Hellobee Boards

@MrsSRS: only in the US.

@MrsSRS: When my daughter started ADHD meds, her pediatrician suggested I call my insurer to get exact price quotes on a number of meds she thought might be a good fit. She said many of the meds out there are very similar/have the same likelihood of “working”, but the cost varies drastically, particularly if a generic isn’t available. We landed on one that in costs me $8/30 day supply (and works to help her). It might be worth asking the prescribing doctor what possible alternatives there are that don’t hit quite so hard financially. Good luck!

@MrsSRS: ugh I’m so sorry! If you’re open to a holistic approach I can message you what we did to help my lo with add symptoms.

@MrsSRS: Sorry I needed to jump on the computer to type this out. So here goes. First I should say that my point of view is that pharmaceuticals are a last resort, so I was willing to do anything/everything.
The first thing we did was address exercise and his need to move. We tried to incorporate lots of it before and mostly after school and that helped. But what was even more helpful, was speaking with his teacher to make sure he was able to run around at some point during the school day. What was happening in the winter was that they were staying indoors for recess and playing board games or something, which was not working out. So we really made sure he could run or do something physically active every day. In his last school they would actually send him on a run around the perimeter of the classroom, which was great.
The next thing was ensuring he was getting adequate sleep. One thing we did that was very, very helpful was a bath with epsom salt before bed. (Epsom salt is a type of magnesium, so the body will soak it in, and it leaves you very calm). I tried it on myself and it was amazing! Obviously we can't do it every day, but even once a week is great.
Next, screen time- we essentially had to eliminate it almost completely. I don't know what your school situation is these days so it might be tough right now, but this was really helpful. I was letting him watch an hour or two once a week and that's it. We have now been able to add some back in, but if I see behavior changes we pull back again.
Last thing- and this is probably what made the biggest difference- was regulating blood sugar. In our peak problems he was eating a lot of carbs, which were then causing a sugar crash and "problematic" behavior. I had done a whole30 for myself and knew how great I felt so it wasn't foreign to me. We eliminated sugar and processed food (also food coloring, flavoring etc). A good tip is that honey digests like fruit so we use a lot of it. But the important concept is to have plenty of healthy fats with every meal so that you don't get those spikes and crashes. If nothing else, just add a ton of butter to everything. It makes everything taste good! This was really a huge transformation. I can give more ideas about the food part, let me know. Hope that helps!

@PinkElephant: Of course. Breakfast we usually do eggs, cooked in butter. They will usually have extra butter on paleo bread. My big eaters will often have half an avocado as well. And no-sugar organic bacon is a good one.
We don't do supplements generally speaking. There are different types of magnesium, so you want to be sure it's the right type. I like to do either the bath or the spray on the bottom of the feet. This is because when you're absorbing through the skin, there is no way to take too much. Your body will only take what it needs. The spray I get is Ancient Minerals. If you are deficient in magnesium it may feel like a prickly feeling at first until you build up (this is why my kids don't like it, but I use it on myself).

@Baby Boy Mom: You are way more on top of your morning mom game than I am! We do big weekend breakfasts, and I'm trying to get it together enough to do foods besides cereal/oatmeal/greek yogurt parfaits on weekdays. My kids will never say no to butter though, so that's an easy one! Thanks!

We gave up baths for showers long ago, but I may have to reinstate them a few nights a week - my girls have a massive stash of DIY bath bombs made from epsom salts that they can use. We are experimenting a bit with a magnesium supplement (mainly to help here with anxiety/emotional outbursts)...we will have to see how it goes.

@PinkElephant: Yeah you can easily add a few tablespoons of butter to oatmeal. For yogurt use full fat and add nuts or nut butter. Cereal...can't help you there you're pretty much guaranteed to be hungry within a couple of hours. (This took me a long time to accept because I love cereal but the extruded grains are just not great for us).