Information about side effects of meds | ADHD Information

Is anyone else conflicted or have any information about long term use of ADHD meds? I have 3 kids, 2 are ADHD and benefit greatly from the meds. We have gone through the spectrum and are trying the new patch and like it, but I have a friend who has scared me to death that I am going to do irrepairable damage to my kids.

That is a big emotional burden!!!! Any ideas?

Do your research and come to your own conclusions. Information is power.
My ds is 7 and has been on meds since 5. I don't like the idea of meds, but I
can't imagine him without them. He is more in control and happier. He has
self esteem now. He is able to do well in school, participate in sports/
activities, have friends and maintain friendships, etc. Without all this, I think
it would do so much damage to his self esteem and that has lasting effects
as well. Tell your friend that you appreciate her input, but have decided to
stick with your own decisions and do what is right for your child. Most
people with children that do not have ADHD have no idea how it is for the
child and the family.I figured out a long time ago that there were people I could talk to about these things and people I had to keep my mouth shut around. I could be wrong but it doesn't seem to me that anyone makes the decision to medicate their kids lightly. There are certainly consequences to medicating your child, some known, some unknown, I'm sure. But there are also many consequences in not medicating. You didn't do this to make your life easier - you did it to make your children's lives easier.

Those that don't have a child with ADHD are clueless and when it comes to education about ADHD, ignorance is not bliss. Read up on the irreparable damage done to children who grow up with untreated or ineffective treatment for ADHD. Talk about an emotional burden knowing as a parent that effective treatment along the way would have made a world of difference in terms of quality of life or lack of.

No parent is comfortable medicating their child, even for a physical illness but the benefits of effective treatment for ADHD far outweigh the risks and as far as long term effects, Ritalin has been around since the 1950's. In order to make an informed decision, never make that decision based on fear but rather accurate knowledge and the information you gather is only as good as the person giving it. Good luck! :)

I suggest the first thing to do is get away from the guilt.

There are horror stories about unmedicated kids and there are horror stories about medication.

Look strictly at what will improve the quality of the child's life. You cannot plan for every future contingency you can only go on what your information tells you NOW.

Research, research, research. Make your decisions based on what you think will be the most helpful NOW.

Tomorrow--that may change. A new medication, a new psychological technique.

You will make the best decision you can for today.
Past decisions are irrevocable and you did the best you could, then.
And you make the best decision your information gives you tomorrow.

I was reading my email and came across this. I haven't checked it out but it should have lots of good information.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Psychiatric Association this week announced the release of a new ADHD Parents Medication Guide. The guide -- available at www.ParentsMedGuide.org. -- provides unbiased information on ADHD symptoms, treatment options, types of medications (stimulant and non-stimulant), side effects, and disorders that may accompany ADHD. It was developed by a consensus group of medical professionals and parent advocacy groups without pharmaceutical funding.

Based on a quadruple-blind study for a person both without, and then with medication, conducted over the past 50 years w/o medication using the full speectrum of the tests that life has to offer--tests of short, medium, and long-term duration--to measure the advantages of being non-medicated as well as the long-term side effects (both direct and indirect) for being medicated that whole time, vs. being on medication for the past couple years, this unpublished trial in a single, white, caucasion male (me) concludes that a) two years of enlightenment beats the pants off 50 years of being "clueless"; b) the medication's benefits far outweight the side effects experienced by this one (and only!) trial participant; and c) while the adhd inattentive traits I can now understand and handle, it's all the "other stuff" I've heaped on to my psyche over the years (poor self confidence (and all the attendent missed opportunities because of it), unrelenting self-criticism, anxiety, etc.....) that I will be trying to unravel and undo for the rest of my life!!

What research has your friend read about irreparable damage? As far as I know, there is none. There are a lot of opinions out there, but no one has shown irreparable damage. There are, however, studies that show that children who have been properly medicated for ADHD do not "self medicate" as much later (i.e. take drugs and use alcohol). There is a study that shows that the brain size of people with ADHD is smaller -- unless they have been medicated, and then the brain size is the same. Look up the effects of nicotine on ADHD and draw your own conclusions about how previous generations have self medicated with something far more harmful than carefully doled out amounts of a pure medication.

Ritalin is less systemically harmful than most medications used for chronic conditions. Read the studies, have your facts ready, and don't back down. Many people see ADHD as a moral issue, and they drag the medication into it because they feel we are medicating our children to cover up our bad parenting. When you dig down, that is the bottom line. I would seriously question this friend's motives in telling you that you are doing harm to your children. We call ADHD the great litmus test in our family. It has very effectively separated the wheat from the chaff among our friends and, frankly, we don't hang around with people who question our decisions in this matter.
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That is a big emotional burden!!!! Any ideas?

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Does your friend have a child with ADHD? I am betting NO. Ignore your friends, family, and any others who do not have a child with ADHD, and know first hand how meds can help!

Trust me the chance of irrepreble damage are slim. It took me a while to understand the need for meds for my child. We agonized over it for a long time. But nothing else worked and with the meds he was like a different, better version of himself. Everyone has to make up their own mind but I think they turn to self medication if we do not help them.

I worry alot about the long term effects, I think every parent does. But babygonz and Enbmom are right there people that you can talk to and those you can't. When people tell me how horrible meds are, I ask them this question. Would you deny your child insulin if they were diabetic? Then I ask them how is this different? They have no idea what your days and nights are like. ( My son doesn't sleep.) They do not understand the daily struggles and how hard the simpliest things can be. The guilt trip can be a long hard journey, which we should not have to take but we take it over and over.

I would prefer not to medicate but it isn't possible right now, maybe in the future.

The people I get the most frustrated with are the ones that say there is no such thing as ADHD. I would love to have them spent a day with my son unmedicated.