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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, ignore the people saying you are doing a disservice to your child or letting him "suffer" by not medicating him. They are simply trying to justify the drugging of their children by shaming you for not medicating.

The fact is, children with adhd are more likely to drop out, use drugs, and be arrested. However, drugging them has absolutely NO EFFECT on these outcomes. Instead, it makes a child easier to handle and makes parents feel like they are helping.

The most effective things you can do for your son are all non-medicinal. Teach him to adapt to and cope with his symptoms in a way that helps him fit the expectations of those around him. Drugging him into compliance teaches him nothing, which is why it has no long term positive effect. The poster that spoke of their son's frequent exercise and involvement in multiple sports activities is on the right track.

Oh, and you can be sure that several posters will criticize what I wrote here. They will say THEIR child needed meds, that it was the ONLY thing that helped, and that their child's life was wonderfully assisted by them. Good for them. The data simply does not support their illusion. [/quote]

And there you go, OP.  This is what the defense of your approach leads to.  You are a doctor, so you know the absurdity of saying medication has no effect on outcome.  You have observed yourself how the kids receiving medication are better able to attend to their classes.[/quote]

Medication doesn't have a long term effect outcome. It provides a short-term solution while you wait for the brain to mature.

http://eideneurolearningblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/adhd-drugs-no-long-term-benefits.html

Any medication, whether short term or long term, has no effect on long term outcomes.

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-news/2009/short-term-intensive-treatment-not-likely-to-improve-long-term-outcomes-for-children-with-adhd.shtml[/quote]

This was not a randomized study and is highly controversial.  Initially, the kids were randomly assigned but then the families were allowed to do what they wanted so the results are not randomized.  Its worthless.[/quote]

Exactly.  I've read extensively about this issue and have talked to multiple medical professionals in the field, and the only conclusion I can come to is that the jury is still out with regard to the long term outcomes for children who take these medications.  First, there is no properly controlled study that addresses this issue.  Second, the studies that do exist seem to have conflicting outcomes.  For example, there is a Norwegian study that found that ADHD adults who took medication as children had much higher employment rates than their unmedicated counterparts.  I think there was also a Mayo Clinic study finding a positive correlation between medication and grades.  But those studies too have flaws, so I'm not relying on them.  Moreover, I think that measuring outcomes based purely on academic achievement (which is what the MTA study looked at) is not the right way of looking at outcomes.  Just as an example, my child's grades did not improve significantly with meds because he already had great grades -- in fact, they actually dipped a little.  However, it took him 4 times as long to do his homework without meds, and now he does it in a normal amount of time.  I consider that a major positive outcome, but that kind of thing is not measured.  Moreover, truth to tell, I fully admit that before he was on meds I did a lot of his homework for him because at 10PM with a weeping, exhausted kid, it just seemed the only choice.  I was also constantly in contact with his teacher asking for extensions, lowered work requirements, etc.  Now he does his own work and sometimes I know he gets WORSE grades but guess what, he earned the grade fair and square and his work work was 100% his.  I was so proud the day he brought home a C on one of his notebooks, because he had fully done the work himself with no prompting or assistance from me.  That was huge.  Before, he may have gotten an A, but if I hadn't been involved every step of the way he simply would have done nothing and failed the project.

I do think that the studies showing the long term safety of the ritalin family of drugs are much better supported and more convincing, although if something came along that strongly indicated otherwise I'm certainly open to revisiting the issue.

Based on the information currently available, I can only proceed with the understanding that these medications are helping my child immensely RIGHT NOW, my reasonable assumption that setting a good foundation now can only be positive in the future, and the data showing that these drugs (which have been on the market for over 40 years) are safe.  [/quote]

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