Parents with ADHD teen Girls?

Sounds like she been held hostage to hormones, which usually starts around 10, ADHD/ADD can settle with the onset of puberty, but it can swing the other increasing anxiety and the symptoms of ADHD/ADD.

By a mess I assume she is not coping, cries, screams etc.

As you know we girls/women can be screaming banshees during puberty, and just before menstruation, having ADHD/ADD does not mean she will not be affected any differently.

I would look closely at her diet, as it will certainly help, also ensuring she has ridged routine, and she is sleeping well. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) & counseling may also help.

When she is a mood don't argue or yell back her, be calm and patient (this is so not easy), sometimes walking away helps, and let her calm down. NEVER laugh at her as this will cause more stress, and increase anxiety, and sadly can make a teen, shut down are refuse to talk to their parents.

My daughter who was on Ritalin due to ADHD, ODD certainly became quite teary, cuddly, screaming banshee and the child we wanted to hide from, when she hit puberty. Other times she was very meek and mild child that everyone wanted to be around.

We certainly made sure her diet was healthy with no junk food, colouring, preservatives etc, thankfully she grew up knowing junk food, especially colourings and chocolate would, make her hyper and sick, she would tell people I can't eat that. We were startled to learn she had ADHD at age 9, but it made sense with the fidgeting etc.

We reluctantly put her on Ritalin, and was pleased that it helped her settle, and we could actually sit her down and talk to her. In her words to the Pediatrician, after being on it for a fortnight "that the noise in my head has stopped, and I can think clearly". Her teachers also noticed she did not fidget or wriggle around, or but in to conversations etc.

We also did CBT which also helped heaps, especially since we only gave the Ritalin through the week, and not through the school holidays. We certainly sort counseling when she started show signs of depression, and talking about self harm.

My daughter made a choice to stop the Ritalin when she was 15, that was after a discussion with us, we all decided that if her grades dropped or she found it difficult to keep up with her home work etc then she would have to go back on the Ritalin, she did not need to. Saying that she was not on a large dose of Ritalin.

She is now healthy well adjusted young woman, who is a Disability support worker.

I tell you this to give you hope.

Adhd And Puberty

I'm 14 years old female and I was diagnosed with ADHD and bipolar disorder in hospital when I was 9. I was pulling my hair because I got so fuckig angry at my family so my dad called 999. I am fidgety I cant sit still I can't listen to people. I treat people like **** but I still have loads of friends and I don't know why. I'm an A student an I don't know why. I get depressed and angry very easily. I also live in my own world and I'm afraid of the dark. I've attempted suicide a couple times. I'm a pothead and I smoke and I drink a lot. I'm very violent and have been excluded from school 3 times. I hate my life and just about everyone in it. I have very low self esteem and confidence but I make it seem like I have a lot. I'm a slag. I don't care that I'm like this. I don't feel like I deserve to be alive. I feel like I belong nowhere because of my skin tone and stuff I'm half Indian on my dads side and Italian deutsh Irish spanish and a tiny tiny tiny bit native American on my mums. I moved from the us to the uk in 2009 to get away from my ***** of my mum only to find out my dads just as much of a dick. He called the police on me cos I punched him in the face and kicked me out so for the moment in staying at my uber strict aunties. Life ish **** wherever I go and I'm a super *****. To sum it all up I hate life and life hates me and I am depressed but no one else would ever know :) good luck in life ;) xxx

Your doctor obviously doesn't know very much about teen and adult females with ADHD.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you will need this imformation to better prepare you to deal with her as she gets older.

Female hormones make ADHD much, much worse. While most boys tend to calm down a little when they reach their teen years this isnt the case for ADHD girls. Puberty makes ADHD worse, girls go through a very difficult period from around 11-15 or 16 years of age when their bodies are full of new hormaones due to puberty.

In ADHD adult women the biggest thing that affects them in their menstrual cycle. Most adult ADHD women go through about two weeks in the month where they can get by as seemingly normal adults. But during the week leading up to their perioids their ADHD will go haywire, be vbery difficult to control and not respond to medication very well at all.

Other problem times for ADHD women are pregnancy and menopause, both come with a time of great difficulty.

Awareness is the best defence. Once she starts her periods both of you together should keep a diary of when she gets her periods and how she feels and behaves at different points of her cycle. Many ADHD adults increase their medication at difficult times in their cycle and decrease it at the smoother times.;

No wonder your daughter is a mess. Sounds to me like she is a gifted learner trying to survive in a regular world.

I would get her assessed to find out how gifted she is - may be hard because of the meds. A gifted child need a lot of help - try to latch in to a gifted group in your area. Don't wait on her hormones changing - she needs help now- I have worked with gifted children and they suffer terribly because they do not fit in. BUT they have a great gift once it is recognized. Be careful what kind of assessment you get. She needs one that can determine her potential rather than her present skill.

Check out the work of Reuven Feurestein - I use his assesssment tools a lot.

Good luck

She will not be accepted in the Special Ed. Program but be considered 504, which may just help with any difficulty she may have in class. To anyone to tell you med's are not the way, they can be incorrect because they do not know the exact circumstances or dealings you may have.

Special education

http://careerclusters.info/

I don't believe in what your are doing. I would never medicate my child for a supposed ADHD diagnosis from my pediatrician. Her problem more than likely is - YOU or her diet/environment.