Would ADHD meds help with sensory issues?

[Anonymous]

My son has sensory seeking issues but only at school. He just seems overstimulated in overstimulating environments. Just wondering if your child has similar issues and has taken meds for ADHD, have the meds helped with the sensory issues? I know my son's school doesn't believe me that my son acts a lot differently at home than he does at school.

[Anonymous]

My DS has both adhd and sensory issues. I don't believe his meds help with his SPD issues, only maturity and OT will help with that - IMHO. If I'm wrong, please someone else chime in

[Anonymous]

This is a hard one. I have a second grader with ADHD (primarily inattentive) and SPD. He can get very revved up in stimulating environments. What I find though, is that in stimulating environments, it's hard to tell how much of his reaction is because of his inability to regulate his attention (ADHD) and how much is because he's unable to regulate his response to external stimuli (SPD). He's hypersensitive to auditory, visual and vestibular input but he doesn't become defensive, he gets jazzed up. His symptoms can be from ADHD, SPD or both. Since medication helps him regulate his attention, I feel that we at least have the ability to give him some support by medicating. For the SPD, well, as the PP said, maturity and OT are the only things I have for that. FWIW, I think OT has helped. We saw the most dramatic improvement the first year of OT but continuing it with a great OT has given him a framework and vocabulary to better understand what is happening to him, articulate it and tools to change it. He's not great with it but his teachers have commented that he seems to have more self-awareness than most kids his age. I attribute it to OT.

[Anonymous]

My DS has ADHD, SPD and a dysregulatory disorder. He takes meds for the ADHD and they work wonders. But, during the periods before the meds take effect and the time after they wear off, the SPD and dysregulation are a thousand times worse than before he started on meds. His ADHD is so bad though that it's worth it.

[Anonymous]

DD has ADD and SPD, taking meds that help with focus (the ADD part) but not the sensitivity to sound and too much activity in a classroom

OT has helped, as do sports like Taekwondo as she is forced to focus on short and direct instructions

[Anonymous]

For those with SPD - what do you do in your OT? Can you provide details.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS has ADHD, SPD and a dysregulatory disorder. He takes meds for the ADHD and they work wonders. But, during the periods before the meds take effect and the time after they wear off, the SPD and dysregulation are a thousand times worse than before he started on meds. His ADHD is so bad though that it's worth it.

This describes my DS, who is 7, exactly. Why are the symptoms so much worse when they're not on the medication? Last night, his behavior was so awful that it almost brought me to tears. But he needs that medication to function at school. It's so difficult.