[MamaRachel]

My son has always been 100% boy and very active (although he knew how to behave, he tested limits but acted appropriately in public situations better than the average child.) It wasn't until he was three and a half did he seem not like the average kid his age. Whenever he was in a large group of kids, it seemed like he couldn't hear me anymore. He wasn't even playing with the kids, he became so over stimulated he seemed to be in his own little world. He then started running away. Whenever he got over stimulated he would take off, as fast as he could, in any direction.
When he went into preschool at age 4, he had a lot of issues. Part of me blamed it on his teacher who didn't believe in consequences, and another part was the fact that he was bored with the learning aspects of class, because he already knew colors, numbers, shapes, letters, sounds, and rhyming. He was over stimulated in class, and acted out by tackling other students, occasionally hitting, and running away. He never tackled or hit out of anger, and he would seem surprised after it happened. Like I said, he was in his own little world. He was tested by special ed and they told me "He's 100% boy! He'll grow out of it, just don't let him get away with bad choices." (something we never did.)
He was fine after preschool during the summer, (but again, he wasn't around more than a few kids at a time- something he's always been able to handle.) Kindergarten had a good first day of school, and nothing since. He wasn't being physical with the other kids, but instead while they were suppose to sit on the carpet for a lesson or a story, he would be rolling around the floor. He was over-enthusiastic with his classmates, would use his pencil to drum or poke the kids next to him, and spent most of his day in time out because of his actions. He was also known to stop working because he was bored with it, go to another part of the classroom to play while others worked, crawl under the tables, and act jumpy around the class. He has just about every symptom of ADHD, although has not been diagnosed with anything.
Since he started having issues, I started reading up on options other than medication, because that's not in option in my mind. I read up on neurofeedback. When kindergarten was going as bad as it was, we found a licensed practitioner downtown who could work with us. Since the first week of September he has gone for sessions every Tuesday and Thursday, except for a few times because of holidays, sickness, or travel. He has had 21 sessions.

At first, he was having tremendous results!
His teacher was amazed, as were we! His doc guessed him not needing more than 20 sessions because he was reacting so well, and mentioned he'd never seen anyone respond as fast as he had. By session 14 we started having trouble. He started acting out in school again, this time being violent with other classmates. He was having panic attacks, hysterical tantrums, being physically violent with me in anger over the smallest of issues, and could no longer nap. Each time he was having trouble we'd tell his doctor, and he would change frequencies on his next session. It now seems every other session, despite changes, he continues to have these issues. He cries at the smallest of issues, has begun picking things up and throwing them and breaking things during his fits now, as well.
I wanted to stop the sessions, knowing that's what was doing it to him, but had multiple people tell me that ADHD symptoms generally take 30-40 sessions and to take my time.

It's so frustrating- it is like he is battling with himself in his own mind.

HAS ANYONE ELSE HAVE NEGATIVE REACTIONS WITH NEUROFEEDBACK SESSIONS??? Should I just be waiting this out?

[Chemar]

hello,

I don't have any personal experience with neurofeedback, as we were advised against having it done for my son who has Tourette Syndrome and ADD (no H)

I do know on someone who felt it had a very negative effect on her son.

I have read a few positive reports tho on some forums.

Honestly, as a mom, I would say go with that mommy instinct if you feel the effect is negative.

[Snoopy]

Hello MamaRachel,

I don't have any experience with Neurofeedback.

If I may make a suggestion? Make an appointment with a Pediatric Psychiatrist to have your son evaluated. You seem to be going on the assumption that your son has ADHD, and he may, but it could be something else or more than one issue.

I am not suggesting you use medication for your son but getting a diagnosis would be important to understanding and managing his behaviour and/or problems.

[ticmom]

Hello Chemar,
My son suffered from motor tics (just diagnose) and I am exploring neurofeedback as we are pending hospital's investigation for ADD and other behaviour problems as he is a hyperactive boy, although being intelligent. I am looking to neurofeedback for focus his attention. Pls share with me more about the negative as I was about to start the session.

Is it possible that we communicate by email as I have several qtns on tourette that you could advice me?

Originally Posted by Chemar

hello,

I don't have any personal experience with neurofeedback, as we were advised against having it done for my son who has Tourette Syndrome and ADD (no H)

I do know on someone who felt it had a very negative effect on her son.

I have read a few positive reports tho on some forums.

Honestly, as a mom, I would say go with that mommy instinct if you feel the effect is negative.

[Chemar]

Hello ticmom

I would suggest you post any questions re TS on the TS forum here as that is the best way to get responses
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum25.html

As I have no personal experience with neurofeedback I honestly cannot comment about specifics, beyond what I posted above.

sorry not to be able to be of more help on this

[ticmom]

Hi Chemar,

Sure, I will post over to the link. As my kid was recently diagnosed, I am still waiting for appointment to see a psychologist for further assessment.

Meanwhile, I just give him epsom bath and magnesium supplement. However, the neck twitching is still there. Thus, I am looking out for other remedies. Have you tried out tic-tamer? (Sorry, too much things on my mind now...)

[ticmom]

Hi mamarachel,

Did you continue the neurofeedback? How is your son's condition? Better?

I have found out in my area there are two types of neurofeedback that they called traditional method and the LENS. As my 5yr old is having facial motor tics, the practitioner recommends the LENS as it doesn't require him to focus and will need less session. I did mention with his neurologist and the reply don't seem too positive and none of the hospitals in my country does neurofeedback. All are done by private companies and they all seem to be only qualified to use the machine but not EEG technican as such.

[anatividad]

Mama Rachel,
Hope you are okay with whatever you decided to do, continue or not continue treatments. I realized when reading your post, I could have wrote the first half up to the neorofeedback portion. My son just turned 6, I looked for help last year during pre-school. We to wanted to avoid medication. For a solid year we tried different behavior techniques with his social worker and got rid of red dyes and most artificial coloring and even flavoring in his diet. Along with adding Omega 3's, etc.
the professionals that we work with do not want to diagnose him because typical behavior techniques have no effect on him and they are sure he has multiple things going on. Our next steps are a nuerologist due to an abnormal EEG and a child pyschiatrist. The past two months we have tried ADHD meds with no luck, all of them made him even more anxiuos and even more stimulated in settings that he already struggled in. After trying the different meds, he now has a vocal tic that is so loud and frequent we have to keep him home from school on some days.
I hope that we can find a way for our kids to enjoy life and get through school!