How many ADHD kids does it take to change a light bulb

Seventhson

Ritalin made me into a zombie. It did no good for me.
I don't trust these drugs. I don't trust drug companies. If money involved.

Wizard

When my son was 5 he was tested for ADHD because the teachers thought he was a little wild and were worried if he would cope in Primary School.
He did some tests and was declared fully ADHD.
The psychiatrist recommended we pick up many Ritalin on the way home and start dosing him immediately.
We decided we were open to it, but would use it as a last resort.

We started my son on gymnastics in order to learn how to fall properly (since he'd been constantly hurting himself).
A strange thing happened - the enormous amount of exercise calmed him down.
In his case, his surplus energy was manifesting itself as ADHD and he needed an outlet.

He never took Ritalin, and has spent his life playing an obscene amount of sport.
The psychiatrist said he would fail in life without Ritalin as he wouldn't be able to concentrate.

He was wrong - my son got 5 distinctions in matric and is now studying engineering.

But ... there is no such disease as ADHD.
It is a general term for hyper-activity which can can from a very large variety of root causes.
As a result, each person is a separate case of their own ... and the optimal approach varies from person to person.

domhatch

Wizard wrote: When my son was 5 he was tested for ADHD because the teachers thought he was a little wild and were worried if he would cope in Primary School.
He did some tests and was declared fully ADHD.
The psychiatrist recommended we pick up many Ritalin on the way home and start dosing him immediately.
We decided we were open to it, but would use it as a last resort.

We started my son on gymnastics in order to learn how to fall properly (since he'd been constantly hurting himself).
A strange thing happened - the enormous amount of exercise calmed him down.
In his case, his surplus energy was manifesting itself as ADHD and he needed an outlet.

He never took Ritalin, and has spent his life playing an obscene amount of sport.
The psychiatrist said he would fail in life without Ritalin as he wouldn't be able to concentrate.

He was wrong - my son got 5 distinctions in matric and is now studying engineering.

But ... there is no such disease as ADHD.
It is a general term for hyper-activity which can can from a very large variety of root causes.
As a result, each person is a separate case of their own ... and the optimal approach varies from person to person.

this is why i made the quip about my brother. he was also diagnosed ADD (not hyperactive, different disorder), and Ritalin was recommended. my mother was against it, and oddly enough my brother also took up gym. while he didn't do massive amounts of sport, or get fantastic matric results like your son, he's always kept himself physically active and he is of more than above average intelligence - certainly more than me and, without blowing my own horn, that's saying something. these days he runs half-marathons, cycles, and earns boatloads working in a job he loves and that fulfills him with a wife and two kids who adore him - and vice versa. all this little story is meant to demonstrate it that every case is, indeed, unique and needs to be approached and treated as such.

i ended up with boring old epilepsy.
dh

PeachyDragon

In my experience most people I have met who have ADD/ADHD are generally of above average intelligence.
However, when a mother explains that her child has been diagnosed with ADHD, but that all intelligent
children are I get slightly annoyed, whether I believe it or not. ?

Seventhson

Wizard wrote: When my son was 5 he was tested for ADHD because the teachers thought he was a little wild and were worried if he would cope in Primary School.
He did some tests and was declared fully ADHD.
The psychiatrist recommended we pick up many Ritalin on the way home and start dosing him immediately.
We decided we were open to it, but would use it as a last resort.

We started my son on gymnastics in order to learn how to fall properly (since he'd been constantly hurting himself).
A strange thing happened - the enormous amount of exercise calmed him down.
In his case, his surplus energy was manifesting itself as ADHD and he needed an outlet.

He never took Ritalin, and has spent his life playing an obscene amount of sport.
The psychiatrist said he would fail in life without Ritalin as he wouldn't be able to concentrate.

He was wrong - my son got 5 distinctions in matric and is now studying engineering.

But ... there is no such disease as ADHD.
It is a general term for hyper-activity which can can from a very large variety of root causes.
As a result, each person is a separate case of their own ... and the optimal approach varies from person to person.

Its the drug companies pushing the specialist to put us on drugs.
Yes exercise is great. Started doing laps at the public pool with my female friend.
Great stuff ? I personally think drugs that alter you mind(pharmaceutical drugs)Are bad.

Bob-Dubery

PeachyDragon wrote: I did read up on ADHD before posting this. ?
I certainly have many symptoms and have become increasingly aware of them as I
grew older, but I can clearly see a difference between me and my brother.
He needs medication. I simply know that I am extremely obsessive about
things and that I tend to do 3 things at once and start 20 conversations in one
evening and only manage to finish 5 due to topic hopping. Those are manageable issues.

ADD/ADHD and many other disorders are really about chemical levels inside the brain. They are not binary, they are a case of degree. Many people will display some of those symptoms some of the time.

Bob-Dubery

Wizard wrote: But ... there is no such disease as ADHD.

Well we might quibble about the semantics of the word "disease" but there is such a condition. It's largely to do with dopamine levels in certain parts of the brain.

It is a general term for hyper-activity which can can from a very large variety of root causes.

Well yes, that's why it's important to get a good diagnosis. Some practitioners just want to see ADD. Ritalin, for somebody who doesn't have the aforementioned dopamine deficiency, is not going to improve things at all.

Squonk

Ritalin is still way over prescribed and ADHD wrongly diagnosed by Doctors who have done research like we have on the internet. Rather go to a trained "Child" psychologist that can actually make an accurate diagnosis.

My Wife is the vice principal at Radford House, a school for gifted children. They have had huge success with getting children off Ritalin, even those that are ADHD!

Obviously I am not qualified on this subject, but if you need more information I can source from the school.

Dr Shirley Kokot is quite a good source for information on Child Psychology

DonovanB

In many cases teachers are diagnosing ADHD, which is completely wrong. That apparently happens routinely in the USA.

I was told my son might be, had him assessed and the teachers were wrong. I very quickly removed him from that school.

this might become a debate about the drug, and just shows how pertinent the original topic is... (what original topic? ?)

Nitebob

It's like me...I hate being bi-polar ☹, :sorry: it's freaking awesome :dance:!!! :woohoo:

Ray

I think that very often diagnoses are made and drugs prescribed to avoid too much effort. Effort mostly on the part of parents I guess. Same thing as if someone isnt sleeping well the doc wont say pull your finger out your ass and do some physical and you may sleep better, he'll prescribe a little pill.

Wizard

X-rated Bob wrote: Well we might quibble about the semantics of the word "disease" but there is such a condition. It's largely to do with dopamine levels in certain parts of the brain.

Not so sure about this.
With a child having this "disease" one obviously invests a fair amount of time researching this.
The final conclusion we came up with, is that if you look at the level of hyper-activity on a Normal distribution, then kids higher than a specific percentile get labelled as "hyper-active".
This is borne out by the tests they do as well.
They test behaviour, not any root cause.
Assuming all busy behaviour is caused from the same brain chemical imbalance can't be correct.

As an amusing anecdote, my son at 3 was doing his usual maniac bouncing-off-walls-trick and I exclaimed in frustration:
"Greg - stop having a short circuit!"

He looked at me and said:
"Short circus"

It was so appropriate he was known as the "short circus" for quite a while after that.
?

In many cases teachers are diagnosing ADHD, which is completely wrong. That apparently happens routinely in the USA.

There is no doubt that teachers are keen on solving this hyper-activity thing, since a hyper-active child is more difficult to teach.
We also went the Montessori route, with its ratio of 1 teacher per 10 kids ... which certainly helped.

Ritalin is still way over prescribed and ADHD wrongly diagnosed by Doctors who have done research like we have on the internet.

What troubled us the most is that medical science doesn't actually know how or why Ritalin works.
All they know is that it affects a very primal part of the brain.
It has been one of those trial-and-error drugs.
We were also opposed to mood or personality altering drugs as we really liked "our Greg" and didn't want a drug changing him into another, albeit "more manageable Greg".

Interestingly enough, the ADHD symptoms slowly disappeared and my son is now, at 19, the most calm and chilled dude you'd ever meet.
?

I am in no way undermining the use of proper drugs prescribed in the proper way.
My brother-in-law was failing in school and couldn't concentrate as a 10 year old.
He went onto Ritalin and it changed his life. Helped him get through school & move onto a successful career.

Bob-Dubery

Wizard wrote:
X-rated Bob wrote: Well we might quibble about the semantics of the word "disease" but there is such a condition. It's largely to do with dopamine levels in certain parts of the brain.
Not so sure about this.
With a child having this "disease" one obviously invests a fair amount of time researching this.
The final conclusion we came up with, is that if you look at the level of hyper-activity on a Normal distribution, then kids higher than a specific percentile get labelled as "hyper-active".
This is borne out by the tests they do as well.
They test behaviour, not any root cause.
Assuming all busy behaviour is caused from the same brain chemical imbalance can't be correct.

And I didn't say that it is. I might agree that the condition is over-diagnosed or being "diagnosed" by people who aren't qualified to make that or any other diagnosis.

But that it's being over diagnosed doesn't mean that it's not real. That's all.

What troubled us the most is that medical science doesn't actually know how or why Ritalin works.
All they know is that it affects a very primal part of the brain.
It has been one of those trial-and-error drugs.

Well that's not quite true - though it might have been in the 60s when the drug came onto the market. It's proven that the drug increases dopamine levels in the brain by inhibiting the dopamine uptake mechanism, and it's known that low dopamine levels in the frontal cortex lead to problems with attention levels.

Interestingly enough, the ADHD symptoms slowly disappeared and my son is now, at 19, the most calm and chilled dude you'd ever meet.
?

Not unusual. In many cases the symptoms disappear during puberty.

BluJu

I have some pretty bad ADD and I can laugh at it.

As for Ritalin, I would have never have got my Bsc or honors degree if it weren't for that wonderful drug.

Averatu

I was diagnosed with ADHD after one doctors visit and put on Ritalin. 2 years later it turned out to be a combination of a mineral deficiency and dyslexia. Thanx doc. Personally I feel using drugs to remedy any ailment(obviously excluding serious diseases) is retarded. Find the cause and eliminate it. If you have a headache, stretch your neck muscles and take a walk, not this backwards quick fix pop a pill approach.

Norman86

Try Cluster headaches where pills dont even work!! Plus no known cause or real cure!
Or medical aids that wont pay for treatment!

be glad when there are things you can do for your ailments!!

BluJu

Averatu wrote: I was diagnosed with ADHD after one doctors visit and put on Ritalin. 2 years later it turned out to be a combination of a mineral deficiency and dyslexia. Thanx doc. Personally I feel using drugs to remedy any ailment(obviously excluding serious diseases) is retarded. Find the cause and eliminate it. If you have a headache, stretch your neck muscles and take a walk, not this backwards quick fix pop a pill approach.

ADD and ADHD are purely diagnosed on behavior. Non severe cases can be treated by a simple change of diet, others need more attention.
I do agree that Doctors are way to quick to prescribe medicines like ritalin but if I didn't use it for exams I would not be where I am today.

vic

Reading through this thread I get the impression that there has been some "cleaning up" done by mods. I am however surprised that this thread is actually still flying...I mean just the title of this is insensitive or could be insensitive to some members, or readers from outside of GFSA....??

So yes...let's just play guitars as the OP says....

BobC

It is the 'off-topic' Lounge, is it not?

I think some of the discussions have been interesting and informative. Some folks have gotten a little hot under the collar but I think the recipients of those little outbursts stood their ground just fine.

Some varied opinions and different viewpoints don't necessarily add up to offensive content, though.

Averatu

Norman86 wrote: Try Cluster headaches where pills dont even work!! Plus no known cause or real cure!
Or medical aids that wont pay for treatment!

be glad when there are things you can do for your ailments!!

Healthier lifestyle for one?
A friend suffered from chronic migraines. I nagged him for months to change his diet and start some mild exercise. Eventually he did out of desperation. Migraines gone.
If you're going to reach for pills to cure every ailment the problems will compound, the side effects of the drugs start affecting you, so you need pills for those, and pills for those side effects. Paracetamol kills several people every year, yet its available from the corner shop 24/7 as a 'safe' headache remedy. So if paracetamol is supposed to be 'safe', what about 'heavy' drugs that require prescriptions? I find the biggest problem in this regard is peoples resistance to change. I bet most of us would rather pop a pill and deal with the side effects than give up the brannas and coke and do some situps.