ADHD meds?

[Anonymous]

Just responding because for a moment I thought I must have posted. My child just started ADHD meds--2/26--and it is night and day! I know the stats on self-medication which was my main motivator. I figure it is also like getting your child glasses or any other medical intervention (and yes, I actually have a child with a chronic medical condition).

[Anonymous]

8, and yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How old is your child and has it helped? The thought of starting medication for a 3rd grader seems terrifying

Terrifying!! :roll:

Would you withhold medicine from your child if they had a physical problem? Kidney? Heart? Ear?

Why would you deny them necessary medicine for a mental disorder?

Medicine is a game changer that helps them navigate life. There should be no question here.

Not the same thing. Plenty of people/kids are able to manage symptoms without meds. ADHD is a spectrum and over diagnosed.

Can you share where your medical degree is from?

[Anonymous]

I’m an adult who takes meds. My 7 year old isn’t diagnosed yet but I suspect has ADHD. We just read “the explosive child” at the advice of her psychiatrist. One point in that book is sometimes meds are needed to enable other strategies (ie better sleep, meditation etc) to have any chance of working. It’s most too hard to implement those skills without meds first sometimes. You could try them, love them, and continue your child on them or you could try them like you would crutches - a temporary support for a medical problem.

[Anonymous]

Pp here - by the way, our 7 year old regularly tells us she’s not sure that this world is meant for her or that there’s a way for her to be who she is in this world. That’s a lot scarier to me than medication.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Crazy responses op, highly recommend moving this to the special needs forum and you will get a response from parents who also have kids with ADHD and had to wrestle with this decision.

We chose to medicate even earlier and I have never regretted it for a second. Best decision we have made for our child if I'm being honest. We tried everything - diet changes, neurofeedback, therapy. None of it even remotely touched things and medication SIGNIFICANTLY improved life for our child and us. It is the first line treatment for ADHD for a reason, it is helpful for most and most other treatment is frankly not that effective from what I've read and experienced.

Consider the side effects of not medicating, your child's sense of self worth, confidence, sense of self can all be impacted and that is worthy of considering too.

Medication should be taken seriously, it is not without side effects as well but for us they have been minimal (first med had more, switched and second has been great) and it is worth considering.

I read so many old DCUM threads when trying to decide and there are some where people asked if anyone has regrets and almost all the responses were either no or my only regret is not starting sooner.  

100% agree.

I have a 3rd grader and he is on medication for ADHD and is THRIVING. We also removed him from the after-school program he was in that was NOT serving his needs appropriately (it was not well structured and their discipline with kids wasn't appropriate) and he is in a karate-based after-school program and has done incredibly well. I have seen his self-confidence rise a lot. He also has a 504 plan and has a great teacher and I really credit his teacher with helping him to have a great year. A great teacher makes all the difference.

[Anonymous]

Can anyone recommend which ADHD medications have worked well for their DD? Mine is 10 and inattentive in class and in sports. When she does pay attention, she is fantastic in school and sports (AAP in school and playing 1 year up in travel soccer). But when she can't focus on anything, it's like she can't do basic math and is scared of the ball and intimidated by the other players. It like a switch. We obviously just started the ADHD diagnosis process with her pediatrician. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Started at 9.5 and it helped immensely. I am a pediatrician and see the consequences of not medicating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I knew well before DS was diagnosed he had ADHD. As soon as we got the diagnosis at 6.5 we started medication. Instantly made a huge difference, I can’t imagine how he would be now, at 10, if we hadn’t addressed it then. Especially socially.

+100 - meds have improved every aspect of life for my child and our family. I am so grateful to the doctor who pushed it. He is doing so much better academically, socially, emotionally than I ever thought possible. There is a period of figuring out what works that’s little rough but we pushed through. Adderall once a day is a miracle for my guy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pp here - by the way, our 7 year old regularly tells us she’s not sure that this world is meant for her or that there’s a way for her to be who she is in this world. That’s a lot scarier to me than medication.

That is scary. Did you ask her specifically what makes her feel this way?

My DS has attention issues in class but rather than jumping to the conclusion that he has adhd, I’m exploring whether this is just boredom, which seems likely the case with him. He also wondered if he has something wrong with him. He tests well (MAP) but the daily grind of sitting still in class with teachers who try their best but whose teaching styles are frankly monotonous is challenging.

Of course those powerful drugs will change your child’s behavior. And some do need it. I would try other interventions before going that route—making sure they have vigorous daily exercise, tutoring them yourself to see what is going on with their learning, working on exec function, clean diet.

Have to get off internet now so excuse the lack of editing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m an adult who takes meds. My 7 year old isn’t diagnosed yet but I suspect has ADHD. We just read “the explosive child” at the advice of her psychiatrist. One point in that book is sometimes meds are needed to enable other strategies (ie better sleep, meditation etc) to have any chance of working. It’s most too hard to implement those skills without meds first sometimes. You could try them, love them, and continue your child on them or you could try them like you would crutches - a temporary support for a medical problem.

agree. The meds make it possible to actually work on developing other coping strategies such as tips on executive function, calming themselves down and self-regulating, social skills (no longer interrupting!) etc. A good analogy is something a therapist told my husband when he was experience severe depression in his 20s but was scared to try meds- she said its like he is digging himself into a hole and its only getting deeper. the meds put a "floor" on the hole so he can't go down any further. This frees him up to do the work with the therapist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp here - by the way, our 7 year old regularly tells us she’s not sure that this world is meant for her or that there’s a way for her to be who she is in this world. That’s a lot scarier to me than medication.

That is scary. Did you ask her specifically what makes her feel this way?

My DS has attention issues in class but rather than jumping to the conclusion that he has adhd, I’m exploring whether this is just boredom, which seems likely the case with him. He also wondered if he has something wrong with him. He tests well (MAP) but the daily grind of sitting still in class with teachers who try their best but whose teaching styles are frankly monotonous is challenging.

Of course those powerful drugs will change your child’s behavior. And some do need it. I would try other interventions before going that route—making sure they have vigorous daily exercise, tutoring them yourself to see what is going on with their learning, working on exec function, clean diet.

Have to get off internet now so excuse the lack of editing.

I’m the pp with the 7 year old. She tells us that she wants to be using her imagination when she’s supposed to be paying attention; that she needs time to be alone at recess and that it can be hard to have that, and she wishes she could do more yelling and kicking but that’s usually not allowed at home or at school. The doctor just let us know he thinks she has ADHD. I actually don’t know yet (haven’t met with doctor yet) when / whether we’ll try meds but we’re all in agreement that we’ll try martial arts since there are various things (exercise, discipline, breathing) it can help with. We took a trip last summer where we walked 5-6 miles a day and she spent 2-3 hours in the pool each day and her behavior was amazing. I tell her she’s my little greyhound and I just have to make sure to “run” her, but with school and jobs it’s just hard to get her to a point where she can use all her energy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp here - by the way, our 7 year old regularly tells us she’s not sure that this world is meant for her or that there’s a way for her to be who she is in this world. That’s a lot scarier to me than medication.

That is scary. Did you ask her specifically what makes her feel this way?

My DS has attention issues in class but rather than jumping to the conclusion that he has adhd, I’m exploring whether this is just boredom, which seems likely the case with him. He also wondered if he has something wrong with him. He tests well (MAP) but the daily grind of sitting still in class with teachers who try their best but whose teaching styles are frankly monotonous is challenging.

Of course those powerful drugs will change your child’s behavior. And some do need it. I would try other interventions before going that route—making sure they have vigorous daily exercise, tutoring them yourself to see what is going on with their learning, working on exec function, clean diet.

Have to get off internet now so excuse the lack of editing.

I disagree with your statement that these are “powerful drugs” My kid has tried a few different adhd meds to figure out which one works best for her. Her symptoms have improved somewhat since starting meds, but not by much. I wish we saw the radical change that so many of the PPs have seen with their kids.