Has Anyone Whose Child Has Been Diagnosed with ADHD Ever Used Vayarin?!?

It took us a good 2 years of various meds/doses to get the right one for my son. So just be prepared that the first thing you try may not work for him. Good luck.

Our son was on Metadate, so, no. But I wanted to say that ADHD meds are tough. Each child's system is different, and it can take a couple of tries in order to find the right medication for your child. That can be a difficult road but so worth it in the end.

I just wanted to offer some encouragement. For so many children with ADHD, it's the meds that help their brains sync so that they can really fit in and participate in the world around them.

Remember, just because medicines sometimes have side effects does not mean that your son will experience them.

We did Ritalin. It's been around forever and has long time research results on it.

It was a miracle. He was a different child. It will be that way when your child is on the right medications.

You understand ADHD, right? You understand that his brain is firing all crazy and not making connections so he can concentrate or focus. There is little that can be done to stop his brain from doing this other than to treat it correctly.

I think some people think it's a choice or it's just something they outgrow or can just take some foods out of their diet.

If those things work then it's not ADHD, it's a reaction to those things. I have a little friend that can't have anything with Red Dye 40 in it. If he gets something that has it in it he's likely to become aggressive and unable to pay attention. When his mom figured it out and took that out of his diet he became a different child. He wasn't ADHD, he was having a reaction to a food additive.

Medication for true ADHD will be like a light switch. He'll be able to sit in his seat during school hours and he will learn. He will remember what his teacher said and what he read and he'll finally feel normal.

I don't have a kid with ADHD, but I have a good adult friend with ADHD and he was not diagnosed until relatively recently. He said the medications are a godsend and for the first time in his life he can concentrate, he can actually complete things at work, and he is AMAZED at how beneficial it is to him. He wishes he had access to these medications when he was a kid bc he just kept failing and quitting school. He spent his childhood thinking he was bad at school and dumb. I wish you luck.

I've been dealing with our son's ADHD 11 years now and Vayarin didn't ring a bell, so I had to look it up. Honestly, I wouldn't use that as a sole treatment option. If it's just fish oil and all natural, it may make a nice supplement to stimulant medication (the powerhouse of ADHD treatment). We did omega supplements years ago because it was showing promise in research in helping with those with mild focus problems, but our son has severe ADHD-combined type and it did zip for him. We stuck with it a couple years in addition to his medication, but never saw any change beyond what medication did for him.

Why is the doctor not recommending stimulants? Or did the first doctor recommend them? Those medications are really the best of the treatment options when you combine it with therapy, according to the latest research. Our son went on Ritalin at four because he was so extreme. We were reluctant, of course, but it was the best decision ever. Completely transforming on day one. He had been on Tenex and Clonidine before that (he also did therapy alone, but couldn't focus enough for it), but those were like water. We wasted a lot of time tapering up and down on those. What is nice about stimulants is that if you hate them on day one, you can stop them immediately. None of the tapering up/down.

There isn't a single parent out there with a child with ADHD who is ecstatic about medication. We all agonize over the decision. But I can tell you it's worth the leap of faith in trying stimulants. As you start this journey, I highly recommend joining CHADD and subscribing to ADDitude magazine for accurate information.

I don't have a child in this situation, but I am a former teacher who had plenty of ADD, ADHD, ODD kids plus those on the autism spectrum and with sensory issues. I also teach in the food science field and have worked with plenty of families with ADD/ADHD. I had tons of kids who were on wildly different medications from the kids in the next row.

There are plenty of positives as well as negatives about prescriptions. There are plenty of positives as well as negatives about supplements and natural substances. There is no shortage of bad stories about the pharmaceutical industry, but the fact is, in many cases they have saved lives and brightened futures. There is plenty to be said for the benefits of supplements and natural substances, but the fact is, not everything is safe just because it's "natural" and not everything is bad just because it's "synthetic." I've seen amazing results on supplements if they are well manufactured, patented, and scored highly under the FDA Good Manufacturing Practices. While the FDA doesn't "approve" supplements, they don't approve food either - spinach, carrots, bread, chicken and cheese aren't "FDA approved" either. Some supplement companies (and the stores that sell them, like Whole Foods and GNC) have gotten into pretty serious trouble for not putting in the products what the labels says they did. Others put in the listed ingredients, but buy from questionable sources. And people tend to self-medicate with supplements. A good friend of mine took some "all natural" sleep aids, had a vaso-vagal syncope reaction (her blood pressure dropped to zero), and it happened again when she was in the hospital. She couldn't drive or swim for months, and the cardiologist just about had a stroke when she heard the list of "all natural" stuff my friend was swallowing. So, it matters how things are manufactured and processed, whether they are prescription or supplements. I recommend supplements that are metabolized as food, so no overdose is possible.

The truth is, no one thing works for everyone. Sometimes it takes a few tries, and sometimes it takes a combination of things. You can and should talk to your child's doctor, and you can consider another opinion too. Go to programs for parents. Learn about food science. Make educated decisions. And even so, there is no way to know if your child will do well with something, have side effects, or have no improvement at all.

We take calculated risks every day. If we only focus on possible risks, we would never ride in a car, cross a street, eat a peanut or a marshmallow, dine out in a restaurant or go into a hospital. But that's not reality.

ADHD is a very real, neurological condition. Your son's brain is wired differently than the "typical" brain. There's nothing "wrong" with that. It's just not the same. That's why you are observing that "he reads very well and is above average on many things." ADHD does not mean he isn't intelligent or isn't capable of learning. Most people with ADHD are very intelligent.

"His problem is controlling impulses and does things that are wrong without actually thinking about it first." - Impulse control

"His behavior at school is not good...he loses free time everyday because he wont sit still or is very loud." Can't sit still or focus. Doesn't recognize "inside voice"

"Last week he wasn't permitted to go on the field trip because of his behavior."

All three of your observations are exactly what most kids with ADHD experience. You've observed that your son lacks impulse control. He has trouble sitting still and doesn't recognize when his voice is too loud. He is often disciplined for "bad behavior." You are practically defining what ADHD looks like. Those observations are probably exactly what led the doctor to consider ADHD as a diagnosis.

"He has a stable life at home withme, his dad and his 13 year old sister. No problems eating but can sit and finish a meal without getting up and doing random things."

ADHD doesn't mean that you've done anything wrong. And you are not necessarily going to observe this at home in the same way a teacher would at school. Home is familiar. It is his safe place. Some kids with ADHD will have trouble at home, but many will be most comfortable there and therefore not show their struggle as much.

ADHD does not make him a bad kid or you a bad mom. It just identifies the way in which his brain works. He has an awesome brain! But to help him function better, he probably needs meds.

If your son had diabetes, heart disease, asthma or any one of a thousand other conditions, would you give him prescription meds that his doctors said would greatly benefit him? This is really no different.

So the Dr did recommend Tenex. A little about Jaxon he extremely intelligent and is doing great learning. At six years old he reads very well and is above average on many things. His problem is controlling impulses and does things that are wrong without actually thinking about it first. His behavior at school is not good...he loses free time everyday because he wont sit still or is very loud. Last week he wasn't permitted to go on the firld trip because of his behavior. He has a stable life at home withme, his dad and his 13 year old sister. No problems eating but can sit and finish a meal without getting up and doing random things.

We asked about Vayarin when it was "new" for our severe ADHD/combined type kiddo (co-existing other conditions) - especially when he had to be taken off ALL the stimulant meds (Adderall, vyvance, etc.) he had been on for 10 years when he turned 16. Our doc wouldn't do it . . . He said it was a hyped up drug that wouldn't last. Not saying he is right, and I thought it was a bit unfair for him NOT to let us try it and decide for ourselves.

We still do Intuniv and now have Strattera (which really doesn't work for him). We have ALWAYS done high fish oils for him as I had read an article years ago about the benefits of this.

Good luck - sadly doctors come and go, but our kiddos are always here. We've been through 7 drs in 10 years with this kiddo and they ALL think they know what is best.