LC and ADHD

[MKGretchen]

Is there any study's done on LC and ADHD?? My oldest daughter (13) is severe ADHD and takes 40mg Metadate (long acting Ritalin) in the morning 10mg (regular Ritalin)at noon and again at 4pm. I want to get her on LC because we did her LBM measurements in the PP book and she at 106.42LBM and she weighs 155 is 5'7 1/2".

Any info on this??

[Lisa N]

Hi Gretchen!

You may find this link helpful: http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=71083
My 8 year old has ADD without the hyperactivity portion and we have been trying to have her eat lower carb for several months. It's hard because she has so much access to sweets at school. I've also added EFA (essential fatty acids) as a supplement in the past few weeks, but it's too early to tell if it's really helping. Studies have shown that those with ADD and ADHD have lower levels of certain fatty acids in their blood stream and supplementing has been shown to give improvements. At the very least, the EFAs are good for her in other ways so it's worth keeping her on them. We're trying to avoid having to put her on Ritalin as that would be my last choice for treatment. I think you're on the right track with getting your daughter started on low carb. Good luck!

[MKGretchen]

My daughter has been on some several different forms of Ritalin since she was 5 and I really would like to not have her take them but for her to succeed in school she needs them everyday. Since I have started my LC WOL only 9 days ago she has been getting interested. She tried the tuna patties I made and really liked them. She also is big into salad and always has been but its the sugars and stuff just like your child at school.

I also want to get my hubby in to LCing but he says "I don't need to lose weight, besides I want my potatoes and rice!"

[MKGretchen]

Well, my 13 year old daughter had planned to start this WOE today and this morning she basically told me to screw off and that she wasn't going to do this diet because there was nothing she could eat on it. She put a stink last night and cried that she wouldn't be able to eat pizza, pop, party foods at school. I thought last night that I had her calmed down and was helping her to be ok with it. But this morning she just blue it all out the window and had a jumbo bowl of Honey Nut Cherrios. She said she doesn't like eggs and wont eat them (fine she wont eat any eggs). I just spent $275 on food that everyone can eat and I told her fine she can't eat the food I just bought. I am so upset I am yelling at everyone in the house. I want her to do this diet to see if it will allow her to stop taking her Ritalin that she depends on so much just to have any type of normalcy in her life. She has been on Ritalin (or equivilant) since she was 5 so you can see why I want her to try this.

[Lisa N]

Gretchen..

As hard as this is, at her age it's going to have to be her choice or she isn't going to stick to it when she's out of eyesight. The thing is, she's focusing on all the things she can't have/doesn't like instead of looking at all the things she can have and does like. You could try explaining to her that she can have pizza...just not the crust and that she doesn't have to eat eggs for breakfast. I eat regular pizza from time to time myself; I just pick off the toppings and cheese and toss the crust in the trash. Yes, it looks a little odd to be eating pizza that way and that's probably the last thing a 13 year old wants. It sounds to me like she's afraid of looking strange to her friends and not fitting in with her peers and is trying to find reasons not to be seen as "strange" or "different". Peer pressure is a powerful thing with teenagers.
Another option would be to try something like Sugar Busters or Carbohydrate Addicts where she can have her reward meal when she's with her friends and eat low carb the rest of the time.
You never know...when I was growing up and my cousin was a teenager, low carb was the way to diet and all her friends were doing it too. With all the media attention lately, it just might catch on with her friends and she would gladly embrace it then because then it would be "cool" to low carb.

[MKGretchen]

WE discussed the pizza issue last night and she even suggested that when her teacher has a pizza party that she could ask him to get buffalo wings for her and I said sure but the bbq sauce should be left to the side and you can dip in Ranch dressing brought from home.

I even suggested that she and I have a cooking day where she will be able to pick out the cuts of meat and the kinds of meat (chicken, beef or pork) and I will teach her how to season and cook them. Excellent way to have quailty time and a lifelong cooking lesson at the same time. She loves to cook but doesn't know how to do the meats yet. It would be a big help to me so that I could say "Hey, lets have X for supper, could you go and do that for me"

But as it stands she doesn't want to do anything except sit in front of the boob tube and wait for her next "feeding"

[Lisa N]

You know...

the buffalo wings would probably be safe as long as they don't have breading on them. The sauce is usually made with nothing more than hot sauce, butter and vinegar. I make my own Buffalo wings at home whenever I get a craving for them; they're great to pack for an easy lunch and most bleu cheese dressings that come along side are usually pretty low carb. I don't think it's necessary for your daughter to go extremely low carb, but cutting out the obvious sugars and refined starches would probably be a great start. Maybe she can do this in stages by cutting out the pop, candy and chips first?
It almost sounds like she may be using this as a sort of power play...a kind of "you can't make me do this" sort of thing. As hard as it may be, it might help diffuse the sitation if you simply said, "We've talked about this and I think you know what the best option for you is here, but it has to be your decision." and then trust her to make the right decision. Let her know that you'll be there to help her and that you still care about her no matter which choice she makes. If you try to force the issue, it will likely backfire on you.
Keep on with how you're eating and hopefully your example will win her over. Experiment with a wide range of recipes so that she sees that low carbing can offer a great variety of foods and maybe try to come up with some low carb versions of things she likes together. I wish you luck.

[MKGretchen]

Thanks so much Lisa. With the help of all my new LC friends over at LLVLC I was able to get some qestions rounded up to and was able to talk with my daughter about her really objections to this WOE. And she said it was mainly breakfasts. Because she does eat alot at the salad bar at school she said that wouldnt' be as bad a problem as she first thought. We are going to work the rest of this week coming up with some good breakfast alternatives for her. So far we have come up with "Not Oatmeal" (http://pub96.ezboard.com/flowcarbbuddiesfrm6.showMessage?topicID=3.topic), we will be looking for more breakfast recipes too. I will be working on things for her after school snack so she can get her protein up then

[Lisa N]

Gretchen...

Have you had a chance to look at the recipes forum here? There are a lot of great [reader tested] recipes and ideas for breakfast, especially for those who feel they will start clucking if they have to eat another egg! LOL You might consider getting a couple of good low carb cookbooks and asking your daughter to help you preview and test some of the recipes.
I like eggs, but I get tired of them sometimes too. Some of my favorite breakfasts don't involve eggs at all like ham, turkey or roast beef spread with cream cheese and rolled up (very portable too, if you in a hurry!). I've made pumpkin custard and low carb cheesecake and had that for breakfast as well (great way to disguise your eggs ;) ). And one of our standard breakfasts around here is flax meal mixed with wheat bran (1/4 cup of each) with half a cup of hot water and some Splenda, cream and butter. I like the taste and so does my DH, but my 8 year old says it tastes like grass. :p
Have a look through the recipes forum and have fun cooking with your daughter! :)

[LisaAC]

I'm finding that with my son, it's the wheat causing problems with hyperactivity. He could eat sugar till the cows come home and it does nothing, but I let him have wheat and he's bouncing all over the perverbal walls.

Sometimes it can be caused by "leaky gut" syndrome. Which means that the GI tract is leaking toxins back into the body, causing the body to make "Opiates" Opiates=opium which makes the outrageous behavious these children have.

If it does turn out to be a hidden allergy to wheat, (which is very commen) a gluten free/casein free diet might help. Just a thought.

What is Leaky Gut Syndrome?... sound good that the gut can become leaky, because it ... such as Aspergers Syndrome, PDD, ADHD, ADD and Rett ... exist, research into the role of human gut flora and ...
http://osiris.sunderland.ac.uk/autism/gut.htm

[Lisa N]

Wow! This is an old thread!
I'd like to add an update on my daughter. We did wind up putting her on the Concerta (timed release version of Ritalin) a few weeks after this thread originally started and I haven't regretted it for a moment since. As a matter of fact, that first weekend I found myself saying, "why didn't we do this sooner!" because there was such an immediate difference.
The only negative thing about it so far is that it suppresses her appetite so much she wound up losing 19 pounds in the next 6 months. Fortunately, she was about that much overweight to begin with, but losing it that fast was causing her pediatrician some great concern.
Her weight has stabilized now and she's slowly gaining. We are keeping her moderate carb along with this (100-125 grams per day) along with very limited high carb treats and she's doing well with it..growing as she should and getting straight A's in school. :D

[LisaAC]

That's wonderful!!!. I've thought of trying meds again, but really don't like the idea. I may have to though.

[Lisa N]

LisaAC, I dug in my heels for over a year because medication quite honestly was my last choice. We tried a variety of things, but none of them really made much difference. My daughter doesn't have the hyperactivity portion (other than when she's "rebounding" from the Concerta in the evening), only Attention deficit...she simply can't focus for more than a few minutes no matter how much she tries.
When she started withdrawing and saying she didn't like school anymore because of her frustration, I finally realized that we had to at least give the medication a try. I discussed it with her pediatrician along with reviewing her test results and we went into it with the understanding that if I didn't feel it was helping her after 2 weeks, we would stop the medication and seek another solution. We didn't need the 2 weeks. Within 2 days there was a huge improvement (she actually sat on the couch and read a whole chapter of a book at one time!) and I knew that we had done the right thing.
Medication may not be the best solution for every child and I know that there are some parents who would rather medicate than work with their child one-on-one and employ some discipline, but when that isn't enough and you've tried everything else, it's something to consider. My daughter's doctor was a little surprised when I told her that if I didn't feel that the medication was helping, I wasn't going to continue making my daughter take it. She said that she wished a lot more parents had that kind of attitude.

[LisaAC]

What really ticked me off was that a next door neighbor, who never watches her three children when they are outside, said she was putting her son on Ritalin because he was "hyperactive"

Well, I told this parent that I worked with her child at the preschool he was going to because I was doing my internship there. My son is hyperactive, if her son is hyperactive, hell, I'll eat my shoe. She only wanted to medicate him so she didn't have to deal with him. I've delt with hyperactive students and this kid isn't hyperactive. I used to teach preschool before my son was born. Over five years. I know hyperactive when I see it. We had a set of hyperactive twins and this boy was calm compaired to them. lol. And the twins were calm compaired to my son. LMAO.

She's only 24 and dating a 17 year old male. He was probably about 15 when they started dating. So I can only feel for the poor kids. I caught them playing in the street once. She doesn't care and social services won't do a darned thing. Her daughter is probably about 10 years old now, her son is about 9, and her youngest maybe 5 or 6 by now.

[Lisa N]

LisaAC, I know what you mean. I think that was part of the reason that I dug in my heels so long with putting my daughter on the Concerta. I didn't want to be labeled as "one of those parents". :rolleyes:
My DH and I are committed to disciplining our daughters, but not in a physical way (not that we're above a well-placed swat on the backside when it's required). We use something called, "1, 2, 3 Magic" and have since they were about 3 and 4. It works very well most of the time. So well, that a few years ago when we were at a church camp that we attend every summer and they were misbehaving across the cafeteria (with one eye on mom, of course), instead of screaming across the cafeteria like a fishwife all I had to do is raise my hand with 1 finger held up, then 2 and like magic, they stopped. One of the moms saw what happened and approached me asking, "how did you do that??". I just laughed and said, "they know very well what would have happened had I gotten to 3." :D Usually it's a time out or removal of some privilege, but we also try to make the punishment fit the crime. For example, I caught my youngest daughter riding her bike in the middle of the street. She lost her "bike privileges" for the rest of the weekend.
I know what you mean about parents who just want to use medication in place of supervision and discipline...I have a neighbor like that as well. She has 4 children with another on the way this summer and doesn't supervise any of them. She was asking me about what I had to do to get my daughter on Concerta because she wants her oldest on it, because "I can't do anything with this child!". I wanted to say, "Lady...if you actually spent some time with her, you might find her easier to work with." but just suggested that she talk to her pediatrician instead. :rolleyes:

[LisaAC]

I don't think I'd be so civilized. I'd probably have told her off. LMAO

What you're doing is great. :) And when I was taking Early Childhood Education classes our instructor said "let the punishment fit the crime" Meaning, if they draw on the wall, it's their job to scrub it off. I like the style you're using. After a while all you have to do is just glare at them or merely touch the child on the top of the head, and the behavior stops.

Unfortunately, like some children, my son thrives on negative as well as positive. So, I've had to toss half of what I was taught out the window and rewrite most of the other half. :)

[twistermom]

Ladies if you don't mind I could use some advice! My daughter is something, I just don't know what yet. We have been taking her to see a therapist, but the 1-2-3 magic hasn't worked for us. She will not stay in her time out. At first they told us she was ODD,then they said she has a mood disorder. OK...well which one is it? I am so confused....I have the meds but they are helping so far. At first I thought she just needed something to do do I out her in cheerleading. I am stuck....please help!