Any momma’s that have kids with ADHD? That is not using medication. How do you handle that? What helps you and your child?
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Diet mountain dew helps my 8 year old son. Like 1 can a day or a half of one a day usually levels him out.
Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. Anyone have a child with ADHD that is not medicated?
My son is not medicated for it
My girl not medicated for it as she refuses to take the medication and omg its very hard to handle especially if they wont follow a strict diet
Routines! Visual the better. LOTS of exercise. Most kids need 1-1.5 hours of hard exercise, adhd kids need like 3 hours!!
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My son is medicated, but I came to say that I absolutely regret letting his doctor put him on ritalin. He was on it over a year and it made him lose so much weight that I still have cps accusing me of neglect and he was hospitalized for it. There’s no appetite with it and the meds they gave him to increase his appetite didn’t work.
Limiting sugar intake and my son drinks coffee, it has a reverse affect for him so we give it in the afternoon to chill him out. We also allow all the physical play time he can get, it’s good for the jitters and zoomies he gets. Has a reverse affect on him. He is medicated during the school year but we take summer off
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My 6 ye old has severe ADHD and impulsive disorder we refused medication What we have learned is a strict schedule really helps! We do sticker chart and we have alot of sensory toys
Health food stores sell herbal pills that really works
This is a hard question to answer with so little context because every person has different signs or “symptoms”. First and foremost you need to make sure they have a healthy well balanced diet and a pretty strict schedule. Learning schedules early on for adhd with help them in the future
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Ii have a daughter that is mild ADHD and is not medicated she is a lil older now but we just would try to keep her on same schedule an keep her active she refused to take meds I’m glad she did though Cause that med just drags them down
Limiting sugar, routine and cbd gummies
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I have ADHD. I was not medicated till I was 14 and it was awful. The stuff my parents and I went through was awful. The minute I got on medication my entire life was like night and day. Im now 32 and am now not medicated and deal with it. But Definitely school age even in college I could never not be medicated. If my kids get it I fully believe in medication for it. Its worse to deal with on your own than parents realize until you deal with it yourself. Every one can do there own thing but I am very opinionated on it because of what I went through with it.
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Lots of exercise and outdoor play. Eliminating processed sugars, artificial dyes, organic foods. Look into cbd
A good schedule and sports
My son, now 18, is not medicated. From 9 to 15 he was and it was tbe worst thing I ever did. I live with that guilt daily! He was mean, crabby, skinny, and behavior was far worse medicated. At 15 years old I took him off everything! At 16 he discovered Marijuana and it saved his life! Happy, smiles, works full time, no behaviors in over 2 years! Alotnof therapy and patience and I finally have a functioning Normal happy 18 year old!!
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Depends on how bad ur son is. My son wasn’t medicated for a few years but then school came and he struggled to focus as he was always wanting to rip paper he just fidgets. His has big out bursts at home like hitting his brothers or sisters. He is very definite as well. We give our son a break over school holidays from his meds . My son is on ritilan tho he lost heaps of weight for the 1st year he has now put it all back on. We try limit sugar as I think diet plays a massive part we also try get out daily to burn some of his energy.
Destinee Angelique Sharpe this has some good points u can also implement for ur son
Yes also outdoor activities really work! Fresh air and letting your child run off all the extra energy is definitely a life saver
Mine dont have an official diagnosis yet as they were in remote learning all last year they will be getting that as soon as school starts though because it was a struggle for them with school and life in general.
Give this a try. Less than $15 right now on Amazon. I took my son to a behavioral specialist with concerns that he may have ADHD. The doctor didn’t help much, he went straight to wanting to prescribe a low dose of adderall. I did not want to start him on a pharmaceutical drug if it could absolutely be helped. I decided to do my own research and found these! Read the reviews too, lots of other moms have kids with ADHD who try this and majority of them noticed a difference after just 2 weeks!
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Asmr videos and fidget toys
My mom had two boys with it, coffee did help… non medicated… It’s tiresome and it’s terribly sad that they could’ve gotten help for it, but didn’t.
coffee helps mine so much!!!
We give him soda. It counteracts the ADHD.
My Aunty took all sugars out of my cousins diet and it changed him 100%.
Cut sugars and dyes, keep him busy, fins something to keep his mind and hands busy at the same time
This is a discussion for you and your child’s pediatrician, honestly. Anyone on the internet can tell you how they “cured” or managed their kids adhd with natural remedies or cutting out red dye 40 or whatever else, and that’s great. I’m jealous, seriously. But as someone who did everything possible to avoid medication, I can tell you without a doubt, that all kids are different, and adhd manifests in kids very uniquely. What helps mine, may not help yours and vice versa. Wonderful for the parents and children that can manage without meds but there’s also NOTHING wrong with medication, if it helps. My son started flourishing once we put him on real medicine. We tried everything else before that, because the stigma that is attached to adhd meds made us feel like bad parents for even thinking about medicating our kid. Look, at the end of the day, it’s not about you and it’s not about me. It’s about our kids and helping them succeed, and if it’s medicine that helps, so be it. We need to stop shaming modern medicine, because seriously, how many of us would not be okay without it? And how many of us ARE much better WITH it? Talk to your kid’s doctor. Not the internet, which is full of woo and moms who think they know better than people that went to school just to be able to answer your questions.
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I was medicated as soon as I hit 12 I told my doctor no more medication at all. At 12 where I lived I had full control over my body. I had some issues still do with concentration but will say this medication made me into a different person. And I will not put my kids on medication at all there’s a lot of ways to deal with it. Exercise, letting the kids have a ball to sit on, figet toys, coloring stuff yes even at school, and a healthy diet
Look up Feingold diet at feingold.org it’s the only thing that helped my son he was diagnosed with adhd odd intermittent explosive disorder and mild intellectual disability he used to have meltdowns and episodes at least 4x a week on meds at 4 off meds at 11 years old he is now 17 med free and will graduate next year
I work with kids who have ADHD along with other sensory issues and such. Routine routine routine. Kids of any age whether they have ADHD or not respond very well to having a consistent routine. Also keeping them active as possible and using their problem solving skills to keep their brains active will also help them use some energy. Good luck!
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Stay away from all red dyes artificial cheese products and limit sugar
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My 12 year old son has adhd. We don’t give him any red 40 dye. We notice a huge change in his behavior when he eats something with red dye in it.
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I was never medicated as a child and I always resented my mother for not getting me help sooner. Until I took medicine for the first time. I dont think as a kid I would have been able to have the words for what happened with the medicines I’ve tried. I’ve had pretty much a bad experience with all of them so I understand why you wouldn’t want to. As long as you are attentive and make sure to keep them on the task at hand you will learn the best way to keep them focused. Make sure you are keeping up with their water intake as well. I know alot of kids don’t like water but dehydration was a huge problem for me when I was a kid. I highly recommend finding out if your child has any sensitivities towards sound or texture, many children with adhd have a hard time explaining why they are acting out and its usually because they are over stimulated. Weighted blankets can help alot for relaxation and sleeping
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Cut out everything that’s Carmel coloring and that is a lot of vfx things, Research. Been there. Works
Yep. The day I pulled my son from public school was also the last day he used medication. We tried them all… Uppers, downers and combo’s. Meds can work well for many, once.you find the right fit. But for others like my son, meds did not help him. Quite the opposite actually. It was horrible couple of years trying so many. We did therapy for awhile. Now we use mindfulness, ADHD curriculum. But I will say the absolute best thing you can do for your child is educate yourself!! The more you know and understand about ADHD the better you can help your child. Educate yourself and your child about ADHD and how it effects your lives and do not forget to include the positive parts as well. Hyperfocusng can definitely be beneficial! Google successful people w/ADHD♥️
My daughter was not medicated for 5 years (her choice) and in her case it led to severe anxiety. She couldn’t pay attention in class and was afraid to be called on. She now has a low-dose of adderall that helps her stay focused.
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Get a mentor they help so much .
It depends on how severe your son’s ADHD is. My son was a moderate case and he was always able to function in school so we didn’t medicate all through elementary school. Middle school gets harder when you throw in hormones and puberty and peer pressure. We tried medication but it made him unlike himself. He felt good at school but after he got home the meds stopped working and he would crash so hard that he was almost unresponsive. He only stayed on the meds a few months and we all hated it. So we stopped and just muddled through middle school. High school got easier after the height of puberty passed. And marijuana did help to focus him. But school was always mostly a struggle. He did well when he really tried but overall a very average student. Said he didn’t want to go to college. We were so worried about him. Now he just graduated high school, turned 18 and got a job, wants to go to school in the fall to become an EMT and then a firefighter. Suddenly the reality of adulthood has hit him and he wants to succeed.
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Diet and scheduled lifestyle.
Nutrition and lots of exercise, outdoor activities!
1500mg of fish oil high EPA not DHA per child pysch - rady childrens / structure , routine they thrive off same mundane routine / therapy , behavioral coaching to help you n your child to manage emotions
Its sometimes not even adhd as I just learned in my daughter’s case she no longer takes meds as of last month doctor’s advice just let her do what she wants… my advice to doc let her move In with you and see if you dont need meds after allowing that … just do what’s best for you both
Sup my kid is WILD.
Honestly, I’ve learned more about adhd from TikTok than the 2 therapists we saw from 5-7.
Forgetful, exhausting, stimming, amazing, wonderful, over the top emotional child.
He’s 10 now and doing well but meds would help, but my mother would disown us and she’s the reason I can work to afford my kids.
He was on ER Adderall, lowest dose for 6 months and doing great but she’s a nut job
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Exercise, diet and good amount of sleep. Get educated! Therapy too
Fish oil high EPA liquid form as they are stronger then pills. This has been a true life saver ! I could see the difference in a day
I don’t handle it. Lol. I’m in the trenches everyday trying to get my twins seen to get them fully evaluated and on meds.
A lot of mind and hands on activities, and when your child is getting too unfocused and needs to let energy out, take them outside and have them run from you to what ever object a few times and see if that helps. It’s exercise at the same time releasing energy so it’s a win win, depending if your child’s ADHD causes anger or melt downs (depending on how old) but if they are young as long as you are calm try to bear hug them during those times to calm them, this works because your child’s heart will regulate to yours and as long as your calm they’ll calm down. They can sense your emotions. All things I was taught, it may not work right away or always work but maybe it will for you?
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Try coffee in the mornings with very little sugar and some milk
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No sugar or caffeine.
I took as much red dye from my son’s diet. He also played sports. He’s an adult now and if he eats or drinks anything with red dye in it, he’s all over the place.
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I have a 5 year old with Adhd no meds. Waiting to see how he does in school.
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Exercise first thing in the am! Swim teams really help
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I have ADD and am medicated- thankfully! My 8yo is not diagnosed but we are pretty positive he has ADD. structure, routine and cutting sugar always helps!
My daughter was un- medicated until it started affecting her negatively at school. She’s on stratra once a day now and it does help. Before we just kept her busy all the time
Routine, diet, sleep plan and plenty of exercise/sports/extra activities.
Ashley Nichole maybe some of these comments could help with Squishy
Yep my 10yr old refuses meds bc of how they make him feel. He is only able to take non stimulate meds anyway so they don’t help much. Best thing we ever did was put him in therapy for adhd. His therapist has 100% helped him with his behavior and how to cope with his feelings.
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I have ADHD and haven’t taken my meds in like 8 years. My oldest son has ADHD and Autism. Lots of therapy helps if you can find a good therapist. We got lucky with ours. There are ways to manage it without medications. It’s not as easy but worth it!
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I dont know if this has been said but weighted blankets at night are a game changer!
COFFEE!!! My son couldn’t take medication cause of his heart problems and i got it under control with coffee:coffee:
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Avoiding red 40 dye can be beneficial
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Lots of breaks to refocus fidget toys exercise and one cup of coffee in morning the caffeine has opposite affect
A lot of constant supervision (take your vitamins!), tons of structure and activities—the more physical the better, healthy organic diet as much as possible, look into homeopathic remedies, and SO much patience and self control on your part—I succeeded about half the time.
Thankfully we took him regularly to the pediatrician so they knew we weren’t beating him when he had cuts, scrapes and bruises from jumping off the furniture, surfing down the stairs, or running full tilt into things. He broke his nose twice in elementary school and once in high school, though, we called the pediatrician nurse line when he wriggled his way out of the changing table strap and flung himself off the table to land on his head. He was OK, but dad was severely shook.
Ignore mean looks if he’s small and you have him on a kid leash in stores. I’d do grocery shopping after he was in bed. He’d wiggle out of the straps in the grocery cart seat, stand up and jump up and down. Putting him in the big part of the cart, he’d rock it until it tipped over and take bites out of all the produce. I’d have to steer down the middle of the aisles so the kids couldn’t pull everything off the shelves.
There are way more ready-made organic options available in grocery stores, restaurants, meal prep services, etc. now so you don’t have to do it all yourself from scratch. More vegetables, less meat helps you afford extra costs and is healthier for the whole family. Meat, dairy, lettuce/greens and strawberries are key items to get organic. You can get conventional on other stuff. I find the Aldi near me has lots of reasonably priced organic food and less adulterated prepared foods. Getting them involved with meal prep has both my kids eating fairly healthy for life.
Mediterranean and other healthy restaurants (Sweetgreen, True Foods Kitchen, Panera, CAVA) as well as Mexican were fave kids places for healthy fare. Try to limit fast food, though it’s hard, I know.
Dad and I would take turns redirecting his attention to his elementary school homework alternating with walks outside to calm ourselves down. One walked, one redirected him. He also had ODD so would argue about everything for hours even as a toddler.
Chore chart with whatever behavior you want to change. Doing X WITHOUT A FUSS earned him extra stars. A certain number of stars at the end of the week earned a small reward. Everything also applied to our daughter. We also had weekly family meetings to find solutions to everything. Any complaints or suggestions would be put on the agenda so there was no more arguing or whining about it.
In junior high and high school lots of activities including sports to tire him out helped. Karate was wonderful for teaching focus, respect and discipline, but any martial arts is good. Moving meditation helps me with focus and calm (I also have ADHD): yoga, Tai chi, walking a labyrinth. There are free programs online for the first two, Unitarian and other churches often have labyrinths so start there.
Dad made a deal in high school that as long as he kept his grades up he didn’t have to go on medication and that worked. He played football and baseball in high school, my daughter did gymnastics and track.
I cooked healthy organic meals from scratch and tried to only have sugary desserts on special occasions. Birthday parties were all tons of active games at home, later at laser tag, gymnastics studios, etc. so all the kids could run off the sugar of pizza, cake and ice cream.
He was really smart, so could get through homework and tests in elementary school without studying. When it got harder we got him study help (like Sylvan, Huntington, Kumon, etc.) We also went through child psychiatrists and family counseling to help all of us.
He’s grown now, with a degree in chemical engineering, an officer in the Navy, self sufficient and newly has a great girlfriend who he wants to make his fiancée. He also found lots of comfort in religion, and though he can be overbearing about his beliefs, there are worse things he could be into. He can still be insufferable on occasion, but he’s launched and doing well for himself. He was always compassionate and altruistic. He is good about exercise and diet, and while he and his sister had rough patches growing up, not living in the same house/city has made them more loving and caring towards each other. Thankfully they have different last names (still same parents) so teachers and other kids didn’t know they were related, so that helped somewhat as they were growing up.
We got him out of the house for things as much as possible (friends houses, scouts, sports, camps, church and Sunday school, youth group, walks, just being outside) as he behaved better with others. His second grade teacher built on his competitive nature by channeling it into reading more to achieve top levels.
We joined a pool in the summers and would go most days after work for us and summer programs for the kids. Helped him sleep better and be happier too.
I also read “Your Difficult Child” which described both my kids perfectly and had good suggestions. Lots of educational resources at the library, online, plus parent groups in person and online. One group I was in the mom described horrible behavior for which they had to call police. When she said her son was only two, I decided maybe I had it easy!
My son refused an IEP but did fine without it (he still denies he has ADHD). But be prepared to fight for accommodations for your child while he’s in school. Things rarely go smoothly the first time, but maybe you’ll get lucky.
One woman wrote a book about the best colleges and universities for differently abled kids, but I can’t remember the author or title. Ask your local librarian about it and other helpful guides when your child is approaching high school to help you plan if that’s a path to take.
Bonus: from dealing with his impulsive, risky behavior as a youngster with my heart in my throat so often made me impervious to a lot of stressors. Is someone going to die? No? Then relax. 
My son was diagnosed ADHD at four. When he started kindergarten I began college. One of my many English papers was about ADHD. My son was on different forms of ADHD medication from the age of five to twelve. When covid hit I stopped his meds because he ONLY TOOK THEM AT SCHOOL. He is now 13 and has not been on meds for over a year.
With that being said, he has adjusted and so have I.
When school did eventually resume this spring, I put him back on his usual dosage… HE WAS NOT THE CHILD I HAVE GROWN TO KNOW UNMEDICATED. He hasn’t been on meds since. With evaluations from his teachers and from me, I can finally say that he is medication free. He has gained 20lbs and 4 inches in height in ONE year. And he was underweight prior.
Basically it is something you and your child have to learn how to adapt to. I completely understand what you are going through.
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More common then not where I’m from.
Avoid red and blue dye in drinks and food, lots of exercise, especially outdoors, get them into sports, routine, make sure they eat a good breakfast without sugar.
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Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. Anyone have a child with ADHD that is not medicated?
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Check out How to ADHD. It’s on Facebook. She helps understand what is going on and has helpful tips.
Mine is medicated. However, before we made the decision on a very low dose of medication, a very strict schedule was in place. (Still is to this day, as well.) he knew when breakfast was, when nap time was, etc. for every good 2ish hours we had we would do something small, like make a special snack that he thought up or go play in the sprinkler for 20 min, things along those lines.
It was rough. There were a lot of mood swings and ALOT of hard days. But if you stay consistent with your days and rewards and discipline (nothing physical) it makes it a little easier. Good luck!
Mine is in counseling at school as well as therapy to help her deal with it. She can’t be medicated for hers bc its due to brain damage from seizures and no meds would work
Nope because some kids don’t deal without medication
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My life was horrible till I got on meds for my adhd. Wish I didn’t have to wait till I was an adult to do it myself.
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I eliminated any and all red and purple food dye. It means reading labels, but you’ll thank me for it.
Give them plenty of notice and a time limit for any chores you need them to do. Stay as close to a routine as you can. Check in with them, ask if you can help them with anything.
Lots of patience and communication.
My son was diagnosed when he was five and my daughter was 4.
Most of all, make the tedious tasks a game.
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I let my son go off the meds when he was nine. I feel the school and doctors were just wrong. Let them be kids. My son didn’t get to finish high school but now has a wonderful job that he loves. He is a hands on boy and learns that way best. I’m so proud of him and wouldn’t change him for anything.
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Communication and structure
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Our doctor told us to cut out sugar and there’s a supplement called Accentrate.
Structure for sure and making sure the boundaries are set LOUD and CLEAR! 
She was on no meds until age 5. Best thing we could of done for her. Even she notices if we forget to give them. We decided to try it when I heard so many stories of kids not getting meds until age 12+ and expressing they wish they had them sooner after they noticed a difference in themselves like focusing better. Doesn’t mean they will need to be on meds their entire life.
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I refused to medicate unless it started to effect his school work. He started bringing home C,D&F… then started on Vyvanse & he brought home A&B’s & I can tell a huge difference when he doesn’t take his meds compared to when he does. No meds over the summer or weekends, only during school time.
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We don’t have my 6 year old on meds because of other health issues. We homeschool and have to take frequent breaks. I have to say, “take a deep breath and let’s think about what we were doing”. Play! Play! Play! We do lots of “prizes” as a reward system. You need minimal distractions. When working with them on school, sometimes you have to be the one to walk away and regroup. Anger and frustration with them only makes it worse. We use a weighted blanket for sleep.
My daughter was on medication for a year, 5 years ago. While it helped with focus, it changed her personality. I made the decision to stop the meds and just did things naturally. She still rarely drinks soda, mostly water. She did struggle some, academically, but is good at softball and volleyball. I believe her being so involved with sports, helped with the focus and self discipline. Them having an outlet, is vital. She made the honor roll this year, first time ever, so I feel like she is growing out of it, or just handles it much better. Sorry for the book, but hope it helps.
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My 10 year old has ADHD and I don’t want to put him on any meds. He was struggling in school and I’d get emails from teachers. I started giving him coffee and he’s doing amazing school. First summer he hasn’t had to do summer school and he got student of the month a few times.
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We use a weighted vest or pressure vest. Fidget toys and redirection
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Lisa Sober read these comments. May help!
Take red dies juices out thier diet. But just keep them busy with a hobbie
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I don’t know about early diagnosis but I wasn’t diagnosed until later in life. College age. Mediation helped me so much. I wish my family would of been open to it sooner.
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My son didnt like medication so we did with out and just adjusted things and tried for a few months and her still struggled abit so had a discussion with him and pediatrician and she explained how it would help and we gave him time for questions. We all agreed that him being on medications would be best and he did well for awhile and when he got a lil older took him off and we have been managing better, he wanted off about a year ago so we did and he still has some rough days and I do ask if things are still OK and that we can go back for more support if he needs it.
Structure, councilor supports outside & in school, open communication, walks, breathes - breath in and breath out (doing it with them).
Diana's Bulbinella: Health Skin WeightLoss AntiAgeing adh oil
I refused meds until 3rd grade when the teacher told me to just try it. The first week he came home with his homework already completed. Went from straight F’s to A’s. My son also said he was finally able to concentrate. He said it was a relief. We only give it to him on school days. None for the weekend or school breaks. I should of done it sooner. I was pushing to not medicate him but there is no change in this personality. He still plays and jokes around but can actually concentrate now.
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We drink coffee and mt dew no sugar my kids used to be on a low dose medication
Structure, routine, no artificial dyes, sugar and lots of exercise. And a sip of coffee here and there.
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I was diagnosed with ADHD, the school I went to kept me on my meds for about 2 years (1 full pill in the morning, 1/2 a pill before I went home)I attempted suicide multiple times, mom tried to seek counseling…
I went off my meds and did just fine but I got into stuff that calmed me down (reading, drawing etc) no diet changes
My brother was on Adderall when he was younger. He lost alot of weight and basically turned into a zombie
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Pretty sure my son has it. Pretty sure I have it. We are both unmedicated and both struggle.
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My kid has to go for a bike ride or a walk first thing in the morning. The we come home so house chores and lawn chores. I HAVE to keep him busy most of the day. If he always has a task then he is ok. If he is idol or bored the crazy comes out.
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I do. It’s hard. Patience. Idk. Repetition works best with us. Consistency. It’s always hard though
I have one medicated child one unmedicated child. I run them. Let them excercise. Sunlight. Stimulation. Etc. We stay pretty active with things they love to do! It makes a huge difference. I also limit screen time… Not because I am against screen time at all (I have 6 kids I LOVE screen time) I limit because it seems to over stimulate one if my kids and he always has a bad day if he has too much screen time.
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