I believe my son will be on meds for the rest of his life!
my husband is undiagnosed ADHD, and I tell him if he would only get diagnosed and take meds, that he would be so much more successful than he already is. He is so smart, but stubborn.
My husband and I are both undiagnose but suspected ADHD. I also have chronic fatique. The meds I take for the fatigue actually help the ADHD symptoms. I only wish I could have been afforded this chance when I was 9. Instead, I was misdiagnosed, misprescribed, and turned to self medicating(no longer) and dropped out of school after 10th grade. My mom made little attempt to help me get the right diagnosis or medication at the time. My dad just believed a good beating would do.
My husband had similar circumstances (without the medication) and still has trouble today.
It is different for every child. My child is also 9 and the decision to start him on stims 2 weeks ago was MURDER for me, but I looked back at what I experienced and made the decision to try. So far he is doing great. He is on FocalinXR in the am and we see little side effects. I have a 504 plan for him at school and just filed an IEP for him.
You may find the medications change over time and you may find that they find or are taught other coping skills to master life without the meds. EVERYONE is different. But if it allow your child to have a better chance at a good life then take it from someone who has been there it is worth it. Good Luck and God Bless
spamula39339.2047685185Could someone please help me! how long should my child have to be on meds for ADHD, it's been 2 years now and my son seems to be doing ok on them, but I don't like having to give them to him, how long do other kids stay on these meds? My son is on methylin, age 9.My DD has been on meds for 3 years, my brother for 20, and my nephew for 11 years. It depends on the person, some are on them well into adulthood. I was told meds at a younger age can help teach the children skills for when they are older by helping them and yes sometimes you are on it for life. As for your wondering try without and see how your child does and if he/she falters you can always try the alternative board and worse case sceniaro back to meds again. For my girl we tried her without last year and it was bad so back to meds we are.brsmom,
I try to think of it as any other health problem like asthma which my son also has . He has very mild asthma so we took him off his Flovent for amost a year and then he had another attack. I figure we may be giving him the flovent when he doesn't need it (summer) but it is worth it so he doesn't have an attack in the fall.
With adhd meds, I am preventing him from being suspended for impulsive behavior. I don't know when it could happen so I have to give it to him all the time.
I hope in the future with genetic testing we can cure adhd but for now we have to use what we have. I also hope "Big Pharma" doesn't do anything to keep us on the very expensive drugs - but that is another story.
Good luck!
Liz
I was dx at age 13 (1983) and out on Ritalin to help me focus through high school. I stopped taking the meds when I started college (don't really know why I stopped) I did semi- okay my 1st semester, then really struggled my second semester and failed some classes in my second year and then I quit school. I wonder if I stayed on the meds if things would have been different. I am not on meds now and while I still have some difficulties due to my ADHD, I can cope and manage quite well, even with a job that requires a lot of concentration. (It is very interesting to me so concentratiing isn't hard for my work)
So if the question is "How long will he be on meds?" IMO the answer is "As long as he needs them to be successful." Of course, you won't know how he will do flying solo until you try. I have used summers to see how my kids do without meds- but as long as school is in session and they are doing pretty well- I wouldn't mess with their dosage. (again, just my opinion)
Good luck!
[QUOTE=brsmom]Could someone please help me! how long should my child have to be on meds for ADHD, it's been 2 years now and my son seems to be doing ok on them, but I don't like having to give them to him, how long do other kids stay on these meds? My son is on methylin, age 9.[/QUOTE]
I understand your frustration. However if the meds are working for your child then you should leave it alone and feel blessed that you did find something that worked.
I just saw a nurse practitioner for medication management and he told me that basically all children (of course there are exceptions) won't grow out of ADHD until their mid 20's. Almost all children put on meds for ADHD stay on it through school and some never grow out of it. I have also heard that the meds at an early age can help them learn better coping skills and of course let them focus for learnign foundations. I am with you i see the change and know he needs the meds but i wish i didnt have to give it to him and i hope i dont have to for the rest of his life. Cody wants to be like his stepdad and go into the air force so he has to be off the meds for a year before he can do that but he is 8 so he has a long way to go...lol