ADD AND OMEGA 3 FATTY ACIDS

We went to go see our house doctor last Friday regarding a prescription of Ritalin for my newly ADD diagnosed 14-year-old son.  To be very honest I was so nervous to give him Ritalin.  I have researched a lot about ADD/ADHD and different medicating options.  Most of the information scared me.  And many people have many different opinions.  So turns out our doctor does not want to prescribe the Ritalin just yet.  Instead, he prescribed Optimega. (Omega-3 fatty acid supplement) in combination with seeing a therapist, that will help with various therapy including speech therapy.

According to out doctor treatment for ADD/ADHD isn’t just about taking medication. There are many other effective treatments that can help kids with ADD/ADHD improve their ability to pay attention, control impulsive behavior, and curb hyperactivity. Nutritious meals, play and exercise, and learning better social skills are all part of a balanced treatment plan that can improve performance at school, improve your child’s relationships with others, and decrease stress and frustration.

So after we made a quick trip to the local pharmacy, and got some optimega.  The moment we got home, I felt the need to research this theory.  According to ADHD health.com :

There are numerous studies showing that omega-3 fatty acids help lessen the symptoms of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Not all fats are bad fats. We need to eat fat daily, they are a part of the essential nutrients we must get in our diet to remain healthy, mentally and physically. A large part of our brains are fatty acids. It appears that children with ADD and ADHD tend to have lower values of omega-3 in relation to omega-6 than average. The result is a fatty acid deficiency or imbalance, specifically a lack of the omega-3 fatty acids DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), and an excess of the omega-6 fatty acid”

But what are OMEGA 3’s?  According to Healthline.com:

Omega-3 fatty acids are fats that affect many bodily functions, from blood clotting to inflammation. Omega-3 fatty acids are nutrients that you can only get through certain foods. The human body does not produce these nutrients naturally.

There are three kinds of omega-3 fatty acids:

• alpha-linoleic acid (ALA): found in oils, vegetables, and nuts
• eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA): found mainly in fish
• docosahexaenoic acid (DHA): found in fish and shellfish

So this will be the start of our journey.  To see if this will work or not.  Next on my list is to find a Remedial school for my son for next year.

This, however, is another topic and another issue I am facing on its own.

 

 

 

 

 

WHEN LIFE KICKS YOU IN THE ASS

So I haven’t posted at all this week.  Life this week was just too much to handle.

My son is writing exams again.  And with his learning problems it just gets a lot.  I have to constantly check up on him.  Make sure he studies, and then hope he remembers everything the next day.  He went to a study course.  And luckily the new study techniques made things a bit easier. Friday we have an appointment to go see our house Doctor, and then hopefully we will get the prescription to see if the Ritalin will work successfully.  Otherwise, we are back to square one.  Oh, and did I mention we have to help JJ build a rocket for his math project?  Yeah, not my strongest department.  Then I broke a window.  Don’t even ask me how I did that.  All I’m going to say is when you are over tired, and grumpy.  Toss the shoe away from the window.  Lastly, life decided to throw a toothache at me – 2 weeks before payday, and a medical aid that is exhausted for the year.  (Thank you infertility!!) After 3 days of excruciating pain, and desperate I went to the pharmacy last night and I found this mouth rinse.  And this was my savior!!  My whole mouth is numb, and hopefully, this will keep me going till I get my ass to the dentist.

 

Anyway, all I wanted to say is….I’m still here.  I know I’ve been missing in action a bit.  But I will definitely make up for the absence in the weeks to follow.

 

Hopefully, life is done kicking me in the ass for now.

 

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Save

Its okay to cry.

The last week has been very tough on me.  Last week we found out that my son has ADD, and that he needs to go on medication to help him.  I walked out the psychologist office and burst into tears.  And the rest of this week I cried even more.  I felt sucker-punched.  Mainly because he is already 14, and he was coping quite alright in Primary School. I definitely did not expect him to have ADD.  My thoughts was that he has some form of exam stress or something different. But that is not the case.

So according to the Psychologist, she wants him to start on Ritalin immediately.  Obviously, I tried to find a more natural solution first.  Not wanting to medicate my child with a drug that many, many people question.  But according to her, he needs the Ritalin.  If the Ritalin does not work, she wants to send him for further testing to investigate that maybe he might have a different neurological problem.

I can not begin to explain how that feels to a mom.  Somehow hoping that your child has, in fact, ADD and that medicating him could work, and not a neurological problem.  So this week I have been reading a lot about ADD and ADHD.  I felt that I needed to educate myself more.  I can safely say that I need to learn much more.  There are so many articles.  And I feel like there is so much information out there.

I found this article called “OMG, I Just Found Out My Son Has ADHD”

In the article Penny Williams says:

Receiving an ADHD diagnosis is tough for a parent. While ADHD isn’t a terminal illness or a physical handicap, you have the right to be sad and grieve. You’ve been blindsided, and your pain is real and valid. You just found out that your child has a neurological disorder — that something didn’t go quite right when his brain was developing — and that entitles you to sorrow. If you weren’t upset about it, that would be something to worry about.

It’s natural to grieve when your child is diagnosed with any disability. Your world has changed — either your expectations have been shattered or you realize that chaos is here to stay. While it’s necessary to go through that period of grief, you have to move beyond it.

So take a little time to be sad, angry, scared, and heartbroken. Sit in a room alone for a couple of days. Take a bubble bath until you shrivel. Cry. Scream. Recoil. It’s OK, even healthy, to be irrational for a few moments as these feelings surface. Take a few days, maybe a week, to work through your feelings about your child having ADHD.

So with that.  I have decided to cry, scream, and let it all out!  Then become stronger.  Because I am a MOM, and I signed up for this job.  And I love my son with my whole heart.  And I am determined that I need to be there for my son when he needs me.  And we will not let this get us down.

Save

MY SON HAS ADD

Last week after many sessions with a Psychologist, my 14-year-old son got diagnosed with ADD.  He had been doing very badly in school.  It seemed that no matter how much he studied, he would still fail his tests and exams.  We went to see his teachers at school, and all his teachers mentioned that he drifts off, or daydreams.  He doesn’t give his full concentration.  Some teachers even mentioned that he would not remember work they just  taught 15 minutes prior.   Also over the last few months, his answer to a lot of things was I forgot.  He would forget to write down assignments, or homework.  He would forget to pack lunch.  He would loose books and stationary.   This is when we decided maybe we need to take him to see a psychologist  to investigate and test him on different levels.  She told us that she would be testing him for all areas that could be the cause for eg: whether he is dealing with exam stress or peer pressure or something different.

The diagnosis came as a huge shock to me.  This is all very new to me.  And for a few moments, I felt kind of lost.  I did not expect to hear my son has ADD.  So moving forward I have decided to take a break for a few weeks.  I will still be posting my articles, just not on a daily basis like I used to.  I want to take more time to educate myself about ADD in order to better understand and help my son in the long run. I just feel that as a mom I need to do everything in my power to help my son.   I might even consider blogging about this it in the future when I understand the condition more.