What are the symptoms of ADHD and how long has this been around?

I was recently asked by my (6 year old) sons teacher if i had ever thought about getting him checked out for ADHD. His teacher last year had made the same comment to me. Until then i had never heard that medical term and really was not sure what this was. I do not want to put him on meds. and i was wondering if there was something besides meds. that are effective. He is a very smart six year old but he is always on the go and can%26#039;t sit still unless he is watching television. He does not listen to me what so ever and I see my two year old following in his shoes. He is always argueing with adults including the teacher bus driver and myself. My husband(my sons father) is in the military and has been active duty status for over a year so we have not seen him for a long while I am not even a hundred percent positive if the way my son is acting has to do with his father not being here and how do i really know this for sure?

What are the symptoms of ADHD and how long has this been around?
hope this helps
Reply:I also have a six year old, and when they told me he was possibly ADHD when he was three I about flipped, no way was I going to put my kid on med%26#039;s, I wasn%26#039;t going to be one of those parents that let med%26#039;s determine the behavior of my child. after a couple of years I started realising how difficult he was to handle and how no matter what I did it was as if he was out of control, people would remark how bad he was in public, and I was at my witts end. I can say after a a few months and then a year later of just seeing what works, he is much better, I say if it is something you can handle and he manages to bring home decent grades hold off, but if it something effecting his school work and home life, try it to see what works. There is no tell tell signs of adhd, Mine could watch tv for hours no problem but couldn%26#039;t sit still or focus on one activity at a time, sometimes he would be more focused on what was for lunch or what else he could be doing to stay on track. My son is not your%26#039;s and my problems may not be the same. It comes down to doing what works for you and going from there. Look online there are sites that promote different eating styles, to different types of treatments. I would start by seeing a doctor and going from there. Goodluck I know how tough it is. Sabrina
Reply:short attention spands, can%26#039;t sit still for long periods of time. really can%26#039;t focus on one thing to long . not really understanding everything because he/she can%26#039;t focus long enough to know what is being asked ofhim etc. this is treated by medications. but you should bring him to a neurologist and have him tested for ADD. or maybe his pcp can do the test. I work for a Neurologist and we see a lot of adults for ADHD. just have him evaluated so you can rule out adhd all together. maybe there might be another underlying factor. he should see a pedi neurologist. good luck and I hope this info is helpful. oh but you need to get a referral from his PCP if you have a hmo insurance.
Reply:Hello, I have just read your question and the best way I can help is to share the following story from Whitney Smith with you.





Whitney Smith


Gold Coast, Australia


ADD/ADHD and the use of NRG in children





Hi,I%26#039;m eleven years old. I had been taking Ritalin for at least three years. I took it because I have ADD and I%26#039;d take it every morning when I went to school, then after lunch, and again at three o%26#039;clock in the afternoon. At a certain point of the day,and it would be when we were doing math, (and it%26#039;s not because I don%26#039;t like math, it%26#039;s because that%26#039;s when it kicked in), I would start getting migraine headaches and just feel ridiculously awful. I also didn%26#039;t understand what was going on point, and since I had been taking Ritalin for so long, I couldn%26#039;t really tell if it was working.





I%26#039;d come from school with one study link that should only take a second to do, but it would take me more than an hour to finish it. I would get very frustrated and confused, and then ask my Mum if she would help me. Being the wonderful, outstanding person that she is, she would say %26quot;yes.%26quot; But I always just thought she was wrong and so I%26#039;d cry and cry until nobody could stand it any more, (and that, by the way would give me an even bigger headache). This would make my mum just feel rejected, and dreadfully awful, until it came to the point where she just couldn%26#039;t stand it, and wouldn%26#039;t help me anymore. And, feeling the way I did on Ritalin, I assumed she didn%26#039;t love me anymore so I started crying even more!


Also, when she%26#039;d ask me how the teacher explained things in school I could never remember.


Then, on parent/teacher conference night, my teacher said she noticed I was tired a lot and had bags under my eyes. The only thing I noticed was the two awful looking D%26#039;s on my report card, (nicely written ... hard to miss!). After that I wasn%26#039;t too confident anymore ... especially with all the C%26#039;s loaded up behind those D%26#039;s!


I also had a problem with talking too much in class, which didn%26#039;t surprise me at all. If you know or are now realizing, I am a very wild, and talkative person.


Now we%26#039;re going to talk about my %26quot;Life Saver.%26quot; At home, my parents had all these bottles of Herbalife. I asked in a very loving, sweet voice, %26quot;What the heck is all this stuff, and what%26#039;s it for?%26quot; So, my mum gave me some stuff called N.R.G. She said it would help me concentrate. My mum and dad started noticing a difference right away!





My mum asked our doctor if he would sign the school authorization papers so that I could get off the Ritalin and get the NRG in school. He said he would do anything to get me off a controlled substance. So, I started taking the NRG at the times that I used to take the Ritalin, and when I got to school I was ready to go to work! I didn%26#039;t know why I was so ready, but at least I felt ready. I wasn%26#039;t nervous for tests or anything! And, when I got my test back, instead of getting a 50%, I got a 95% ... and boy was I happy! I was concentrating really good, too. I told my mum and she was really happy that it worked, and also that we were not having any more awful, crying times trying to get my homework done.


When it came to the end of 5th grade, and it was time for conferences again, we sat down and my teacher handed me the report card. I got eleven A%26#039;s, ten B%26#039;s, and 2 C%26#039;s. So, I was extremely happy, and my teacher said that I didn%26#039;t look so tired lately or have so much trouble talking too much in class. I was also happy to see the note on the bottom of the report card that said, %26quot;Have a nice time in 6th grade!%26quot; That%26#039;s how NRG tabs have helped me!!


Whitney also wanted us to know that she also takes Formula 1, Formula 3, and Xtra-Cal on a daily basis. Thanks, Whitney, for sharing your story!





Lisa Johnson , Whitney%26#039;s mother on 1/17/2000


In response to how our soon to be 14 year old daughter Whitney is now doing after about 3 years on NRG - GREAT! She has made amazing strides. She made the honor roll for 3 semesters in a row, and thanks to the good nutrition has not missed a day of school in 3 years!


Also, one of the most outstanding things in my opinion is her time management. She use to spend all night doing homework and now she has most of it done before she even gets home from school.
Reply:There are natural ways to deal with ADHD. Ive seen plenty of self-help books for it. I was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 23, and I often think that had I gotten diagnosed sooner, my life would have been a lot less stressful. I opted to go with medication (Concerta) in combination with therapy, because from what I have learned ADHD really is a physical health issue. This is why it is NOT classified as a learning disorder. As long as we can sit down and focus, we can learn just as well as anyone else. I only take it on an as-needed basis (like if I have a Final Exam that day, or a major project at work) because it takes affect about an hour later. ADHD is also linked to sleep disorders - I notice that when I do take the medication, I dont have problems staying asleep like I did before. Although Concerta is a stimulant, it actually regulates my sleep pattern! You ask how you can find out for sure; it couldnt hurt to get a professional diagnosis. If you have good insurance, the testing is completely covered so what have you got to lose? Contrary to popular belief, every doctor is NOT out to stick every patient with a diagnoses and medication. I noticed you say that he IS able to sit still while watching TV - that would lead me to believe that he may not have it, because he can stay focused on something that is of interest to him. Personally, no matter how interesting something is, I have a great deal of trouble staying focused. I am very easily distracted no matter what! Hope I shed some light on the topic - best of luck!


**Sidenote** - The latest research shows that if a child is diagnosed with ADHD, it is highly likely that one or both parents have it. So im thinking for a lot of parents it may be easier to take a look at yourselves first, because if you have it and your child is suspected of having it then I would say most likely the child does have it (of course you would still get the child -and yourself- tested). Its seems to be easier to diagnose in an adult than a child.



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