ADD meds, what works, what doesn't. need to know

Our son has ADHD and High functioning Autism. We found that Dex......(cant spelll the rest) tended to keep him awake more and reduced his petite hugley. This was a big problem for him as he is already underweight. We then tried Ritalin with is also a stimulant. This worked much better but the dosage he required made him more agressive. There is also ritalin long lasting. This worked well except that it made him more confident to the point that he would stand up to older children at school, and talk back and runaway as he thought he wouldnt get lost. So we stopped that one quick smart.
The biggest help is a multivitamin, and the least amount of procesed food and sugar as possible. Sugar is a big contributor for our sons hyperactivity.

My son is taking ritalin at night for his adhd should i be worried it is only 5 mg he is on adderall xr in the morning. we have been through 2 other night time meds. they really werent working.

I hope no one minds me giving my two cents. I'm sure what I'm about to say has been said before in various ways, but it never hurts to see it again:

There's not one pill that magically works for everyone. I know that for some, Ritalin has worked, and for others, Dexamphetamine has worked wonders. It really is a sort of trial-and-error thing, starting with small dosages.

But from my experience I think that along with medication, the following lifestyle factors need to be considered:
~trying to make sure a child's life is as stable as possible, within reason-some instability in life is normal, such as playing games where you don't know who's going to win, or trying new things such as dance, drama, or a musical instrument.
~Having a balanced diet-that doesn't mean cutting out any one thing (unless a person has a serious sensitivity or any allergy to a food or substance) or banning any one food or food group, but making sure a child eats healthy enough so that they have good energy, while still being able to enjoy some less healthy fare sometimes.
~Having some unstructured time to play and to allow the mind to wander
~Having a few hours a week or month (depending on the age) of structured fun activity, such as dance, gymnastics, or team sports (depending on what the child is good at and actually will want to stick with)
~Finding a good psychologist or child behavioural specialist (when diagnosed in childhood) who will help with coping strategies
~A support network of friends or family

Obviously, not all of the above is always available, and even without everything coming together, a child or adult can cope and live and thrive with ADHD. Trying to get to everything "perfect" should never be the goal-instead, doing what can be done realisticly in the individual situation should be the goal. Joining the local YM/WCA can be as good, and sometimes better, than expensive elite team sports; the local dance school can be less stressful and more rewarding than sending your kid an hour away before they know they want to commit to the pain, heartache, and physical problems of competitive-level ballet.

On a side-note, I haven't had a problem with Ritalin and aggression-in fact, it's had the opposite affect on me. (perhaps because I can now deal with the situations without them building up so much) Perhaps it's an age issue-I wasn't put on Ritalin until I was in my late teens.

As for the over-imagination thing, I don't think there is such a thing. Every kid needs to be able to play with stuff by themselves without parents or others telling them what to do. And IMO, structured imagination play can be a huge help-such as drama, reading, dance, figure-skating, writing, etc.

pumanator said:

Has anyone tried the latest and greatest ADD meds that are not anti-depressant linked and what kind of success have you had, good or bad...especially the bad. I'm going to try one next month and anti depressants really mess me up

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Statera messed me up bad...made my depression worse than ever. I wouldn't recommend it.

-Tank aka Lindsey

I have ADD and Adderall xr works great for me! ( I tryed the non time realse ones and I didn`t like them) but the xr gives you a nice steady flow all day and I never seem to "crash" when they wear off. And as long as I take them right away in the morning I have no problem sleeping~I actually sleep better/ no weird dreams (or dreaming all night long so I feel as if I haven`t slept) like I have without the meds. My sister is a teacher and also has ADD and she likes the Adderall XR, too.