Great! Sounds like you are open and motivated to educate yourself. Fantastic that you are already working on the crucial basics. Sleep, hydration, diet/nutrition (including herbs), love, presence, and structure.

If any of those are the key factors in contributing to the ADHD symptoms then those symptoms should resolve themselves over time.

If some symptoms persist over time, then there is something more fundamental going on affecting the brain's ability to filter information.

No need to just endlessly chase down symptoms or medicate to reduce them.

Internal and external stress factors need to be addressed at the root cause.

When there is a stress induced disruption/restriction/imbalance in the brain (which is far too common now adays) then it is a communication issue affecting proper synchronization and integration of brain function.

There are older models (70's/80's)that use primarily exercises to facilitate this communication process between the hemispheres. BrainGym, Brain Balance Centers, Intelligence Integration, etc. These programs can take 3-18 mos. Facilitated programs can be expensive, though, and the exercises may need to be continued in the future. You can purchase books with their specific exercise regiments and practice at home. Exercises that cross the mid line are key: jumping jacks, marching, swimming, touching opposite hands/knees. Be creative and give them plenty of time.

Newer brain integration (BIT)models that incorporate specific movements and acupressure and can take as few as 8-10 hours. These facilitated methods are gentle, extremely rapid and highly effective because they address the 'electrical' nature of the brain via the electically conductive acupressure system. Medications are not going to achieve this.

Colored light therapies can be extremely effective in opening up the visual field for those experiencing PTSD symptoms. The College of Syntonics, FightorFlightTherapy.com are some resources. Blue is calming and Green is balancing. Hospitals, schools, corporations, etc. are utilizing the postive effects of colors. Specific colored light filters specified by a trained optomitrist is suggested.

Cranial Sacral therapies can also be very supportive.

Some stressors can be due to toxicity or even structural imbalances. No program is doing it all at this time that I am aware of.

A timely combination of effective drug free therapies can be incredibly effective!

I took ritalin as a child!! have you ever asked your kid what he wants? Unless you've experienced it you have no idea what it feels like to be a kid and have to take drugs like that. I will tell you exactly what it feels like. I used to have nightmares, when I was awake! My mind would race so fast sometimes I didn't wanna close my eyes because I would have scary images go though my mind. I couldn't eat because I was never hungry I lost a lot of weight way too much. I felt angry and stressed out all the time. When I was eight I asked my parents to take me off of it. But it wasn't until I was an adult and had gotten fired from my 5th job already that I realized what an affect it had on my life I spent months researching and I don't just mean reading, I mean buying things trying texting, on myself. and I found ONE things that really truly works. the problem is you can't stop taking it just like anything else ADD isn't something that is going to go away. I realize that now I wish they wouldn't have had such strive in homeopathic medicine when I was a kid I wouldn't have struggled so hard. Oh and the crying? yes I found out that crying easily and being overly sensitive is not just because I am a weakling or a bad seed like all of my teachers thought, it is a symptom of ADD and now I don't have that problem. I have a very successful Job as a customer service representative for a cell phone company, people yell at me all day and I can handle it! and for once in my life I feel like I'm good at stuff. It's called Vaxa Attend, don't listen to what people say, don't even list to me, try it for your self, pull it up on earthturns.com, show it to your kid, read about it to him, talk to him see what he wants. My Mom meant well, but we didn't have the resources we do now.

Thank you Duucckky for pulling up this old post and thank you for letting us parents know what it is like to be you. It helps us understand our children better. I appreciate your thoughts, your sharing your experiences immensely. Thank you so much!! I read this entire post and learned about others on here as well as their ideas as well, but most of all your firsthand experiences are soooooooooooo helpful. Thank you!

Momcoach--I for one have seen improvements with my 7 yr old son. He is currently on a GF diet, limited processed foods, no food colorings. He is also on Synaptol which has improved his ODD symptoms and Teachers are reporting that he is more relaxed at school, he's not so fidgety or physical after lunch period. We are still having issues with his comprehension and attention, but the school psychologist feels he has compounding disorders, and he is requesting my son to get neurological testings from a pediatric neurologist as well testing for disorders on the Autism Spectrum. I read Biomed treatments are very successful as well.