If you medicated for inattentive ADHD ~6, what was your experience?

[Anonymous]

Are you glad you did it? What was the journey like?

[Anonymous]

My dd started stimulants in first grade. At first, they were a real game changer. She finished tasks that she started, she showed more initiative, she could concentrate on non preferred tasks. It was great. Then our insurance stopped paying for the name brand stimulant and we had to switch to the generic. It just wasn’t as effective, so we began our search for a replacement. One stimulant made her anxiety soar and she became a complete basket case. Another gave her flat affect and killed her appetite, even after it wore off. Another made her itch and she started uncontrollable skin picking. Non stimulants had no impact on her ADHD.

We eventually tried a stimulant that worked, but her anxiety has increased as she’s gotten older, so it’s been a delicate balancing act between her stimulant and an SSRI to help her focus, but keep her anxiety under control. We’ve finally been in a really good place, where she’s stable and functional with few side effects since late in 10th grade. She’s a senior now. She’s not one of those people whose bodies adjust to stimulants and then their appetite returns to normal, but since she hit puberty, it’s been a lot better. Now her appetite returns as soon as the medication starts wearing off. She really should be medicated if she’s going to drive. Her concentration isn’t sharp enough to be a safe driver when she’s unmedicated.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it was necessary. Suspensions. Classroom disruptions, etc. Took a few iterations to get the meds mix right. Super skinny kid. Needed to load up breakfast, permit healthy and protein-rich snacking when hungry, and even 2 dinners (my point = you need to let go of 3 square meals per day ideally). Would not change a thing.