Daughter and Son with ADD Now Off Meds
Do you have children… or know someone who has children? My story is for you.
My 13 year old daughter Sara had been on ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) medication for over 3 1/2 years. That sounds like a simple statement so let me explain. Once she was “diagnosed” with ADD, then comes the task of finding the medicine which will work for her. That is done by trial & error & the error part is horrible. We were advised to “experiment” with the drug on the weekend because we didn’t know what the effects on her would be. We gave her the med on Saturday morning & figured out pretty quick that it was NOT for her. Have you ever seen a child stoned? – and I was the one that did that to her! She was higher than a kite all day long & she was still “under the influence” the next morning at Sunday school. Long sad story short, we did find a drug that had more benefits that out-weighed the negatives. Negatives being loss of appetite, irritability, nausea & not being able to fall asleep at night.
We ended up having to give her a melatonin pill before bed so she could get a good nights’ sleep to wake up and do this all over again. Keep in mind, a funny thing happens with kids. They are constantly growing! That means you have to make adjustments in the dosage & possibly having to change to a different drug altogether & then going thru everything all over again. Now being that the drug is a controlled substance, your child needs to be seen every 6 months for a check up to make sure there are not adverse effects happening. This is really scary stuff. Being on ADD meds is not a simple statement.
Toward the end of last school year, I was told our 9 year old son Blake had symptoms of ADD. My heart just sank. We thought we had the right drug for him & sent him off to school but by 9:30 the school called & said he had broken out in hives & to come pick him up. His doctor felt he was allergic to the binders & fillers that are in all those types of drugs- in other words, he couldn’t take them. I asked his teacher to please, just keep him at the front of the class & “work” with him until I could figure out what I was going to do. It was about this time that “Liquid Organic Product” was introduced to our lives.
It’s a big party for the last day of school- parents, grandparents -everybody turns out to play games & socialize. I pulled Blake’s teacher aside & asked him how difficult was it to work with him because I needed to prepare next year’s teacher. I still didn’t know what I was going to do. Mr. Eggert looked me straight in the eye & asked what I was talking about – Blake is fine – he thought I had found a drug for him! I could have cried right then & there – the only thing Blake was on was “Liquid Organic Product”. You have to know that I stopped Sara’s meds immediately & she’s doing great too! We are now thru more than half of this school year & Blake & Sara are doing wonderful! Both are getting great grades and for the first time, are participating in sports and having a ball!
Blake recently told me his goals – he wants to earn his Eagle Scout & when he’s 18, he wants to share “Company X” like me and help other people too. Please, share my story – you never know who it may help.
– Cindy Mahan | Union Grove, Wisconsin