Hi..
I have been reading a few of the posts and was wondering for some feedback or help.
Our son is 4 1/2 and we have always known he had ADHD for a couple years. He surpassed "normal" boy at 18 months old. Yesterday, my husband and I found a therapist who has been working in this field for 25 years and she diagnosed him with severe ADHD. We are so conflicted on using meds or not. We know he probably needs it, but I feel like we are giving up and I am a terrible mother to put him on meds, then again I am so far past a breaking point with him that I can not stand it anymore. I guess my question is how do you know or did you know when was the right time to put yoru child on meds? Again he is only 4, has anyone else put there kids on meds this early??
Thanks,
Meaghan
Well you are not medicating for yourself. You would be medicating for him. He doesnt want to be this way.. Every one of us struggles with this decision. The thing that pushed me was when my daughter said she just couldnt get through her day because her head was always so "spinny". Most people you will hear that finally make the decision to medicate are very happy they made that decision. It is a very personal decision. Keep educating.For me...my ds was struggling at age 4 in his 4 year old preschool class. One day, I picked him up and he shuffled along, with his head down, and he told me he didn't want to go to school anymore. My heart literally broke in two - how on earth could life be so tough for a 4 year old?
So, we started with a therapist, and tried behavior management to get him through the year. He started 4k in the fall, and immediately started having problems, so we took him to a psych and had him diagnosed and started the meds.
I think that because we had a very long time to ponder meds, and we saw that what we were doing with him behaviorally was having limited success, it was not a big leap to try the meds.
It was a rough time to get him to the right meds combo, but let me tell you....I look at how he is doing right now and I don't regret one minute. He went from needing a helper in the classroom to the point where now he does what he needs to do with very few reminders...he went from knowing 5 of 26 letters to knowing 25 of 26....he went from being aggressive with his friends and having them shy away from him to having them want to be around him again.
It is never easy, but for us, it was the best decision for our son.
Good luck!
The whole "mild" "moderate" "severe" thing is totally subjective, so don't take that to heart....This is a very personal decision based on the individual situation. It is best to treat early, to reduce anxiety and depression that can come with struggling with ADHD. If he is having social problems in preschool, too much conflict with friends or family, or is a danger to himself or others (impulsivity issues) then meds would help. If he is active, but managable, hold of on meds until later. You can even do a med trial to see how he responds. This may help you decide.
Thank you all for your help back. As for the mild, moderate and severe I defintly agree that it is severe. I could not even buy face cream at the mall yesterday without him touching everything, talking to anything that had a pulse and climbing on and off the chairs and that was all in a matter of 5 minutes. I swear he has a motor that just keeps him going on and on and on. When 7 comes around every night I am so excited for him to go to bed so I can breathe. Not sure about anyone else, but the comments that strangers make to me is really starting to bother me. If I hear 1 more time, "does he ever stop talking" or wow he is really "spirited" I am going to scream !!! We have heard "spirited" for the last 2 1/2 years and I am so SICK of that word.. Sorry had another experience today with that..
Thanks again,
Meaghan
Oh I hear you, my 5 year old who does not have ADHD (at least we dont think) is QUITE energetic, and I am always hearing how she must be handful, and is she always like this, and of course the spirited . I was very anti-meds BEFORE we got the diagnosis. I was very happy to tell other people how adhd kids should be handled. Then the cosmos decided to slap some karma on me, and my youngest was diagnosed adhd. After trying many non-med treatments, we finally took pity on his little self and went with a med. The first one was horrible and almost put me over the edge as well as him. The second has been pretty great. There are days when I'm still not sure I know what the heck we're doing and I convince myself that we are doing irreparable harm. But then he gets asked to a friend's house or his report card comes or he gets a few praise awards at school, and I am astounded that this is the same kid as a year ago when nothing was going right. Just this morning he said,"Do I have to take my medicine today? I'm not going anywhere." Since I knew we had lots of errands to do, I said yes and asked him what the difference was if he took it or not, thinking that he might say he feels differently on it or something like that that would switch on my guilt. He looked up for a few seconds and said,"Nothing", popped it in his mouth, and went back to playing. He had just turned eight when we started, after being diagnosed at six.