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I'm seriously at the end of my rope with this medication merry-go round for DS9. We have now tried Strattera, Intuniv, Vyvance, Ritalin, Concerta and Daytrana. The first few flat out didn't work, the ritalin worked, but he had huge highs and lows, the Concerta and Daytrana cause such a terribly flat affect that it isn't worth taking.

His grades are fabulous...literally 98s and 99s across the board and a very low B in language arts, but he has it written into his IEP that his teacher cannot take off points for mispelling, grammar or handwriting unless it is a language arts, spelling or writing assignment.

His teacher, however, says he does a MUCH better job with writing, spelling and handwriting when he is on the medication.

I was willing to try medication if he could get benefit without significant side effects, but the side effects are too great and the benefit too small.

I have a call into Dr. Amend because I'm wondering if the ADHD-I is a misdiagnosis.

Until then, have any of you had any success with non-medication alternatives for ADHD-I?

Oh, the merry-go-round! I can sincerely empathize. As a parent, this is one of the hardest things I have been through... subjecting my child to the ups and downs. We have only trialed 4 meds and ended up back on the original (Biphentin) at a marginally higher dose, which is still much lower than the recommended dose for her weight. We do notice a great difference with her physical symptoms when she is on the meds. School.. ehh. Comme ce comme ca. I don't think we can medicate a bad fit away. And, in reality, any school will be a bad fit. And so would homeschooling, come to that (actually, that would be the worst fit given our personalities).

I wonder off and on about a misdiagnosis, but then we forget to give her the meds on a Saturday morning and by supper she is climbing the furniture and driving us crazy with non-stop chatter and we feel marginally better. I guess, in our case, the physical symptoms support the diagnosis to some extent. With 2e kids the meds won't fix everything, though.

DD has been on omega 3/6's (2:1 ratio) for the past two years. We had to take her off in December for a medication trial she wanted to do (for Cold-FX). She had to be off all supplements for 2 weeks before they would enroll her. To be honest, we have not notice a lick of difference since she stopped it.

I do not have a child with ADHD, but am aware that a study recently came out in a reputable journal strongly linking it to food allergies. If you aren't familiar with this I may be able to find it for you.

another, more skeptical take (but really, there is obviously no way to a double-blind study on this):

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/ADHD-ADD/24685

ultramarina- My understanding is that most of the food allergy/sensitivity studies have found a reduction in hyperactivity/impulsiveness, but not inattentive behavior. I may end up trying it anyway.

http://www.incrediblehorizons.com/mimic-adhd.htm
This might give you some alternative diagnoses to look at. We discovered our dd10 was having focal seizures... it mimics ADHD-I that the teachers wanted to label her with.

Good luck!

I'm sorry to hear it...what a dissapointment!

Alternatives: Regular excersice, Excellent Sleep Habits (do a sleep study to check if the child is getting restful sleep)and Biofeedback are all possibilities. Nurtured Heart Approach is supposed to be enough without medication, but not at my house, as valuable as it is.

I've been evaluating if Meditation can be useful -

studies here - www.heartmath.org/ - but not my style

gifted-friendly meditation here - www.iamheart.org/

take a look at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respiratory_sinus_arrhythmia

ADHD is about managing arosal, so being able to regulate one's breathing in various ways to influence the parasympathetic nervous system indirectly. This definitely helps the parents, reacting to the stress of living with a kid suffering from ADHD, but could also possibly help the kids. It's probably a whole lot more complicated than that, but when we think of the mind/body connection, we don't often think of it as a 2 way street, and the usual approach is to try to alter our minds to influence our bodies. I suspect that working to alter our bodies (sleep/food/excersize/breathing) in hopes of influencing our minds will be fruitful as well.

Smiles,
Grinity

We had some luck with omega-3 supplements, exercise/yoga, and caffeine. While I still make caffeinated tea every morning and we all drink it, dd no longer wants to take a water bottle of it to school anymore and she's been refusing to take the o-3s for the past few months. She seems to feel like we are trying to fix her and she wants to feel like there is nothing to credit for her success (any supplements are out in her mind).

She's still doing well but I did see less erratic school work when she was doing the caffeine and o-3s more regularly.

The one thing that we're focusing more on this year is study strategies to help her identify what is important to study, how to avoid overlooking parts of the directions, etc. I'm fairly certain that it is still harder than it ought to be given how bright she is, but I can't completely force anything on her and I try to remind myself that she's taking some accelerated courses and doing well (maybe not as well as she could, but not poorly).

I haven't been on the boards in a very long time because of time constraints...and my attempt at not obsessing ...but I wanted to add my two cents. I don't have lots of time, so I didn't read this entire thread. I apologize if I'm repeating prior info.

We have done the whole medication roller coaster as well, and interestingly, we experienced the same side effects for each medication as your son. My son is 8.

The med that finally worked for us and has continued to work for quite a while is RITALIN IR (instant release) 10mg 4 times per day. Each tablet lasts a max of 3 hours, so we have to stretch it out. We usually give the doses 2.5 hours to 2.75 hours apart. So, our schedule during school goes like this: 7:15, 10:00, 12:30, 3:00. On weekends, he usually gets his initial dose later, so we can have a little more coverage in the evening. His doctor is ok with a 5th dose if needed on certain days for extracurricular activities. We have a prescription for 15 mg each dose, but ds usually only needs 10. So, we typically have some left over for those days when he needs one more dose to get him through afternoon/evening activities. At such a low dose, he is still able to eat without putting up a big fight, and he eats very well at breakfast and dinner. Extended release Ritalin and Concerta (both methylphenidate) had lots of ups and downs and major anxiety/irritability. We do not see this with the instant release ritalin.

Sometimes, if I do see any irritability (which is rare) I give ds a little caffeine (green tea, usually) and he's a new man. We never have any sleep problems.

Another thing that has worked well for ds (and me-anxiety, adhd) is NEUROFEEDBACK. I didn't expect to see (or feel) such great results, but we have been shocked. Family members and friends even comment on the improvement.

DS is on Zoloft for anxiety, so that is likely having some added benefit as well. He used Prozac first, which actually seemed better, but it quit working. When ds is anxious, adhd behaviors (impulsivity, distraction, hypersensitivity, emotional regulation difficulties) are more evident. So, if we keep the anxiety in check, focus and self control are much better.

Finally, we are also using the TOTAL TRANSFORMATION parenting program, and while much of it seems like common sense, I have to tell you it's made it a huge difference in our home. I had ds listen to the entire program with me, and he totally gets it. It has seriously been life changing.

Good luck. I know it's tough. We are living it along side of you.