Good afternoon.
My name is Heath (36 yrs old) and it has been about 4-5 months since I've logged into this site. I am married with two children (son 6, daughter 4). My son was officially diagnosed with ADHD last month. While my son Ethan is pretty good at home and great when we do things like playing outside or going for walks, etc., his behavior is not so good at school. His academics are strong but he has trouble keeping his hands to himself, talking back, making noises, etc. Our psychologist recommended scheduling an appointment with a psychiatrist because my son "needs to be on medication." Right to the medication! She didn't even question what he eats or recommend dietary changes. My wife, who loves anything that comes in the shape of a pill sees this as THE ANSWER. While we are very savy, well educated parents who have implimented a wide range of behavioral modification techniques and modified our own behaviors, I don't yet see this as the answer. I want to try modifying his diet to see if we can improve the situation. I feel like I am the only one who is pulling for my son. The last thing I want to do is to put my son on medication that could adversly impact him long-term. I find it gut-wrenching to read that they don't know the long-term side affects of a medication that has been on the market for over 30 years (Ritalin)! Don't they know or don't they want to know. But I'll leave the conspiracy theory for another day.
Let me get to my question. I'm very quickly running out of time. I'm estimating that it will take 30-60 days to get an appointment with a psychiatrist and for a prescription to be written. My wife is pushing and so is the school.
So can anyone comment on the impact/success they've had with diet modifications? Has anyone used the Feingold diet and what type of results did you achieve. My goal is to either eliminate the need for medication (odds are against me) or prove that diet has lessen his condition so the medication he is prescribed is of a lower doseage.
I appreciate any help or insight you can provide.
My name is Heath (36 yrs old) and it has been about 4-5 months since I've logged into this site. I am married with two children (son 6, daughter 4). My son was officially diagnosed with ADHD last month. While my son Ethan is pretty good at home and great when we do things like playing outside or going for walks, etc., his behavior is not so good at school. His academics are strong but he has trouble keeping his hands to himself, talking back, making noises, etc. Our psychologist recommended scheduling an appointment with a psychiatrist because my son "needs to be on medication." Right to the medication! She didn't even question what he eats or recommend dietary changes. My wife, who loves anything that comes in the shape of a pill sees this as THE ANSWER. While we are very savy, well educated parents who have implimented a wide range of behavioral modification techniques and modified our own behaviors, I don't yet see this as the answer. I want to try modifying his diet to see if we can improve the situation. I feel like I am the only one who is pulling for my son. The last thing I want to do is to put my son on medication that could adversly impact him long-term. I find it gut-wrenching to read that they don't know the long-term side affects of a medication that has been on the market for over 30 years (Ritalin)! Don't they know or don't they want to know. But I'll leave the conspiracy theory for another day.
Let me get to my question. I'm very quickly running out of time. I'm estimating that it will take 30-60 days to get an appointment with a psychiatrist and for a prescription to be written. My wife is pushing and so is the school.
So can anyone comment on the impact/success they've had with diet modifications? Has anyone used the Feingold diet and what type of results did you achieve. My goal is to either eliminate the need for medication (odds are against me) or prove that diet has lessen his condition so the medication he is prescribed is of a lower doseage.
I appreciate any help or insight you can provide.