Skipping a Day? | ADHD Information

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< =text/>_popupControl(); This will probably get bumped to meds, but I wasn't sure since it isn't about a specific med but about how you medicate.  We had a three month visit the other day and our psych asks me if I still skip one day a weekend. I say yes and that skipping two just makes the first day back on harder (headaches, stomachaches). Then she says something interesting: neurologists believe that skipping one day a week prolongs the efficacy of the meds!! Eureka! Now, I'm not recommending that anyone change the way they medicate their adhders. I'm just saying that we regularly skip one day a week and our son's effective dose hasn't increased in more than a year, despite inches of growth and about 11 pounds gained. I'm sure an increase is coming, but I'd like to postpone it as long as possible.

Also, after she told me that, she did add that perhaps she shoudn't have said anything because neurologists use it to treat narcolepsy and that was their context. I, however, feel that the medication's effect on the brain isn't selective for particular diseases or disorders, so I think it applies to adhd, too.

Again, I'm not putting this out there to suggest medical advice to anyone, I just thought it was interesting and something that you all might want to talk to your doctors about.

I've found this to be true for myself.  When I first started taking adderall xr I took it daily, but after realizing what a hassle it was to get to the dr. office to pick up prescriptions I started skipping it on days that were less demanding of my focus.  I found it started working more like it had when I started initially, and I've never needed to up my dosage.

I do let my son skip days when he's off school- DH has a hard time with the constant motion and nonsensical chatter so he needs it most weekends.
Interesting, though my child's been on the same dose of Metadate CD for 13 months now and we never skip a day.  He's grown a lot and gained a lot of weight in that time, too.