My daughter wasn't diagnosed until she was in the 2nd grade (long story, but suffice it to say, I tried to figure out how to have her tested LONG before that!) 

We did the Adderall once but it didn't last long enough for her so she's on the Ritalin slow release 3x per day. 

Your son is very fortunate that you were willing to take him in so that you could help him.  It will make a HUGE difference when he gets into school and even now, if he's in a daycare/preschool situation!

S.

My son was also on ridlin (sp) It helped him focous and pay attention.

What a relief to me b/c he was a hellin

hehe.. love him to death he is now 12 about to be 13 and he of course has grown out of it. He kept telling me that is made him fell funny. So just listen to him if he tell you that and look for something else to put him on.

I't will make you feel bad the first couple of weeks it did me .. b/c he just sits there and spaces off. I haven't had any exp. with the med. you are  going to put him on. But good Luck I hope everything works out..

yes he is in daycare right now. but, it is so strange.. he is pretty good when he is in daycare, but when he is outside of that environment he is just totally opposite. he gets way out of control.

 Watch him and see how he reacts to it one of the girls who rides with us her daughter is on it and she had to try several before finding one that work for her. The first one made her very depressed and tired and made her feel weird. Know though you would never know she ever had ADD/ADHD with what she takes.

Make sure they don't get sugar!

Unless it's fruit. It makes the ADD/ADHD worse.

Hi I have "ADD" and was diagnosed with it in elementry.. I tried several different medications thru out school and my senior year, I found Adderall.. It is a wonderful mediction and I have been taking it for 7 years now.. To me it was the only mediction that allowed me to feel comfortable.. I know that different meds affect people differently, but Adderall has worked for me, good luck.. Dan

Also I get so tired of hearing this...Sugar effect everyone with ADD and ADHD differently...

You know your son you will notice a difference.. trust me.. don't panic.

Sorry this is what I have been told.

A BIG AMEN to that! 

Even though he's in daycare, it affects how he deals with other children and how he perceives them dealing with him.  My daughter got to the point where she couldn't get along, was always fighting with *someone* and this would result in her not wanting to go to school.  It's more than just how the adults are affected.

I wanted to comment about some of your comments.  I, too am ADHD and because my father did not believe in it, my childhood was very abusive.  I refuse to continue that tradition (and I'm not saying you're advocating it but discipline alone cannot eliminate the problem).  My daughter was not diagnosed until 2nd grade and so we went through many, many daycare providers because they could not handle her.  She was very emotional and would way overreact to everything (that is just one of our challenges that the medication helped with tremendously).  If I knew about it when she was 3, I definitely would have acted sooner.

I watched a video from our phsycologist about the actual brain function and bloodflow and I don't see how a child could  "control" it without outside assistance, whether it's diet, constant stimulation, or medication.  One of the ways to help is definitely structure but that, in itself, cannot do it alone either.

You see that is Jaron's problem now is that he fights with people now and he is just out of control. This is how bad it is.... He is 3 yrs old and weighs only 30lbs. Now to me there is something seriously wrong with that picture. I asked the doctor if that was because of his prematurity.. she said No! it is because he is burning soooo many calories from the way that he is. I really don't want to put him on medication but, I see I don't have any other choices or options.

We worked and worked for 8 months after Aubrey was diagnosed ADD and Dislexic.

We finally gave in and put him on 5mg of Aderall and it improved over night, then after 4 months or so it seemed to be not as effective, which is normal. He upped it to 10mg daily and we have been cruising for 3 months now in much better shape.

We have our days, for sure where we have to put the books down and go tie the goat for an hour. Then when we come back it's good again.

Our 5 yr old is on Strattera.  It's a non-stimulant, and it is WONDERFUL!!!  He was a hellion!  He did gain a little weight when he first got on it, but he lost it w/n a month. 

Here's a thought,

At daycare the day is structured extremeley (sp) and he does well there. That tells me you need extreme structure at home. They need to go by a rigorous schedule and stick to it.

I am a master student in Criminal Justice and I've spent years reading about ADD and how it is linked to criminal behavior and how it affects our children. I've read close to every book out there on the condition.

In my opinion ADD is not a bad thing, it is just something to be dealt with. Many, many of our most creative individuals throughout history have had ADD or would be diagnosed as such if they were here today, such as Thomas Edison. Most ADD people are very creative and very busy. They are either overachievers or under, hardly many in the middle. Many people go on to get wonderful educations and great jobs because they found a way to survive within their own "craziness" if you will.

I am adult ADD without meds. I have found ways of coping but it's not for everyone. The structure of the Army was wonderful for me. The structure of college has done wonders for me and I am able to multi-task, in fact, I love to multi-task.

Yes, sugar and diet DO affect ADD/ADHD, however, it cannot be controlled solely through diet alone.

In my personal opinion 3 is too young for drugs, period. One of my best friends is Adult ADD and her son has been on it for years and he is about 7 now, so that is MY opinion, you have to do what is right for YOUR child. She is on Adderal and it has worked wonders for her. I am not sure what her son is on, but she keeps him on a strict schedule as well as watches his diet and makes him take meds.

Our children are the guinea pigs for these drug companies and you don't know and they don't know the long term affects. Personally I try everything else and then try meds if they fail.

Whatever you do, stay positive and look at the good side of it. Go to the library and read everything you can on it, one of my faves is THE EDISON GENE.

Good Luck, there are also online support forums just for this.

PS

My four year old is only thirty pounds, so at 3 and 30 I think that's about right, but I'm not your doctor either.

Please keep in mind that sometimes giving a patient drugs is the easiet thing to do.

Also, what we all consider "hyper" now was not the case a mere fifty years ago, but there are extremes and only you can know that.