My son was diagnosed with ADD (not ADHD) at the beginning of first grade and is now coming to the end of his third grade year. At first by his teacher and school psycologist, then by his doctor, a specialist and a seperate pyschologist.

His symptoms have always been pretty much the same. He is very impulsive (calling out, getting up, ect) and is easily distracted. Also he would also touch the other children a bit too much (never in a “bad place” or hitting, just shoulder tapping and such) but has at least stopped that since about the 2nd grade.

All of these symptoms seemed much worse when he was in large groups of kids, classrooms, team sports, boy scouts ect. At home he always seems a bit hyper, not out of control though.

Since he was diagnosed he has been on the following meds
1. Straterra
2. Concerta
3. Straterrs/Concerta mix
4. Dexedrine
5. Addersll XR/Straterra mix
6. Adderall XR

All of these meds began with the lowest dose and then we constantly increased the doses until the highest recommended dose was reached...with little on no change. Also we tried almost every combination as well as different times of the day. The best results (if any) usually appeared right at the beginning and then tapered off. At best these meds only “took the edge off” with the exception of the Dexedrine.

The Dexedrine literally turned my son into a listless, unemotional zombie kid that showed almost no emotion whatsoever. We took him off that after 2 weeks.

Now he is taking the highest dose of Adderall XR he can safety take at his weight/height (which is in the bottom 10%, this concerns us as well). We thought he was doing OK but after a phone call from his teacher. We’re told that he has become increasingly disruptive to the point that he CONSTANTLY corrects and question the teachers and bossed around other students. He fidgets, he hums, he sings, he has to keep almost all of his school supplies at the teachers desk because he’ll chew them or twirl them or tap them ect...

This really concerns my wife who is a 1st grade teacher!

Now all this from a kid that gets all A’s & B’s, who says “Yes Sir” and is no stranger to having privileges & possessions taken away due to inappropriate behavior!!! He is not spoiled!

OK, I’m rambling on...:)

We are now going to try a very strict organic food diet (this just means food that doesn't have any additives, preservative, MSG and exciotoxins) at the suggestion of a nutrition expert who is a client of mine. She swears that by doing so we’ll see positive changes inside of 60 days. She says she has “cured” many children just like ours, she has given me several references as well.

Also are considering “herbal” remedies such as “Focus” and/or “BrightSpark”. Any thoughts on these?

Any thoughts, ideas, help or suggestions PLEASE!:confused:

Thanks in Advance!
Jay

It's not you. Something is obviously going on with him, and you can't fix disorders until you hit the right treatment, and that's all trial and error unfortunately.
I'm no doctor so my thoughts are just coming from a mom that reads a lot, and has a child with several disorders . I'm just going to throw my thoughts out at you, and they may or may not mean anything at all. They are just my thoughts;) .
My first thought is maybe you have the wrong diagnosis. I know he's seen a lot of people, but there are some things that don't become real apparent until they get a bit older.
There are many things that mimic the symptoms of ADHD, but two of them that really over lap in a lot of area's are bipolar, and Spectrum disorders. I would encourage you to look into them just to see if anything "fits". Not only do a lot of their symptoms overlap with ADHD, often times ADHD is a co-morbid disorder of these.
There were a few things that stood out to me. His bossiness. Early onset bipolar children, are hyper and impulsive and usually get an initial diagnosis of ADHD because of this. They tend to have a grandiose attitude and it's common for them to expect everyone to do as they wish, but they themselves do not have to follow any rules (or so they think anyway).

The other thing though is the fact that you don't see much of this at home. I'm wondering if the stimulation of school is just to much for him, the noise, all the motion, etc. That, along with the fact that he chews, taps and twirls, seems to point in the direction of sensory issues, in my opinion. Sensory issues are very often seen in children on the spectrum, but they can be seen with ADHD as well, or as a stand alone disorder of Sensory Integration Disorder.

Anyway, it might be a good idea to just look over some of the disorders that can mimic ADHD, and like I said, just see if anything jumps out at you. As far as the diet and supplements, I'm not sure you will see anything major, but you never know, and it can't hurt, right:) .
Good luck!