Am I Crazy? | ADHD Information

No, you are not nuts. Some kids, not all but some do better if meds are taken everyday with no weekend breaks. It is also possible that since your ds refuses to take them half the time he is just now adjusting to them. I could have sworn there was an "adjustment" period when my son started his meds. After a couple of weeks some of the sympotms subsided. My doctor swears that this is not true with stimulants that it is fine to use one day and then not. I found my son had more side effects this way and was better if consistant. He insists no. He is not the only one either the psychologist said the same thing. Am I nuts?If my son skips a day or two it does seem to take another day or two for him to "recover".  I never really thought about it before, except to remind myself that if we skipped a day I'd be dealing with it for two.

I would ask the doctors if they had (or have) children on stims.

Many many people (myself included) know that there is an adjustment period from stims from day to day.  When I stopped meds it took my son 4 - 6 weeks to resume his "normal" behavior, although doctors insisted the meds were out of his body in 24 hours.

Thanks it's nice to know i am not nuts in this area. He does adjust when consistant, and has a worse time when back and forth. My ADD Husband feels the doctors know it all. He can't see it. I notice a difference. Maybe soon he'll decide to take them for right now the have suggested A  cognitave disorder(he doesn't think he needs them) and it might take a while for him to come around. Because he has a good teacher and is intelligent his grades are ok but he could be doing far better in life altogether. I hope he changes his mind.I don't understand where docs get this idea.

Any "addiction" or pharmacology specialist knows that consistency is key with any substance/medication, legal or illegal.

It takes a minimum 4 days to detox the body from *anything* so why wouldn't there be residual medication in the case of stims?

I sometimes wonder where docs get their info
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I've written this before, but doctors get their info from pharmaceutical sales reps and the "literature".  Unless they have a child with ADHD and have been through this themselves, they certainly don't know as much about the disorder and meds as do parents of children who have been through this.

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This is so true!!  I have learned more here about meds in a couple of weeks than I ever learned talking to the doctor and reading the package inserts and "literature."  When my son was 5, the psychiatrist put him on Concerta 18 mg.  He did fine until about 6 weeks in when he started to hallucinate.  We stopped it cold turkey, and then he had 3 days of wonderful behavior.  I told her that there seemed to be a residual effect/buildup from the methylphenidate, and she denied that that could occur.  Her comment was, "It must have been behavioral" (i.e. that he had "learned" to behave differently when on the meds.)  By day 4 we were back to bouncing off the walls. 

I notice it now on Daytrana, too -- he can focus better in the morning after a week or so of being on the patch, even though we take it off in the evening.  The meds should be out of his body by morning, but I can TELL that something is still there.  Until you have a child on these medications, you just can't imagine the effects and that it's not exactly as the "literature" describes.

I've written this before, but doctors get their info from pharmaceutical sales reps and the "literature".  Unless they have a child with ADHD and have been through this themselves, they certainly don't know as much about the disorder and meds as do parents of children who have been through this.

Basically take what the doctor says, however don't worry about questioning him/her and advocating for your child based on what you experience and learn through this process.