ADHD medication???

[martini82]

hi my ds {6.5y} has ADHD and been dx since he was 4. i was offered meds for him just before he was 5 but declined them as i was and am worried about the side effects and long term effects of them. At the time he was managable with routines and rewards. however he is slowly becoming increasingly difficult to manage/control.

His school work is very good and he seems to be very bright but a month ago at parents evening his teacher did say that the ADHD could potentially become a problem for the next school year as it seems to be getting extreemly noticable.

My parents are of the opinion that i shouldnt medicate him, but that dont have to battle with him every day or have to think carefully when or where i take him for days out. My DP (his dad) doesnt want him on meds even tho they argue non stop and he is always getting fed up with him, even my sister hasnt spoken to me for over 2 years because she thinks ADHD is just a label and that my son is just out of control and not normal

im really stuck as to what to do for the best for him, are the meds for him to feel better/different or more so to make him easier to handle?? i dont want to medicate him for my benefit but am i harming/making life harder for him by not?

any advice or experiences are very welcome!

We recently started DS1 on Strattera for his ADHD and his ability to do stuff and actually enjoy himself has gone through the roof because he can actually sit down and stay on a task. He even built his first proper fiddly lego model the other day and smiled all the itme he was doing it and was really proud of himself, afterwards. And, obviously, more than that, his ability to cope with school improved massively. He has ASD, too, so all of his problems haven't magically gone away, but it's lovely to have a boy who isn't struggling quite so much with life in general, anymore.

Have to agree, another vote for meds here. We have the same type of anti-med extended family views, which is hard as it's clear they mean well. DH was initially anti but agreed to giving it a try. DS now has concerta for school plus the odd dose of short release Ritalin for problematic sitauations like parties. It really makes a difference; he's come on loads at school.

We still haven't quite shaken off the feeling we 'should be able to manage' him ourselves so he currently doesn't take meds (mostly) on hols/ weekends but in fairness I think that's making him suffer a bit. In terms of risks; they're pretty small and as methylphenidate is an old drug they should all be fairly well known by now. The only troublesome issue we've had is the 30 minutes of rebound mega-hyperactivity when the meds are wearing off.

For our DS, the risks of ADHD causing psychological problems and school failure were clearly much higher, and more likely to persist in the long term.

get your relatives to watch this

My DS is now 20 and has been on meds for ADHD since he was 7. He told me that taking the meds makes his head clearer. It is definitely for their benefit, with a side effect being that it makes your life easier too.

We were scared that if our DS continued to be as violent as he was at 7 there would come a time when he was bigger and stronger than us and we wouldn't be able to control him.

We were warned that the meds might stunt his growth but he is 6ft tall

thank you so much for all ur replies its been a great help, have decided to give it a try and see how things work out, fingers crossed all goes well!!!

Hi there

I am a journalist from Radio Aire in Leeds and was wondering whether there were any Leeds-based parents on here who would be willing to give an interview on bringing up a child with ADHD (particularly in light of today's research).

Thanks

Sophie Foster
07815937218