Reply to Medication, is it time?

Forum Index » Kids With Special Needs and Disabilities

Reply to "Medication, is it time?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]
I posted recently on a similar thread about ADHD. As a research scientist, I read all the primary literature on ADHD meds prior to medicating my son. Stimulants for ADHD are the safest and most effective psychiatric drugs in existence, basically. What has NOT been researched are the very long-term effect on brain health. In research, "long-term" means one to two years out. Studies about middle aged or elderly people's health after decades on meds have unfortunately not been done, because it is not a priority, and these studies are the most expensive types. My husband worries about whether ADHD meds increase the probability of different forms of brain degeneration. I think that since brain frontal lobe efficacy is the last to develop (in teens), and the first to disappear (in the elderly), a person with ADHD, whose brain is impacted in just that area, is most likely anyway to become senile!

If you already have a recent evaluation and diagnosis done by a reputable psychologist, you can look for a serious psychiatrist, one who won't throw drugs at your child, but who will listen closely and work with you to get your child to the right dosage (the minimal effective dose).

The decisions to medicate or not is between you and your child (if mature enough). Do you feel that his condition is impacting his self-esteem, happiness and personal growth on a daily basis and in a significant manner? Not to mention academic potential. It sounds as though you do, and in that case, perhaps you should try medication. Stimulants can be tried and stopped relatively easily.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics