I'm a big believer in nutritional support for our kids, but am skeptical about homeopathy. I agree with Jill about finding a good naturopath or integrative M.D. In terms of hyperactivity, first step would be to try a gluten- and casein-free diet and giving 1,000 mg. of DHA & EPA (my DD takes 2 of the Coromega packets daily). Other things to look into are a low-phenol diet and treating for systemic yeast infection.

Find a naturopath who is also a DAN (Defeat Autism Now!) doctor. Some biomedicational treatments really work for some kids. And they are much less invasive then drugs. Bottom-line, our kids brains are developing and these drugs affect the chemistry of the brain. I recently listened to this reputable pychristrist that said that drugs should only be used temporarily with kids and ONLY if they resolve the problem completely. Course, my son had several bad experiences with drugs so I'm a bit biased. Neurotherapy was also key for my son which balances the electrical impulses in the brain.

I was in the same situation years ago. What we did was before we tried medication for his ADHD I asked his teachers to give him certain tests and when we had him take the meds I didn't tell the teachers and asked for a similar test. It helped us decided if he really needed the meds to calm down and still be able to focus on his activities. We didn't want a zombie. For us the meds help during school time and wear off around dinner.

Meds have a time and place. It's illegal for a school to push for medication. If there is enough support in place than medication can sometimes be avoided. You are the parent and the decision is yours to make.

I agree with not medicating a child if you do not have to, and I also believe that you can also medicate without making the child a zombie as well. I do not really trust homeopathic therapies in not just our children but society in general. If there is a therapy that is proven and has real results then I might give it a try, a good illustration on this is acupuncture where it does prove to be effective with certain issues.

My big issue here is that the schools do try to push meds because they just do not want to deal with a child that does not conform to what they consider normal. The teachers do not want to deal with a child that makes them do more work then they dean necessary therefore they would rather have the child so drugged out that they do not have to deal with them. I do not mean to generalize and there are a lot of good teachers out there but there are also a lot of them that are just lazy