Ok, its me again.
So we had our appt. with our DS doctor about possible drug treatments. He suggested Straetta and gave us samples. My son weights 46.8 lbs and was given 18mg to start with. Along with the observation and paperwork from the specialist, his doctor thought that this would be the best choice to start him off with. He also thought that with the borderline diagnoses that within a couple of years he could be able to control his impluses without medication. I understand this is something he will always have and I am lucky that he is just implusive because it could be worse. (Please don't take any offensive.) I am just so scared that I am doing the wrong thing by putting him on medication. I haven't tried natural remedies and I don't understand all about behavior modification. I have been reading SOS Help for Parents to help with behavior modification. I have researched medication and it looks like it all has side-effects. Which freaks me out even more.
I guess what I am asking is. How did you know medicine was the right thing to do? How did you get over the idea of having to medicate your child? When did you come to accept the fact you can't fix this part of them as much as you want to? Is is ok to medicate? Is it ok to hope for a miracle cure that one day your beautiful, funny, bright, child who would not hurt a fly can be that without being medicated and labeled a problem child? Did I do something to cause this problem that he has?
Ok, I guess I should stop venting now. Thanks for listening. J~
The decision to medicate is tough, however your DR started him out on too high of a dose. he SHOULD have been started at 10mgs, and slowly ramped to either 25 or 36 mgs, the target doses for his weight( based on 1.2-1.8 mgs per kilo).
You are probably going to see undesirable side effects being started at this dose. I would call the dr, have it lowered, and ask why they started him so high. It isn't a psychiatrist i assume?
My DS was diagnosed at age 5.5 with ADHD - Impulsive type. He had already been asked to leave his first school just before he turned 4. We tried behavior modification at home and to work with his teacher, but he could not control his actions in a school setting, regardless of the incentives or consequences we offered. By the time we went for a formal diagnosis, we were literally at the end of our tether and he was about to be asked to leave *another* school. He did respond to behavior mod at home, but at school, he was completely out of control, and beyond our control since we could not be there to offer immediate consequences and punishing an ADHD child 6 hours later for something they did is pretty much an exercise in futility, at least with my DS, he can barely remember what he did to get in trouble in the first place, we have to have the teacher record what he did to earn each color change. Sorry to ramble, but that's when we knew that he needed medication. We fought against it for 4 years, but finally gave in. We knew it was the right decision for us when we saw improvement in his school behavior and the return of a happy child.
Best of luck to you.
My daughter was dx this in K now in 2nd grade... we didn't start meds until 3 mos ago. It was very very hard... you are dealing with someone who you love very much and only want the best. We tried behavior mod. and diet... etc... nothing helped... we decided that meds were worth a shot. She is now on Concerta 18mg... and the improvements are unbelievable!!! We are so glad that we did... she is happy and doing well in school. I get updates from her teacher and her speech patho. and special ed teachers so I know if I need to tweak her meds. So far I have not.
Good Luck with you and your loved ones.
Honestly I tried some of the natural methods both before and after I began medication....I tried Focus and Brightspark for several months with no change. I made the choice to medicate, because I had already raised one child with ADHD inattentive un medicated (unknowingly) we spent years trying everything we knew (me, hubby, teachers) to get this girl on track academically and socially. It never happened....she got through school, barely, evern though she always tested gifted. She never had a close, giggle and whisper girlfriend, still doesn't at age 26....despite living in the same town (very small) and going to school with the same children for 14 years including preschool. I moved every 2 year until 6th grade...and I have a good friend I still see occasionally from 6ht grade, and 2 giggle and gossip girlfriends that I meet with for lunch about once a month.
I did not want to raise another child like that and neither did my daughter want him to have to overcome what she is....she is 15 years older than he is and she begged me to look into the meds. She told me that if he had asthma (as my older son does) we would medicate, if he needed glasses, we would get them. These meds are just a tool to make his brain work better, like glasses to help eyes work better (thanks for the analogy, vickie!). To fix the chemical imbalance in his brain, he needs this med each day.
Once I medicate, the change was so dramatic and positive, I haven't regretted for a moment my decision. Chase often says also that he is so thankful that Jonna talked me into going to the doctor for him.
It is a personal, individual choice, the hardest that you will ever make most likely. Good luck in making it....
Well I do know you didn't do anything to cause it and that the decision to medicate is a VERY hard one. I haven't made that choice yet either. So far my son is doing okay at school this year and I'm putting off having to make the choice. But if it came down to him having to change schools because of ADHD I would try medicating first.
Personally I think if you are having doubts about medicating you could try and get hold of some natural remedies and see what effect they have first. They're not hard to come by. My son takes BioStrath. There is a board on this site about natural remedies. I don't think there's a miracle cure though.
With the decision to medicate comes choices that are hard. You now have to find the med and dose that works, and taylor treatment to your son's needs. This can take time and can be very frustrating. Keep the treatment goals in mind when discussing the effects of the meds with the doc. It sounds like stratterra was chosen based on your treatment goals.
You might want to look at ogram's marble thread for a behavior modification plan that can be taylored for your son. You might consider social coaching as well. Once on meds, these lessons tend to "take" better for the kids.
We started with a stim because school performance was #1 on the list. We added guanfacine because we could not increase the stim (weight issues) and because defiance and social issues were #2 on the list.
You are not alone on this. you will find support and info here through this journey.
Deciding to medicate was rather gut-wrenching for me, even though I was so sick and tired of the home being in an uproar all the time, and her struggles academically. It's been a tough road. Finding the right med combo took about a year for us. Now that we are on the other side of that, I am so glad she is medicated correctly. She is socially appropriate and she is doing OK in school. What more could a mother ask for? DD had weight gaining issues Strattera,she gained and gained and gained, that is why we stopped it.But it takes SO long to start working, 6-8 weeks to see results. Just stick with it and you will see it eventually.We haven't made the choice to medicate yet and hope to never have to. We have had much success with alternatives -- specifically diet mods and supplements. I will say, it is not a quick fix and you have to be patient, diligent, and willing to do your research. We work with a Naturopathic Doctor and have seen incredible differences through our work. I wish you luck in your decision.Thank you all so much for your input. I can't tell you how much I value this site. I was at a place of self pity last night and all of the responses have been so great. I never feel like one of those parents here. Thank you all very much.
When I woke this am, I decided not to give him the medicine. It was my ds who looked at me this am and said, "Mom, let's try it. I want a happy face at school and maybe if this works I can get picked for the terrific kid award at the end of the 9-wks." I just looked at him and said ok. He swallowed the pill like an adult, ate breakfast and went off to school.
Mind you, I have been pacing all day waiting for the phone call that he was swinging off the light fixtures or something else was wrong. So, I worked myself into a headache. Patientally waited for him to get off the bus and walk home, he gets home and I immediatly ask him 20 questions. After he looked at me like I had 4 heads, he said, "Mom, I just got home give me a minute to relax." So, to make a long story short. He got his smiley with no name on the board, he said his stomach hurt this morning a little bit (which I am going to give him a bit more to eat in the am before school), and his eyes were really dialated when he got home. So, day 1 down....day 2 awaits.
Hi, I'm new to this site & just started my son on meds & am freaking out over the slower growth reports. Has anyone experienced this & if so was it a significant lack of growth in height?
The reduced growth was 1/2 inch smaller than thier peers in the studies. Many kids take off on growth when taking summer breaks, if it is a concern.We haven't had any growth issues, DS is pretty average for his age as far as height/weight goes.
For stomach discomfort with Strattera, my psych recommended taking pills with peanut butter (of course my DS hates peanut butter, so we weren't able to do it).
On Strattera, ds doctor talked about growth issues. He is monitoring my son every 3 months to follow his growth patterns while on the meds and he doesn't want my son on the meds during the summer to help with the growth issues that occur with taking Strattera.
Thanks for the idea with peanut butter. I will definately try that out. My ds love peanut butter.
My kids were both on concerta and doing well. The change to focalin for the oldest was because she could not routinely swallow the concerta. She is doing wonderfully on the focalin (5 weeks now). The youngest was not gaining weight on concerta so we recently switched to focalin and are still working on the dose. Because it is a form of methylphenidate (the dex isomer) and similar to concerta, I expect similar good results when we get to the right dose and only time will tell with the weight issue.
On concerta the youngest went from Ds and Fs to As and Bs, anxiety, depression and rages to occaional defiance, outcast and no friends to starting to make and keep a few friends. The guanfacine helps on the behavior as well. We also implemented a behavior plan (see ogram's marble system) and an IEP at school (for dyslexia and dysgraphia). On the meds, she does not use all of the accomodations originally set up in the IEP.
Thanks for all the info everybody. Vickie, I noticed your daughters are on Focalin. That is what my 6 year old son just started. How is it working for your girls & have they been on it long?We decided to try the meds because of social issues at school. Because my wonderful son was getting "yelled" at at school, he was starting to be ostracized by the other children. He is a wildly bright kid, so if it had been about academics and not listening to lecture, I would have never tried meds. But we can't invite him to birthdays or choose him to be on our team or share ridiculous third grade jokes like his friends at school can, so we decided to give meds a try. I was hyper-vigilant the first few days, noting any and all behaviors in a notebook. The first one we tried was an abysmal failure (Adderrall, WAY too weepy and sad) so we stopped that after about 10 days. He's been taking Focalin for about 9 months now and has recently gone through a growth spurt, so we are increasing his dosage on Monday to 15 mg. He gained about 10 pounds in a little over a month!! The jeans I thought would fit through the cold weather are at his ankle bones! He has recently begun to do this rhythmic breathing thing, which I think is a tic, so we are seeing the psych about that soon.
All in all, it's a difficult decision to make. You would be an abnormal parent if it was something you took lightly. The fact that you are conflicted means that you are giving your all to your child's treatment. That can't be bad.