ADHD medications have too many side effects...looking for natural treatments

[DramaQueenLucy]

difficult child 2 has had some bad experiences with his adhd medications. He has been on Vyvanse (this one was the worst difficult child got really emotional on this one), Adderall (caused headaches), Ritalin (we both hated him on this medication, crashed after 4 hours every time) and now Concerta (so far the only really bad side effect is him not eating, but I think it may have something to do with his sleeping getting worse now) He is also taking Trazodone 75mg for sleep. He has used Melatonin before but it seemed to stop working.

At this point he has been seeing a psychiatric doctor that specialize in kids with adhd and helps them learn to control their behaviors without medication. Now difficult child 2 is very high end adhd, has aspi traits, dyslexia & sensory issues. I am wondering if someone could point me in the right direction to see if there is something more natural for him to take that will not cause all of the negative side effects that the adhd medications do to my poor difficult child? I have been giving him a multi vit, vit c (2000mg) and fish oil (1000mg). My goal is to get difficult child 2 off of as many medications as possible. I just don't want to medicate my kiddo if I don't have too, Know what I mean?? He just has so many side effects from everything that he takes.

 

[Lothlorien]

Do you have a good, local health food store? I would ask your health food store guru. There are things like Ingantia Imara, Calcarea Phosphoricha, Pulsatilla and Chammomile that are all things that can help calm. Calms Forte has Chammomile and Calcarea Phosphoricha, along with a few other things, including Magnesium, which I (personally) believe that is a much needed supplement for most people.

You may even want to get in with a homeopath, if you can find one. Most of them don't take insurance, but you can get re-imbursed or have it applied to your deductible, if your ins. works that way.

 

[DramaQueenLucy]

Thank you I am going to look it to it as difficult child's side effects from the Concerta have gotten worse. I think that the medications are causing some of the outbursts and over emotions that he has been having lately. They are a fairly new development but he has only had these types of issues while on other ADHD medications so it stands to reason that the medications are not working anymore.

 

[Lothlorien]

You may want to have him re-evaluated, too. ADHD is commonly diagnosed and medications are written for it, but it's EOBD. Missy was given Concerta and she became very intense on it. It intensified her symptoms, rather than made them better.

 

[Nomad]

I have a friend who basically cured her son of ADD with supplements.

I recall she mentioned the following things...
Fish Oil, Flax seed Oil and B Complex. Generally, she also likes to experiment with Inositol at night.

She swears by CARLSON'S FISH OIL.

Another possibility is an unsual product...the abbreviation..."PS."

I take Topamax for headache prevention.
Hate it.
Since taking PS, Fish Oil and B Complex...the Dopamax issue is basically gone.
I take the Jarrow Brand/100.

Here is what someone wrote (a review) from www.iherb.com (it was NOT me! LOL!):
Jarrow Formulas, PS-100, 100mg, 60 Softgels, February 15, 2009
From Mississippi
These are wonderful. I take 2 a day for my memory. My husband can tell if I forget to take them. I strongly recommend these for anyone who is having trouble with their memory.

Just saw that Magnesium does seem to help children with ADD.
MANY people think that folks are mag. deficient and magneisum seems to help with- many things...including migraines. by the way...magneisum Oxide is the LEAST efficient magnesium. SO, look at your magneisum. What is it? Is it all mag. oxide or mostly mag. oxide? If so, look for another one. I think Mag. Malate is said to be the best. Perhaps a mixture of various kinds is good. Just avoid one that is all oxide...not nearly as effective.

 

[DramaQueenLucy]

You may want to have him re-evaluated, too. ADHD is commonly diagnosed and medications are written for it, but it's EOBD. Missy was given Concerta and she became very intense on it. It intensified her symptoms, rather than made them better.

I am planning on having difficult child 2 re-tested soon. I am calling around this morning and hope to find a neuropsychologist to test him. I am no longer sure that this ADHD. difficult child 2 has been on so many ADHD medications and not one of them has lasted they all seem to get the same side effect? It just doesn't make sense to me...so I am getting his re-tested before I do anything else.

 

[maril]

I applaud you for considering further evaluation for your son!

My son/difficult child has not tolerated stimulant medications well; for example, Concerta (methylphenidate) is one that had been tried and it caused him to hallucinate.

At 17 years old, he has only very recently been given more definitive diagnoses ("mood disorder; history of ADHD; drug and alcohol dependence issues") and is undergoing treatment; unfortunately, it has become more difficult for us (his parents) to convince him to seek further evaluation and are concerned about his ongoing compliance with treatment. I wish we would have known more when he was a younger guy.

A couple of years ago, we started him on an Omega-3 pill, but he resisted -- the pills were so large; we maybe should have but didn't look into other products. Anyway, I don't know much about alternatives to medications...not very helpful there.

Good luck. Hang in there!

 

[Ria]

My experiments with my ADD/ADHD kids have resulted in less man made foods and more "God" made (or natural) foods. My children are all off dairy and take supplements. We do a multi-vitamin (no iron as it sends one into a major hyper active mode). We also do magnesium, B-complex, zinc, calcium complex and E.

No preservatives, food dyes or chemicals. I have one that a soda and candy bar will make totally irritable. Watch how cleaning agents affect your child and how going into stores or store aisles with heavy smells affect your child. Bottom line, we are all chemical beings and each one totally different from the next. Each of us reacts to things differently. My theory is ADD/ADHD kids cannot tolerate toxins as well as "normal" kids. But it will take trial and error on your child to know what works and what irritates that child.

Good luck!

 

[DramaQueenLucy]

Thanks for the advice...I am going to look into some of these things to use over the summer "medication vacation" see how they work out. I am also hopeful that by the time next school year rolls around we will have a NueroPsych report. Hope that it gets figured out.

 

[trinityroyal]

Colleen, I'm glad to hear that you're going for a re-evaluation as well.
For true ADHD, the medications often work like magic. For other disorders with lookalike symptoms to ADHD (Aspergers and Bipolar being just 2 possibilities), ADHD medications won't help, and in some cases will make things much worse.

The medications vacation and evaluation will give you a chance to see what's really going on with your difficult child, and then find the right sort of interventions that will really help.

I wouldn't rule out medications altogether. There may be some other medications that might help. But until you're armed with the right information, you're still missing too many puzzle pieces to see the whole picture.

Trinity

 

[DramaQueenLucy]

Colleen, I'm glad to hear that you're going for a re-evaluation as well.
For true ADHD, the medications often work like magic. For other disorders with lookalike symptoms to ADHD (Aspergers and Bipolar being just 2 possibilities), ADHD medications won't help, and in some cases will make things much worse.

The medications vacation and evaluation will give you a chance to see what's really going on with your difficult child, and then find the right sort of interventions that will really help.

I wouldn't rule out medications altogether. There may be some other medications that might help. But until you're armed with the right information, you're still missing too many puzzle pieces to see the whole picture.

Trinity

I just got approval for the neuropsychologist evaluation and the psychiatrist said not to worry about the insurance giving me a hard time for the time being until I know what is happening we are going to try strattera and see if there are any changes with this medication.

 

[edmondsmary]

Well, there are lots of so-called natural supplements on the market nowadays- all telling you that they have no side effects at all and that they are an alternative remedy for ADHD. Furthermore you will want to know how and where the substances are manufactured and to what standards. You may want to know if it is a recognized facility and whether they actually have qualified homeopaths working for them.

 

[GoingNorth]

I think that a re-evaluation is a good idea. My BiPolar (BP)/Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) were initially diagnosed as severe ADHD. I was put on stims first and then on Straterra. Let's just say the wheels fell off and it wasn't pretty at all.

Much of my ADHD sx disappeared once I was properly medicated for the BiPolar (BP) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).