AD/HD Parents - Did Your Child Have an EKG Prior to Starting Stimulants?

I have never heard of a dr doing an EKG prior to prescribing a stimulant ( my little brother had ADHD and was on ritalin for a short while). But he had to be taken off of it because he would get shortness of breath, chest pains, and a rapid heartbeat from it. Especially at night when the meds were wearing off those symptoms were strongest. They also made him sleepless. He would be exhausted but could not fall asleep. I remember hearing my mom in his room at night trying to help him go to sleep. He also had a massive loss in appetite and it was hard for my mother to get him to eat.

Maybe those are some things you could also discuss with his doctor. However on the plus side, the meds did work and kept him more attentive in what he was doing and helped him focus more.

It's pretty standard with good docs to do an EKG & Liver function test & kidney function test both prior to, and every 6 mo for the first year, and then once a year thereafter as part of your physical.

Here's the kicker:

Most insurance companies won't pay for them, so many parents have never heard of the 3.

The rationale of not doing them, is that in the vast majority of cases, everything is normal.

Good docs don't care about the vast majority, when they're treating you, the individual. They want the tests to make sure YOU are doing well with the meds.

There's an end-run around insurance companies, if you're working with a team of docs (psychologist for counseling, psychiatrist for med management, and GP for testing). You sneak in the tests via the GP. Most Insurance companies will NOT pay for physiological testing for psych stuff (because they're universally stupid), but will pay when the two don't "appear" to be linked.

((Similarly, most ADHD adults in their 30's or older... if they break out their psych files... will find themselves magically diagnosed with depression, or anxiety, on their 18th birthday. Why? Because insurance companies discontinued ADHD med and appt payments on a person's 18th birthday. So it was standard in the field to change the billing code. That's part of why studies saying ADHD adults are more prone to depression are skewed. It was something that was standardly done so their patients could continue on their meds. Their patients weren't depressed, but it was the only way for them to continue treatment.))

No, there wasn't any family history of problems, so it wasn't necessary. It's not common at all do to this in advance. However, we saw a report come out a few years ago that made us freak out and we requested one (our son had been on medication for years at that point). Our son had one done and got an abnormal read. This led to another test, which confirmed all was fine. A lot of stressing for nothing.

I don't think it's good or bad that he's requesting the EKG.

Sounds like you've taken all the right steps. Medication has been completely transforming for our son and I hope you see just as great results. Metadate has a good reputation. Our son was on it for a while but we switched to a close relative, Concerta, because it lasted longer for him.

Yes, this was one of the warning signs for us that we were not ready for the potential side effects of medication, our son is MUCH younger and we decided that we would seek alternatives. But, yes our son was ordered and EKG and a few other tests when we contemplated medication.

I am all for a dr doing his homework before willy nilly writing a script for every hyper kid through the door.
But for my own curiosity, are they looking to see if it is necessary or are they looking to see if it could cause damage? I am curious, what are they looking for? If I thought there was a definitive test that shows it is medically necessary, and not harmful, I would feel so much better about so many zombie kids walking the halls of my kids elementary!

Four kids on stimulants only one had an EKG and that was only because she was switching from one stimulant to another.

It isn't a bad thing but it isn't necessary either.

It may be because of his age and you are just now putting him on one. I am pretty sure my youngest son has it but will not medicat him for many reasons. I feel that so many drs medicat just because the parent requests it and they are not as careful with the dosages. Have have 1 niece and 4 nephews on a variety of ADHD meds and they are zombies and before they started were not. It has changed them. So it is good that your dr is wanting to be careful!!!

Good luck with what ever you decide and God Bless!

My daughter's doctor asked for an EKG and liver function testing when she started Adderall. I was glad she was cautious & wanted to ensure my girl's continued health.

http://www.gaps.me/

Good luck,
MD