ADHD & Personality Change; is it worth it?

[Anonymous]

ADHD DC is normally happy, bouncy child but struggles with school structure. We are trying the non-stimulant ADHD meds this summer.

DC’s personality is now very blah, almost zombie like. Seems sad. Doesn’t feel well on the meds.

Are the meds worth the personality change?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ADHD DC is normally happy, bouncy child but struggles with school structure. We are trying the non-stimulant ADHD meds this summer.

DC’s personality is now very blah, almost zombie like. Seems sad. Doesn’t feel well on the meds.

Are the meds worth the personality change?

Maybe your child would do better on different medication?

[Anonymous]

I would experiment with stimulants before just staying with something that isn't great.

[Anonymous]

Ask the doctor about trying a different med. My son is on several ADHD meds, and still has a ton of personality. Something is wrong in your situation.

[Anonymous]

Every med will have pros and cons and you will have to decide what to live with and what's worth it.

Some stimulants caused increased anxiety. Not worth it.

One non-stimulant caused sadness and depression. Not worth it.

Another non-stimulant did nothing helpful. Not worth it.

One stimulant caused increased tics. We decided to live with that.

[Anonymous]

It totally depends on what you mean by “struggles with school structure.” If the behavior was so severe that the child risked being sent to a self-contained classroom, yes, I would be willing to tolerate side effects. But if it’s more minor, no.

Also, you should insist on trying a lower dose. Psychiatrists often start at a higher dose because they prioritize getting to a clinical impact ASAP. You don’t have to do that. If the side effects are a lot, try cutting the dose in half. (This was my own experience with a different kind of med - I cut my SSRI to half the standard dose and it gives me 90% of the benefits and almost zero side effects.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It totally depends on what you mean by “struggles with school structure.” If the behavior was so severe that the child risked being sent to a self-contained classroom, yes, I would be willing to tolerate side effects. But if it’s more minor, no.

Also, you should insist on trying a lower dose. Psychiatrists often start at a higher dose because they prioritize getting to a clinical impact ASAP. You don’t have to do that. If the side effects are a lot, try cutting the dose in half. (This was my own experience with a different kind of med - I cut my SSRI to half the standard dose and it gives me 90% of the benefits and almost zero side effects.)

That is not our experience. In every scenario we’ve heard about they start very low and ramp up.

Maybe you were in an extreme situation?

[Anonymous]

When our kid started ADHD meds (3rd grade) we cycled through several med trials to find one that worked reasonably well. And sports; ran them ragged every day.

Some of the "happy, bouncy" is likely part of the ADHD. If you can be content with "happy, less bouncy but able to manage school" I'd consider that a win.

(Sort of like a former colleague: he was a hoot during his manic phases when he was off his lithium. But it was not an overall good quality of life for him that way.)

[Anonymous]

I don't know that summer is the best time to judge how much a medication is worth it if the problem you're addressing only arises during school. Perhaps she feels blah because she doesn't have a lot going on? Perhaps she would feel better about her meds if she saw that there were school benefits to it?

Based on what you said I would say try a different medication but I think trying during school is the only way to really make a good cost-benefit analysis.

[Anonymous]

Starting ADHD meds is a process not an on/off switch. You need to work with the doctor on the trial and error of which medication and what dosage works for your child. They generally start at a low dose and inch upward until you and your child feel its getting the desired effect.
For us this process took weeks and I'm so glad we did it over the summer so we had time to fine tune it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It totally depends on what you mean by “struggles with school structure.” If the behavior was so severe that the child risked being sent to a self-contained classroom, yes, I would be willing to tolerate side effects. But if it’s more minor, no.

Also, you should insist on trying a lower dose. Psychiatrists often start at a higher dose because they prioritize getting to a clinical impact ASAP. You don’t have to do that. If the side effects are a lot, try cutting the dose in half. (This was my own experience with a different kind of med - I cut my SSRI to half the standard dose and it gives me 90% of the benefits and almost zero side effects.)

That is not our experience. In every scenario we’ve heard about they start very low and ramp up.

Maybe you were in an extreme situation?

It’s the ramping up I’m referring to. Prescribers sometimes take the approach of ramping up rapidly until there are side effects, and the target dose is high. You can just aim for half.

[Anonymous]

My adhd DC is happy, talkative, energetic, and bouncy almost 365 days/year. He has tons of energy after spending a day outside in the hot sun for 9 hours at camp. We get a few calls per school year related to his school behaviors but overall he is doing okay for school structures. He has tried his best, and he is scared that he is in trouble when he is sent to administrative office even though sometimes the incident is triggered by other kids (not his fault). He has asd, so he sometimes cannot digest or understand other people emotions.

DH is not a fan of his happy and bouncy personality because he also talks too much sometimes, but I am fine with his personality. Some teachers are fine with it, but some are more strict and don't like it. I have teachers/IEP teacher calling me one year that some of my kid's behaviors were dis-respectful and I didn't really take their words to my heart.

We have not started medication yet, but he knows that one day we may have to give him med if he needs it for school. I hope he will have a nice teacher next school year.

[Anonymous]

If teachers are annoyed by your kids's bounciness and talkativeness, then it's a problem at school. He's disruptive and maybe disrespectful. You think your kid is cute and his quirks are adorable, but to a teacher who is managing a classroom of 30 kids, disruptions are so incredibly difficult.

I would keep trying to find the right meds, but don't give up altogether

[Anonymous]

Try a different med. He shouldn’t feel unwell or zombie-like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My adhd DC is happy, talkative, energetic, and bouncy almost 365 days/year. He has tons of energy after spending a day outside in the hot sun for 9 hours at camp. We get a few calls per school year related to his school behaviors but overall he is doing okay for school structures. He has tried his best, and he is scared that he is in trouble when he is sent to administrative office even though sometimes the incident is triggered by other kids (not his fault). He has asd, so he sometimes cannot digest or understand other people emotions.

DH is not a fan of his happy and bouncy personality because he also talks too much sometimes, but I am fine with his personality. Some teachers are fine with it, but some are more strict and don't like it. I have teachers/IEP teacher calling me one year that some of my kid's behaviors were dis-respectful and I didn't really take their words to my heart.

We have not started medication yet, but he knows that one day we may have to give him med if he needs it for school. I hope he will have a nice teacher next school year.

Parent of ADHD kid here. My kid was unmedicated until HS. In retrospect, we did not realize how much damage was being done to his self-esteem, social relationships and academics while he was unmedicated.

There were actually many teachers and kids that were mean, dismissive or just plain didn’t want to interact with him. We heard about the tip of the iceberg.

He felt things very deeply. For awhile in HS he was on a combination of ADHD meds and Zoloft, which helped him not feel so deeply and was actually a *good* thing.