Ditto.

The real question is, why do so many professionals default to recommending medication before trying other approaches?

We tried everything else first and went to medication as a last resort. We had our son tested by a pediatric psychiatrist, not just a pediatrician. We did ADHD coaching as well as meds.

Our youngest went from a struggling C student to a straight A honor roll kid in AAP. Medication made a huge difference for him.

Anonymous wrote:Personally, I think it's because taking the meds amounts to admitting their child has actual issues and just isn't brilliant and bored and if they teacher just realized their kid's brilliance, blah, blah, blah.

I think parents who rely on meds as their first option are lazy and aren't up to parenting a creative, smart kid with behavior challenges.

Anonymous wrote:
What is the harm in trying meds and then stopping if they don't help? Genuinely curious, since we are new to all this.

If you are against them, is it because you tried and they didn't help? Or is there more too it?

That's what we are doing, trying them and stopping if no success. We were hesitant, because of side effects, nothing more. With the right diagnosis and right medicine, there should be no negative side effects. We are at 10mg of Focalin and DS is eating and sleeping better than before.

My friends son was on medication, then he fell off the growth chart so the doctor took him off the meds.

I only have second-hand knowledge of this, but I have a friend with a child with ADHD. She was hesitant to try drugs because they are generally overprescribed. So, they tried other avenues first to see if it could be handled without medication. There was also some question about exactly what was going on with her son. Eventually, her son himself was concerned about his lack of focus and they decided to try the medication and, luckily, it worked wonders. But I understand why they wanted to explore if there were other ways to manage the situation. It just turned out that medication ended up being the right path for them.

Because there are other options doctors refuse to try first.

I also refused to take medication for an issue I was having, did the research and changed my diet and my 2 year medical condition was resolved. I talked to the doctor about it and he said, "Most people are not that disciplined so I don't suggest it."

How about this ... suggest it, and let the patient decide.

Also, my son has a 3.3 GPA, he is happy, he is healthy, he is on 2 Varsity sports (as a Freshman) and volunteers with the Special Olympics. Why would I give him drugs?

ADHD medication benefits every person which is why it is so commonly abused by college students. So benefit does not equate to correct diagnosis. That said I have no problem with the drug.

My bias - and it applies to medications generally - is that they are over-prescribed.

Of course, there are situations where medications are needed and are life-saving but I think there is an unholy alliance of sorts between the pharmaceutical industry and providers of care where drugs are prescribed way too much. They are often used as the first line of defense.

To give you an example, there was a time - not so long ago - when a fasting blood sugar of over 110 was considered pre-diabetic. They lowered that level to 100 in the past decade or so. With that comes the pressure to take medications - like Metformin - to address being pre-diabetic. At one time it was only prescribed to those who were diagnosed as diabetic.

The same holds true with the use of statins where the threshold for its use has been repeatedly lowered.

In both instances there is a definite and vital role for these medications but the lowering of thresholds results in more people being prescribed the medications.

This does not address OP's question re the use of meds for ADHD directly but tangentially I am always wary of the tendency of physicians to fall back on meds to deal with medical issues.

BTW, I have several physicians in my family and they agree that we tend to be over medicated especially when it comes to antibiotics.

There are other side effects-- weight loss for one. There is the rebound when it they are coming off.

I have a child with a lot of issues, including an ADHD diagnosis, and he is on a lot of medicines. I wish it were so simple as you just give them a pill and they are all better. Giving medicine requires management and very close monitoring.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Personally, I think it's because taking the meds amounts to admitting their child has actual issues and just isn't brilliant and bored and if they teacher just realized their kid's brilliance, blah, blah, blah.

Not true for us, it's the fear of side effects; aka dependency more than anything else.

So basically exactly what I said - you don't want to admit your kid has a problem. Of course your kid is going to be dependent on the medication because he needs it. As an adult with ADD, it's so much more harmful to deny your child the medication they need.

Anonymous wrote:Personally, I think it's because taking the meds amounts to admitting their child has actual issues and just isn't brilliant and bored and if they teacher just realized their kid's brilliance, blah, blah, blah.

Not true for us, it's the fear of side effects; aka dependency more than anything else.

Personally, I think it's because taking the meds amounts to admitting their child has actual issues and just isn't brilliant and bored and if they teacher just realized their kid's brilliance, blah, blah, blah.

What is the harm in trying meds and then stopping if they don't help? Genuinely curious, since we are new to all this.

If you are against them, is it because you tried and they didn't help? Or is there more too it?