ADHD child medication - who was worried about wide effects

[MJones90]

Hi guys, just wondering if any of you who have young kids on the medication for adhd (my son is very nearly 6 and we are about to go down private route). Did anyone inform you about side effects on the heart, heart rates, long term effects on heart disease etc during consultations? when I googled it came up with so many studies it scared me..!

Do they get mentioned when prescribing privately? Just curious if it’s a big enough problem if kids are on it for example age 6-17 years old, or if they think it’s negligible considering benefits it can bring.

I might have deep dived too much!

Yes, they are standard warnings and BP and BPM etc all need to be checked before each prescription is given. Any concerns and a heart scan is also required. The medication isn’t suitable for everyone and not all who request it will be deemed eligible.

@FuzzyWolf thats great okay, and reassuring. And maybe I did read about the BPM, and maybe some kids feel a faster heart rate too.

We have a BP monitor at home and have to take three tests and submit all of the readings. My child’s weight is also continually monitored.

As a professional who works with a significant number of children with ADHD (and ASD), 5 is very young to be put on medication and most professionals would look at how environmental factors can be adapted first before turning to medication. When you say you are about to go down the private route do you mean for diagnosis or medication?

@Jubblybub thanks for replying and the concern! Yes very young and currently no issues at school, he’s like a different person there light and day, so until that changes (maybe the jump to juniors and on) we won’t be looking at anything medicated. But definitely need to pre empt it. So things for diagnosis and our full understanding of exactly what’s happening in his brain.

Home environment and anything unstructured is awful and has been getting worse for a few years.

hyperfixations are utterly taking over his life, all he thinks of 24/7. Poor little soul!

Steer well clear of it. I have a close family member who works in pharmaceuticals. People are preying on parental insecurities, normal young children and making a lot of money out of this. People need to open their eyes.

Ask yourself instead why so many young children suddenly ‘need’ this stuff? It’s the sign of an increasingly sick society, in terms of many aspects of modern life being far from optimum for our mental well-being as human beings. Switch up the whole environment instead first. Children don’t mask like adults and will show us more honestly where society is going wrong- completely normal reactions. They don’t need medicating to comply with what is wrong.