ASD/adhd and medication

[Blossom4538]

Hi all,

I was always against medication but has anyone gone down this route? Dd is only 8. ASD diagnosis (hf) but pretty sure adhd. She is so intense, hyper and aggressive at times. Poss ocd tendencies. We are starting to struggle as a family

We've gone down the meds route older of my 2 with adhd is now on evansse he has severe adhd hes also on sertraline for anxiety and ocd tendencies. My dd is on equisim and methylphenidate she has adhd and odd. I was apprehensive at first my ds was 7 when he started meds and is nearly 15 now my dad has been on them for around 18 months. With both it has helped quite a bit. They are less hyper and doing better at school since starting. We can definitely tell the difference when the medication has worn off. Dd is definitely less aggressive while the meds are working. Neither of mine are on atamoxotine which builds up in the system ds did try them but they didn't help at all. It's been trial and error trying to find the meds and dose that helps them. We have been lucky with dd as the equisim was the first one suggested and only needed the dosage tweaking whereas ds it took a long time to find the best meds and dosage for him.

Thank you. How did you go about the medication route. We are under camhs but do you speak to GP. Are they reluctant - I see it seems more of the norm in the US. Can they have any long term side effects?

Glad you have found the right meds and dosage now 👍🏼

Camhs deals with the medication so we have 3 monthly meds reviews where they are measured weighed and have BP taken and a yearly review with the main dr. Camhs here will only allow Gps to prescribe it of we don't want to deal with camhs but if we needed a different medication or dose we would need a referral back to camhs. It seemed easier option to just deal with camhs but it means I have to ring every month for a repeat prescription.
When they got the diagnosis the dr spoke to me about the meds and gave me a couple of weeks to think about it and I was told if I chose not to medicate then if I changed my mind I could ring to make an appointment with the dr to discuss it again. I went away and spoke with the DC teachers and senco and asked their thoughts as they were having trouble with the DC too. My dd was close to being permanently excluded, when I went back and spoke to the dr about them starting them she did the checks they have at a meds review and worked the dose out from there. The drs have been really good over the adhd and I have made appointments before the yearly reviews a few times as it's clear the meds aren't working and they see them and change the dosage if the weight and height is ok. They also send out questionnaires for me and school to fill in before yearly reviews and see if theres improvements or if things are on the decline.
Reading the side effects can be scary at first as there is quite a big list dd so far has only had a reduced appetite but once they have worn off in the evening she makes up for eating smaller meals. Both DC have regular snacks and they take a bag of things like yoghurts fruit and cereal bars to school with them as we have to keep their weight up as if they lose too much the dose can be lowered. So they tend to have 2 or 3 snacks a day.
Ds did have a few side effects like stomach ache and his tics got a bit worse for a few days on the earlier meds. Ritalin equisim and concerta are the first lot we tried him on and they wasnt strong enough then we tried atamoxotine which take longer to work, I think it was 6 weeks as it needed to build up into his system. He was on them for 8 months before they decided his adhd is too severe so now is on evansse.

Ds has been on them for 7 years and so far I havent seen any long term effects but he will be on them for life and he has other issues too. Dd hasn't had any so far but I think sometimes it can be hard to tell. Dd started having mood swings a few weeks ago so I've been keeping notes in a diary I take to camhs with me so I can build them a picture of what's going on with the DC and shes started her period this week. Mood swings can be a side effect to the meds so what I thought was a side effect wasnt if that makes sense lol.