re: Young kids on ADHD meds?

Thanks for the replies. We are going to start with her pediatrician.

Trust me we aren't pushing for meds, we just want what's best for her.

I have ADHD and was on addy for a while but didn't want to be on my whole life.

I watch her in activities and class when I can and she sticks out like a sore thumb. She says she can't stay focused or sit still. She zones out a ton

She doesn't use electronics any more than a normal kid. Less than 30 minutes a day.

We read a ton to her and she plays like a normal 6 year old. I'm just hoping there might be mild non stimulant solution other than Addy

My 10 year old takes Intuniv for his ADHD.

It started out as a high blood pressure medication and it's not a stimulant. He actually takes it before he goes to sleep and it lasts throughout the next day.

He went from getting in trouble every day at school to being the student of the month for his entire elementary school (K through 4th grade).

I was dead set against medicating him too. I fought it tooth and nail for 5 years. I can't believe I was such a selfish prick for so long. The stigma of my son being medicated took precedence over coming to terms that he may need help that I couldn't provide.

He's the smartest kid I know and extremely nice and respectful, even off his meds. However, he needed something to help him focus during school and the Intuniv has been a God send. He doesn't even take it on the weekend.

You are doing the right thing by taking your child to a pediatrician. Just tell them you don't want your child on a stimulant like Aderall or Ritalin.

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I apologize for offending you in advance

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No offense or apology needed. I am just saying everyone is different.

I've been taking medication for severe ADHD since I was 6 years old (Ritalin, Vyvanse and now Adderall). I was off the walls. Teachers would send me on "errands" across campus so I could burn off extra energy because I'd finish my work very quickly. Going through school and "growing up" at a normal pace, I began to learn how to control the hyperactivity (this is no longer a problem). However, the ability to focus always eluded me growing up. Now that I'm in a professional setting with a fairly set routine, I'm slowly weening myself off of medicine entirely. God knows what the long term effects truly are, as these medications didn't really go mainstream until the 90s, so that kind of freaks me out. Several papers I wrote in college centered around lazy diagnosis by doctors and parents of kids who are "just being kids" and not truly in need of medication. However, through proper neurological testing as a child, I was deemed as a professional "Poster Child" for it. If proper testing determines that kids need the medication to focus and allow them to achieve their potential in school, by all means...But if there aren't real issues with focus and attentiveness in school, a few more whippings might be in order.

Get your kid on Adderall, they will focus incredibly on school and stay skinny since its a dietary supplement.