ADHD Medication ??????? aaarrgghhh....

[MadameSin]

I need your personal experiences regarding meds for ADHD only. I have had a few hints dropped by ds's teacher ie "have you considered medicating him?" lately and my head is spinning with the pros and cons of it all. I was a bit shocked to be honest. I thought the only person I'd ever really have that talk with was the paed ... proves how naive I am Any info would be really appreciated (not ASD).

what does the paed say? has it come up before?

tbh if school are having difficulty managing behaviours etc and have opened up the medication discussion, then it is worth making a paed appt and discussing it.

the doc will give you an assessment questionnaire to do from a 'home' pov, and also give you one for the teacher to complete form a 'school' pov. usually the paed gets the results (ie school goes straight back to paed, not via you) and calculates results and discusses where to go (ie if a medication trial would be appropriate).

fwiw, we did a trial with ds1 but results weren't particulalry conclusive, so we stopped. new paed might want to try again in the spring.

a friends's ds also trialled meds, and there was a huge improvement in concentration and behaviour. unfortunately after the first week the meds started triggering szs, so he was taken off - back to square one.

another friend resisted trialling meds for about three years, despite paed and school advising strongly that she ought to consider. i discussed it with her and eventually she decided to give it a go - her son is now calmer and can pay attention, and is still 'himself', which she was concerned about. (the 'zombie' idea)

so, a trial is a trial is a trial. it doesn't mean he will be on meds forever - it doesn't even mean that meds will work.

you need to discuss it with the paed, but tbh, if school have raised it, it means they have significant concerns about his ability to engage with the curriculum, and so you need to come up with some ideas with the paed as to how to try and manage this (meds or no).

Good luck x

DS2 is on meds for adhd, he only has adhd! He has been taking them fo about 5 years now. It can be a bit hit and miss to start with but it has been the making of him IYKWIM. He does have to be monitored for his height and weight but we have never had any other side effects. He is now 12 and doesn't like being off the meds, he now takes them everyday as he says he feels much calmer and finds doing things easier. Hope this helps.

Should have said, school said that ds was a wonderful example of an adhd child on meds as he had no side effects and kept his cheeky personality.

should add - the family above where the ds is still taking meds, only takes them mon-fri, not at weekends or in school hols. (well, this was the deal with the parents when they started i do know that she does give them to him sometimes at weekends or hols dependiing on what they are doing, but she does give him med -free periods.)

different stuff works for different kids/ families really. and as joneses says, sometimes the children themselves realise the benefit and it eases frustration, so they ask to take them f/t.

Thank you ladies. His current teacher asked in passing because she felt he was unable to sit still for long periods. He's academic progresshad been great,but he is in 'bottom' groups for everything, but not at the bottom of the class iyswim. I am scared **less to trial any meds. We do have a paed appointment in 2 months, so I will discuss with him. We have no reason outside school to medicate him and I think that's why I'm reluctant to take such drastic steps. I may have to have a conversation with my ds and see how he feels about being 'helped' .....

usually for meds to be trialled there need to be issues in more than one setting - it's one of the reason that ticksheets such as DSM IV is done by both paretns and school, for example. so the paed may suggest that medication is not appropriate in your case.

what worries you about the meds particularly? for some kids they are brilliant and really do allow them to reach their potential - just ground them a little and allow them to focus.

if it's just ants in your pants then you might want to think about a 'fiddle box' or similar, blu tac, or something he can 'fiddle' with in class legitimately so that it occupies the fidgety bit of his body and allows his mind to concentrate? it can be a good first step towards trying to find a solution anyway. google 'fidget toys' and sn, and there are literally zillions of ideas.

some ot's also like to trial a 'wobble cushion' or similar, so that the fidgets are taken up by balancing.

plenty of things to try in the next couple of months to see if they help - discuss soem of the 'fidget toys' ideas with the teacher - you will need their support, or he'll just get told off for playing with blu-tac in class.

or just go with the age-old mn cure for kids that can't sit still and buy a 14 foot trampoline.

My DD1 was dx with ADHD at 6 and put on meds. She was literally a whirling dervish..bright but unable to sit or concentrate. We were reluctant but gave it a go and it was the best thing we could have done... a few days into the trial her teacher grabbed me as I fetched DS1 from nursery and said ' LOOK she is SITTING!'

Our Paed said that her ADHD could actually enhance her life if controlled well because her energy and intelligence would take her far.

She was on meds until her teens when she decided to try without, and while she remains very much ADHD she is now in her second year at one of the best Med schools in the uk, studying to be a doctor. Her lightening quick mind has been channelled with the help she had and without meds I suspect her path may have been very different! Incidentally she is also diagnosed dyslexic, and dyspraxic and while we never pursued the dx, definitely on the top end of the autistic spectrum... very like her youngest brother who has autism.

A little trial of meds won't hurt and may make his life a fair bit happier and easier, if the paeds agree it is worth a go.

And yes get a trampoline... sooooooo good for bouncing the energy!

Madwomen I have one and it's the best investment I've ever made Madusa that's a great story, really inspirational ... I need to hear more like that. My ds is also dyslexic, although I'm not sure it's just a case of being delayed as he wasn't able to focus in the infant years. Will talk to paed in November. DS is realising he's slightly 'different' and I don't want that to get worse as he gets older and the other kids are maturing at a much faster rate. Thanks for sharing your ideas and opinions with me

we had one for years and have now moved into an apartment with no garden. it's a nightmare!

When medication was first suggested for Ds, DH and I resisted we tried art therapy, counselling etc (we had previously looked at diet, behaviour management etc). Finally DS's behaviour got to the point where the school were talking about asking him to leave and more importantly he was unhappy at school, had no friends and his self-esteem was at rock bottom. We decided side-effects were worth the risk as he was close to being depressed. We tried medication (the school did not know as they claimed that medication produced "drugged zombies"), suddenly the school commented on how DS had matured over the holidays. He was invited to birthday parties by people who did not just invite the whole class. He received Christmas cards. Children came over to play. He was invited over to friends' houses. He was still him, but he was him on a good day IYSWIM.

7 years later he is still on medication. He is doing very well at school and is a happy teenager (wellas happy as you can expect from a y11 boy). He likes to have days off medication in the hols, but has said he can feel how hard it is to focus without them. He is over 6ft so the stunting growth side effect was not too bad!

PS Great post Medusa. You had a great paed.
I remember ours explained to DS that being aware of everything and not focussing on one thing was useful if playing football or being a fighter pilot! For a few years he called his ADHD his "spider sense"
The Percy Jackson books are good for fiction that points a positive spin on ADHD and dyslexia. DS loved them.

Agree with the rest that a trial is a trial. They don't always work, and sometimes they have side-effects, but ime they are side-effects that you or your LO will spot very obviously and then you can discontinue and you are no worse off than you are now.

The real debate about ADHD meds, I think, is not short-term use (so many kids on them now so a huge amount of data out there) but long-term use, by which I mean what happens if they are on them for years and years? By the time that happens to our kids, of course, there will be data out there about that as well, but still it bears keeping an eye on.

Thanks again everyone.. really interesting points of view, helpful and supportive. Would expect no less from MN!

My DS1 was never diagnosed with anything but at 2 he only slept about 4 hours in any 24, ran around in circles and through the hugest fits detroying stuff. By 2.5 I was at my wits end and felt like the worst parent in theworld, got him to sleep with copiuos quantities of milk. To cut along story short decided to remove any item that said "citric acid" on the label. Result within 3 days a different child was born. DS1 now 18 at University , still gets aggressive if eats/drinks much with citric acid, only boy to be able to exhibit the efects of drunkeness on a glass of lemonade! A few years ago shared my experience with the mother of a young girl diagnosed ADHD her mother eventualy tried the same exclusion and couldn't believe the difference in her daughter. Tried a few blind tests of her own as it couldn't be that easy but it was. This is not a scientific or explainable phenomenon I only know it worked for me. If like me your desperate for help it may be worth a try. Citric acid is regarded as safe with no side effects. It won't solve other developmental problems but certainly helps with concentration.

Oh yes we also excluded e numbers from DD1's diet.. after a spectacularly embarrassing visit to the doctors (for me) DD1 had been at a party and eaten her body weight in wotsits Her behaviour was epic..in a baaaaad way!

I am in the same state as MadamSin a few weeks back, but reading your answers is helping me see things in a more positive way. Although, not ready to put a smiley face yet....