It all started in Kindergarten. Brayden struggled to stay on task, but it wasn't any different than the other boys his age at that time. 1st grade came, his teacher kept saying she was struggling keeping him on task again. We tried a reward system for staying on task, it usually didn't end well. We ended up getting rid of that system since it wasn't successful. I asked his teacher if it was something I need to get checked out, she didn't think at that time, it was enough of a concern. Then, 2nd grade came. As we got close to Christmas, his teacher came to me with the same concerns as the first two teachers. They had never spoken to each other regarding him, so it couldn't of just been word of mouth. She said at that point it was concerning and we might want to think about getting it checked out. His teacher has been teaching for over 20 years and she said compared to all of the other boys his age, its definitely different than just being a "kid." I was devastated! I didn't get it, he know all the stuff. We would study for a spelling test and he would do great, then go to school and fail it. I was scared to see what we found out, and to think my first born baby boy wasn't "normal".
We took him in and they diagnosed him with Attention Deficit Disorder. I had researched vitamin therapy, dietary changes, and medications. I was so scared and opposed to the medicating. We went forward with medicating, and the vitamins I had originally wanted, weren't enough on their own to treat it. She prescribed Ritalin, which was the one I feared the most. But the insurance companies want to fight you for everything and wouldn't pay for any other medications until we tried the Ritalin. The side effects were so scary and I was a nervous wreck the first few weeks. Was he gonna react badly, would anyone at school notice the changes like I would at home? Was my sweet, caring, full of energy boy going to change into a zombie? I was so nervous about losing his personality and sense of himself. He was started on the lowest dose possible and it wasn't effective.
We went on to switch to a different medication. This one, we didn't see a whole lot of change in the focus department and he started biting himself all of the time. It wasn't a listed side effect, but something definitely out of the ordinary, so we stopped that medication and switched to a different one again. It helped somewhat with the focus, but caused extreme sleepiness in the afternoons and evenings. He would come home and fall asleep watching TV, which is extremely out of character for him. I can barely get him to go to bed at night and he is always up early!
We decided to switch back to the original med we tried, and just upped the dosage one step. It has been effective the last few months with no real side effects. I'm happy with the outcome of it, but worried about long term usage and problems it can cause. The good thing about it, is we do not medicate him on weekends or breaks, so his body does get a break. And he will be off all summer, so there are a few natural treatments I would like to try, and see if we can come up with a better alternative to medication for next school year.
I went through all of the phases. Sad, anger, confusion, and guilt. Was it something I did while I was pregnant? Should I have known sooner? Why him? I'm thankful its not a terminal illness and something that's treatable though! I just hope he doesn't ever feel or get treated differently because of it! I also have dealt with the people who are against medicating their children and think I shouldn't do that to him. They say oh he is just being a kid, or he is just a boy! Unfortunately its not that simple, and its beyond being "just a kid," although I wish it was. I have made dietary changes, but haven't cut out certain things completely yet. I plan too when I start him on the essential oils in a few weeks for his allergies, so he will not have to medicate for that as well. If they are successful, they make a combination oil that's used for focus and is all natural and certified pure. I plan on trying that and we are really hoping that it works for him!
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