new here | ADHD Information

Hello jjmoore,

Welcome and welcome to the club regarding medication!  I'm sure there isn't a single parent on this board who easily and readily medicated his/her child.  It's such a difficult decision. 

My son is 8 and has already been on medication for almost 3 years!  His behavior was extreme and obviously different from the time he was born.  My husband thought from around year 2 that he had ADHD, but it took me much longer to get on board.  Since then, I have read a lot about ADHD and the medications, and now I am very happy that we started the medications as soon as it became apparent that he couldn't function in school at all (or at home, for that matter).  I am sure that it has spared us 3 years of pain, agony, anger, yelling, frustration and low self-esteem (I hate that word, but you know what I mean).  I have become very convinced about the benefits of medication with children who really have ADHD and can't succeed any other way.  Why not give your child the tool to work up to his God-given potential?  As far as the nay-sayers, plug your ears and go "lalalalalala" .  You are doing the right thing for your child and your family, and they don't live with you. [QUOTE=spamula]You did the right thing! And WELCOME. I am the mon of a 9 year old 4th grader who's grades also started slipping. Over the summer we had him tested and it was ADHD and Anxiety. We started medication but he quickly shut us down. He absolutly refuses to take it. Look forward to seeing your posts.[/QUOTE]

we've had days where my ds has refused to take the meds.  They were making him a little more emotional.  It came down to a comparison of teacher reports on days with meds and days without meds  and he quickly learned that good days meant more privilages  and bad days meant punishment.  I think we finally got it right and I even think our dosage is correct.  I'm surprised since this is our first try!  I expected it to take awhile to find something that'd work.  Only problem is, I have to drive to the dr to get the script every month!  I'm hoping he will mail it or at least give us refills after we are 100% certain this is going to be correct (he just started his second bottle of 30 mg vyvanse)
My son's doctor makes me pick up his Rx and sign for it every month.  That can be a pain.  We only have to go in for check-ups every 3 months as long as his meds stay the same.   We used to go to another psychiatrist who post dated his prescriptions, but I don't think that's really OK. 

BTW, you can't get refills of Vyvanse because it's a stimulant.  But the mailing thing may work.  Or some prescriptions plans allow you to get 3 months at a time.  It'great that you found something that works so easily.


I call in to my son's doctor each month and he sends me the presciption in the mail.  They can't write a refill type because of the type of medication it is.  See if it is possible to have it sent.  If they can do it you will have to call about a week before your last pill.   I would have to miss work if I had to pick it up.  It is nice when your child sees the difference the meds make and sees it helping them.  Mine can see the difference and has always been good about taking it.Stimulants cant be refilled, but our doc also would mial them to us. He would mail us two months prescriptions. So for example we'd get one dated 12/90/7 and another dated 1/09/08. The mail order is nice, you can get a 90 supply, quite often for the price of 60.You did the right thing! And WELCOME. I am the mon of a 9 year old 4th grader who's grades also started slipping. Over the summer we had him tested and it was ADHD and Anxiety. We started medication but he quickly shut us down. He absolutly refuses to take it. Look forward to seeing your posts.

jjmoore welcome.

 Everyone struggles with the med decision, both before and at the beginning of the med journey. Once you see how much it helps your child be able to cope, that will go away. There will always be people who disagree with your decision, but it's none of thie business. Dont worry about it. There are people who disagree with everything others do. People like to judge. They make comments about what others feed their kids, how they discipline, everything. Dont worry about it......................

For the growth, use his weight gain or loss to judge if height will be affected. If he is gaining weight then growth will not be stunted. If weight does not increase while on meds, you can have him take a break during the summer. They tend to catch up then. My youngest shot up several inches and is starting to look like quite the young lady this summer.

The studies have shown that for those on constant meds with no breaks, the height difference compared to their peers was 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch.

I'm the mother of 3 beautiful children.  1 ds who is 10 (5th grade) and started vyvanse  30mg in November (1st meds).  and 2 dd 8 and 5.

I have suspected for years that my son had ADHD.  I just waited for the school to tell me something had to be done.  his grades were wonderful in 1st grade, but after that he started slipping.  I tried to tell myself it could be the move (we moved from NJ to Pa and the school system is very different).  I really thought I was over reacting etc. but this year  things were very different.  My son's first report card was filled with c's and d's.  I was horrified.  Apparently 5th grade is a whole different ball game and you really have to pay attention.  The school counselor observed him on a few occasions and ran a few tests (this was done without him or any other students being aware) and then his teacher and I had to fill out a questionaire for the Connors scale.  Armed with a bunch of tests results, letters, charts, notes and observation I went to see our Peditrican and started my son on vyvanse.  We saw almost an immediate change in our son's work.  In 1 short month my son has brought up his d's to b's.  We are very proud.  He is still very disorganized, but so is his father lol.  We are making progress and I'm very proud of my son.

 I have finally accepted that my son has ADHD and despite all the changes I've made in his diet and lifestyle, he does need meds.  This was hard for me to accept, but I feel like I'm doing the right thing.  I just wish others felt the same way.  (I was recently accused of medicating my kid to keep him in a zombie like trance so I didn't have to deal with him....and my son is not ever in a zombie like trance...he's still just as full of life, just not bouncing around so much)

Now if only I could stop worrying about his growth being stunted!