I have an 8 year old daughter, Maddie, who was diagnosed ADHD a few years ago. After all the weight loss, nervous ticks and bad luck with other meds, I pulled her off of medication and have been researching natural alternatives to meds. I just dont know what to do because my ex husband says its because Im a bad mom and that Maddie is a brat. But I know my daughter and how loving and wonderful she can be. She just seems so lost at times. Can anyone help? Its very hard.

I went through the same thing MJsMommy, mine is 10 yrs old and was on adderall for 2 years. I dont believe in medicating children like that, I went back to her counselor and she told me about a book called "the new childhood epidemics, the 4-a disorders, asthma, autism, allergies and adhd" by the time I finished the book my daughter was already off meds for the summer, I did a dairy elimination diet. I cant tell you how much my daughter has changed since doing that. She now for the first time has passed 60 lbs, she is growing in leaps and bounds, she is eating MUCH MUCH better (high protein low carb diet), she is sleeping 9-10 hrs a night for the first time since being an infant! And recentley her daycare has commented about how calm she is and wanted to know if I had put her back on the adderall for school. I havent, and I dont plan to. She has a doctors appt in Sept to discuss supplements but there will be no discussion on adhd meds cuz she isnt gonna be taking them. It has made a significant change for both our lives and I for one support this method.

MJ,

First of all, I am glad that he is your EX husband, because he is an idiot.

Secondly, Don't start trying those herbal treatments, they are a bunch of hogwash.

Thirdly, what medications have you tried? There are quite a variety out there, so if you dont like the side affect of your current med, get your Dr. to try something else.

I too, have read the book recommended by Neon and found it to be a good book to locate some alternative treatments without trying the really strange homeopathic, or herbal treatment that are completely unproven.

Some Dr's are of the opinion that Gluten(Wheat) and Dairy can cause a lot of digestive problems with these kids. You could look up Gluten Free, Dairy Free (GFCF) on the internet and go from there.