENTIONAL in the action. He thinks it, and then it happens. This isn't a willful, conscious decision. He didn't DELIBERATELY drop the pot. His brain just omitted the step, "Oh, I had better be careful."

So if you discipline this child, what does he learn?

"If I fix spaghetti, I get spanked."

The ADD child is NOT BEING DISOBEDIENT. He simply does not have that intermediate step in his thinking. We're not talking about a willful child, who looks you straight in the eye while spilling something on the floor deliberately.

I'm deeply ashamed for the times I DID spank my son. I see that it was more out of my own frustration than anything else. And NONE OF THE SPANKINGS taught him a thing! The only thing he learned from them was, "Mom hurts me."

Please, PLEASE get counseling, and talk to a pediatric psychiatrist who is familiar with ADD. DON'T consider any medication prescribed by a family doctor, you need to see a SPECIALIST, someone who knows about ADD and can help the entire family.

You don't have a bad kid. You have a SICK kid. And without the proper intervention and training, he can become so discouraged and disgusted with himself, he could just give up and become a bad kid then.

I've seen it.



Peace,
~VOW

Consider this:

Based upon my experiences while working with troubled youth, and coaching youth sports, I've becomed convinced that many children have simply been labeled. Why? many different reasons. In a lot of cases I've witnessed, it was for the simple purpose of the parents wishing to seek disability checks for their children.


For more info on the overdiagnosis of ADD & ADHD:
Read the scientific data presented on this website:
http://www.adhdfraud.org/

To Smilin:

I've heard of such things, but never encountered them myself. For the record, my son was diagnosed with ADD when he was in kindergarten, and at no time did we ever receive any disability or other payments for him and his care. Our insurance was billed and paid for all doctor visits and counseling appointments, and also his hospitalization.

Yes, I agree, that this has been exploited by both parents and schools. But that does not deny the existence of ADD as a real disease that needs careful treatment and counseling.


Peace,
~VOW

It may not be hyperactivity that is causing this problem for you son. There are a myriad of brain disorders that may cause this kind of behavior, and ritalin may aggrevate the problem. Don't rely on the school to diagnose your child, take charge of his health care and see your own doctor and a specialist for a second or even third opinion before you give him a single pill.

To Cammie:

I think strong discipline CAN work.

Click to expand...

"Discipline" can no more correct ADD than doing jumping jacks will cure a broken leg.

The ADD child is not behaving deliberately. If you honestly believe this, then any discipline you administer is essentially child abuse. There is no learning involved with disciplining someone with ADD. You aren't teaching any coping skills, you aren't reinforcing positive behavior, you aren't adapting the environment into something the child can handle.

My son's second grade teacher dealt with all "misbehaving" students the same way. For each time the kid got his or her name written on the board, the kid had to write the week's spelling words ten times.

My son came home one night, supposed to write the spelling words a total of FIVE HUNDRED TIMES. He sat down to do it and just cried. Giving that kind of punishment to an ADD child is like strapping wings on his arms and then shoving him off a ten story building, telling him to fly. I raised holy HELL with his teacher, too. Her reaction? "Well, I can't make him exempt from the rules, the other kids will cause problems." I said, "TOUGH. Find some other way. Have him clean the blackboards for you after school, or help straighten up the classroom, or any other activity that takes MOVEMENT. DON'T EVER give an ADD child a repetitious task to do!"

That was ten years ago, and I'm STILL shaking my head in the disbelief of it!


Peace,
~VOW

Vow,
I don't dispute ADD exists, I merely wished to point out it is used to 'label' many kids for many reasons. That is all. I used parents as my first example. Let me elaborate. Many doctors & psychologists misdiagnose for their own personal gain. In other words, the more children they have incorrectly 'labeled', the more money they stand to gain in doctor visits. Another fact you may not be aware of; drug companies give doctors monetary incentives for using their products. I can't say the makers of Ritalin are guilty of this, but given what I've learned about other drug manufacturers, I would suspect that the manufacturers of ritalin give incentives as well.

And as your experience has shown, most are ignorant to the implications of a mental disorder.

I'm not doubting that you have had to deal with ADD personally, I just want everyone to realize that this mental condition is not as common as the medical community has diagnosed it.

May God be with you, comfort you, and give you guidance;
Smilin

Thank you, Smilin:

Yes, I know all about incentives from drug companies. They've got a guaranteed market in ADD, though. There are times when there's an actual SHORTAGE, and it's difficult for parents who NEED the medication for their children to obtain it.

Plus, you may not be aware of the hoops you have to jump through to obtain Ritalin. It's a Cat-II drug, and it can only be obtained if the prescription is on a special form issued by the DEA. Each doctor only gets a fixed amount of DEA prescriptions per month, and they are closely monitored by the US Government. You don't get refills on a Cat-II drug, either. If your insurance company only allows you to have a one-month supply per drug, then you have to get a new prescription every month. Oh, and the prescription is only good for SEVEN DAYS. Not many pharmacies even carry Cat-II drugs, because of the paperwork involved. We had to drive all over the county many, many times, chasing down medication. For something that is supposedly prescribed for the convenience of the parents, the poor parents must work their rear ends off to get it.

As for the "extra appointments earning bucks for the doctors," I don't buy that one either. Many, many, MANY health insurance plans only allow a fixed number of mental health visits per year per patient. And the plan only covers a small percentage of the charge per visit. You might check out your own insurance for that. I'm sure you'll get an eye-opener. If the psychiatrist is charging $150 a visit, your co-pay will probably be $20. However, if the psychiatrist does not accept what your insurance company considers to be a "reasonable fee," then you will be stuck with the balance. If you have strep throat or a busted arm, no problems with the coverage. If you are depressed or have ADD, well, gee, that's too bad.

We were lucky, with my son. After my insurance company said, "Okay, folks, you've maxed out for the year," then my husband's insurance from being retired military was able to pick up some of the charges.

And unless it's a crisis situation, ALL MENTAL HEALTH visits must be pre-approved.

Mental health coverage in the United States is abysmal. It's enough to drive you crazy if you honestly need care for a mental illness.

So, you turn to the schools for help, and basically are told, "Well, what do you want US to do about it?"

It's enough to make a parent cry.



Peace,
~VOW

((((VOW))))

Well said on all counts

Vow...
My heart truly goes out to you. I know from my own personal experiences the hurdles one must jump when dealing with a mental disorder. The stigma alone is hard to cope with. As far as the insurance agency..ohhhh boy...don't get me going on that one. I know...I know...

But, allow me to further elaborate on my mis-diagnosis statement. I've witnessed many teachers falsely label students with ADD, just because they can't deal with them. There are many causes of hyperactivity or lack of attention. Labeling a child as suffering from ADD is a simple cop-out without addressing the REAL issues the child is suffering. (not in all cases but in a great many)

(Ritalin isn't the only drug there's a shortage of due to over (mis)-diagnosis either.) So I can relate to what you're facing.

God be with you, bless you, and strengthen you,
Smilin

To Smilin:

I've seen the news magazine TV shows where the over-diagnosing of ADD has been presented. And I'm sure that this has been done.

But from my personal experience, it's not as prevalent as the TV shows would like you to think it is. I'm saying this because of the HASSLE a parent must go through to get Ritalin, or Dexedrine. Even if you are getting the prescriptions from the family doctor, not having to mess with mental health coverage on your insurance, those medications are a pain in the rear end to obtain.

If you have an allergy, you go see your family practitioner and get a prescription for, say, Zyrtec: 30 pills, five refills. After six months, you call the pharmacy, who calls your doctor, and the medical assistant will pull your chart and see the doctor has prescribed it before, so, POW, the prescription is renewed.

If you have a bad back, you go see the family practitioner, who will talk about exercise, losing weight, hot water bottles, and maybe you'll also get a prescription for Darvocet, two refills. Once you take all that, if your back is bothering you still, the doctor might renew the prescription over the phone, but you'll be told to make a new appointment, your back needs to be evaluated again.

If you get blinding migraines, the doctor MIGHT give you a prescription for Tylox. But you'll only get a small amount, and if you ever get the prescription renewed, the doctor will give you a lecture about drug dependency. You'll probably get a referral to a neurologist and maybe get a CAT scan, as well.

If you need Ritalin for your ADD child, the doctor opens up his drawer and pulls out a prescription form you've never seen before. It's in triplicate, and it can only be filled out in ONE HANDWRITING, with ONE COLOR of ink. If a mistake is made, the form is destroyed and a new one is filled out. Neither YOU nor the pharmacy can write anything extra on it, like the child's birthdate or your phone number. These forms are issued by the US Government, the Drug Enforcement Agency. Each doctor only gets a certain number of forms per month.

When you take this form to your drugstore, the clerk will take it back to the pharmacist. And the pharmacist might say, "Our company doesn't stock this. You'll have to go to a different store."

You drive over to the pharmacy downtown. Again, the clerk goes to get the pharmacist. THIS pharmacist might say, "We can order that for you, but it takes two weeks for the medication to come in." And this particular prescription will EXPIRE in exactly seven days.

You ask the pharmacist, "Do you know who carries this in stock?"

God willing, the pharmacist will make some phone calls for you. Because if YOU try to call the different drug stores in the phone book asking about Ritalin, many, many times the clerk will say, "It is our policy to NOT give that information over the phone. You must come into the store and ask in person."

I've driven over thirty miles and had to check three different drug stores in one evening to try to fill a prescription for my son.

"Convenience"?

I don't think so.



Peace,
~VOW