Success from a Healthy Alternative


Our family doctor and I suspected that my "very active" toddler was not only showing signs of hyperactivity but was easily distracted. As a Clinic Manager of a medical office, I was well aware of the symptoms and treatments for these types of issues, but I opted not to explore these options until he entered a two-year kindergarten program. After his teacher noticed he was having difficulties in learning due to his inability to sit still, the impulsivity, and lack of focus and concentration, I did finally decide to try "medication". I talked in length with his doctor and we decided to start him on Ritalin.


He continued struggling throughout his early elementary years even to the point where I had him evaluated at a very prominent University. Their clinical diagnosis was ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and had the basic recommendations you find in most any of the ADHD literature. We spent many long evenings working on homework and trying to help him understand the subject matter and the academic concepts.


I became especially concerned by the time he was in the third grade. He had more difficulty learning as the academic requirements were increasing in size and complexity. At the time, I was living in the state of Minnesota and asked that they give him a school assessment to see if he qualified for any extra help. Their evaluation showed some inconsistencies and stated that he was "not low enough on their state deviations" to receive any extra services. With the guidance of his physician, we continued to try different medications and dosages. He still struggled with the impulsivity, lack of focus, concentration and the academics of learning. He and I both were extremely frustrated. He just couldn't understand why he was having such a difficult time understanding his schoolwork. 


At this point, I turned to the Internet to research other "alternatives". There were so many to choose from, I think I probably could have spent years trying to read through all the information. I even went so far as to actually try one for him after getting his physician approval and hearing other local people talk about alternative products. Unfortunately, there just weren't any significant improvements.


After experiencing some family life changes, (getting remarried and then a death in the family), we made the decision to relocate to Virginia. With our move, we encountered the difficulties of entering another school system. After our son took the Virginia placement tests, we found that he was behind in the curriculum, which presented us with some challenges. We had even more concerns matching up his skill levels (at the time) to the Virginia "Standards of Learning" (SOL) requirements. Entering this new school system with only a few months remaining in the school year, my husband and I went through some shock and grief deciding to hold back our son for another year in the third grade. This was such a heart wrenching decision for us and for our son. As a parent, I always hope and pray that I have made all the right decisions for him and this was an extremely difficult one to make. However, we did find out that he now qualified for extra services under Virginia's guidelines and we set him up with an IEP (Individual Education Plan) at the same time we made the decision to retained him. As he continued his schooling, we found it necessary to continually increase his Ritalin dosage to help him maintain his focus and concentration. This increased the "Ritalin rebound" effect in the evenings (when the medication had worn off), presenting many family challenges! This also caused him difficulty sleeping and (after consulting with his physician) led us to get him on yet another medication to counter the insomnia.


One sunny day in the summer of 1999, our neighbor introduced us to a company with outstanding herbal wellness products that she was trying on her son, who experienced many of the same symptoms as our son. Needless to say, after working in the medical field for 22 years, I was extremely "skeptical" of more wellness remedies. After all, the Internet was full of them! She was persistent, however, and four months later she showed me his report card as proof of the products. At this point, we decided to be optimistic and take a look at these products for our son. What we found was an established company with a comprehensive line of herbal wellness products. The integrity and reputation of the company was apparent in the magnitude and scope of testimonies that we personally heard from people in our local area. While the products did not claim to address any particular medical condition or issue, the testimonies convinced us to look at the information closer and get the opinions of our Pediatrician as well as our Developmental Specialist doctors. We realized that the products could affect our child differently, so it was important for us to keep his doctors actively involved in this herbal "experimentation". After obtaining their endorsements to try these products, we obtained written approval for him to have the products administered at school during the day. The results were visible to us in a very short amount of time. We began to see new (good) dimensions to his personality that we hadn't seen before, along with his ability to concentrate and focus. We received many positive comments from his teachers, including the encouragement to keep doing what we were doing. Under the direction of his Developmental Specialist, we continued to "tweak" his usage of the herbal products until the combination seemed to give him optimum results with the focusing and concentrations issues as well as his testing anxiety. We were so proud of him, as he attained the honor and scholar rolls all of last year (in the fourth grade). He was even able to control his test anxieties to pass the tough SOL tests! He was so proud of his own success and gained so much self-esteem.


With the help of his doctor, we continue to "tweak" his usage of the herbal products and vitamins during non-school times (i.e. summer, winter and spring breaks) to try and reduce, or even eliminate, the need for any pharmaceutical products. So far, we've been able to lower his medication dosage substantially and eliminated the lethargic effects and rebounds (which has eliminated his insomnia and the need for any bedtime medication).


Regardless of whether he is ever completely off of all medications or not, alternative wellness products have helped give our son back his abilities to learn, focus, concentrate, quality of life, pride and self-esteem. He no longer feels ashamed of his "differences" but touts his ability to face and prevail over his challenges. Now that his dreams of becoming a Navy Seal or an Astronaut are really his to choose, I realize that there is no greater gift of love.


Rhonda and Rick Gamble
The parents of a wonderful 11-year-old son.


If you would like specific information about these products, please feel free to contact us at 
success@healthysolution.net