My son is 5 and started taking medication back in July of this year. I do not take him off the meds on the weekend, just because I don't want him to be on a "roller coaster" with his behavior. Its hard to make yourself understand that most of the behavior issues these children have ARE out of there control. I have a hard time with that myself & have to constantly remind myself that my son can't help with his impulsiveness. Thats alot easier said than done! I too find myself losing my patience quickly, then of course the guilt comes. I've found this site to be very helpful and comforting to know that there are people out there going thru exactly what your going thru. Its difficult and almost not worth it to try & explain all this to people who are not educated on it or have never had to deal with it. I'm trying to educate myself on adhd and do as much research on this as possible. Since this is something your going to be dealing with in the future, try and get as much info on it as possible. Good luck!

I have also had that same question about will they outgrow this. Most people and professionals that I talk with tell me that my son won't outgrow this, he'll just learn how to cope with things differently - and if he does that well, then it might appear that he's outgrown this. My son is now 17 and copes with the ADHD better than he did when he was younger. I don't think kids at the younger ages fully understand what they are dealing with. We didn't discover that my son had ADHD until he was about 11 or 12. It was tough for a while but they do usually learn to cope better with this. I agree with 'korn' do your research and read as much as you can.

i appreciate your responses. its nice to hear it gets better. thank you . im going to focus on your words for a while

My son is 13 and he needs the meds all the time to keep him calm. I agree with what the lady above said that your son will prob not grow out of it but will learn to control the impulses and outburst. I supose the older they get the more they will try to control it and we can explain things to them and maybe they will understand abit more. I hope and pray this is the case cos my son is hard work and it is a sad and lonely world when you are a single parent with no suport. (i am)I could of walked away last night cos things were that bad but i cant. We love our children to bits but sometimes i just wish things were different.The good thing with this site though is that no matter how bad you are feeling then there will always be someone here waiting to listen.

Your story sounds a lot like ours also....and I am not so sure they outgrow it.....it's more that they learn to compensate for their hyperactivity and impulses. Our son is on a very low dosage of medication. Before he was diagnosed (officially), we started him in play group therapy, because of a lack of social skills and problems at school with peers. He never had issues with academics, so it took us longer to realize it was ADHD. The play therapy has been fantastic for him! My husband and I also did some behavior management, so that we could learn different techniques to deal with him, since he needs to be parentd differently than his brother. It's been a LONG year, but Chase found out yesterday, that he is graduating from playgroup!!!!!!
He has had a great beginning to school this year, and is getting along with everyone. He has learned to express his feeling appropriately and has learned to calm himself down. 6 months ago, he would have meltdowns at home (not fun) ad would throw everything out of his room and into the hallway....so i feel everyones pain....ADHD is sooooo tough on parents. I have a lack of patience at times also....and my husband and I, tag team....sometimes I need to walk away. If your a single parent....try to do the same....take a time out!
I have learned so much about parenting this year, and please do not give up....you will see changes, if you keep at it...Consistency!
The other thing we noticed was removing preservatives from his food....making changes in the products I purchased made a HUGE difference. We have not seen any aggresive behavior or melt downs since August! No more gatorade......anything with dyes or high fructose syrup.....it's not that difficult my local grocery store has increased their Natural Food inventory, and that seems to be the newest trend, to compete with the Whole Foods, sprouts and Central Markets stores. target carries a lot of cereals by Kashi, Zbars by Cliff...ect at half the price!
The last thing we are doing now, is giving Chase back the responsibility for his impulses....he will start Bio Feedback next week, and learn to control himself and find himself in a more focused state, as well as a more relaxed state.
Ultimately, this will be what tweaks all the hard work he has put in this past year....the impulses are still there, but he knows what he needs to do, he just can't all the time, so we believe Bio Feedback will train his brain to focus and be less impulsive. Kids with ADHD can not control themselves...we neeed to keep repeating this , because it's so hard to understand.
All of this can be covered under insurance.....you just need to research a little and try things out.....this has been an on going process.....and sometimes you feel like after all the work, you have taken 10 steps back, BUT, believe me, it's normal, and gets better!!!!!!
I wish you all the best....much good luck...you can do this :)

thank you Hpep....may I ask how old your child is? My son will be 11 in December and is having peer issues at school. His social skills are lacking and I am looking for age appropriate social counseling for him. He is very intelligent and because some of his peers refuse to accept his very "black and white" personality, this has lead to him being threatened with violence at school. He just wants to forget all the drama, get along and move on.....some others don't see it that way. I know he sometimes has feelings of hopelessness and wants desperately to be liked. His social disposition is so "off" that I am confident he will not thrive without professional social counseling.....I just am not sure where to begin.