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.
I trust the opinion that I feel comfortable with, after multiple consultations with multiple experts -- not just the first doctor who whips out a prescription. As for GWB being the best president that ever lived, well, I trust those people's opinions as well. I think history will be much kinder to GWB than the mainstream media or the Democrat hate machine. He will rank right up there with Harry Truman and Ronald Reagan.
I concur that the boy should be excercising like a boy normally does. Bike riding, running, playing, not jammed up in front of a TV or video game console for hours at a time. Something as simple as too much sugar should never be overlooked.
My recommendation is to get another recommendation.
I have heard that a child that has had this prescribed for him, usually needs nothing more than a good diet, a steady dose of vitamins, get him off of dairy products and SUGAR, and within a month or 2 they are as fine as frogs hair.
If I were you, I wouldn't let anyone prescribe THAT drug for my child.
Humans have done fine without it for well over 10,000 years, they can do find without it now with proper food and exercise.
Especially since some people though McManiac would have made a good president.
Hah! I remember my eldest used to turn into a lunatic after ingesting Cheez Doodles. Took a while to figure out the connection but they definitely were the problem.
Valium is often used for muscle problems. I'm not sure it was right for your wife, but it's not surprising to see it suggested.
Get a second opinion, and your mother-in-law doesn't count.
That's one of the symptoms.
I know of a Day Care in the Raleigh area that was encouraging little boys to cross dress. They thought it was fun and healthy. I think if the dads knew what the moms knew there would be hell to pay at that Day Care...
Don't follow the pack even if most kids are on these drugs. Send the kid to military school instead.
The description of your son's behavior doesn't sound like he would be targeted for ritalin but you never know. Was the doctor visit recommended by his school? Teachers aren't allowed to discipline now a days so drugs have become their one-size-fits-all "fix-it"!
I'm a mom and have listened to Dr. Breggin on many occasions and would seriously recommend you visit his site that someone has already mentioned to you. Psychiatric Drug Facts Dr. Breggin has testified before Congress concerning ritalina and has probably done more study on it than all others combined.
I see you also asked for prayer and I will commit to that, this is a serious issue. If you're familiar with John MacArthur (the pastor) he read the list of "characteristics' of someone with ADD, then laughed and said it sounded like him. There is only a 'characterization' made of a person which labels them with something that will follow them the rest of their life.
If your son does fine in school it seems really odd that the ped would recommend it out of the blue like that. Usually it is the school that pressures parents to put their child on ritalin. A close neighbor had place a child on ritalin at the request of the school and a couple of years later when they wanted to take the child off it, the school threatened them with Child Protective Services, this is standard operating procedure and sadly even the tactic of some docs. I would at the very least seek another doctor's opinion "IF" your son has extreme behavioral problems.
Feingold Diet is supposed to very good in helping folks who have reactions to food ingredients including dyes.
I checked into an email group at Christian ADHD a few years ago when I was concerned about one of my kids. I soon learned that there are some kids who have very extreme bahvioral problems and I do believe there are 'some' kids who will benefit from drugs. I do not believe that it's a good idea to teach a kid that a 'pill' will solve the problem when maybe they are more in need of some behavior instruction, discipline, or self control.
I'd like to find an article that spoke about the feminization of boys but alas, unable to google it. You need to read these (much more info contained at the linked page):
What Problems are Related to Ritalin & Other Stimulant Drugs And How Else to Heal These Children
Dr Henry Narallah in 1986 showed shrinkage of the brain in more than 50% of 24 young adults who were hyperactive since childhood. All of the subjects had been treated with stimulants during childhood.
Disorderly Conduct: Should Ritalin Really Be All the Rage?
The U.S. uses about 90% of the ritalin used in the whole world!
The Case against Ritalin
Ritalin sold to other students.....
My son was put on Ritalin when he was 8 years old. He wasn't hyperactive, he had problems concentrating and staying on task. He also had problems filtering out noises that most people learn to ignore. Example, when the kids in his class were writing, he literally heard every pencil in the class writing across the paper at the same time.
The Ritalin was a nightmare for him, so we changed him over to Adderall. He was on medication for about 4 years and then I took him off because there was no improvement. He is 16 now, very intelligent, but still struggles with his class work. He denies he ever had ADD and I think he's right. If I had it to over again, I would not medicate him. I would look for other options to help him compensate.
Recently, I read a study that said most ADD can be attributed to lack of quality sleep. This is something else you might explore. Your son may not be getting enough rest. I know my son barely sleeps and it has to effect his performance at school.
One last thing. If your son is able to play computer games as if he's in a trance, chances are he does not have ADD.
IMHO, ADD is a collection of behaviors that children exhibit when they aren't comfortable in their own skin. They have no way of pinpointing their problem or of sufficiently articulating the issue. As far as the video game situation goes: well, I know that I can find a task that takes my mind off a headache and I know that it's almost impossible to concentrate on anything else when I'm really uncomfortable. Keep punching at the wall. Eventually, you'll get through.
1. Expect rabid, off the wall pontifications against.
2. I don't believe ritalin is warranted in every so called case of ADHD.
3.0 I'd want to have kept a journal for 3-8 weeks documenting every X hours his hyper-activity and attention deficits. Failing that, I'd want to sit down and write out a typical week day morning; a typical week day afternoon and a typcial week day evening. Ditto weekend. I'd want to note common exceptions from the routinely true behaviors. I'd want to insure that my description of his typical 3-4 hours time chunks included very measurable behaviors.
3.1 That is--NOT: He was very energetic this morning but: He moved his arms and legs up and down rapidly and constantly while watching TV this morning between X and X hours. He paced outside on the patio around in a circle making a circle of the patio approximately one circle every 55 seconds. He sat and tore 8.5 X ll paper into 1/4 inch squares for 2 hours. BE VERY SPECIFIC.
3.2 When you list specific behaviors, you can also begin to get some statistical handles on them. What were the averages, peaks, valleys of each common ADHD type behavior.
4.0 Go to the web--Google and search for the balanced, sane FIRST PERSON WITH PROFESSIONAL CASE STUDY REPORTS.
4.1 See how your child compares.
5.0 I'd trust your Pediatrician A LOT IF he has know your son for more than 6-9 months. Especially if he's a man.
6.0 I'd trust your son's self report a lot--especially if he's pretty sharp and the least bit insightful and introspective with any honesty and accuracy at all. The odds are, he's feeling quite restless, edgy, etc. more or less all the time and unable to control himself. That's a big clue.
7.0 Ritalin really does work. And it is not some world government plot, imho. And, I'm a biggy on there really being lots of world government/puppet master plots. I just don't believe ritalin IS one.
8.0 I have worked with many families where Ritalin brought sanity, calmness, wholeness etc. to the whole family as well as the kid with the problem. The problem seems to be 100% biochemical. It's not that you were bad parents or the kid a bad kid. Some people have diabetes. Some people are genetically hyperactive etc. I score 75% of the paper and pencil survey questions in the critical direction. I could always concentrate so didn't have that aspect of it but was always rather hyperactive. Never knew of the meds growing up and probably wouldn't have been able to have afforded them had we known. Would have made my life a lot calmer.
9.0 It's NO FUN being thoroughly wound up all the time without any discernable reason for it and with too few ways to cope with it. It would be a real pain to have a 24 hour orgasm and being hyperactive is A LOT WORSE than feeling orgasmic.
10.0 Imagine feeling like something terrible was going to happen sometime in the next 1-3 hours. That you didn't know what or when or how or why but you knew it would impact your life terribly and that you couldn't do anything about preventing it or preparing for it. Further, imagine that all the important people in your life were going to BLAME YOU for whatever it is that's coming down the pike--regardless of your lack of control over it. That's somewhat of how many hyper active youth feel in a kind of sensory way but without a lot of intellectualization.
11.0 TRYING IT FOR 4 MONTHS WILL NOT HURT YOU OR THE KID AT ALL. You should be able to tell after the first 2-4 weeks IF it's warranted or not. IF IT'S NOT WARRANTED--HE'LL GET MORE HYPER. If it's warranted, he'll calm down dramatically.
12.0 It's silly to get into pissing contests with a spouse about it. You both love your son. Trying the med is not going to hurt anyone. There's plenty of time to re-evaluate. I take it as a huge sign that a Pediatrician who's known him for some time has finally, evidently somewhat reluctantly, suggested it's time to put him on it.
13.0 Youth have FAR TOOOOOO MANY STRESSORS IN TODAY'S LIFE AND ERA IN THE BEST OF TIMES AND THE BEST OF HEALTH. THEY DO *NOT* NEED ADHD draining their energy away and adding life-shortening stress hormones and other chemicals to their young lives daily because of the hassles of coping with ADHD raw.
14.0 True, some sons are just being energetic, into everything males. But it sounds like your Pediatrician has made an informed assessment that such is not the case with your son--that your son is well over that line. Trust his training and judgment. He doesn't sound off the wall on the issue or he'd have been demanding it in hyperbole from the beginning of his meeting your son.
15.0 PLEASE keep me posted. I care about you and your son. Please feel free to FREEPMAIL or respond hereon, if I can be of any help. My PhD is in Clinical Psych. I never bothered to complete the licensing process and prefer to teach, however. I have done thousands of hours of counseling at various counseling centers in the Western USA and in Taiwan.
Blessings
NEVER - NEVER - NEVER!!!!!! Ridilin is horrible!!!!
1--Change his diet, making sure there is no aspartame or sucralose in it (check online for the MANY names associated with these products. They are in every brand of gum even, except chiclets and rain-blo (both made outside US). It is highly toxic, especially to children and causes much hyperactivity.
2--Get daily exercise - enough so he is tired enough to go to sleep easily - and enforce a standard bed time every night. Sports help a person stay healthy and daily exercise seems to help kids stop the fidgity behavior.
3--Take away tv/computer/game/vcr time so he gets 1 hour or less per day - ADHD has been associated with extended use these electronic devices, especially in the early years. The flashing of the light messes with their motor skills too, esp in first two years.
4--Pray. Only God can truly heal us, but we must ask him for the healing. Teach your son to pray also, asking our Heavenly Father for help and strength - every single day.
Hope this helps.
For the love of Pete! I totally forgot about that one! When my son was diagnosed with Celiac, lab tests showed that he was missing many essential B vitamins as well as Magnesium. He's been taking a high-quality B complex and a mulit-mineral complex as well. Vit. B deficiency can have Alzheimer's symptoms.
Good one, Leatherneck.
I had recieved recommendations to get on ritalin, tried it, and screwed up my life for awhile. i feel it was a big mistake, but i learned from it. i consider it dangerous.
i'm sure you're getting alot of info from your post, if you want any info from me just let me know, i'll be happy to share it with you.
warmest regards.
My son has since been homeschooled, and at 16 already has enough credits to graduate, and is taking college-level biology, Calculus, etc., and doing advanced work in every area. IT IS TRUE. They want to classify kids as having learning disabilities to get more government funding. That is the NEA for you! Get your kids the heck out of the Public School system at ANY COST!
Kids learn like a sponge in the right kind of loving environment. Nobody can do THAT better than those that love them the most.
Where truly needed and when nothing else works sufficiently,
it's far from a stupid pill.
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