I was an anti-med demagogue for most of my life. Until I discovered I wasn't Chuck Norris and couldn't bull my way through every problem.
Then, at age 45, was finally diagnosed with what I had secretly suspected since first hearing the term in 1986, "ADD". Of course, when I was a kid, there was no such thing, you were slow or lazy or just bad. People discouraged me from getting diagnosed for years, because I wasn't hyper, but the two don't go always go together. My parents talked me out of having a daughter tested when she was in grade school, because they didn't want her to get "labeled". But which is worse, to have a child labled ADD, or labeled slow and lazy, and grow up believing it?
I'm 50 now and take Focalin XR every day, and it's been great. I tried Concerta first, but didn't like the side effects (though one was OK, better than Viagra), and Strattera.
My advice: before going to a shrink, find a good psychotherapist, one who specializes in children, and play therapy. This helped my son tremendously with anxiety issues without meds, and an anxiety can be a bigger learning disability than ADD. Don't go the medication route until the therapist recommends it (be sure to pick a therapist who is open to it, or one who works with a shrink). But don't rely on meds alone to solve the problem. All psychiatrists do anymore but pass out meds and adjust them until the patient is functioning.
Then, at age 45, was finally diagnosed with what I had secretly suspected since first hearing the term in 1986, "ADD". Of course, when I was a kid, there was no such thing, you were slow or lazy or just bad. People discouraged me from getting diagnosed for years, because I wasn't hyper, but the two don't go always go together. My parents talked me out of having a daughter tested when she was in grade school, because they didn't want her to get "labeled". But which is worse, to have a child labled ADD, or labeled slow and lazy, and grow up believing it?
I'm 50 now and take Focalin XR every day, and it's been great. I tried Concerta first, but didn't like the side effects (though one was OK, better than Viagra), and Strattera.
My advice: before going to a shrink, find a good psychotherapist, one who specializes in children, and play therapy. This helped my son tremendously with anxiety issues without meds, and an anxiety can be a bigger learning disability than ADD. Don't go the medication route until the therapist recommends it (be sure to pick a therapist who is open to it, or one who works with a shrink). But don't rely on meds alone to solve the problem. All psychiatrists do anymore but pass out meds and adjust them until the patient is functioning.
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