Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional For those of you on the ADHD journey

I am hoping to get some advice/experience from some of you who may be in similar situations.

I have had an idea that ADHD might be a possibility with DS7 for years now, but I have been sidetracked by hypersensitivities, gifted quirks, and I suppose on reflection, the stigma society places on ADHD and related treatments. We have met with various opinions from professionals over the years from, oh yes, he will have to be medicated at some stage, to he is just a very gifted little boy with a very active mind and body.

Anyway, we are now with a psychologist I really trust and on a waiting list for a paediatrician who is supposed to be very good. The psychologists' opinion is that he likely has ADHD combined type and will likely benefit from medication. While my gut reaction when he was 4 and there was talk of the possibility of medication in the future was one of distaste, over the last 3 years, I have seen him struggle with impulsivity, hyperactivity, and inability to sustain attention. I have seen it impact on him socially, academically, and also it affects our family. Part of me is counting down the days (3.5 months) until we can see the paediatrician and try out some medication. I see worlds of room for improvement. So my first question, in what specific areas did you see improvement with medication? Were there any things that you hoped to see improve that did not?

I am impatient for the appointment with the paediatrician, but I also think it will be good timing as his teacher will have had him for half the year, so she will know him well, and then he will have half the year left with her to note any changes if we do end up trying medication.

I am sure there have been lots of posts on people's experiences with medication, and I have tried some searches and found a few threads, but please link any threads here if you think there is a previous discussion or post I might find beneficial to read.

Also what age did you first suspect ADHD? What age did you actually get a diagnosis, and what age did you first try medication?

I have two children, both with ADHD.
DD was dx 3 years ago when she was 8. She has been on medication since the day of dx and it has changed her life. The most important change for her was her self esteem, that rocketed. She was able to complete school work, manage her feelings and emotions better and actually focus on all the things she loved. She is complex and has other issues, but with a GAI of 170, she was unable to even get close to potential before medication. Without it, she just cannot function at all from simple tasks like eating to working out basic addition. The medication gives her the ability to converse, lead a normal life etc.

My DS (6.5yrs) was having huge issues in 1st grade, he was given a 1:1 to help get his work done. In 40 mins he would write one sentence with constant prompting and reminding. His work was poor, he couldn't concentrate enough to read properly...his eyes would lose focus and track badly. He missed recess, he was sent out of class etc. He is now on medication and has gone from needing a 1:1 to writing 2 pages in 40 mins without the aide. He is reading fluently and confidently. He no longer says, "I'm so stupid, I get my own teacher" so his self esteem and confidence have improved no end. We only medicated him for school hours but he needs constant supervision when not medicated.

For you, try adding in Omega oils to the diet, they can help. We also tried caffeine as well for a short term hit.
It was a hard decision to make with regards to medication, but one that I am so glad we did.

DS10 was given a "probable" diagnosis of ADHD (lots of other things going on, so it wasn't so clear cut) a year ago. We had suspected ADHD, among other diagnoses, for many years. We tried one med, with disastrous results. He was moody, volatile, and had some pretty severe meltdowns. We quit after less than 2 weeks, and tried a different one. This one was better (no extreme behavior), and he was able to concentrate on academics for longer. However, he got depressed in the afternoon when the meds were wearing off, and his entire personality seemed flat. Plus it seriously affected his appetite (and he's already a super skinny kid). The pros didn't outweigh the cons, especially since we homeschool and have lots of freedom to work at our own pace. We still have the prescription, but almost never use it anymore.

I can tell when DD is medicated by just looking at her, usually. It makes a big difference with her. She calms down a lot and acts a lot more mature. I can tell her to do a job and she does it, but when she's not medicated she is all over the place and even if I yell it doesn't necessarily get through to her. It also speeds up her processing. She recalls things like math facts a lot more easily when she is medicated.

We first had concerns when she was about 4-5 years. Before that she seemed very similar to other kids. Then I noticed she wasn't sitting still in circle time and the other kids were. She was the last to put her coats, boots, etc. on at preschool. We finally got the diagnosis when she was 6 and started medication right away. Some of the meds we tried had unacceptable side effects. It takes experimentation.

Wow, that's a long wait to see the ped - is it a developmental ped? Or a ped that specializes in ADHD? Just curious due to the long wait, and also wondering if in the meantime you have other options re pursuing ADHD eval? Our regular ped does a screening... I'm guessing you've already been through that route?

Definitely worth the wait for a solid opinion and the benefit of expert advice... but I also empathize with how difficult life can be during that wait, especially for your ds.

Best wishes,

polarbear

Yeah, we had two recommendations, and both had about a 6 month waiting list. It is a developmental paed, and supposed to be very good with ADHD management. We are working with the psychologist in the mean time, who has done a screening with us from which she determined ADHD to be quite likely. And we have other reports from previous assessments with a paediatrician and psychologists, so we will have plenty to provide the paediatrician with when we get there.

Thanks TigerM, KnittingMama, and blackcat for sharing your stories. I was happy to hear that you found your DD was able to better handle her emotions with medication, TigerM, as I have my fingers crossed that will be the case for DS. He is really having trouble with melting down, and I think he just gets overwhelmed with everything and can't cope, so I am hoping that getting the impulsivity and hyperactivity under control will help with that. We did try fish oil in the past, and I don't know if it was coincidence or not, but both my kids seemed to go extra hyper and emotional with it. Maybe we should give it another try.

KnittingMama, thanks for sharing that medication did not work out for your family, and its great that you are able to provide a homeschool environment that is flexible enough to help.

blackcat, I can definitely relate to the shouting and not getting through. Sometimes it really is as if DS is in a bubble. I am not looking forward to the fiddly bit of finding the right medication and the right dose, but if it helps in the end, I can see it might be a huge thing for DS. His biggest issues at the moment are probably social, although there is academic stuff that would improve with better attention, less impulsivity, he is at a very good fit school that has great support and accommodations, but the school can't make the kids be socially accommodating. And so self-esteem gets affected too.

Hopefully before the end of the year I will be able to come back on here with our own story of improvements.

I wish I could say homeschool is a cure-all, but it isn't. It's still a struggle, but on a somewhat lesser scale.

I hope you get the diagnosis and help you need. It's so frustrating to see our kids challenged in this way.

If only a cure-all existed! I still think it is fantastic that you are able to create a homeschool environment though. I do not think I would be able to do it. I need the break that I get when my kids head off to school. Things were getting pretty tense around here at the end of the summer holidays!

I think we are very fortunate in having found a school that is a very good fit for both my children. This time 2 years ago, we were at a school that wasn't working, and the stress of trying to figure out what to do what pretty big. So I need to remember that we have come a long way in a lot of areas.

I should have added that we now home school DD, but that wasn't for ADHD reasons, more anxiety and the whole PG thing! However, we can monitor her activity levels at home, give her breaks when needed etc. She is completely disorganised so we can deal with that easily at home.

DS is at school and his school has been brilliant, but now he's medicated, he looks just like any other child.

Hey there- we found out that our DS9 had ADHD when he was eight years old. Like you, we had suspected for a long time but ADHD and gifted traits overlap. Initially, my DS was diagnosed with a social pragmatics language impairment (via a language evaluation recommended by his school), but my gut instinct said that it was ADHD-- and I took him in for a full neuropsych.

I realize that your question is primarily about medication- we aren't doing medication (yet!) but it may be part of our plan as DS approaches middle school. *Without* medication, I can tell you that the academic issues ramped up in 3rd grade (ages 8-9). My DS has difficulty dealing with distractions, frustration, and has some problems with executive functioning that seem more extreme than his NT peers. He frequently claims that everyone else was "told they needed to do x, y, z *except* him!" He has significant difficulty managing time, monitoring (metacognition), and organizing his thoughts for social interaction. He's terrified of not finishing a sentence or a thought, no matter what is going on in the moment because he may forget it (just like me:)

The giftedness makes a lot of tasks seem like tedious busywork (which causes problems with incentive which leads to more distraction). All of this with *mild to moderate* ADHD and no discernible academic learning disabilities, and no ODD. Anyone who doesn't think ADHD is a serious issue should see my son's *mild to moderate* ADHD.

You asked what age I first suspected-- 21 months, incidentally, the same age I suspected he was gifted (he's now a DYS). No one believed me on either count, but I have seen dysfunction among highly intelligent adults (my family), and I just knew.