Struggling with a med decision | ADHD Information

I agree with going with what is best for your child.  I really struggled with the ADHD dianoses and the medicating my child.  And I am sure other people have read this post of mine before but I want to tell you what my pediatrician said that helped me.  "What is worse, putting your child on a medication that others do not understand or having your child fail at something they could excell in with the proper medication."  He reinforced this to me several times which really helped my decision.  He is great, I would say compared to your 2 docs he is more middle of the road.  He agrees with the meds but is willing to look at changing things up or adding if needed.  We had gone through a variety of meds before trying Daytrana.  That has worked the best, on his Karate days which are Tues and Thurs, we put the patch on later in the morning (right before he walks into the school about 7:30 -7:45) than normal (usually around 6 am as it takes 2 hours to work) and give him a focalin 5mg to get him going on the late mornings.  This has solved two problems for us.  One he is only taking an extra pill on Karate days and sometimes maybe Weds. depending on what is going on at church and two, he is not having to take the meds at school around his friends which he hated.  By putting the patch on later he can take it off about half-way through karate and the effect lasts throughout the rest of the session for the most part.

I don't if this helps but just remember there are people here, I have learned that all have problems and they don't mind sharing and encouraging.  This website is the best help I have ever received to ease my own peace of mind.

Good luck!! 

You might check the alternatives board -- many supplements can be paired w/ medication (though you should always check w/ your doc) to help get your child through the day.  Good luck!

My son takes concerta and guanfacine during the day. When he has extracurricular activities after school, early evening, we give him only the guanfacine, and half a pill. It is a small dose, doesn't get in the way of eating dinner or sleeping later.

Guanfacine (tenex) helps my son's overstimulation. It really self regulates him!!

regards!!

Tough decision. I have my ds on the Daytrana patch now. We have same
issues when it wears off. He gets too "silly" and can't focus for Karate. I am
going to see about a small short acting dose of focalin (previously on) for
those specific nights - 2 times a week. I hate to give him more meds, but I
want him to be able to continue his activities and focus.I really think that you need to put your son first...he self esteem is so important to his future.  Don't worry about what the doctor thinks, use the short acting med when needed.  Perhaps as your son gets older, you can phase out the short acting pill, perhaps not....as long as it helps him who cares?

It is best to use the doctor who you feel like can be a partner in your son's treatment. Some docs like to leave room for a child to develope coping skills (less meds) and others (the more med docs) like to treat to avoid the posible co-morbid issues and the things that ADHD can contribute to as the child gets to the teen years (auto accidents, substance abuse, early pregnancy, etc).

I would first look at what your treatment goals are for your son. School issues, after school activities, social issues and family relationship issues. Treatment with meds should be based on the times/areas where the ADHD is causing him problems and whether there are non med things you can do to cover the issues. If you think he will do fine during sports and he is not having so much difficulty that it will affect his self esteem and his relationship with his peers, then try it without the meds. Also, look at your son's future needs (focus while driving, etc) and determine if the meds might help in these areas. If you think he would benefit, go with it. These kids lag their peers in develpment by about 30% and they need extra time to mature out of some of the symptoms and learn to compensate for others.

My daughter's doctor explained that she has ADHD 24/7 and I need to treat more than just the school performance. He put my daughter on guanfacine to augment the concerta (she is trying without the concerta now) and help with her peer and family interactions. This has helped tremendously and she now keeps friends and has a good relationship with her dad and I. She will eventually mature and may not need the meds as much, but I cannot let her self esteem suffer (she had depression and anxiety prior to treatment).

It is hard to know the future and think you have to decide now. If things don't work with the doc you choose, or your son's needs change, you can always go to the other doctor. This is not a permanant decision.

Good luck through this tough journey. You will find lots of help and support here whatever direction you go.

At the moment nothing other than the everyday behavorial stuff we do. We have just gotten some names for some psychologists for cognitive therapy.What other treatment is he receiving besides meds?I agree that if he is going to be in activities after school, he probably needs meds to be able to do them. If you don't want to add another med, maybe you should switch meds to Daytrana, the patch. That would probably last as long as you need it. And it is only one med.

In our case, we added a short-acting dose in the afternoons because she was in soccer. However, after we added guanfacine to her regimen, we were able to remove the short-acting afternoon doses of Ritalin.

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and really struggling with a med decision which is I guess is a bit of a moral decision too and am really looking for some others opinions. After many months of trying to get a dr. for my sons ADHD and other dx's, we found two. We were encouraged to see both by the school but were told by one of the doctors that he does not agree with the other dr's methods so we would have to choose, fair enough. One dr is a neurologist (I'll call him Doc 1) who we think very highly of and prescribed the right combo of meds. He is also of mind that the less meds he needs, the better, I am all for that. The other dr (I'll call Doc 2) is a bit of a med pusher and we did not feel as comfortable with but she had great resources.

The problem we are facing is that my son takes Concerta during the day and it works great. However he is in extra curricular activities in the evening and does not seem to do as well. partially because the med is wearing off and partially because then he lacks the focus) Doc 2 told us to give him a small dose of Ritalin on the evenings that he would require that extra bit of focus, Doc 1 is totally against it. My dh and I are now faced with what is the right thing to do. We both notice a difference when we give him the small dose of Ritalin. He does better and comes home feeling great about his accomplishments. His self confidence is such an important thing for us. But by giving it to him we go against what Doc 1 says and he is the one we'd like to stay with. Dh says that maybe we should just accept the fact that our son will never be like the other kids, but when we give him that extra bit he is pretty darn close. I feel like he loses out because of what he has even though there is something to help.

I have always been against meds until I saw how much is has helped him. He is a great kid and I want to do what's best, but I don't want to be a med pusher either.

So my question is - what would you do?