General Chat

I'm looking for ways to manage the behaviour of a child with ADHD - without medication. Do you have any suggestions?

no sweets no fizzy no computer games ... simples x ( if only eh )

agree with rosie, really helps, no beans coke choccy milk u should be able to get a diet sheet from your docs, i brought up my son with aspergers adhd depression etc feeding him was a nightmare , if i can help at all or you wana chat on here or by pm, i will try and help, im off to bed now though but should be on in morning xx

Rules and punishments go together and must be stuck to ....that in its self is hard work...

Be strong.....

And I agree with Rosie posie diet and junk food can make a big difference

my son is big time ADHD .. but when he turned 18 .. oh its not recognised ??

I remember a doctor doing a study into ADHD and diet.
Strange as it may seem, she suggested saturated fats as an aid.

When I thought about it though, I never knew a child with ADHD when I was at school (I'm in my 50's - and went to 6 different schools) - a time when school dinners were literally saturated in them!!

Google ADHD and saturated fats - some interesting reading!!!!

Have you tried the fish oils and evening primrose oils? It's called IQ (can't remember if it's spelt that way), my son was on the sachets for a long time and then went onto the strawberry flavoured capsules...... it takes about 3 months to see the full affects.

It helped my son, he settled better at school and home. They are quite pricey, about £10.00 for 1 months supply... Boots often do them on 3 for the price of 2.

This was the alternative for the medication they could prescribe.


I hope this helps as I am fully aware how ADHD can affect the whole family.


Dee x

No preservatives, artificial colouring or additives in food. Loads of fresh fruit and vegetables. It is difficult but can be done, did it with my youngest and the improvement after a couple of months was amazing. Even today she would rather a plate of fresh veg than a bowl of ice cream.

If they want a sweet treat, try dried fruits, dates, sultanas, raisins, dried apricots, banana and currents, older children (with no allergies) can have nuts as a treat as well. My grandson loves dates and currents, no nuts yet, as too young.
Gail

I took the easy way out with my grandson.I just could not cope with him jumping out windows at school and causing dangerous situations in the class.I am afraid he is on 36mg of concerta xl a day.No diet worked for him and even the pills are not that good but i dont want him on the 54mg.He still only does part time school and his head teacher is talking about boarding school in september because his education is suffering. Annie

My grandson seemed to be the child from hell when he was little and my daughter was tearing her hair out especially when his baby sister arrived. He was disruptive and couldn't concentrate on anything for more than a few minutes. She started him on fish oils (there are special ones for children) and they called them his 'big and strong' tablets to get him to take them. Also - the hardest part - she cut out as many E numbers as she could. This really was difficult to start with and she had a list of 'no go' products stuck on the kitchen wall. After 2 or 3 months you could see the change in him and now he is 11 and just passed his exam to go to grammar school, but just one glass of coke will have an adverse effect on him

Wendy x

I can't comment with regard to dietary tips as no food or drink is affecting my little b oy.

However we have found that shed loads of encouragement helps, as they often feel very inferior to others, especially as they have a struggle to complete school/homework successfully in the time frame allowed. They see others in the class doing it easily and wonder why they can't themselves. He has even called himself a retard.

We play up the things he is very successful at to give him more confidence. A severe lack of confidence seems to be the norm, which can be partly why they misbehave to get attention. Unfortunately, once they are diagnosed with ADHD they do have it for life as it is incurable, only controllable.

Dianne xx

Thanks for the tips. Are there any particular triggers that you have found? I know changes that she hates changes in routine, is unable to focus on one task and food colouring definately affect her mood swings!!!

Keep them busy,lots of out activity,regular healthy meals-no junk and regular bedtime.not too much time spent on computers playing violent games.Keep talking-get them to explain what their feeling,whats happening-make it restorative

Found sugar in any form a major no no. Anything sweet, lollies chocolate etc she was bouncing off the walls. At 5 years old she demolished her bedroom, wardrobe was tipped over and bed upended. This happened after another child's birthday party she pigged out on everything she should not eat. As she got older she would not eat things she knew she should not have and would ask for a salad or piece of fruit when out with others.

Gail

Thanks Gillian and Gail

I used to be the most patient person!

Will try all these tips .... lat least I feel better knowing i'm not the only one who's had their hands full. Liz xx

My 15 year old daughter was diagnosed with ADHD in November last year. She was always a very lively child but not what I would consider hyper, very restless and fidgety and to this day she has problems sleeping. She started self harming when she was eleven and when we moved to this area she was referred to CAHMS where she has had one to one counselling and it was them that suggested testing her for ADHD. . Even when I was filling in my questionair on her medical history and general behaviour I was convinced that they were wrong. What a shock I had, her results were high on the scale. To be honest I had put a lot of her moodiness and gobby mouth down to her age.

She has been prescribed 54mg of Concerta and it has made such a difference. Even her teachers have noticed the difference in her moods. One side affect of Concerta is a possible loss of appetite and this has been a plus for her because she had but a lot of weight on over the last 5 years and was unable to lose it. She has always loved fruit and veg, can not keep the fruit bowl filled up but she did like big portions. The result is that she is losing weight at the rate of 2-3 pounds a week so it is a double boost because she is getting a high from buying smaller size clothes!

One thing that I did notice when researching on the net is that it can be hireditory and I now feel that the ADHD symptons apply even more to m y husband than they do to my daughter. Family medical history is difficult for us to investigate because my husband was adopted and although he did trace his birth family a few years ago things became difficult for a number of reasons so it is difficult to enquire.

The one thing I will say is do not dismiss the medication because for my daughter it has been very successful.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do. xx

Hi Libby that is what my son was on ... and it really made a difference ..
xx

Thanks for the info. Libby & Rosie Posie. May consider if other options don't work out. I have heard Ritalin can affect childrens development and turn them in to zombies.

It was prescribed to my brother 30 years ago ..... hence my reluctance to go down this route.

Is Concerta the same stuff under another name - or is it another name for ritalin?

Concerta XL, Equasym, Medikinet all contain the same active component as Ritalin.

Good luck

Sue xx