AD/HD: What kind of doctor does your child see?

[Connie1222]

Jack seems to be regressing at school & at home. He is so moody lately and he had a full blown anxiety attack last week. Twice this week he has put his hands on his classmates. Today I got a call from the guidance counselor that he punched his classmate in the face. He has been suspended from his class today, he has to spend the day in the SN Kindergarten class and do work by himself. I am sitting here crying because I feel I'm not doing enough for him. He has been seen by 2 different developmental pediatricians, who beyond the diagnosis, have not been too helpful. We are not ready to medicate him yet. His anxiety is the issue here as I've read AD/HD meds can make anxiety worse. I'm looking into a new dev ped and also making an appointment with a child pyschiatrist. I am seeing a child psychologist today for intake and hopefully it will be the right fit for him. His behavior is stopping him from going mainstream at school, because if he can't handle being in a class with 12 kids, there is no way he can handle more.

So what kinds of doctors do your kids see? And advice or input? TIA!

[Eleanor]

My kids don't have ADHD (at least, not diagnosed!), but I see kids with ADHD in my practice (general family medicine). My thoughts- the child psychologist is definitely a good idea- they should be able to do as much for you behaviorally as anyone can. The child psychiatrist is definitely a good idea if you're thinking meds- they typically don't do a lot besides med management though (at least not the ones that I've worked with in the past)

[Connie1222]

Thanks Eleanor. I called a child pyschiatrist today and they basically confirmed what you said so I'll hold off on that.

[Shel]

We've always just used our pediatrician, but she was WONDERFUL regarding Jacob. He did see a child psychologist for awhile, but once we started with the diet modification and mineral supplements the dietician recommended, he stopped seeing the psychologist.

Have you thought about an anti-anxiety med instead of something for the ADHD??

[Brandi]

We are in the process of getting a diagnosis of some sort right now. I think seeing a psychologist or some type of counselor would be a great idea to work on some behavior modification. That's really important. But also, yes, some meds may have bad side effects, but I think that medication may be super important for kids. I think the problem in what everyone thinks is over-medicating, is really possibly over-diagnosis instead. Kids who need meds really need them. What I worry mostly about with my son is his self-confidence and how others view him. Right now, he's in Kindergarten and his friends are very forgiving, but I know that won't always be the case. As he gets older, kids aren't going to be so nice about his little quirks. I also don't want him to be labeled as a trouble maker by the teachers. I want him to be successful, and if that means medicine, so be it. We've been fighting off this diagnosis for a while now, but it's super necessary right now. Anyway, just my opinion. I hope you guys can get some control over the behaviors.

[Connie1222]

Thanks for all your input. The therapist I saw last night was wonderful! She is exactly what I was looking for. She's going to work with Jack's school to implement a behavior plan and work with Jack as well, once a week. She works in a school too, and she's very knowledgeable about the different types of SN settings, etc.

I'm not going forward with a psychiatrist because Jack's developmental ped also does medication management, so if we decide to go that way in the future, we have it covered. I really want to exhaust all my options before we go to medication. I'm also looking into parent training classes and I made an appointment with another developmental ped that is close to home. Couldn't hurt.

[Nadine]

First of all ~ lots of HUGS.
I would look into modification therapy since he will most probably need it no matter if he will be taking meds or not. And try to find alternative medicine for him before taking the Ritalin road. I wish we had.

[Sam W]

We only see the Ped for Isabel. She takes 15mg Adderall - for ~7 months now - and we've seen a HUGE improvement. We do some behavior modification, but they are all things that we've instituted at home without seeing a Psychiatrist. I do hope that everything goes smoothly during this, as I know it can be both trying and tiring.

[Brandi]

Sounds like you are on the right track. It's wonderful that you found someone you really like! That's half the battle. Good luck!

[Connie1222]

I started Jack on some herbal supplements today, it's called Attentive Child and they taste like Sweet Tarts so Jack ate it up. I've also got some Omega 3-6-9 fish oil. Supposed to taste like lemon, but to me it just tastes like oil. :dead: I'm trying to figure out how to get him to take it!

[Kate]

Cameron has seen his PCP, neurologist, psychologist and psychiatrist. He sees his psychologist once a week. Also at school he sees the adjustment counselor in a group therapy environment.

[Eleanor]

I started Jack on some herbal supplements today, it's called Attentive Child and they taste like Sweet Tarts so Jack ate it up. I've also got some Omega 3-6-9 fish oil. Supposed to taste like lemon, but to me it just tastes like oil. :dead: I'm trying to figure out how to get him to take it!

Oh, it tastes exactly like lemon....flavored cod liver oil. :lol: My husband does shots straight from the bottle (ick) but I won't touch it. They have it in capsules (which I take)...but they're pretty big, and Jack probably couldn't swallow them...Can you mix it with something?

[Connie1222]

Oh, it tastes exactly like lemon....flavored cod liver oil. :lol: My husband does shots straight from the bottle (ick) but I won't touch it. They have it in capsules (which I take)...but they're pretty big, and Jack probably couldn't swallow them...Can you mix it with something?

I'm going to mix it with chocolate pudding, it's his favorite and I tested it today and it's not noticeable at all. Keith takes the capsules too, but I know Jack won't swallow them.

Jack has his first appointment with the therapist tonight. Can't wait to see how it goes. I've also stopped sending Jack on the bus in the morning. It comes at 7:25 and I'm always rushing him out the door to be on time and I think it might also be sensory overload first thing in the morning. So now, he can wake up on his own and ease into the day, plus we walk the 2 blocks to school together and it's really nice. I spoke to the bus monitor & they will still drop him off home. So it's a win-win. As long as we beat the bus to school!