My 9 year old takes Vyvanse for ADHD. He has been on it since last fall. He did great on it for the remainder of the school year. With my doctor's approval, he is not on it during the summer and is doing GREAT!
Do any of you have a child diagnosed as ADHD who transitioned out of meds? I believe in taking medication when you need it but I don't believe in having to rely on medication for the rest of your life. I want my child to learn to control his emotions / temper / attitude and not be taught that he needs medication to act normally.
Also, are there levels of ADHD? I've never really been 100% convinced that he has ADHD. I've seen other kids that are ADHD and he is nowhere near how other mothers describe their children. He has had some over the top "spurts" but usually only at school. Do ADHD kids act out mostly at school and be mild tempered at home?
Thank you so much for your responses. Melodee, it's good to know that children can be successful and learn to control it when they get older. ADD/ADHD is not like diseases like diabetes and cancer that you can't control without medication. I'm going to see how he continues to do throughout the summer and modify it during the school year with the doctor's help.
I would say you will have to see how things are when he is back in school in the fall. You will likely find out that he needs them again. Summer can be very different because there are different expectations and usually less chaos and stressors. You will have to wait and see.
Our son was diagnosed with ADD and mild ADHD in first grade. Dexedrine ended up working the best for him. We didn't use it in the summertime either. When he would get tired of how the medicine made him feel, we would take a break from it. When he was a junior in high school he wanted to stop taking it and he was okay. He hasn't taken any medication since then and he is fine.
I give my son his meds all year. I used to break in the Summer. But the effects of the meds are best if given all year.
I'm sure there are degrees of ADHD.... just like some people are diabetic and need more or less medicine than other diabetics.
Diabetes isn't something most people can control without meds.... so why would we think ADHD is any different? Their brains are different. Why? I don't know, but they are, so why would we think they can "get over it"?
Yes, I believe behavior modification therapy, maturity and diet can all help them manage ADHD, maybe to the point they don't need meds at some point in the future.
I just wonder how your son would do with the meds in Summer... maybe he'd be doing the same or maybe he'd be doing FANTASTIC. It's hard to know how he feels, so why don't you do a trial of on meds for a week and off meds for a week and ask him for his feedback?
if it works for you, great! but if we forget to give nate his pill for even one day, it's insane around here, even with teaching him personal responsibility for behavior. it's not even a consideration for us.
