ADD help?

[TheVBs]

Hey everyone. I was hoping to once again benefit from all the parental experience here. Our DD11 is likely going to get an ADD diagnosis soon, which means we have some things to figure out. A short history: when she was 4 she became very ill, took us a long time to figure out what was going on and address it. She had some very unpleasant hospital stays and finally had surgery to fix the medical problem. After all of that she was having severe anxiety and panic attacks, so years have been spent dealing with that.

She has come so far and is just doing amazing!! She's in 5th grade, doing grade level work and acing tests! She gets all A's and B's. However, her focus is a huge struggle and she has to be prompted almost constantly to get through the day. There are days when she's far more focused and rocks through the day, so not always consistent. We see some of these focus issues at home, but nowhere near to the degree the teachers see them at school. She often looks like she's not listening at all, but her teachers say they discover that she is taking the info in, thus acing those tests. She is definitely processing things very slowly.

She's currently going through a series of evaluations at school so we can understand as best we can where she stands now, before she moves on to middle school next year (yikes!).

I know there are stimulants that can be prescribed, and I have to admit that I'm nervous about them - not set against them, but nervous. She has had tics in the past and I worry about the stimulants affecting that. She does respond to behavioral methods, but not enough (so far) to fully correct the problem (we've just tried things at school, not therapy). We've also been told that any behavioral coping she learns while on the medication, she will lose once she goes off of it. That really concerns us as well!

I would love to have any insight/experience anyone here is willing to share with me! All I want is to be well informed about what ADD looks like (does she fit?) and what our options are for helping her. We just want to help her in any way we can and make the right choices. I would love to know more about peoples experiences with the stimulants and/or behavioral therapy. Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is such a valuable group in terms of parent resources and I hope you guys know that I appreciate all the help you've given us on other issues! :mickey:

[disney obsessed]

One word.

Vyvanse.

Ok, more than one word.

it is a non stimulant and long acting. very few side effects. before this my kids took adder all, which helped but not as well because of the let down at the end ofthe day. also, it is important to remember what is 'normal' 5th grade behavior and what is seen as add because of her history. you know your child best. the hard part is finding the balance.
I do not think they lose those coping techniques. many of them are a function of maturing and being responsible. As they develop into adults they develop some of them on their own in the maturation process.
it does not hurt to try for a few months and see if there is a difference. Now is a good time to do meds for a few months and see what happens for the end of the school year. Then you can compare and decide what is best for your
daughter.
did they do the finger tap test? It was this test
that convinced me that it was a neurological issue and not purely behavioral. Of course you would treat your kids diabetes or strep. a medical issue is a medical issue.
sorry for rambling and for typos. IPads ugh.

[SBETigg]

My son is going on 21 now. He has always been brilliant, but he has had focus issues and problems doing things that he considers busy work and hold no interest for him. Middle school was the worst, and that's when we had him tested and he was never conclusively ADD-ADHD. His grades were always passable, despite failed homework assignments, because he aces all the tests (which meant he ended up with a lot of Cs instead of As because homework counts pretty heavily toward grades in middle school/high school). In college, he tried Adderall because his first roommate was a drug dealer (just what mom wants to hear) and Adderall is apparently sold as a big recreational drug among the high school-college age kids. Fantastic, right?

But he said he felt better on Adderall than he usually does, more energetic and he was able to focus on everything without a problem. He only tried it once but my husband and I had a long talk and worried that we did the wrong thing by ignoring the potential that he had ADD/ADHD and the medications that might have helped. He did have counseling and learned some coping techniques, but his brain just works so differently from most and I'm not sure any amount of coping or counseling could change that part of who he is. And of course, I love who he is, wouldn't change that, but he's definitely not going to have a 9 to 5 future.

As of now, he hates taking drugs, taking anything, even tylenol for pain, and there's no convincing him to see a doctor about his issues. He dropped out of that college because there were too many people like his drug dealing first roommate (he says, I suspect the focus issues were still a problem) and he's working now and planning to go back to school. But I still always wonder what if. That's my experience with the issue, and maybe it will give you more to consider. The what if weighs pretty heavily on a parent sometimes, and I'm sure it goes both ways, that there are parents out there who went with the meds and wonder what if they hadn't. But if the diagnosis comes out in a way that a doctor recommends a medication, it might not hurt to try.

[c&d]

Our son (7th grade) was just diagnosed with anxiety and mild ADD. What we were told is that we should focus on the anxiety because as we deal with that the ADD becomes more manageable. He does not need any drugs but he is in counseling to help with the anxiety. I must say the counseling is really helping. He really is a different person.

What we were told is that the ADD will cause him to daydream in class but then the anxiety kicks in and it's a little voice saying "you're stupid, if you were smart you wouldn't be daydreaming right now." It is just a vicious cycle and the help with the anxiety helps calm the ADD. For us it appears to be working.

We did pay for a neuropsych evaluation for him which is how we found about the anxiety. It was a full day of testing, expensive but worth it. We found that he is a visual person so oral instructions didn't work as well for him as written ones.

Hope this helps.

[azdisneymom]

As a side note: I would start talking to your dd's school regarding what Assistive Technology is available to help her stay on task and be successful. Assistive Technology is a generic term for just about anything required to be successful. Visual schedules, timers, and graphic organizers are some examples. There are academic programs that can be useful, too, many are free online downloads. Try doing a search for Universal Design for Learning. One I like is http://udltechtoolkit.wikispaces.com/ (hope I can post this link). Best wishes.

You can PM me if you would like some input regarding AT.

[TheVBs]

Thanks so much for all the responses!

Disney Obsessed, I will ask her doctor about Vyvanse. He's currently suggesting a very conservative dose of a well tested stimulant, but that still concerns me. What is the finger test? I agree, if she has a treatable problem, we want to treat it. But it's not quite the same has having say, strep throat. You have a much higher chance of confirming a medical illness, it's a more obvious choice. With these situations, especially with DD11 who never neatly fits into anything, it's slightly more subjective and makes us more cautious moving forward.

SBETigg, thanks for that valuable perspective! I fully understand the "what ifs". There was a time, during the worst of DD11's illness when I spent all my time rewinding and fast-forwarding in my head. It was a shock to realize that I was doing it so much that I was missing right now. As parents, we make the best choices we can with what we know at that moment. We have had a lot of discussion about trying something short term, just to see how it works. I'd hate to have her depend on something long term, especially a stimulant. But, I guess we'll just have to see. And yikes about the roommate!!

C&D, DD11 has anxiety as well. She's been on an anti-anxiety medication for, I think, 4 years now. She's always been on an extremely low dose and I have wondered if the lack of focus, or daydreaming, was some kind of coping technique for stress over school work. But, she says she's not feeling stressed at school. It's tempting to try upping that dose, but again, I'm just not sure.

Azdisneymom, thanks for that link! I have bookmarked it and will definitely check it out. The school is great about using different tools to help assist her. She's definitely a visual person and responds much better to visual cues than verbal ones.

[SBETigg]

Yes, parenting is full of those what if moments. Better when it's something that isn't directly your call. Like, what if the university had given him a better freshman roommate. ;) Such is life. Whatever happens, I'm sure your daughter will benefit from your guidance and decisions. Having thoughtful, caring parents helps in all situations.

[disney obsessed]

The Finger Tap test is a neurological test. It tests for the brains ability to process information. I would ask your specialist about it. Once you know the test it cannot be administer purely, so I am hesitant to share. If you do not get the info you need from them, you can pm me.

[TheVBs]

Thanks again for all the input! I just picked up some books from the library and will try to educate myself and objectively look at how DD may or may not fit into this. I will also ask about the finger tap test on our next appt!

[TheVBs]

Well, after reading up on this, talking with DD11 and DH a lot and talking with her doctor a lot, we've decided to give a stimulant a trial run. It's not exactly my happiest moment here, but despite DD11's and the school's best efforts (and the school has been AWESOME about trying behavioral techniques) she just can't seem to overcome this huge focus problem and it's become a big source of frustration for her at school. :( Fingers crossed this helps.

[tinxmom]

Just bought a wonderful book called "Smart but Scattered" - got it on Amazon. DD15 has ADD but this book has given me great parental help and suggestions of things to do at home to help her learn a skill set she is lacking - organization, time management, focus, initiating tasks, etc. She is on Vyvanse during the schooldays. i highly recommend this book for you - you will feel empowered!

[TheVBs]

Thank you!! I will definitely pick that book up. I appreciate this!