karin cordner
My daughter was also on Adderall two years ago, when she was nine years old. She was thin when she began taking it and instantly lost 20 pounds within the first few months of taking it. She looked anorexic and boasted that she could go all day without eating. The school nurse called me one day and said that she was concerned that my daughter was too thin and that adderall was mainly used for a diet pill. I took her off the medication and began using alternative treatment; vitamins, minerals, hypoglycemic diet, and magnetic therapy. After she stopped taking the adderall, she grew one foot in a year (her dad is 6'2, I'm only 5'3), went up three shoe sizes, and gained thirty pounds. She's now 5'4 and weighs 106 at 11 years old (she wears a junior size 5. She looks great. I make sure that she eats a little every few hours and brings a snack to school. I keep her involved in music and soccer to get out her extra energy. She is getting mostly A's and a few B's on her progress report. I get a weekly progress report from her teacher because with A.D.D. I'm sure you know how their grades can go up and down significantly (even on the same exact tests). If she starts having trouble I start watching her diet - lots of protein and less sugar. My daughter likes drinking protein drinks (with added green freeze-dried vegetable mix found in health stores) in the morning before school. She begs for it when I'm out and claims she likes the way it makes her feel. The brand "Nikken" is excellent, however, the megnetic products are expensive. Don't get me wrong, I still have days where I want to pull my hair out with her outbursts and being mean to her younger sister. They just don't happen as often. My friend has her son on Adderrall and has for approx. one year. He is also the same age as my daughter. Her son was overweight to begin with and has lost (approx)forty pounds in the last year. He looks great and likes the way he looks now. He is failing in school and refuses to do anything but draw pictures all day. My friend is concerned because her doctor keeps upping the dose and her son boasts about not having to eat all day. One other thing you might consider: I grew up with four brothers. In their mid teenage years they were all around 5'2. My mother took two of my shortest brothers to the University of Washington to have tests done on them because she was worried about their growth. The doctor told her not to worry that they were late bloomers and would get their height around 18 or 19 years old. One of my brothers grew to 5'8 around 18 years and my other brother grew one foot in a year (between 18 - 19 yrs old)to 6'2. The one that grew a foot was on Ritalin most of his life for A.D.H.D. and stopped taking it around 17 yrs old. He is now in a lot of trouble as an adult and would have most likely benefited from the continued use of medication. He now uses drugs and alcohol excessively to calm him. It does seem like many girls develop earlier than boys do. Maybe you could have a different doctor observe him for growth. Many kids with A.D.D. are very bright yet have the inability to focus. I had a teacher tell my daughter last year (after changing schools)that she was one of the "lower students" in the classroom. My daughter was told over and over that she was dumb and her effort and grades dropped tremendously. I finally got so angry at this teacher that I called her and told her teacher that if she was getting low grades it was her teacher's fault. I explained that I work with my child and that if her grades drop significantly and she never picked up the phone to call me than it was her fault. I explained that my child IS bright and that she had better stop labeling her as "stupid", just because she has A.D.D. Her teacher listened and I was sent a progress report home twice a week. She ended the year with a few A's, B's and one C. This was better than the D's, C's and F's she was getting two months before school was out. Don't ever allow a teacher to put your kid down in front of other students and stand up for them!!! Many teachers don't know how to handle A.D.D. kids and like to label them as "trouble-makers" and "problem children". Refuse to allow them to do this. My doctor explained that kids with A.D.D. have special rights under the American with Disabilities act and public schools can be forced to provide alternative means of educating your child. Sorry so lengthly. Best wishes to you.