What are good drug alternatives for a 5 year old with adhd? i really dont want to drug my child!!!?

Question

i do discipline my child!

Answer 1

my cousins kids has it and she had him on the tablets when he was 4, yeh I noticed a big difference in him after he started taken tablets but I said to her that he always looked druged out so she took him off them....

she changed his diet...no preservatives or aaddititves now this is very hard coz nearly everything has preservatives in them....read the lables, find a owner orchard to buy ur vegies coz yes there are additives and preservatives in some vegies ewven when they grow them, find a reliable butcher....

now for hyperactive children this no preservative and additives will help them u will notice a huge difference, put the child into sport any sport, anything where they can put all there energy into it....

this is what my cousin done and her son has changed alot and I mean alot the only thing is that when he goes to b-day parties or grandpaRENTS he is hypo active for a week so thats the only prob shes havn at the mo....

Answer 2

strattera is a non stimulat drug. but some cases need the meds. stop calling them drugs.. if your child were diabetic would you hold out on giving them meds for that? talk to a doctor and see what alternitves are out there.

Answer 3

First of all have your child tested for allergies. Most of the time it tends to be a food allergy. My daughter had a very short attention span. The school Speech teacher thought she should get on medicine. My peditrician called her and told her that she didn't have the qualifications to tell someone that. I got my daughter involved in gymnastics. It helped her to get energy out. She quit taking a nap at 6 months and walked at 6 months. She had reflux and environmental allergies. She was allergy tested when she was 6 but not for food. Noone thought she should be. Gymnastics is her thing. It help calm her down alot but her allergies got worse and then she got asthma. The Pediatric Allergist we went to said that she tested all kids for common food allergies. All they do is take a blood panel. You have to find one that does it this way. They is no need to stick the humdreds of times anymore. Just taking a little blood.

Come to find out she has a silent peanut allergy. It takes up to 72 hours for it to show. I pay attention to every little thing my daughter did and ate but the allergist said that this one was really hard to diganois without test being done. My daughter also had learning disabilities which I believe were do to the peanut allergy. She has been peanut free for 6 months. She has moved up almost 3 grade levels in her reading. She is preparing to go to a regular class now. She is no longer as hyper as she was. She never could sit still. If I had only known sooner.

As far as discipline you do have to be very strict. You have to teach them to calm themselves down. My daughter could not watch more than 10 minutes of tv at 5. You can take him to school and have him tested if you have any other areas of concern. I had my daughter tested when she was  3. She had mind processing problems. She went for speech and language. She could talk well but she could tell me for exampl what a blender did but could not tell me the name of it. She could draw every letter of the alphabet at 5 perfectly. Lower and upcase but could not tell me a single letter.

Do not drug your child! It is not the answer. The child has to learn one day how to calm down and be able to think. What better time then to start now. The preschool called STARS was very helpful with teaching me how to help her in many ways. The school will help. If you have problems there there are always ways around things. Find out how the system works.

Answer 4

try cutting all foods containing preservatives.

It does work!

Answer 5

First of all who has diagnosed your child having adhd?  Most of the time they don't even test for it until the child is about 8 years old.

Answer 6

ADD = Adult Discipline Deficientcy.

Answer 7

Our son has ADHD.  You can keep your child away from red dyes that are found in red meats.  You can take all sugar possible out of his diet.  There are a lot of things you can do, but honestly... been there done all that.  Alternative fixes are only to stop the triggers of ADHD, they help calm some of the symptoms down, but they don't cure it... your child still wont be able to focus, and that is your goal.  Your child is really going to need medication to make it in school.  Not so the teachers have it easy, but because your child needs to focus.  There is an explaination for ADHD.  When you are an infant there is a sheath called mylan that grows over your 'message sending' conductors in the brain.  ADHD kids and the like have areas where the mylan is not there.  This sheath helps keep the messages going where they are supposed to go.  If you don't have this sheath you cant focus and the thought process necasary to understand cause and effect is out the door.  Usually, thankfully, during puberty the body releases a hormone that increases the production of mylan, which is why a lot of kids symptoms either disipate or go away all together.  The only thing that you can really do until then is to give your child the opportunity to control and focus.

Unfortunatley, that means medication.  As your child grows you will need to adjust meds, but once you get the hang of it, it isn't really that bad.  Our son is 10 now and is a straight A student in an advanced curriculem private school.  

Firstly, you need to view this not as a burden, but as a blessing.  Yes, it is very difficult, but these kids have a heightened intelligence because their brains create new paths to try to help cope and focus.  If you can help your child focus, they will show great intelligence.  Our son doesn't know that he has ADHD, he just knows he takes a pill in the morning so he can focus at school.  These drugs are none addictive - to an ADHD child - and so you can stop them on the weekends if you want or over the summer.  We did this to give him a break and the only summer we did that our son complained of his "head moving too fast".  He would get frustrated because he couldn't play with his Star Wars guys like he was used to because he couldn't hold a thought long enough to truely play.  We put him right back on his meds and he was much happier.  We do not medicate for behaviour, we medicate so he can focus.  The behaviour will follow.  There is a difference.  You just have to get over feeling guilty for medicating your child.  If your child had a heart condition or a breathing condition.. you wouldn't be looking for alternatives, you would medicate him.  This is the same thing.  I have seen kids whose parents refuse to medicate and to watch these kids is heartbreaking.  They have problems socially, academically, emotionally.  It is horrible.

If you have had your child on meds already and see a difference in focusing... you are on the right track.  I wouldn't try not giving the meds if you know they work already.  

We have lived in three states and the drs in each state have said the same exact thing.  If your child does NOT have ADHD meds will not work, they will only make it worse.  If they respond well at all, even with a small dose, then they have ADHD.  And as they get older, they will need those meds.  I couldn't imagine forcing my kid to go through even the 4th grade without the ability to focus.  How mean.

Think about it.  You may be doing your child a disservice if you don't give them the opportunity to focus.

Good Luck.  I hope the best for you and your child.

Answer 8

Are you talking about alternative treatments for ADHD itself?

The most effective one I have heard of is changing your childs diet. A lot of it has to do with artificial sugars and gluten. Rather than giving your child ridilin, you can see if diet changes will cure the ADHD rather than medication. Try cutting out sugars and gluten and see how that affects your child. Here is a great site about it.

http://www.homeschoolmath.net/teaching/a...

Answer 9

My son has been diagnosed with ADHD since he was age 4 by a licensed school physchologist, pediatrician and therapist. We went thru all the issues you went thru with our son. We refused to put him on meds instead structured our home activities, provided stability in our daily routines. If we knew ahead of time that an event was going to occur at school or perhaps away from home that we prepared him ahead of time. Coaching him about his mannerisms and behavior. This seemed to help some with his behavior but we still had to deal with those out of control hyperactive tantrums when we were not with him. He would throw a full fit screaming, crying, jumping and what not if he did not get his way not doing the same activities as the other kids. After much research we found a solution for our son.

Omega 3 - with DHA. Studies have revealed that many children who are diagnosed with ADHD lack in omega nutrients which you can get from eating fish. The omega with DHA has been found to help children focus better.

I was skeptic about this at first but decided this was a natural way to trying to help our son. We started to give him NORDIC NATURALS - CHILDRENS DHA on December 12,2007. The first few weeks proved to be unsuccessful at school but by the time we rolled around late January beginning of February its like something kicked in. My son has been doing exceptional in school, at home and in a lot of other areas!

Teachers have noticed a difference as well even sending letters of acknowledgment of great behavior for our son were being sent home. We coach our sons soccer we've noticed his involvement with other children has changed, no more need to feel to invade their space, overwhelming them with his hyper activeness, or constantly fidgeting or feeling the need to constantly grab onto peoples clothes or act out for attention. In situations where its loud, rambunctious as well as out of order my son would go bazirk now he remains by my side and all the chaos that surrounds him doesn't seem to affect him.

Patience is key but giving these fish oil pills a chance is worth it it worked for us but it took over 1 1/2 month later. My son doesn't mind the taste of these small pills as they are gluten free and coated to taste like strawberry. I give him four pills in the morning with his breakfast and keep him away from red dyes, sugar products as well as switching his milk to soy milk sometimes milk gives children allergies which affect can have some effect on his behavior.

I can honestly say living with a child that has ADHD is a challenge. Are we scared of a relapse of course but we know that all children have their days and when it does happen we will be there to encourage him and support him to get back on track.

My son sees a psychologist biweekly, is enrolled in scouts, enrolled in soccer and now football. Make sure your son gets out there to talk to a professional check out your local park districts sometimes they have some on site and base fee on your income. Don't give up hope. My son is 7 and it now feels like we are FINALLY having that special relationship that we strongly desired.

Answer 10

Get  any thing  you can read  up on  food  additives..It  could  be  combination of  several  things.  Especially  fast  food  oil used for  fries,   food coloring,  preseratives.  It  will take  time  and  research on your  part but  well worth results.  Even  check his/her   mattress contents, pillow  stuffing.Good luck   *mamatx

Answer 11

find out if he/she really has it first. Most over-diagnosed disorder in man's history.

It's easy. If he/she can watch a dvd or videogame for over an hour without getting up, guess what...no ADHD.

ADHD is too often confused with creativity,lack of interest, or poor discipline.

Your kid could be the next DaVinci, so don't drug him/her down just cuz the school says so.

There are no DaVincis on Ritalin or Prozac

Answer 12

Hey! There are other ways to treat ADHD. She's really young, so make sure she actually has ADHD before having people labelling her like that.

Here's the DSM criteria (what doctors SHOULD be using to diagnose ADHD, but of course, they don't always do this)

DSM-IV criteria for ADHD

I. Either A or B:

A. Six or more of the following symptoms of inattention have been present for at least 6 months to a point that is disruptive and inappropriate for developmental level:

Often does not give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, work, or other activities.

Often has trouble keeping attention on tasks or play activities.

Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.

Often does not follow instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (not due to oppositional behavior or failure to understand instructions).

Often has trouble organizing activities.

Often avoids, dislikes, or doesn't want to do things that take a lot of mental effort for a long period of time (such as schoolwork or homework).

Often loses things needed for tasks and activities (e.g. toys, school assignments, pencils, books, or tools).

Is often easily distracted.

Often forgetful in daily activities.

B. Six or more of the following symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity have been present for at least 6 months to an extent that is disruptive and inappropriate for developmental level:

Often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat.

Often gets up from seat when remaining in seat is expected.

Often runs about or climbs when and where it is not appropriate (adolescents or adults may feel very restless).

Often has trouble playing or enjoying leisure activities quietly.

Is often "on the go" or often acts as if "driven by a motor".

Often talks excessively.

Impulsiveness

Often blurts out answers before questions have been finished.

Often has trouble waiting one's turn.

Often interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g., butts into conversations or games).

II. Some symptoms that cause impairment were present before age 7 years.

III. Some impairment from the symptoms is present in two or more settings (e.g. at school/work and at home).

IV. There must be clear evidence of significant impairment in social, school, or work functioning.

V. The symptoms do not happen only during the course of a Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Schizophrenia, or other Psychotic Disorder. The symptoms are not better accounted for by another mental disorder (e.g. Mood Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Dissociative Disorder, or a Personality Disorder).

If she doesn't fit all of the criteria, she's probably just an active child, 5 year olds ARE active, and there's no need to label her if it's no needed.

But if she does fit the criteria, there are behavioural treatments that ARE very effective for ADHD. People sometimes don't like them because they take a bit longer and they require ACTUAL work on the part of the parents, and possibly the teachers, and some people just want a quick fix to the problem.

Behavioural techniques used to treat ADHD include contingency management (I believe this stems from ABA - Applied Behavioural Analysis). I suggest you look into this. A contingency management plan is usually developed by a psychologist (make sure they have a Behavioural or Cognitive-Behavioural background).

Take a look at this site:

http://www.athealth.com/Consumer/farticl...

It has some pretty useful information!

Good Luck!!

Answer 13

I have heard that sometimes diet change can affect a child with ADHD.  I too didn't want to drug my child with ADHD primarily Hyperactivity, as he progressed through school, we tried the non stimulant medications. These worked to a point but as he got higher in school, he needed more help with his wiggling.  We had to change his medication and it was very hard to do.

You need to do what is best for your child, not you own personal views, I wanted to keep him off of the stimulant medications but he is in the third grade and it will only get harder from this point and I don't want him to fall behind.

Answer 14

Very good you don't want to drug:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/article...

This is what happens when you do.

I'm so sick of people on here asking how to deal with kids with ADHD. I have a mental illness and I don't want to be dealt with any diffrently than you would deal with a normal person. They will try everything but treating them like normal kids.

Answer 15

To you people who say wait to be older to diagnose.  You can not do that.  The earlier the better.  And it does not hurt to get a second or third opinion.  My 4 and a half year old was recently diagnosed by 3 different psychiatrist the same things.  Adhd and Oppositional deficiency disorder.  Its not just the diet you should change.  Make more time for your child.  Make your schedule the same every day and tightly knit and predictable.  Try not to change things or cause stress.  I have been told and had it when i was younger.  That change causes to much chaos...  The more activites to keep child busy the better!

Answer 16

All kids are ADHD at that age. Wait until they are older to dianose with this disorder.

Answer 17

I've read that biofeedback / neurofeedback can help a child learn better self-control and increase the attention span.

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/57/...