My son is eleven and has ADHD?

Question

He has been taking Focalin xr 10mg for 2 months now. I'm not sure if I should up his medication to 15mg. At what point does he need more?

Answer 1

What makes you think he has ADHD?  Maybe he is just a kid.  Maybe he needs a more structured home life and more parent involvement.  Is he involved in athletic pursuits?  Do you help him develop effective study habits?  Have you tried doing yoga with him or other focusing excercises?

Just up the dosage.

Answer 2

You need to consult your doctor.  I hope you're not considering upping his medication without the doctor's advice.  It could be that no dose of Focalin will help your son, he may need something else.  There's many different types of meds out there for ADHD kids...Ritalin, Adderall, Concerta, strattera, etc.,,maybe one of these would work better for him.   Talk to your doctor or consult with a specialist if nothing seems to be working.  There may be something else that your doctor hasn't considered.

Answer 3

Forget the medication. There will come a day, when he turns 18, where he will stop taking it. He won't have magically learned to control his adhd by then, and he'll be an adult with no concept of how to focus or pay attention. Give the kid something else to do instead of drugging him into good behaviour. If he's hyper, take him to a park and go play outside. Convince him to join a team. When he comes home physically exhausted every night, he'll be able to pay attention, and that won't ruin his adulthood. Eleven year old boys aren't designed to sit still and pay attention all day. That isn't a disorder. How do you think people managed this before drugs? They went out and burned off the extra energy.

Answer 4

That c**p is bad news.   I had ADHD when I was young as well as some of my friends.  As I took nothing some of my friends did, who later committed suicide due to depression caused as a side effect from these drugs.  Communication, compassion and understanding can cure these conditions.  Drowning them with drugs only complicates them.

Answer 5

you need to consult the dr. b/c when my son's meds are changed and even every new yr. at school he has a form that is sent to the school called the vanderbuilt form that the teacher should fill out to monitor his behavior, focusing, etc. for the first month at least of a med change, and along you fill one out at home and the dr. reviews them, talks to the child and goes from there on whether a med. change is needed or not.  the first couple months are hard to find the right dosage b/c you do one dosage for a week, if doesn't help go up, then if too much go back down, it's a hard/long process.  i hated that in the beginning with mine.

Answer 6

You should let your doctor determine the dosage.  We started out on Focalin, but switched to Concerta upon the doctor's recommendation.  It seems to be working better.

Answer 7

Have you put any behavior modification program into effect?  In simple words, something like a star chart where he earns and loses points that can be redeemed for rewards?   This takes time and patience but is critical for an ADHD kid.  It helps them learn to self-manage and increase self-control.

Doctors are quick to give drugs and for some kids, the drugs are a real Godsend but when they don't work, either it's the wrong drug or your child doesn't really have ADHD.  There's a growing group that feels this diagnosis is overused and abused.

I have two that had that diagnosis.  One really had Nonverbal Learning Disorder, not ADHD.  The other was just acting up.  I put him in a drug study and his behavior improved, only to find out he was in the placedbo group!

I also found that changing up his diet - getting all the artificial colors, flavors, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, etc. and increasing both fiber and protein helped quite a bit.  We don't bring soda or most sweets into the house anymore - at least not often, and rarely consume fast food or pre-packaged products.

There is something out there called the Feingold diet that helps many (not all) kids.  It turns out that for some kids, ADHD is really a result of food allergies.  So basically you cut out most foods (and start with a core of foods that rarely cause allergies) and add things back to see what impacts behavior and/or allergies.  There are books out there, and probably internet info out there for free on this approach.

In other words, your child may or may not need meds but if you want to do best by your child, you need a multi-faceted approach.  The drugs carry serious long term side effects, so if you get lucky and find he can do well off them, or with less that is a good thing.  Best of luck

Answer 8

If he's still out of controle and bouncing off the walls then he needs more.

Answer 9

I'd consult your doctor about the increase in drugs.  A good cure for ADHD behavior is a spanking.

Answer 10

First of all, don't listen to any of these jerks who try to tell you what a bad parent you are or whatever.  I know how real and how heartbreaking and difficult ADHD can be for a child, and for the whole family.  As far as medication goes, you have to monitor how it affects him at home and at school, as far as benefits and side effects.  Interact with his teachers to see how things are going with him.  It is possible that he won't need to up his dosage for quite a while, but then again next month it may seem like it doesn't even help him anymore.  It is something you have to keep on top of all the time.  In the meantime, is he getting behavioral modification therapy?  It is very beneficial.  Through therapy, he can learn how to control his behavior and attention issues on his own, and someday hopefully he won't need medication.  Please look into this if he isn't receiving it now.

Best of luck to you.

Answer 11

Try parenting as an alternative approach to drugging your kid.  ADHD is the result of a child being unable to generate enough internal stimulation to maintain concentration.  Hence why all ADHD drugs are stimulants.  Try teaching your child that it is their own responsibility to learn and also try teaching imagination.  And please don't say he's so imaginative as all of the kids I've treated who have been previously diagnosed as ADHD are totally self-centred, as they crave attention and have no self-control.  Funny thing is that as soon as you stop accepting their poor behaviour as acceptable and teach them that they have a responsibility to be a person rather than THE person, their behaviour improves.