ADHD or something else? UPDATE 13 Found a Doctor!

[KatWrangler]

I hope I am not opening a can of worms by asking this. So please be gentle with me.

So today I have been researching trying to find a Ped Pyschologist (which I feel I have stepped into a nightmare) and ADHD itself. I have come across interesting things. Including ADHD is really a High Spirited Child or maybe it's food allergies that is causing it.

So am I imagining this? I see the questions of what ADHD is and most fit my son to a tee. But now I am second guessing myself that maybe it's me that's screwed up and not Parenting him correctly.

Can you help a confused Mama out here?

[mum4boys]

Good luck finding a good child psychologist. We have had our dousies.

I have read 50% of ADHD is food allergies. My oldest is allergic to red food dye. It makes him hyper (hyper does not even describe it manic is more like it). He use to have chronic ear infections and at the time all liquid antibiotics had red food dye in it. It was so much fun back then.

The best thing I have read about ADHD is the hunter/farmer theory. A zillion years ago to survive you had to have ADHD characteristics, i.e. the hunter. Through out time we have evolved into farmers where we do not need to make split second decisions. We went this route to treat our son. There was nothing "wrong" with him per se but to survive in a world of farmers he needed to know how to act appropriately and live up to our societies standards.

Good luck....there is a lot of conflicting research out there and it is mind blowing trying to find an answer.

[DoulaVallere]

Don't be down on yourself, mama! We all are just doing the best we can with what we know...if we know better we do better. The fact that you are researching and learning as much as you can makes you a fabulous mom!

My husband is a child psychiatrist and when he has moms coming in to ask about ADHD, his first suggestion is for them to cut artificial colors (esp Red 40) out of their kid's diet for a couple of weeks and see if there is a change in behavior. We've noticed colorings causing behavioral issues in our own kids, and he actually has a LOT of parents who say they notice the Red 40 effect (it's actually banned in a lot of European countries due to the behavioral problems it causes).

That could be an easy thing to test...cut it out for a couple of weeks, then challenge him with something red and see if you notice a difference in his behavior.

[KatWrangler]

Well I completely struck out yesterday trying to find a Child Psychologist for further evaluation. What a frustrating day.

I have no idea what my step is even going to be.

[karne]

Are you at all in the vicinity of a hospital with a chidren's department, preferably child psych? You may find a resource there. Are you having trouble locating a provider in general. or one who will work with your insurance?

[sunshinejanie]

Originally Posted by mum4boys

The best thing I have read about ADHD is the hunter/farmer theory. A zillion years ago to survive you had to have ADHD characteristics, i.e. the hunter. Through out time we have evolved into farmers where we do not need to make split second decisions. We went this route to treat our son. There was nothing "wrong" with him per se but to survive in a world of farmers he needed to know how to act appropriately and live up to our societies standards.

Good luck....there is a lot of conflicting research out there and it is mind blowing trying to find an answer.

I agree.. My third dd was diagnosed with adhd by our ped. Not so sure if that is all she has though. There is something about her I cannot quite put my finger on. Hang in there and do your own research. Many times you will know alot more that many of the "professionals" out there. I never could find a ped psych that was worth anything. I am really interested in the relationship between adhd and food allergies. She also has had bowel issues her whole life.

[KatWrangler]

Originally Posted by karne

Are you at all in the vicinity of a hospital with a chidren's department, preferably child psych? You may find a resource there. Are you having trouble locating a provider in general. or one who will work with your insurance?

Yes. We are in St. Louis. St. Louis Children's won't see him because he doesn't have any other medical conditions. Cardinal Glennon is swamped. They said call back the end of June when the 2nd half of the year schedule opens. They might be able to see him in August or September.

Everyone else I called yesterday either is swamped/not taking any new patients or doesn't take my insurance (Molina which is a Missouri Medicaid provider). I can't afford an out of pocket evaluations.

I had called my insurance company and they gave me some names. However, either they no longer take my insurance or they are attached to Children's or Cardinal Glennon. Which of course see my answer above.

It's not like we are in a small community. We have two major children's hospitals, St. Louis University and Washington University as well as Barnes-Jewish. You would think I could find something!

I had called my husband's therapist yesterday. I haven't heard back from me. Hoping he could give me some advice.

Most of the people I talked to basically said "Good luck with that."

Funny thing is it's not like I am unsuse to this. I have plenty of experience with finding specialist for Gabrielle and my husband. But boy, this one is a dozie.

[KatWrangler]

Originally Posted by sunshinejanie

I agree.. My third dd was diagnosed with adhd by our ped. Not so sure if that is all she has though. There is something about her I cannot quite put my finger on. Hang in there and do your own research. Many times you will know alot more that many of the "professionals" out there. I never could find a ped psych that was worth anything. I am really interested in the relationship between adhd and food allergies. She also has had bowel issues her whole life.

We may have to suck it up for now and go with our Ped and just wait for Cardinal Glennon to open the schedule for the rest of the year. But I was hoping to get him evaluated before the new school year. At this point it looks like that won't happen.

[Mama Shifra]

Well, there are 3 ways you could have your son diagnosed. One is with your child's pediatrician (which my husband, who's a school principal, does not recommend, because many pediatricians are not experts at ADHD and will not take the time to do a through workup), a developmental pediatrician, a pediatric neuropsychologist (which is what we used to have our son diagnosed), or a pediatric psychiatrist.

As far as finding someone to test your child, ask your pediatrician, if you have one, for recommendations. Get a referal from him/her so that way, maybe, your insurance will pay for the very pricy workup (out of pocket, it is about $2000!). Ask the school, if your child goes to school. All those childrens hospitals that you mentioned: ask them who they recommend because you prefer not waiting. Maybe someone on their staff have a private practice.

I highly recommend that you get a copy of ADHD: A Complete and Authoritative Guide , put out by the American Academy of Pediatrics. It goes through what conditions mimic ADHD (and therefore must be ruled out) and various treatment protocols (including alternatives). It also reassures you that ADHD is not your fault.

[DoulaVallere]

Is there a medical school near you? My DH is a child psychiatrist and he works through the medical school attached to the hospital, but it is a seperate entity.

[justmama]

My almost 10 year old likes to think of herself as a demigod(in reference to the Percy Jackson book series where the kids are all diagnosed AD/HD and dyslexic because that's their battle reflexes and brains hardwired to read ancient greek with mortal and god parentage) and her ADHD is just proof of that. She does have that severe behavioral reaction to mint or red food dye, both of which are associated with ADHD. Google Feingold diet.
To get moving on our diagnosis I called the child development center at the local children's hospital and told them my insurance situation(we didn't have a pedi at that time and we have medicaid) and they referred me to a wonderful therapist about 40 minutes from me who took our insurance without a referral. I had to pay a $5 co-pay for the testing(2 different testing dates with different therapists) but it wasn't bad. I know I COULD have found a pedi and gotten our diagnosis that way by discussion and observation but I wanted the full neuropsych testing done. And it's well that I did because we have low processing speed and low working memory complicating our diagnosis.
Regarding the parenting. *sigh* I made some poor choices. I was an 18 year old who got pregnant by accident and had no support system and didn't know any better. I made some poor choices during my pregnancy and before I knew. She was fed solids at 4 months and we supplemented iwth soy formula by 2 weeks old and she was completely weaned off the breast by 7 months. I vaccinated on schedule until age 2 because I didn't know any better. So yeah, that could be it too. I don't know. My guilt is huge. I can't rule out my poor parenting choices as a cause.

[sbgrace]

Did you ask St. Louis Children's for providers that evaluate ADHD?

The school may not care what private people find anyway (they don't here) and will have to evaluate him on their own to see if he qualifies for services in school. I'd start that (school evaluation) process now.

[KatWrangler]

I found a Doctor! The appointment is this Friday afternoon. I have to take him out of school early, but I don't care.

Okay, crossing fingers and toes we like this guy. He is an DPSY LP PHD PSYC PSYD. Whatever that means.

[KatWrangler]

Originally Posted by sbgrace

Did you ask St. Louis Children's for providers that evaluate ADHD?

The school may not care what private people find anyway (they don't here) and will have to evaluate him on their own to see if he qualifies for services in school. I'd start that (school evaluation) process now.

I did as Children's. All the referrals I struck out with.

[PieKat]

Originally Posted by KatWrangler

I did as Children's. All the referrals I struck out with.

Glad you found someone, I hope he's worth your time. If you hadn't found someone, I was going to suggest Children's Mercy in Kansas City. Or KU Med, but only because that's where I live, it'd be a bit of a drive for you.

[KatWrangler]

Kate,

When we lived in Lawrence we went to the Spinal Defects clinic at Children's Mercy. Gabrielle's Neurosurgeon was at KU Med too. That did cross my mind.

[PieKat]

Originally Posted by KatWrangler

Kate,

When we lived in Lawrence we went to the Spinal Defects clinic at Children's Mercy. Gabrielle's Neurosurgeon was at KU Med too. That did cross my mind.

Children's Mercy is just amazing--I haven't had to use them personally but parents of some of the kids I work with have had nothing but excellent things to say. And I've seen the reports from the KUMed psychs and they're pretty darn thorough.

I live in Lawrence (for now)! How long ago were you here?

[KatWrangler]

We were there 15 months. We lived in the NW section of town. Kind of behind the west side Walmart. Lawrence is a very nice place to live.

[QueenOfTheMeadow]

Originally Posted by justmama

My almost 10 year old likes to think of herself as a demigod(in reference to the Percy Jackson book series where the kids are all diagnosed AD/HD and dyslexic because that's their battle reflexes and brains hardwired to read ancient greek with mortal and god parentage) and her ADHD is just proof of that. She does have that severe behavioral reaction to mint or red food dye, both of which are associated with ADHD. Google Feingold diet.
To get moving on our diagnosis I called the child development center at the local children's hospital and told them my insurance situation(we didn't have a pedi at that time and we have medicaid) and they referred me to a wonderful therapist about 40 minutes from me who took our insurance without a referral. I had to pay a $5 co-pay for the testing(2 different testing dates with different therapists) but it wasn't bad. I know I COULD have found a pedi and gotten our diagnosis that way by discussion and observation but I wanted the full neuropsych testing done. And it's well that I did because we have low processing speed and low working memory complicating our diagnosis.
Regarding the parenting. *sigh* I made some poor choices. I was an 18 year old who got pregnant by accident and had no support system and didn't know any better. I made some poor choices during my pregnancy and before I knew. She was fed solids at 4 months and we supplemented iwth soy formula by 2 weeks old and she was completely weaned off the breast by 7 months. I vaccinated on schedule until age 2 because I didn't know any better. So yeah, that could be it too. I don't know. My guilt is huge. I can't rule out my poor parenting choices as a cause.

My 11 year old is reading that series right now, and although he hasn't said it outloud, I'm pretty sure this is what is in his mind! Who knows, maybe he is!

[justmama]

Originally Posted by QueenOfTheMeadow

My 11 year old is reading that series right now, and although he hasn't said it outloud, I'm pretty sure this is what is in his mind! Who knows, maybe he is!

funny huh? Mady read the first book and told me that she was just like Percy Jackson and I HAD to read the book because "it was SOOOOOOOOOOO good!" I read it and immediately got online to request the next ones from the library for the both of us.