Just a thought....if you decide not to medicate there are modifications that his classroom teachers can do to help him. I don't know how flexible they are at your school, but they should be willing to work with you.
my son is almost 10 and was tested thru the school last year for adhd....we are now in the process of getting him tested thru his doctor. The doctor says that we will most likely try meds to help him. I want to help my son in anyway I can but I am extremely afraid to medicate him for several reasons. I am afraid of the side effects. From the research I have done and from what I have heard from others most of the meds for adhd has the side effects of decreased appetite. My son already doesn't eat much. He has had growth problems since he was about 2yrs old. He is currently on growth hormones just to try to get him to grow. Right now he weighs 48 pounds and is 4'1/2" tall, he is below the 5th percentile in both weight and height so I am afraid if I medicate him then he is going to not grow at all and not gain any weight and may even lose what weight he has. He already gets teased about his size and that hurts him really bad.
Plus I have heard that some of the meds for adhd can in rare cases cause sudden death and our doctor even mentioned that. This SCARES me to death. I love my son and can't stand the thought of losing him. I know this is rare but still scares me. Then alot of the meds I have read that they can be habit forming so what does this do to our children?
Please if anyone has any information or advice let me know.
Caren
Hi Caren and welcome.
My first suggestion is to get him evaluated by a neuropsychologist for a solid diagnosis. From there you can discuss all your options. Many people use alternative therapies with great success. The alternative board on this forum is VERY active and there are many people with great knowledge, you can learn a lot.
The decision to medicate is a tough one and very individual. We chose to medicate my child and she very much needs it. I wont say it has been easy, but her life without meds was harder. If you choose to go with meds if you can find a psychopharmocolgist to prescribe, I recommend this. Especially if going in you have weight concerns. We had the same issue.
Hi Caren,
I don't have children, but I do have ADHD. I just wanted to tell you that I understand how hard and scary this must be for you.
Diane's advice is spot on. If the ADHD diagnosis is confirmed, then you will need to share all of your concerns with the doctor. I would think that the fact that your son eats very little and is already small for his age are important considerations.
The doctor really has to let you know that there is a rare chance of sudden death. He/she is just being responsible and thorough. I do not actually know what the true likelihood is of that, but I do believe it is very small.
That are indeed alternative therapies that may help, and there are also other medications to consider besides stimulants. One such med is Strattera, which is approved for ADHD treatment in children AND adults. I am not sure whether the tricyclic antidepressants are OK for kids....I know Diane's daughter is taking Desipramine. Anyway, these are medications that should not affect growth. Strattera can either increase or decrease appetite. It seems to vary from person to person. My husband takes it and has had no change in his appetite.
Do take a good look at the alternatives board, because there really is a great deal of knowledge there. There are supplements you can try, as well as behavioral therapies and exercises. You could certainly go that route first and use medication only if you run out of other options.
As far as the habit forming part is concerned with stimulants: it is VERY HIGHLY unlikely that anyone taking stimulants for ADHD in correct amounts will become addicted. In fact, people with untreated ADHD are very likely to abuse drugs to self-medicate (cocaine, meth, marijuana). Therefore, the right treatment can actually DECREASE the likelihood that your child will experiment and/or become a drug addict later in life. Some develop tolerance after a time, and there can be some withdrawl symptoms when discontinued if they have been used for a long time (like headaches and the like). Similar to weaning off of an antidepressant. I do not think it is typical to have a difficult time with them when discontinuing. Certainly not like withdrawl from benzodiazepine tranquilizers like Valium or Xanax....
Be very, very careful about where you look for info about treatment with stimulants. There are many people out there who do not believe they should be used for various reasons (typically because it clashes with their personal agenda). These people will use scare tactics to frighten people into NOT using them. These people really irritate me because there are a lot of people who are suffering (especially parents) and want to do the best thing for themselves or their children and in many cases that includes treatment with stimulants.
For my ADHD I take Wellbutrin, an atypical antidepressant which is known to cause seizures in higher doses (it is also only approved for anyone over 18). In fact, it was originally pulled from the market many years ago because it caused them frequently. Turns out the recommended dose was way too high. They did further studies and found it was effective at a much lower dose. Chances of a seizure at the typical maintainance dose are 4/1000. I have to admit I was really nervous - especially when some of the side effects were odd and I didn't know if they were a seizure warning. My brother also had epilepsy as a child (petit mal - never had grand mal or "full blown" seizures). I told my doctor this and given the fact that I had no other considerations that put me at risk, we decided it was appropriate.
I also drive virtually all day long and I was concerned about crashing and harming/killing myself and others around me. However, the side effects went away, I have not had a seizure (knock on wood!) and it turned out to be tremendously helpful to me. I have been taking it for about 4 months now.
The point is, there are risks with everything. You just have to decide whether they are worth it. You may not know the answer until you take a leap of faith.
My doctor and I have recently made a decision to add a stimulant on top of the Wellbutrin because alone Wellbutrin can't help my focus anywhere near enough. I am not worried about addiction. I am worrying about whether it will help! I would tell you whether it made a difference, but my pharmacy had to special order it, then messed up the order, and I so MAY get my meds tomorrow.... I will be taking methylphenidate, which is a short-acting, generic form of Ritalin.
That said, if I had a child and I had to make your decision, it would be very hard for me as well. No one wants to see their child suffer. My brother had a nasty allergic reaction to phenobarbital when his epilepsy was diagnosed. He had a horrible rash, couldn't keep anything down.... Because it is very rare to have an allergy to phenobarb, his doctor dismissed that possibility. It took about two weeks before the doc admitted the phenobarb was the culprit. Then he got switched to medications that require regular blood tests because they can affect the liver. I know all this just ate my mother alive. It was a scary time.
Best wishes to you and your family.
katastrophee39288.8009027778Here is a good place to find reliable information on treatment options, medications, risks to untreated kids with ADHD, etc.
http://www.help4adhd.org/en/about/wwk
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/healthinformation/adhdmenu.cfm
The deaths with stimulant meds were either due to nonADHD people abusing high amounts of meds or kids with am undiagnosed pre-existing heart condition. In the later case, there are no more deaths on meds then in the general population (meaning the heart related deaths are the same frequency whether or not meds were involved).
In addition to strattera, shire will be introducing a long acting guanfacine later this year. It is another non stimulant and does not affect appetite.
If you do go with meds, I would suggest a psychiatrist that has experience with med management over a pediatrician.
Whatever you decide on meds or alternatives, a good behavior modification plan is important. Look at ogram's marble thread at the top of the parent's board.