Posted on 08/27/2004 11:41:39 AM PDT by Joe Republc
My pedetrician has just recommended that my 10 year old boy use Ritalin.
The issue of Attention Deficit Disorder has come up every so often throughout most of his life, but this is the first time our pediatrician says it's time to try medication.
What questions should I be asking?
What do I need to find out?
Any good resources?
Thanks,
-- Joe
P.S. My wife is in a hurry to do this, now that the doctor says so. I'm not.... my wife and I had some strong disagreement about this last night ;) When I ask around, it seems like men are less inclined to go for this than women.
David Eddings rules.
ummm...no...
Which opinion do you trust more?
In my first post to Joe, I mentioned we tried several alternatives, which i hope he does, but only after, as i suggested, getting a proper diagnosis with several visits to several specialists.
My point in the post you took offense to was that anyone who deny a medication to their child when said medication is medically necessary is ignorant, and has not done the hoemwork themselves. Ritalin can be a great benefit when used correctly.
Ditto for our son. The key was to get him evaluated at a Child Study Center.
He failed the first grade, and was on his way to failing the second grade, when we said "enough". We knew he was bright, and the strange part was he could sit still. But his brain was moving a hundred miles an hour. He couldn't focus or concentrate long enough to absorb one thing at a time. He disconnected. A board of specialists confirmed it with their tests. He stopped using Ritalin after the 7th grade.
So he went from a little boy lost to a college graduate who made the Dean's list. For what it's worth.
sw
Best Advice I've ever heard regarding the need for Ritalin.
Perform this test. Set your son/daughter down in front of the TV with a video game (whatever the new ones are) and tell him he/she can play on it as much as he/she wants.
If he is still there playing the same game in two hours, he doesn't need Ritalin.
Look, you don't need to have people to tell you what to do. What kind of incentives did you get from your parents to follow the "straight and narrow" when you were a boy.
People nowadays are always looking for someone else's opinions and discussing it over and over.
What usually turns out to be the best action is that your first inclination of what to do is the best.
Hope this helps..
My own, of course. The answer is NO!
Does it bother any of you that we had a couple of parents in here saying that ritalin does not work on their child but concerta does. It is the same thing! Concerta is time release ritalin. How can you be giving concerta to your kid and not know that? These are the same people who are the type to give their kids drugs and buy the whole ADHD hook line and sinker from the so called professionals. Koolaid drinkers.
And yes, the drug is way overused. Too many pills nowadays get thrown at too many problems that could be dealt with otherwise.
Why can't those of us who've had children diagnosed with ADHD and who DIDN'T go with the drugs be allowed to present the other side of the argument? Only those who are pro-drugging kids should be allowed to post?
I fought and my son won. I think I have a valid point.
My middle daughter was having behavior problems in 1st Grade, and they wanted to put her on Ritalin. We decided to pull her out and homeschool instead.
It turned out her real problem was that she was hypoglycemic, and her standard breakfast of cereal / frozen-waffle / frozen-pancake / whatever was causing her blood sugar to spike in the early morning, then crash in the late morning. Changing her diet to eliminate things made with processed flour and substitute meat/cheese/eggs cleared the problem right up.
That's right, an MD, looked in my kids ears, nose and eyes, asked her how she was and if she liked school, and then pronounced her diagnosis of "a touch of ADD and ADHD."
Here is the thread I posted way back in December of 2001. Now that I think about it, maybe she was subconciously disturbed by a, then recent, act of terrorism?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/597887/posts
I have seen/dealt with Children that were a difficult task and they were give this crap and it just got WORSE and the doc said "it will pass", Well that is B.S.
Look at the info in a PDR and then compare it to the info the Rx gives You...
The Rx info is the least case senario
Give Your Child tasks to keep Him busy.
From your list, your son is a typical 10-year-old who needs to get outside more. I'd limit his indoor TV/video/computer time to an hour a day, and cut WAY down on processed sugar.
That's a joke.
These guys and gals are not always up on the latest and real research -- they are only people. My wife went to one doctor for chest pains (a muscle other than the heart) -- he prescribed Valium on the spot. VALIUM!!!!!!!
Our doctor, who I like in general and since I'm a man don't have to worry, is pro-abortion. But she's also anti-Atkins. She also wants me to take Lipitor for Cholesterol, but I'm battling it with diet and exercise.
The point is, the are human beings, and they react to whatever they've read and they buy into. That's why you get second opinions. AND RESEARCH FOR YOURSELF and do what feels right.
But there are real consquences for assuming your child has this new fad illness and then doping them up. Once taken, it's over. My daughter's first grade teacher suggested Ritalin and we all but told her to stick it. My daughter is in ninth grade now, near top of her classes. She's a great kid who is not hyper and didn't need it at all.
But as someone said "Ritalin is for the teacher, not the kid."
My daughter was on ritlin for ADD... At the time, she was failing middle school and had little prospects of academic success. Today, she is a college grad, confident and successful.
I share your concern about drugs, but I believe that you have to have SOME trust in the decisions that doctors make, don't you?
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