Anyone Have a Child on ADHD Meds?

My biggest regret is that I waited 2 years. I knew from the time my oldest was 5 that he had ADD (it's also a family trait). I expected him to learn how to compensate for it and adjust (as my brother, cousin, and I did as children). However, his grades were slipping more and more. Teachers complained because he was so slow in completing anything and just didn't seem to pay attention. By 3rd grade, age 9, his midterm grades were 4 D's and 2 F's - and he's been labeled as gifted. I finally took him to be diagnosed. He was "off the charts" ADD and he was put on Concerta. He was unable to swallow a pill, so he was switched over to Vyvanse. He is doing wonderfully. He is now in 4th grade, and hasn't received lower than a 97 on his report card. He is a leader in the classroom and at school (he was elected as the student council VP). His teachers select him for peer leader programs and responsibilities. If anything, I feel guilty that I made him suffer for two years with horrible grades and teachers thinking that he just refused to pay attention.

I fought it too. Tried everything else first. Wish I would have done it earlier for 2 main reasons. First, he can now focus at school and second, while he is better able to make friends, he sadly has a "reputation" and it's harder to get kids to give him a chance.

We've tried Adderall, Vyvance, Focalin, Metadate, and probably one or two others for our kiddo that has severe ADHD combined type with a primary dx of FAS. The biggest help came from the Adderall and he had to take a whopping dose to work. I think the biggest downside I've seen to waiting so long is med refusal - other folks in my support groups who wait until the teen years to medicate end up with kids who refuse to take their medication (not always, but I definitely see a trend). We started back in K/1st grade with meds (he never would have made it in school a week without meds) and the thought of NOT taking his meds never crossed his mind.

In December we took him off all stimulants because he needs a different medication MORE than his stimulants and cannot be on stimulants when he takes his new medication. The school is being absolute angels about this because he is a real handful without his stimulants, but I am looking into Strattera (which is not contraindicated with his new meds) at his next appointment in April. It won't solve the problem completely, but it will help some. He is still on Tenex daily, which is also better than nothing :)

Good luck!

My eldest daughter is 15, and a sophomore. She wasn't dx until near the end of 6th grade. We tried to hold off, but she actually begged us to try her on a med to help her with school and home issues, etc. She had researched various meds (!!! I know!!!) and was part of the conversation with our pediatric neurologist and pediatrician. So we started her on Concerta for a while, which worked within a couple of days, so we knew it was definitely the correct dx AND the correct med for that time. Several months ago, she decided she had outgrown it and requested a med adjustment and is currently on Adderall. She prefers that one.

I was always of the mind that "I'd never...." with meds for my children and then I had a child with ADHD and ODD. Severely. She completely shifted my thinking. I didn't even realize it was ADHD until she asked me to get her evaluated in 6th grade, though. I just thought she was, mmm, highly spirited as compared to her sisters but I also have an autistic daughter with ADD and a daughter that isn't as neuro-diverse.

So anyway. Our experience with adding meds into the routine of watching a clean diet and exercise and including her interests and intellectual activities has been very positive. If you start your child on ADHD meds and they don't seem to work or the side effects aren't worth it, the positive thing is that you can stop them immediately without any negative results. If they work within a few days and side effects are minimal and/or manageable, you know it's the right one.

Most importantly, even at 11 years old, keep your child involved in the conversation. Their opinion matters and they need to be part of the decision making.

Our son is 7 and took Metadate for just over a year. It was great at first, really helped him focus at school. He began responding differently about a month ago. We actually have a doctor's appointment tomorrow to discuss school and psych reports. We would like to try him on a different med.

So many parents I talked to said it can be a rough road trying to find the right med for your child. But for many, many kids, finding the right med is exactly what they need. ADHD is neurological. Their brains work differently. ADHD melds help their brains to sync differently, thus helping them to function more like the rest of the world. It really is often in their best interest.

Good luck. Take notes on how your child is responding. My advice is to let the teacher know and ask him/her to try and notice how your child is doing and acting, especially any differences. This will be invaluable as you and the doctor work together to decide whether or not the first med is the right med.

ETA - I should have mentioned that meds alone are rarely enough. We work with our son's doctor, psychologist and teachers. He receives Occupational Therapy and Social Skills. He is also in a structured classroom with 7 kids and 5 adults. That's more related to his other diagnosis, but the point is most kids with ADHD have more than one diagnosis and will likely need therapy or at least accommodations. Still, the meds can be an asset.

Short answer, we have been trying and trying different meds for about 5 years ( about 4 different ones ) with no positive effect whatsoever ( but plenty side effects). Since about 2 more years , no more meds ( my son is 13). He is extremely distracted BUT he is not hyper active. We have taken him the way he is, distracted , love able... We are happy with our decision to NOt have him on any meds, it feels right.

V.

Our five year old son started taking Quillivant in January and we can see a huge difference. Being a teacher, I always knew in the back of my mind that he was ADHD. He just had this "motor" that never turned off. We sent him to pre-K to see how he would do. He was fine academically but had a terrible time socially. He couldn't follow classroom procedures, sit still for ANY amount of time, etc. I kept saying "he's young, he's a boy". My hubby and I discussed looking into a diagnosis but decided to wait and see how kindergarten went. 3 weeks into school, his teacher contacted us for a conference. She has over 15 years experience teaching and 5 boys of her own (2 with ADHD). She ask our opinion on the matter and I told her I thought he possibly was. She encouraged us to take him to the doctor. Again, I am so glad we did. We had to adjust his dosage once but he is doing so well. He tells me he has friends now. He started playing Little League and he is now able to concentrate during the game. He is almost a different kid.

Our son was diagnosed in August and it was a very difficult decision to medicate him, but ultimately we decided to try for him as we knew it could help him focus in school and that might lead to him getting in trouble less and thus boost his self esteem which is suffering from being constantly called out for his behaviour everywhere he goes. We tried Quillivant which was okay but it upset his stomach and made him not hungry during the day and left him ravenous when the meds wore off in the afternoon. We have since switched to Adderol which has been much better for him. We started on a small dose but he actually asked to have it increased as he still felt he was too fidgety as he says. Seems to be working for us so far in other words. We are also considering something called neurofeedback which had been tested with great results in Europe for years but I think is still relatively unknown here. From what I've read, it's very successful even used in conjunction with medications. You have to ask insurance if it's covered however. Our son is 9, by the way, and in Grade 3.
Hope that helps and good luck!

I would track down the ADHD support boards on Facebook. You may get a lot of anti-ADHD or useless information here from the general public, so be forewarned.

That said, our son has been on ADHD medication for nine years now. Best decision we ever made! He went from being kicked out of preschool and having one friend to having a group of friends and blending in at school. Medication is by no means a cure-all, though. Not all medications will be the right fit and when you do find the right fit, it will stop working when the child grows, so you have to readjust dosages or change medications. You'll also want to see a behavioral therapist for ongoing guidance.

Best of luck! It's worth the leap of faith and trying medication. It can make such a tremendous difference in helping ADHD symptoms and giving your child a good quality of life.

You might search among prior Mamapedia questions - this topic comes up a lot and you may gain many more opinions if you go through the most recent archives.

My step son has been through a lot of things sense he was a baby and he has been abused by his mom and boyfriends physically and emotional and he has been with us for over a year he has ADHD and odd which causing really bad behavior to the point other have gotten hurt so now he's getting better but its up and down not completely recovered but he takes meds which help a at times we take classes together to help me better understand what to do when these things happen cusssing hitting throwing things even suicidal at times but we work together to help him use his coping skills etc we have tryed TENEX, diphenhydramine, and now he's on Prozac, clonidine

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My step son has been through a lot of things sense he was a baby and he has been abused by his mom and boyfriends physically and emotional and he has been with us for over a year he has ADHD and odd which causing really bad behavior to the point other have gotten hurt so now he's getting better but its up and down not completely recovered but he takes meds which help a at times we take classes together to help me better understand what to do when these things happen cusssing hitting throwing things even suicidal at times but we work together to help him use his coping skills etc

My oldest was diagnosed at 7. We tried everything but medication until he was 14. Some of the "everything but" was actually pretty effective but I didn't have the time, energy, money or discipline to continuously make sure he had optimal nutrition, supplements, regular visits with the naturopath, etc. He was on Concerta for a month before we realized that his chronic headache was from the meds and wasn't a leftover side effect of the concussion he had been cleared from before starting. It did help him focus in school but a daily headache wasn't worth it. He then tried Adderall, which I thought was very effective but he hated it and refused to take it after a few months. He wasn't eating or sleeping well and didn't feel that it helped him focus. And, he was angry all the time (Adderall has been nick-named Adderage for it's tendency to make some people really, really irritable). So he was off all meds for 2 years before deciding in 11th grade to try again. He went back on Adderall and lost 10 lbs and he's thin to begin with, so he stopped taking it. We changed to Vyvanse a few months ago, which is Adderall but with an improved delivery mechanism, and he hates that too, Took it for mid-years but was super cranky all week, up all night, etc. So...this kid is very sensitive to the lowest doses of the medications he has tried, hates the side effects and isn't really open to trying again anytime soon. He'll start college next year and I think he may end up reconsidering if he has trouble adjusting to that workload.

My middle son, age 11, started Concerta two weeks ago and it has had absolutely no effect him. No side effects, but no change to his school work, work habits, organization or combative attitude. I actually have to call his doctor and see if it's time to up the dose and see if it has an effect. This is the same dose that gave his older brother a blistering headache.

My husband has been on and off meds for decades. None has been a magic bullet...he'll like something enough for a while tolerate side effects but will eventually go off of it. He has a mood disorder though so that complicates things and sometimes the stimulant triggers other issues for him.

Bottom line is that everyone reacts differently. I've worked as an academic tutor and some of my students couldn't survive without their meds and I could see a very visible change when it wore off of they didn't take it. For other people, it doesn't really help or they don't like the side effects and can't find one they like. And for growing kids, what works today might not work tomorrow as they grow and their body chemistry changes. It's a lot of trial and error, hit or miss.

If you have a high-deductible insurance plan where you pay a large amount out of pocket for prescriptions, I would recommend that when you try a medication, you ask for a 10-day supply or shorter so that if it doesn't work out, you haven't paid for a 30-day supply. Check with your insurance carrier and pharmacy to see if it makes a difference - on one plan I had it didn't make a difference whether or not he medication was for 10 days or 30, 18 mg or 36 or another multiple, it was going to cost the same. For my current plan, it does make a difference.

My 16 year old takes a fairly low dose of Adderall (15 mg) on school days. It gives her just enough to focus. But schoolwork focus and concentration is all she needs it for, her ADHD is fairly mild, behavior has never been an issue, so your child's needs may be different (?) Also she is a very average student, we aren't medicating her to get all As, though I know some people who do :-(

My nephew was on meds. He is an adult now, in college. He was 3 I think when my brother found him 4 blocks away from home. He was one of those kids you did not want to deal with. However, they did get him meds, and counseling and help with school. He did have adjustments and such. The one affect was a switch on his face and slightly stunted growth. When he was about 12, my brother started reducing the dose when he had him and he did great. He went to a top Chicago HS.

If your child had seizures would you deny them medication to stop them?

If your child was a diabetic would you refuse to give them the medication that helps regulate their blood sugar?

ADHD is a brain disorder. His brain is misfiring. The medication speeds up his brain activity so it syncs up and fires the right way.

Why wouldn't you give your child that has a brain disorder a medication to help him be able to fully function?

Yes, give this child medications so he can feel normal. So he can finally understand what focusing on something feels like. Where he's not in a fugue and can't pay attention to anything because all the distractions get in the way.

We gave our guy plain old Ritalin. It's an old med. It's been around for years and years and years and years. They have longitudinal studies on it. They've kept track of the people in the very first trials and seen how they turned out as adults and parents and maybe even grandparents by now.

It's taken at school so the full effect happens at school and not on the way to school. Then it's out, completely gone bye bye, in 4 hours. If he only needs to have that focus for church or a short term event then you only give him one for the day. You don't have to treat him the rest of the day unless he's out of control, then you might need a complete psych eval to see if there are other diagnosis that might help refine what meds they should give him.

If he's at school he takes one in the morning, goes to class. Goes to lunch then takes another, or maybe he only takes half. Our guy took a nap in Kindergarten after lunch so it would be counter productive for him to take another dose of any sort of Ritalin. If he was going to do a Valentine's Day Party then go outside to play the rest of the afternoon I wouldn't think he'd need another dose after lunch. But if they're older kids who have a full schedule then they'd need to take that other dose after lunch.

Our guy took a whole one at school, right when classes were about to start. Then he took a half after lunch. He got out at 3 and was great the rest of the day.

In the evenings he went out and played, had a good time, didn't have to sit down and be quiet and concentrate to learn.

This worked for us. When his mom took him for the summer last year she took him all meds and had a doc put him on a time release med. He was groggy and sleepy and didn't want to function. She said "that's what he needs". Umm, no. He needs something that doesn't stay in him all the time and build up where he's a walking zombie.

We liked Ritalin because it gave us a lot more control.

My son was 8 when he came home saying everyone called him "sugar boy" because he would literally bounce off the walls. His grades suffered and was in serious jeopardy of not passing the state tests for his grade level in order to go on to the next grade. He was diagnosed with ADHD and was put on Strattera. He is now 20 and still currently taking it while he attends college because it keeps him focused for school. Have never had any problems with it.