Do you think stimulants permanently affected your child?
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Anonymous
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Just curious....
I'm a full believer that adhd is actually an umbrella diagnosis for several different underlying issues. So I wouldn't be surprised if my experience is not universal. DS(7) has been on Adderall since he turned 5. At that age, he was extremely busy at home but manageable and mostly well behaved. He had good focus on many activities in the quiet of our own home, and had lots of fidgeting but was otherwise well behaved. For instance, we used to eat out all the time and he was always great in restaurants. We started medicating because he had major sensory issues at school that resulted in wired behavior, impulsivity and over physicality with others. He lasted a couple years in preschool without medicating, but with lots of oversight and having to do his own thing in the corner a lot. Not-medicating was not really an option for us, just because of school. For a variety of reasons, we are trying a medication holiday this break. We've skipped meds a few other times, but only for short periods of 1-4 days. Each time, he's been off the charts hyper at school (i.e., twice in K I forgot to give him his pill, and school had to call for me to pick him up). But he also gets hyper at home. Today is the first day without Adderall and we're just having a quiet day at home, and he seems like a totally different kid than he was before starting meds. He's bouncing off the walls, and can't focus on anything. Before starting meds, he actually had really, really good focus on things in the quiet of our own home. He got awesome new legos yesterday (his favorite toy), and spent 8 hours on them yesterday (on meds), and today can't spend more than 5 minutes on it. That's different than how he was pre-meds. Pre-meds he could spend a few hours on legos. I can give other examples where he is just clearly more hyper than he was before. And today is only day 1. From experience, day 3 and 4 are likely to be the worst. We've never gotten past 4 days before starting up on meds again, because he needs them for school/camp. What's the likelihood this is just a rebound period of weaning of the stims? Or is 7 year DS likely to just be more hyper than 5 year old DS? Or have the meds permanently rewired his brain for the worse? Anyone have any experience or theories? |
Anonymous
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Did you recently post this same question? If not, there's a relevant, recent thread.
The science says yes, stimulants do rewire the brain, especially at young ages. But the brain isn't permanent and will continue to grow for the next 5-10 years. |
Anonymous
| Stimulants have a rebound/withdrawal effect when you stop taking them where behavior can get worse than it was pre-medication, and it can take at least a week to get through it and back to baseline. You’re not seeing what his baseline really is because you’re not giving his body enough time to adjust. |
Anonymous
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My son started taking stimulants at 10, so in terms of brain development, quite a bit older.
He desperately needs to grow, so we have med holidays whenever he doesn't need to go to school or do a big school project. I've noticed that he can get a little excited and silly the first day he's off the stimulants, but that he's back to his normal, non-med, seriously spaced-out self the next day. Nothing major at all. I would consult his psychiatrist to discuss whether your son is on the right dosage, and if so, whether you should consider trying a different stimulant. Also, remember that it's Christmas, and that nearly all elementary-school kids are super excited and moody at this time of year 
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Anonymous
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Mine is purely anecdotal - but I do think that it has negatively affected my son's growth.
He's about to be 16 and is no longer taking stimulant meds - or any meds for that matter. Having said that, he took stimulants starting at age 7 thru age 14. He has officially reached his growth maximum already, and he is very very slim. Both DH and I are quite tall, as are our other 3 children. DS on the other hand is not, nor will he ever be. I have been beating myself up about it for months. Do I know for a fact the meds are the reason? No. But I have a strong hunch it is. |
Anonymous
And everyone knows height is more important than mental health or ability to be a functional adult |
Anonymous
OP asked a simple question if stimulants permanently affected your child. I answered the question. Go take your judgmental ass to the Off Topics or Politics forum where your style of smirk is welcome. |
Anonymous
Link? This is not my understanding of evidence in the research literature. |
Anonymous
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There are smaller, reputable studies coming out that stimulants may permanently, negatively affect brain development- the most concerning study is related to decreasing complex learning abilities and working memory in healthy, young adults.
Does that mean that medication has the same impact on a young person with ADHD over time? I don't know, because there is no "one" cause of ADHD. It could be chemical or structural and sometimes the kids who start ADHD meds are already heavily impaired in areas of working memory and learning, without the medication. I realize that I am saying something extremely unpopular and the data just isn't there yet. I'm not coming down in favor of "for" or "against" medication- but we're trying our darnedest to hold out until these studies are more robust. https://www.thetriangle.org/news/new-study-shows-longterm-effects-adhd-drugs/ |
Anonymous
| Based on kids I’ve worked with I think maybe growth issues could be related to lack of appetite while medicated rather than the meds specifically causing stunted growth. |
Anonymous
| I've also heard that stimulants rewire the brain, permanently. My question is "in what way?" |
Anonymous
You may be wrong about the height. My dh did not finish growing until college. |
Anonymous
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Scientist here. The problem with these studies is that ADHD is part of what I call the "executive function spectrum disorder" (not identified as such officially, but unofficially, that's what it is). As such, these people will struggle with planning, organization and follow-through all their lives, even if they are considered mildly affected and may not need medication. Higher-order thinking is based on planning and organizing complex thoughts. Thus it is affected. There is no way to effectively separate the effects of the stimulants, versus the natural course of the disorder. |
Anonymous
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16:49.
It is well-known that stimulants affect growth in children. They are not to be given lightly. |
Anonymous
DP. All 16:49 said that was pp's kid may keep growing. My husband grew something like four inches during college. |