This area is for discussion on ADHD/ADD as requested

Thanks Wendy.
It will be great to have some where to talk to people who are dealing with the same thing.

Still have to get DD assessed. Have to make a GP appointment, and then take her to see a pediatrician.

How is everyone else doing?

Absolutely fricking awful here tbh.
Disaster day has arrived.

Oh big hugs Eleanor.
If you need to vent, feel free

Still very early days here some good days and some not so good days I'm looking forward to chatting more with you.

PD I hope you get an appt soon it'll probably be next year now though, won't it I hope you get the answers you need

Not so good at our house this morning with the 5 year old who is swearing and my 8 year old who has his "mad uncle jack" hat on.

Some mornings he is just plain crazy like he wakes up totally manic as he is so, so loud, dancing around the house, causing problems with his younger brother. Spilling cereal all over the floor, trashes his room, argues about everying I say and ask him to do. All this in an hour from waking before we leave for school.

I count the minutes until his meds kick in, usually as we are jumping into the car and on the drive to school we start to have a bit of peace and sensible conversation but, not before he decides to argue black in blue with me that today was Wednesday.. and it was his turn in the front. Save me!

It takes every bit of my patience to deal with it calmly (which I don't do very well) some mornings.

When family come to stay they must feel very stressed at the noise volume in our house.... I have my sister coming on Friday with her quiet sweet 2 year old. I feel anxious already about my kids and their quirks and what she will think.

Oh my god why couldnt I not just have sweet, quiet children!

Awwwww Louise, sounds like you have your hands full.
Our world is made up of all kinds and you have been blessed, just with a different kind
I am sure your sister will understand. At least you will have another adult in the house to talk to and not feel like you are one step away from joining the mad house

Can I join in, as I have been blessed with 1 ADD DD ,
I can second the bit about waiting to the meds kick in, I was giving meds as soon as DD wakes up to try and make the morning better; but they were not lasting all day so I am now giving them a little bit later, (luck teacher!!!) On the weekend if the morning routine has been upset, I find myself getting annoyed by DD behaviour then suddenly remember that she does not have her meds on board and give them. We have been playing with meds for just over a year now and things are getting better but we still have up and down days.

thanks PD - it's less about the ADHD and more about the not eating for Nicholas.
A doctor has changed his mind yet again so won't help so now N has no chance of going to school - like ever.
So never mind.

to all the mummies joining in.. The mornings are the pits here too. Everything is just too hard for DS I usually end up dresssing him just to get us out the door on time. But yeah by the time we get to school his meds have well and truely kicked in and very cooperative This is only our 4th week on his meds so very early days but he seems pretty stable on his dose for the time being. I still can't get over how much he has changed in a few short weeks. My BP has never been as good as its been lately.

Eleanor with the non eating is it just lunch that N is uninterested. I'm finding that L is constantly skipping lunch he's never been an eater more of a nibble here and there kind of kid. But just these last few weeks he has been eating alot at dinner time. I'm going to mention it at his appt on friday and see what the spec thinks.

Has anyone here had the fragile X/molecular Karotype test done? Were currently waiting for the results

Hi Vicky Lee just wanted to comment on this, we used to wait to give Logan his meds so they would be working for school and hopefully get him through the school day. Unfortunately for us it meant the mornings were pure torture and I dreaded starting the day like that. We now leave a fast release tablet beside his bed with a drink of water and he takes it as soon as he wakes up. It means he is calmed down within 15mins or so and then we give him slow release at 8am. Might be something that could work for you, it took 18months of struggling in the mornings before a new Dr helped us out here.

LCM - Thanks but it's food in general N won't eat.
He literally survives on a total nutrition formula and that's about all keeping him here. We last tried cutting his 1.5 litres/day in half and he lost 1.5kg in 3 weeks, behaviour was a total nightmare, schoolwork disintergrated etc.
So way bigger prob

Hi LCM

The meds do suppress the apetite, that is one of the side effects.

My son eats his huge breakfast and wont touch his lunch. He gets home then around 4 he eats lunch because he is starving then eats constantly all evening until bed including dinner and snacks before bed. He takes onboard his calories at the end of the day.

Just the way it is. You just have to change things around a bit and have a big snack ready for after school or he can eat his lunch box lunch and then dinner a bit later.

I like the idea of the immediate release just after waking, we have some immediate release so might try that.

At the moment we are taking ours around 8.30. But it does make the mornings hard work.

I'm not a morning person and he is skipping around the house like tiger from poo bear talking a mile to the dozen and falling over everything. It drives me crazy.

Sorry - I got interrupted while writing. Yes, it's a well known prob with meds.

Nicholas had huge probs with methylphenidate suppressing his appetite but dexamphetamine doesn't have that effect on him - so there are other options if it becomes a big problem. Nicholas' issues are as a combo effect of reflux, reflux surgery, negative food associations and compounded by the meds. so a different kettle of fish - although trying to find incentives to eat with an ADHD kid is extremely 'challenging'!

My experience: DS was on Ritalin FA for a year and his appetite too was reduced so we just ensured he had a huge breakfast, which he does. After 9mths he got too "used" to the dosage and he expressed his concern of anxiety so is now on a Ritalin LA. It lasts him through school which was my main reason for medicating him. I try not to medicate in weekends if I can. He is nearly 8 now and knows why he needs his meds. He often reminds me. If it is school hols/weekends sometimes he may ask for it if he is feeling he needs it. The paed and myself really try and talk through feelings and so he can monitor his own need so to speak. Working for us.

Hi there

Do any of your children have difficulties with sleeping, winding down at night to sleep.

My son has problems falling off to sleep maybe 2 or 3 times a week.

The Pead recommended melintonin (excuse spelling) but it is really expensive because it is not subsidised in NZ.

Do any of you have experences using anything else?

Kids calm by kiwiherb I have used but that is $40 for a bottle as well.

Ive been reading a bit more on line today abut Tart Cherry Juice. Where can I get it in Auckland for a reasonable price?

I think I might give it a wirl.

most chemists and health food shops seem to sell tart cherry juice now. You only need to give them a tiny bit, so the bottle should last ages

Nicholas is on Clonidine at night to help wind down. It was prescribed by the paed as something just to help counter the ADHD at night time and it's worked wonders for him.

Anyone here got any experience on Straterra - ADHD med?
We're about to transition to that for Nicholas in the hopes it might make an appetite emerge even marginally or at least to rule out meds messing with his appetite?

Any experiences - good, bad, indifferent?

Louise, we trialled melatonin for several months with limited success so Logan has been started on clonidine, only been on it 2 days but works very well so far.

Melatonin is very expensive but seems to be the first thing they try, we were giving Logan 9mg (3 capsules) a night so $75 a month and he was still awake at 9.30pm each night.

Eleanor, re: strattera, haven't tried it but Logan's psychologist has mentioned possibly giving it a go. So hard when they lose their appetite isn't it. Logan only really eats breakfast (2 weetbix) and dinner (smallish plate), most of his calories are from Ensure, we give him 3 drinks a day made up with raw milk and heaped scoops so prob 2 cal/ml. Are you making your Ensure up with water or milk?