Question About ADHD Meds

That comment makes me wonder if the school understands what hyperfocus looks like. Not even sure how a med could cause it. I am trying to recall all the times and what I am coming up with is never have any of my family hyperfocused while on our meds, really, never.

Ritalin does make you zombie like, at least that was the complaint of my older kids and their teachers. So far as I know that is the only med that does this. When Adderall came out they switched to that are were much happier. They are now in the mid to late 20s so there was just Ritalin when they were in grade school.

I cannot even think of a task at school that would cause hyperfocus at his age. Just guessing here, is he having issues with transitioning? Is that what they think is hyperfocus because he doesn't want to stop a task? My younger son had a hard time transitioning but that wasn't the ADHD that was his Autism.

I hope this helped a bit though I feel kind of like I am stabbing in the dark.

From my own understanding of my son's ADD, the hyperfocus is part of the package, so to speak. What I mean to say is, yes, he gets pulled into something and it's hard to get his attention when he's in that zone. Transitions can be harder. He is not currently on any medication; we try to have life pretty routine for him so that he can anticipate those transitions and participate in them more successfully.

What I am wondering is if the hyperfocus is allowing your son to cope with all the stimuli by shutting it out entirely. Obviously, I'm not a doctor of brain chemistry, so that is just my observation based on what I see with my own kiddo.

Do NOT get your medical advice from a school principal. You need to get it from the medical specialists treating your son. A principal does not have the appropriate education and expertise.

Hyperfocus is NOT a side effect of ADHD medication. It is a characteristic of people with ADHD. They will get overly fixated on things that interest them, but have a hard time with the 95% of everything else that doesn't. Medication doesn't change hyperfocus one way or the other, but helps with that remaining 95%. In your case, your son is fixated on things that cause him concern. It really does sound so much like our son's OCD, but I trust you in that the psychiatrist has ruled that out.

In any case, please, please, please talk this over with your son's psychiatrist and don't let input from school administrators guide your medical decisions. I personally would not pull my son off of his essential medication.

It takes weeks for medication to completely get out of a child's system. Unless it's Ritalin which is out of their system in 4 hours.