Medicating to improve attention span. To do, or not to do??? All experiences gratefully received.

[mumgoingcrazy]

Hello, it's been a while since I have posted, but would be really grateful if you could tell me your experiences of this.

Dd2 is 7.5yrs. She has quite complex issues ASD, ADD, dyspraxia, LD etc. the Paed has advised us to consider medicating to improve her attention skills and thinks her learning could be transformed. I've always been a bit reluctant but can see that she could fly if she paid attention more.

I'm a bit scared to be honest but are there any side effects, long term effects, I'd love to know the pros and cons and DH and I are struggling to know what to do for the best. Thank you very much in advance.

I have 2 medicated children. Ds is 25 and has been on it since 7 yo. DD is 7 and on it for almost a year.

It can affect your heart, so they monitor regularly. In DD's case it stops her wanting to eat which is a PITA and she lost a lot of weight when she first went onto meds. You just have to restructure and give the bulk of the calories for breakfast and/or after 4pm.

The thing you need to bear in mind is that, unlike a lot of other drugs, it wears off. So if she takes it and you/she don't like the side effects you just stop. So you lose nothing by trying it.

Thanks Indantherene, are there different meds to try?

dd2 is already on the thin side, so the weight thing worries me. If I tried the meds would the loss of appetite show straight away? How does the meds affect the heart?

Also, how much have the meds improved attention span? Sorry for all the questions.

DD is 12 and has been on medication for ADD for a couple of months now. The only side effect is that she finds it harder to fall asleep at night so we have to give it quite early in the morning. There are significant side effects which may be experienced by some people but as Indantherene says, she can just stop taking it and the side effects will go away. The positive effect on DD has not been as significant as I had hoped for but it does help her with organisation and attention.

My DD is 13 and has been on medication since the summer before she started secondary school, after years of being fobbed off. I really wish we had been listened to earlier because I basically feel that her entire primary years were wasted and a write off!

Thanks LastingLight.

Dd2 has melatonin to help her sleep already, do you think this could still be given with the attention meds? She had big sleeping problems before this.

It sounds like I can give it a go for a relatively short time and stop if I need to.

Do you happen to know, if given for a long period do they depend on it?

Houseatreides, do you think if she'd had meds earlier her primary eductation wouldn't have been a right off?

So far, it seems like I need to give this a go really.

If they are suggesting Risperidone (which has been a godsend for my DS), then one if the typical side effects is weight gain. This did happen to DS but it has been sorted out with better diet and more exercise

Thanks Davros. Maybe this one would be better for dd2 as she cannot afford to lose any weight at all. Why has it been a godsend?

Sorry, haven't been on MN over the weekend, so I missed your last post. My DD takes melatonin as well and it seems it's quite usual to take both.

There are different sorts of meds and each works differently. The paed will know which one would suit your DD. My DS started on an anti D because at the time when he was first dx his anxiety levels were far too high for ritalin.

The meds give them the space to concentrate and you really do notice the difference from day 1.

DS (8) has been on meds for almost a year. He's a skinny lad and it does affect his appetite during the school day, to the point that some days he barely eats any lunch, but he eats like a horse in the late afternoon / evening to make up for it.

He only takes it for school so if his weight is a little low by the end of term, we can feed him up over weekends and holidays. Overall he's been gaining weight and height well and they check blood pressure regularly also, which has also been fine.

Meds can generally be taken with melatonin I think, and there are a few different types so your Dr would consider your DD's condition at a whole.

It's made a difference to DS's concentration in class, and helped him in class quite a lot. I was very hesitant at first but I'm glad we did as it has helped him.

Thank you all for your posts. I think DH and I have decided that we do need to give this a go, especially because if there are going to be improvements they will show quickly and I can take her off meds if I need to.

Does anyone know if there are any long term side effects?

Long term side effects really depends on the medication. Methylphenidate, (the most commonly used medication for straightforward ADD/ADHD) because it suppresses appetite during the day when the medication is active can affect growth and eventual height- which will be monitored carefully. BR and heart rate are also monitored as there are certain conditions that need different medications. We get around this by giving ds medication with breakfast (so he is already eating, and giving afterschool snack, tea and now he is older supper as he is often very hungry later in the day. We have tea later than many families to allow ds to find his appetite. Not eating well at lunchtime can affect his mood. He is OK once he starts eating - its like his tummy is hungry but his brain hasn't heard! We also had medication breaks every so often to check if he still needed the medication, just to double check. I know there are people who are very anti medication but it allows ds (who has ASD and ADHD) to be less confused by the world around him, happier and more himself.
We went ahead with medication with heavy hearts, but feeling we had to give ds the chance to try it. Quite simply put it helped - although the good effects took a while to show - he needed time to learn how to make use of the window of clearer thinking his tablet enabled. A more able child might benefit much faster.
Another thing to bear in mind is that it might take a while to find which medication and type such as slow release suits her best. Good luck

Thank you Maggiso. I'm finding this quite scary but I think for her sake I need to try it.

That was why we tried it too- we had to give him the chance. If it doesn't help at least you know you've left no stone unturned. Its best not to be too hopeful just in case it doesn't help. I forgot to mention Ds needed a later bedtime, once he was on extended release (10-12hrs, the slow release 8hrs was not available back then). Best of luck.

Ooops, didn't check back until today. A very short answer to why Risperidone has been a godsend is that it has reduced anxiety. We had got to a point where DS couldn't even do the things he LIKES, never mind anything else. Challenging Behaviour, ha! Everything was a challenge, the simplest things. It has never made him "zone out" or become remote, far from it. HTH

Thanks maggiso and Davros. Dd2 doesn't really have anxiety issues or challenging behaviour, she's quite good really (despite all her SN), it's purely concentration and attention span, she's just away with the fairies really, she just needs bringing out of her little bubble and focus on things she's meant to. I hope it'll help with this.