ADHD medication for DS10 - has it made a drastic difference with school?

[Sunmoonstarr]

DS10 has dyslexia, ASD and ADHD (inattentive type). He has a very lovely personality (often complimented on this) but can't seem to form friendships with his peers and struggles with emotions (though only at home where he can release any pent up emotion from the school day).

He feels everything in a magnified way. If he's upset or frustrated, or sees some type of perceived injustice he'll shout, cry, get really oppositional.

At school he has always struggled to just remember things. I would say he's a good 3 years behind in terms of emotional maturity and academic achievement. He's pretty good at sport a few different sports.

Up until about a year ago, he was still behaving in a silly way to try and get the attention of his peers - poking, annoying, that sort of thing. He has grown up a lot this last year and we've involved him in a couple more sports more seriously which has helped his self esteem.

Our psychiatrist has suggested medication as a possibility and we are wondering what kind of changes others have seen. Trying to weigh up whether to trial. We would have to explain to DS and have him in agreement - at 10 he's too old not to be on board with this.

We would also need to inform school I think. Are there risks to taking the medication that school need to be aware of?

Interested to hear experiences of medication having an impact on school - concentration and ultimately has it changed their attainment levels at school?

Seems that medication is overwhelmingly positive (admittedly in this very small sample).

If he does respond well I think I'll feel enormous guilt for not having known more and looked into things more when he was younger.

His school have never flagged a problem and though I knew he was behind his cohort, his school reports have always been at the 'expected' level. He gets distracted easily but doesn't disrupt other children.

We put so much down to his Summer birthday and immaturity. If we'd pursued a diagnosis earlier, his primary school life would have been so different. He could have formed proper friendships, not had his self esteem battered from realising he isn't as academic as his class mates. Had the concentration to learn a new sport or music.

Chance would be a fine thing. We are still waiting.

Not my child but I’ve taught two boys around that age who started medication. Both significantly benefited. They were in general happier, which was the main thing to note.
Side effect wise one has appetite changes that settled after around 3 weeks

We (parents and DS himself) love the effect it has had. DS was diagnosed ADHD and dyspraxia aged 9. Started meds 6 months later.

Negative side effects =
a stomach ache for 4 weeks (so we just upped the dose very slowly and it went away)

Impacts his sleep (which was already bad) so he takes 5mg of melatonin

Positive side effects=
Calmer
More emotionally stable
Significantly less anxious
No more migraines (so has stopped those meds)
Better able to concentrate
Better able to control outbursts
Reduces appetite (he compulsively eats without the meds)
Better grades at school

He has never had behaviour or learning issues at school so they actually don't know about his diagnosis or meds (we re not in the UK).

However we can see how much easier life is for him. He is now 11 and very mature. He manages all his own homework/school bag etc. He is growing loads atm and has started puberty so the meds don't appear to have impacted that.

Can see a huge difference when the meds wear off every day. You can almost set a clock based on his behaviour!

You could be describing my ds. We’re awaiting an assessment but this is incredibly helpful to me too.

I take stimulants, and they are utterly life changing. I spent my whole life frustrated at myself for not being able to implement behavioural changes.

The good thing about stimulants is that you don't need to commit to them to trial them. You don't need to wean off. If you or he don't like them, you can just stop.

Have you found that reluctance to read or do homework has reduced?

Another factor in DS not keeping pace academically is that it's huge to get him to sit and do any homework - have to sit next to him to keep him on task.

He also dislikes reading - we do paired reading every night but he never picks up a book and reads for pleasure. I think it's because it's quite a laboured thing for him and so hard work rather than enjoyable.

This is an interesting thread for me as my DS is on the pathway for diagnosis of ASD and inattentive ADHD. It’s great to hear that many of your children have had help from medication. Can I ask an additional question? My DS had epilepsy from birth and which he now appears to have grown out of. He’s been seizure and medication free for many years. Does anyone else’s child have a similar background? I worry about ADHD drugs bringing back his seizures.

The thing with homework is it's often done in the evening once the medication has worn off. It will probably help with homework on weekends if done earlier in the day. I think you can get medication that lasts longer, and some children take a second dose later in the day. However then it is more likely to affect sleep, so it's a bit of trial and error.

I can't really comment on his reluctant to read as we haven't had this problem with DS, you might fine that is more due to his dyslexia? My DS was reluctant to write and draw and is getting better with that since he started the meds, so you might find it helps?

Both of my children are on meds for their ADHD, it has been life-changing for both. FWIW, of course you wouldn't be a sensible parent not to consider the risks, but remember that there are also risks related to not treating which is often ignored.

For both children their ability to colour/draw/write was drastically improved. They were able to concentrate on things they enjoyed - I began to see how debilitating it was for them to not even be able to do that. Impulse control was improved. They are both autistic and it did highlight some sensory processing differences (eg. One more sensitive to sound, the other to light) but this was manageable. One child seemed a bit more 'flat' than usual on the meds, but again this is normal as children with ADHD will often not notice the things that are bothering them because so much else is distracting them! When the distractions are addressed you may find they sometimes sit with those uncomfortable feelings a bit more than usual. But again, this evened out which is why I would give it a few weeks before deciding, unless you have serious concerns.

Both much calmer even once meds have worn off because their brains are working at a sustainable pace. One is much more of a reader than before, the other not. One's appetite was suppressed (he then snacks heavily once meds wear off) and the other is more hungry than usual. Both take small doses of melatonin to aid sleep - usually we take this daily but will give it a miss if they are already tired. Growth (BP, height and weight) should be monitored by the prescriber - one of my children is seen every 6 months, the other every 3).

It has made every difference. The meds DS takes are just great. Without them, he would be failing school. With them, he is off to uni.

Thank you, everyone's experiences are helpful to hear.

I have a child with a very similar profile and meds worked great.

DS has been on meds for about 8 years (diagnosed at 6). I won't lie - it can be a rough ride finding the right meds/dose but once you do it is so good for them. DS has been able to start learning to channel his ADHD (although control seems a long way off still!). We medicate for school but don't usually bother at weekends.

I was scared to put DS on meds but the best piece of advice I was given by a friend was that I didn't have to justify to anyone why I put DS on meds but I might have to justify to him one day why I didn't. She also reminded me that I could take him off them as well if they weren't right.

As I say, we had issues finding the right meds for DS but he has been on Elvanse now for about 5 years and it is amazing (for him!). It slows his brain down & allows him to access the curriculum at school without compromising his lovely personality.

OP here is an exam of DS age 11 behaviour changes on medication.

He got up this morning had his medication at 7 am. Before the medication has taken affect in his system he was making baby sounds like goo goo gaagaa very loudly and giggling to himself, talking to himself over and over about stupid people, picking fights with his siblings, refusing to eat breakfast let alone get dressed, demanding we play a board game with him while we were all getting ready except him as he couldn't focus enough too get ready. Running around, throwing himself on sofas while squawking etc.

After his medication took effect he was calm had his breakfast went upstairs got his clothes out and got dressed then brushed his teeth. Came back down calmly got himself organised to walk to school with his friends (I am not too far behind with his siblings as he also has ASD) checked his Chromebook and lunch were in his bag and went off. The difference is night and day

DS1 barely read unless forced before taking his meds.

Now he is a total bookworm and devours books! We have to take his kindle off him at various times otherwise he would just read all day long. Its a wonderful sight.

I'm at this point with my youngest and whilst there are very positive stories Im a little concerned at the height comments as he is already small for his age.

Does anyone know if certain meds are preferred/best avoided because of this?

Adhd meds have no effect on overall adult height.

Unless they affect weight which impacts height.

ADHD meds can reduce appetite and affect weight gain. Our psychiatrist monitored this but it's still had an impact on our son's growth - we have since switched meds.

That detailed description of your morning @Fundays12 is astonishing. We are going to trial them I think. I am hopeful it's going to make all the difference.

Yup. I can tell when DS has forgotten to take his meds because he’s so utterly exhausting and infuriating to be around.

He’s now 17. Gets up at 6.30am, eats breakfast and drinks tea. Drives to school. Does a full day of school then goes to work. Comes home 6pm. Manages all his school books, papers, assignments, projects etc, packs his lunch, manages all his work gear. Maintains his own car. Gets A grades consistently, student of the quarter, likely to go to college with a bunch of scholarships.

5 years ago he was getting Cs and Ds, and we were constantly being called into school to talk through issues with teachers.

Teacher of a very energetic adhd student. I can tell before he has even taken his coat off, if he has forgotten his meds. I do not hesitate to insist the parents come back with it.

It makes an enormous difference, to him, his learning and the class as a whole.

He is still very lively with the medication, but we can manage that.

My DS started adhd meds in y5 and the change was phenomenal. He went from writing about two sentences in a lesson to whole pages. DS doesn't have any dyslexia and is very bright but he was really just average at school because he'd spend half the lesson wandering around having forgotten what he was supposed to be doing.

We told him we wanted him to try for two weeks to see how he got on, but after two days he said he never wants to stop taking them and, over four years later, he's still on them. He's in Y9 and at parent's evening all his teachers commented that he is really focused in lessons and he's flying- top set for everything apart from English in which he's set 2.

Without meds he gets very over emotional and he used to get so angry in the evenings. In the morning before his meds kick in he needs prompting for everything!

He has never been an eater and is very slim, but he's actually gone up the centiles for his weight since starting meds as he can kind of focus on eating. Plus he gets hugely hungry in the evenings so we fill him up with nuts, cheese, eggs, fortified hot chocolate etc!

I used to work as a secondary school TA, you could tell when some students walked through the classroom door if they had missed their medication that morning or not. I could also tell when they were experimenting with different dosages to get their medication correct as they grew. For many students it makes a massive difference. The demands of High school and puberty mean children with Adhd can find it a really difficult time often getting into trouble and producing poor work when not medicated.

If my DD needed it I would trial it and see if it made a difference.

Some of my dc are dyslexic too and no they haven't developed a love of reading sadly as it's hard for them. However one has really took to audio books. He asked for an audible subscription for Christmas.