I was diagnosed in 7th grade, and actually apparently helped the psychologist rise to prominence in the area around where I live, unbeknownst to me.
I never took any medications, never had any real therapy (Dad got laid off after 4 months of seeing the head shrinker), and was able to mostly overcome it. I went from never paying attention in class, remembering the homework, but still getting phenomenal scores on my tests (which seemed to anger a few of me teachers even more)to a routine that would help with my forgetfulness.
It still pops up today when I get really tired, I’ll forget or space out for a while, then seem as though all is normal. I know my own children will probably be like me, but at least I know if I can get their teachers involved, we can control the ADD before it becomes a problem for my children.
I was diagnosed with ADD (not ADHD) in Sophmore year of high school. I had hit the wall, academically, in 7th grade and only graduated through 8th grade because everyone at the school liked me enough to turn my 68’s into 70’s. I got into a good high school because I’m smart and I test well (when you test in the 99th percentile on the appropriate standardized test, even the Jesuits will overlook poor grades). I’m in college now.
Anyway, my experience with the Ritalin:
At first I took regular doses in the morning and at lunch time. Problems: kids with ADD tend to forget to take their medication – I was no exception. Also, and more importantly, it’s not a fun drug to be on. I found that, while I was certainly more focused in school and more motivated to do homework and papers, I was nervous and jittery all day and tired and cranky when I came down at night. Currently, I only take Ritalin when I have work to do.
– I have noticed a difference between Ritalin (brand name) and the generic equivalent. It takes about 25mg of the generic stuff to do the job of 10mg of Ritalin. It could just be me, though.
– I have also noticed that ADD itself, for me, tends to come in cycles. I’ve got an admittedly mild case, but I’ve found that it hinders my academic performance only occasionally. I went through the end of high school and the first two years of college w/o needing to take Ritalin to do papers or difficult reading. Then I hit another wall last semester. Even if my paper was due in 10 hours and I still had a bunch of research to do for it, I just could not sit down and read what I had to read or write what I had to write. At present, I take Ritalin once or twice a week to keep up with my reading, and whenever I need to write paper.
Reprise…perhaps I didn’t stress to you that my son, who started Ritalin proper this fall, has had NO ADVERSE SIDE EFFECTS! Although we all know that each child is different. I have seen no change in eating habits, sleep habits, no unusual nervousness, nothing. All we have experienced is better grades and more focused activity at school. By the time I get home in the evening he’s my same little fellow. For us Ritalin has been a huge help.
It truely disgusts me when I think about how my daughter might have been helped by using this drug long before her more serious problems began. I believe she was a victim of predjudice and cowardice. Later when we were having our terrible acting out problems she was referred to a well respected psychiatrist. After getting her history and evaluating my daughter the doctor apologized to me. She told me that it was a shame, my daughter had not only fallen through the cracks because she was a girl but was the victim of the climate of fear that had begun to engulf the medical community about the use of drugs to treat ADD/ADHD. Many doctors by then had begun to hesitate using drug treatments due to the adverse publicity that has surrounded their use. How is it that failure in school, social problems, depression and eventually the use of other psychotropic drugs was more desirable to my child than simply giving her a medication that might help her. If she was diabetic no one would deny her insulin. If she were epileptic she’d be getting dialatin. If she were schzophrenic her doctors would not hesitate to prescribe lithium. How is no being able to learn, socialize acceptably, or control your impluses (even dangerous ones) any less debilatating? Just thinking about all of this pisses me off!
You say your doctor must go before some kind of board in order to even give your child a trial. That is simply BULLSHIT! If your child were bipolar I’m sure there’s be no problem with their doctor prescribing and administering the proper medication without review. This hysteria has come to the point that now children who are in immediate need of treatment must wait for some panel to approve their care! Believe me immediate is the key here too. For some children it only takes a couple of failures and their lives are changed forever. A school year can go by so quickly with your child gleaning absolutely except how many floor tiles make up the “time out” corner.
I must go now. I’m getting disgusted just thinking about this.
If she were Manic Depressive she’d get Lithium, Schizophrenics get Major Tranquilizers and they don’t like to take them. You also have to understand that the other disorders you mention/allude to are more well understood than ADD. More below…
Yeah, it’s sort of silly but (1) Ritilin does get overprescribed in this country to too many people who don’t need it, and (2) Unlike the drugs you mention for the other more debilitating/better understood mood disorders, Ritilin is a schedule drug - a schedule 2 drug infact. It’s in the same drug schedule class for controlled substances as Opium and Cocaine are.
Personally, I think a board evaluation is a bit much but, then again, I think obtaining it from a General Practitioner on a whim because you think your kid might have ADD/ADHD isn’t right either. A middle stance of the two IMO would probably be best.
I have add(not adhd), my father has it, my grandfather probably had it. I take welbutrin for it, I never tried ritilin, but welbutrin seems to work well. My kid also has it, and he is on ritilin. He went from barely passing to honor roll. It has been a combination of the drugs, and talking to the teacher and explaining what she can do to help. We explained to her that if she sees him drifting off, when he is supposed to be working, to just tap him on the shoulder and get his attention back. Also, it helps to give him short breaks from what he is doing. That alone has worked wonders. I really wish more was known about this when I was a kid, and medication had been given to me. Nobody knew what to do with me. I blew away all the placement test hour school would give, but my grades were always barely passing. My dad (who is a shrink) tried to explain to one of the priciples of my school that what the condition was, and they told him they just didn’t have the personel to give me the type of attention I needed. Now it is legally a disability and they have to provide for it. I really hope my kid will have a better time of it than I had. I was in my twentys before I got on meds, and this has helped me greatly. I actually can hold down a job for more than 6 months.
With my kid, my Family DR. prescribed both for me and my son, but my Dr. is kind of an expert in ADD. Thats why I started going to himin the first place. He started my son out on a pretty low dosage, and then gradually built up until it just seemed to get things managable. He(and I), feel the less you can get away with the better.
I remember working on an addolescent psych ward, when we would start kids on rittilin. If they really had ADHD or ADD, the change was obvious, and we knew that the DR. had hit the mark. If they didn’t have it, and it was something else, they started bouncing off the walls.
You also have to understand that the other disorders you mention/allude to are more well understood than ADD. More below…