How many doctors did it take to convince you that your child has ADHD? How many tests and how in depth were they? Did the school suggest it to you or was your ped the first to suggest it? Did you medicate right away or try behavior/diet interventions? Do you wish you had known/tried meds sooner? If your child is on meds now, how do you feel that is going?
With DD9, we knew she had ADHD when she was a preschooler. Actually, we even joked about it when she was two years old. It was not a shock at all, we actually wanted to pursue the diagnosis, but waited until she was in school so we could get feedback from her teachers in case it was just that way at home. The school knew our concerns from the onset, but they waited until the end of first grade to finally agree with us that her attention was not improving and that it was interfering even when she was really trying to pay attention. We did go to medications pretty soon on after the diagnosis. By that point, we had already tried everything we could think of... supplements, behaviour modification, etc, and knew that it had little effect with her. And, hell yeah, we wished we had not waited until second grade to get the officially diagnosis. Her primary year was HORRIBLE. She is still recovering from it four years later. For her diagnosis, her pediatrician used the Connors questionnaires as a basis to start therapy and then referred her for a psych ed assessment. Because there was a four months wait for the assessment, we opted to start the med before the assessment. Even then, the pysch. confirmed the ADHD diagnosis (WISC, WIAT-II, CTOPP, WRAML2, GORT + teacher and parental questionnaires).
The past two years have had their ups and downs and we are still trying to find optimal dosing. Unfortunately, DD is very sensitive to the meds and suffers from mood lability. She only tolerates biphentin and, at that, a low dose. She just saw the pediatrician yesterday and I was very proud of her for speaking up for herself well at this appointment. She told me ahead of time that school was 'impossible' this year because she just could not concentrate no matter how hard she tried. SHE asked to try a dose increase again. The ped suggested to use the higher dose (20mg) on school days and go back to the lower dose (15mg) on the weekends, or to even alternate the two if her moods are a problem again. In the past, I suffered a lot of guilt during dosing trials. Now, I am happy that DD has started advocating for herself. She knows what she needs and wants and it is important to let her participate in managing her ADHD. To confound things, she was just diagnosed with dyslexia. The pediatrician pointed out to DD that her problems paying attention and getting work down won't be magically fixed with a higher dose, as the dyslexia is probably a big contributor. We really need to get the new accomodations in place and then reassess.
Good luck with your decisions. You have to do what is right for your family and your child, and no one can make that decision but you. I will say that, originally, DH was reluctant for DD to start meds. Her teacher talked with him about it and used her own child as an example. She compared ADHD to any other medical condition and pointed out that he would never refuse to medicate her for a medical illness if there was a treatment available. In the end, he agreed to a month long trial. He changed his mind after one week, when DD told him that her brain was no longer 'itchy'. Now, he is pursuing an ADD diagnosis for himself. My suggestion... keep an open mind about all suggested interventions!
