ADHD Support Group

I suspect my oldest son has ADHD. He is 15 1/2 years old and his school is making reasonable accommodations to his inability to sit in a chair for more than a small period of a time. He is allowed to stand in the back of the class and move and pace. He is doing OK in school but working twice as hard while being very intelligent. His classmates keep on telling him he is a classic case of ADHD. I, too, have ADHD, and this makes his chances even higher. He wasn't officially diagnosed yet.

He had open heart surgery when he was 2 weeks old which saved his life. Other kids with his condition needed transplants or died. He is very lucky that he had a different kind of surgery that was new at the time and it saved his life. But his heart still has to work harder and it doesn't look like a normal heart. He is very fit and active and I worry for him to no end.

I would most definitely get him in for a consultation with a good psychiatrist for an evaluation. There are non-stimulant meds on the market now that I believe would address the issue of any heart related problems. It is also possible that his heart is healthy enough to take it. They are not large quantities and they seem to act different on different people. I have never had heart palpitations with these meds. I even experimented one day and took twice the amount of my regular dose. I felt great and very productive. When I told the doctor that was the dosage I wanted to be at she said that was impossible because down the road, it could lead to heart problems.

It sounds like your son is coping very well, all things considered. Talk to your family doctor and get a referral for a good "pdoc" (psychiatrist).

Good luck and keep posting. This condition is manageable.

Thanks for your response.

My son will see his cardiologist within the next month and I'll talk to him about it.

Regarding the risk of a heart condition while taking medications:

After reading many medical and nursing journals I came to the conclusion that too much of ANY supplement is bad for us. Taking a mega dose of any supplement can cause adverse reactions. It does not have to be medications. The positive thing of taking meds is that it has been researched and we know what we get.

I took the following from an article from the Nursing Spectrum (New York and New Jersey) June 28 '12 that first appeared in the June issue of the journal Heart:

Almost 24,000 participants ages 35-64 were followed when they joined the study between 1994 and 1998 and were tracked for 11 years. There were 354 cases of heart attack, 260 cases of stroke and 267 deaths.

Those that took a MODERATE amount of Calcium from all sources (including food and supplements) had a 31% less chance of heart attack than those who were the bottom 25% of calcium intake. There was NO evidence of any reduction of stroke.

BUT

those who took calcium and other supplements regularly were 86%(!) more likely to have a heart attack than those who did not use any supplements. Those who took ONLY calcium supplements where TWICE as likely to have a heart attack than those who did not use them.

Lesson?

Get your vitamins, herbs and minerals from food and if you have allergies or just can't stomach them, take a MODERATE amount through supplement. Mega doses just might hurt you.