Summary

Alan was 11 years old when he started homeopathic treatment for ADHD, anxiety and ODD like symptoms. His mother described him as a boy who could never slow down and sit still. He had to be active all the time. Alan would rush through school work so he could play games or do something he enjoyed. He continuously said he was bored, and frequently talked about wanting his freedom. Alan would frequently ask for a day off from home-schooling.

The main struggle his mother wanted help for was defiance. She also wished to see him take more initiative to do things e.g. brush his teeth without being prompted, notice when his room needed to be cleaned. She also wanted to see his focus improve, and for him to slow down.

Alan's defiance was expressed when he was asked to do something he didn't want to do. He would snap back hatefully. His responses always sounded rude. His mother would have to resort to threatening him to take things away to get him to cooperate. If he didn’t get his way he would throw a fit, get on the floor, kick, scream and shout. He would scream and cry for an hour. His mother found his tantrums misplaced in an eleven year old. Tantrums like this were not frequent but they were a regular occurrence if he was very upset about not getting his way. Alan would always be remorseful afterwards, and show concern for his mother. In the past when he got angry at school he would throw things off his table or kick over his chair. If kids were mean to other kids he would shout stop it. If he heard unkind comments about another kid this would upset him greatly. If someone looked at him in the classroom he would scream ‘stop looking at me’. At certain times he was averse to eye contact.

Alan was disorganized. When doing school work his papers were everywhere. His room was very messy. He would constantly complain that he can’t find his belongings, and blame others for taking them. He is sensitive to sound and light. As a baby he needed to wear sunglasses because he would scream due to light sensitivity. He required motion a lot as a child, he wanted to be carried and rocked all the time.

Alan was very fearful of thunderstorms to the point that he became obsessed with observing weather conditions. If it was cloudy he would ask if a storm is coming. He had to put earphones on to block out the noise, even for small storms because it frightened him so much. He’s always been fearful of the dark so keeps a night light on. Alan was also fearful of heights. He is scared of being alone, especially outdoors so has to have someone with him. He has a severe fear of flying / stinging insects which also prevents him from doing activities outdoors. Alan was stung a couple of times which was very traumatic for him.

Alan is friendly, social and generally has a happy disposition. His mother described him as ultra-sensitive. He is strongly averse to people with a mean demeanor. His mother said he holds onto negative experiences from the past. He can tell you things that bugged him back in 1st grade. Alan likes to fit in with other kids. He’s intelligent and likes comedy. His favorite activities include drawing comics, and building stuff. He’s very mechanically minded. Alan is home-schooled. He was taken out of school after bullying incidents which caused him social anxiety. Physical symptoms include low energy, picking nose, nail biting. Allergies, nose stuffy, and post-nasal drip.

Medical history

After a vaccine he had a seizure, flopped over, and had foam coming out of his mouth. Mother thought he had died, and rushed him to hospital. History of croup. Several times a year in first 5 years of life. History of ear infections. Allergies. Strep throat. Had antibiotics to treat infections each time, and steroids for croup. Stuffy nose, itchy nose. Post-nasal drip related to allergies. History of anti-histamines claritin and zyrtec.

Prescription

Tub Koch 1M. Steroid clear. Antibiotic clear and polybowel plus. Phosphorus 30C weekly.

Follow-up 1

There was a big change in defiance within the first 3-4 days. He was really good for 4 weeks. Before he was not enjoyable to be around, he was angry and would bite our heads off. It’s not like that now. Tantrums got a lot better. He's only had one meltdown since when his feelings were hurt. He wasn’t on the floor, just whining. He’s listening and doing chores willingly.

He developed an itchy skin rash on his feet a couple of days after starting the course, it was completely gone the next day. When it cleared up so did his defiance and anger. The first few weeks his behavior was perfect. Now having episodes of defiance again. There was an incident when he didn’t want to his homework, he was very rude and his demeanor was negative. He apologized after. Before he would have had a full on meltdown.

He still seems to be concerned with thunderstorms, and anxious to be alone. He’ll go outside with friend or mom but not otherwise. Content to be inside all the time. Still biting his finger nails and picking his nose in public, and if I say anything he gets angry. Bites nails really short.

Energy levels are a little bit better but still tired. Still some laziness. He doesn’t like to clean up after himself. He will if asked, not very good at organizing. Allergies have improved. Not wiping his nose.

Alan's mother would like next prescription to focus on laziness, focus and respond to people better so he's less sensitive when other people hurt him. And help with defiance again.

There was a big change in defiance within the first 3-4 days. He was really good for 4 weeks. Before he was not enjoyable to be around, he was angry and would bite our heads off. It’s not like that now. Tantrums got a lot better. He's only had one meltdown since when his feelings were hurt. He wasn’t on the floor, just whining. He’s listening and doing chores willingly.

He developed an itchy skin rash on his feet a couple of days after starting the course, it was completely gone the next day. When it cleared up so did his defiance and anger. The first few weeks his behavior was perfect. Now having episodes of defiance again. There was an incident when he didn’t want to his homework, he was very rude and his demeanor was negative. He apologized after. Before he would have had a full on meltdown.

He still seems to be concerned with thunderstorms, and anxious to be alone. He’ll go outside with friend or mom but not otherwise. Content to be inside all the time. Still biting his finger nails and picking his nose in public, and if I say anything he gets angry. Bites nails really short.

Energy levels are a little bit better but still tired. Still some laziness. He doesn’t like to clean up after himself. He will if asked, not very good at organizing. Allergies have improved. Not wiping his nose. Alan's mother would like next prescription to focus on laziness, focus and respond to people better so he's less sensitive when other people hurt him. And help with defiance again.

Prescription

Poly vax clear. Phosphorus 200C weekly. Chelidonium 6C.

Follow-up 2

Anxiety has been really good. Not angry all the time like he was. Behavior has been great. He's not having regular meltdowns or being defiant about everything or talking back. There’s been significant change. He does really well on Phosphorus. Hyperactivity has reduced. Focus hasn’t really shifted at all. Focus is still terrible especially on tasks he doesn’t want to do. Easily distracted about everything. Distracted by the least noise. Just too fast. Wants to rush through everything.

Alan's mother wished he would have more motivation. To keep his room clean and brush his teeth without being prompted. He will do chores if asked, he’s cooperating more. I would like him to look at his room, and think this needs cleaning. Son says ‘I will never look at it like that!’. Energy levels are good. We’ve had times with such low energy, he was constantly worn out, I suspected adrenal fatigue. He’s better with that. I don’t see him yawning all the time.

Anxiety about going outside alone seems a bit better. Recently he has gone outside a lone to get something from the car. He’s not playing outside alone. He is still biting his fingernails and toe nails, and still picking his nose. It’s allergy season, and I haven’t seen any sign of allergies at all. Normally he would have post-nasal drip this time of year. He would have to take an anti-histamine daily year round as it was constant. He has n’t had it lately. He used to always have dark circles under his eyes but doesn’t look like that at the moment.

Sensitivity to sound still much improved. Still sensitive to smell, and gags with certain foods. He won’t try anything new or gags with new foods. Sensitivity to light has also improved. He used to complain every time we went outdoors. I haven’t heard him complain about it.

Prescription

Med 10M. Sulphur 200C. Ritalin clear. Dopamine course.

Follow-up 3

Alan has started taking initiative. He went into his room to clean out under the bed. He decided to do that yesterday. We did a big clean up. The fact he wanted to surprised me. He stayed there with me for 2 hours. I couldn't believe it. I thought what has happened to my child? I went to his room, he had moved his bed to the middle of the room, and was vacuuming cobwebs and cleaning!  

Defiance is still good. It’s more peaceful. Anger, frustration, aggression, tantrums never returned. Hyperactivity and focus hasn't changed much. Has to be doing something all the time. Saying 'I’m bored'. If activity is not fun for him he wants to play a video game. If there’s nothing to do he will be looking through a book or something. He is still disorganized. Hyperactive in church, he’s wriggling all the time. His legs and arms moving, he cannot sit still. It had improved on Phosphorus.

I was concerned about him a month ago regarding interactions with friends. Initially on this course he seemed uncomfortable. Eye contact and crowds were hard for him. You could see how uncomfortable he was. I think the bad experiences at school have not helped. At school he felt contained. Fear of being alone is a bit better. He’s much calmer about thunderstorms. Last week we had a big thunderstorm, and he wasn't paralyzed with fear.

More willing to try new foods. He wanted steak the other day, and wanted to try fish. He’s wanting to try new foods. Allergies are better than they have ever been. Some improvement with picking nose. Still biting his nails.

Prescription

Falco- p 200C weekly.

Final Consultation

Alan's ADHD is a lot better than it has ever been. Focus is better. He is completing tasks. We are getting through school work quicker. I am homeschooling without getting frustrated every day with how long tasks take. He will stop in the middle of a task to tell me something totally unrelated so I still have to remind him to focus, and he will listen. Or if it's something long or not interesting to him he will yawn. But he is not refusing to do school work.

Right now everything is going really good and stable. He isn’t behaving badly, doesn’t seem overly hyperactive, isn’t yawning all the time like he was, is doing chores willingly. Overall he has been an enjoyable child.  A huge improvement from where we have been in the past! 

Hyperactivity is a lot better. Sensitivity to sound has much improved. I haven't heard any complaints about certain sounds annoying him. He is still distracted by noise if trying to do school work. Alan still has to occupy himself at all times but isn't complaining of being bored, and hasn't mentioned anything about needing more freedom. Defiance is almost non-existent although sometimes still there. If he is defiant he knows he's wrong, and will apologize straight away.

Regarding chores, he is recognizing when his room is very messy and untidy. He asked me to help him tidy his room the other day so we did it together. This is an improvement. I can get him to do chores if I ask but generally he's not doing it without prompting. He has brushed his teeth unprompted a few times but it's not a regular occurrence. His adrenal fatigue symptoms have improved significantly.

He's no longer afraid of heights. Now he's talking about wanting to fly planes and become a pilot. He spends a lot of time looking up fighter jets and airplanes on internet. Fear of being alone especially outdoors is better but he rarely does it. He says nothing about storms when they happen now. He is still very fearful of bees and flying insects. Alan seems to have social anxiety but this could be due to isolation since lock down. He's out of practice interacting. He's acting shy with his friends. He will talk but he's awkward. He's not picking his nose, which is a huge relief, it was very embarrassing. I haven't seen him to that for a long time. It used to be compulsive. Biting finger nails has improved. He still does it at home, but not when he is at church.

Results

Conclusion

As you can see from the MYMOP scores, and the progression summary chart Alan's ADHD symptoms have improved significantly with three rounds of HDT, and constitutional homeopathic treatment over a 10 month period. Based on this progress I would expect to see further improvements with focus, writing, social anxiety, nail biting, and fear of flying insects/ bees if Alan continues homeopathic treatment.

This small study was conducted by Eileen Conneely, a fully trained and qualified homeopath with a special interest in ADHD. If you would like more information about how homeopathy can help your child you can book a free 20 minute assessment.

Notes on ADHD study

Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and not intended to replace the advice of your physician or health care provider. First aid situations may require medical or hospital care. Do not use this article as a means to diagnose a health condition. Speak to your doctor if you think that your condition may be serious, before discontinuing any medication that has been prescribed for you, or before starting any new treatment.