Hi, my 8 yr old son started med's approx 6 weeks ago and as he's at school 5 days a week, I'm trying to ascertain how effective the med's are. I have noticed my son is alot calmer, not so argumentive and not so fidgety. Before he was constantly clicking his fingers, touching etc..........this has pretty much dissappeared. He seem's more tolerant of his sister. My son only has 1 tablet around 7am until we see his Ped next but just over a week ago, me and my hubby were wondering just how effective the med's were as my son had a few meltdowns after school. For the last 4-5 day's however, my son's behaviour has been wonderful. Just wondering if anyone else has "patches" when behaviour is bad and "patches" when behaviour is good whilst on med's. The med's would not be lasting him through to the evening but he's been good over the past few days. Chances are I'll be retracting this statement in a day or so as a few day's in a row of really good behaviour seems strange!
Hi candycane.......the medication when effective allows the child the ability to make a choice rather than act on impulse and like anyone else, sometimes children as well as adults don't make the right choices. The medication is not a behavior pill. Effective medication in combination with a good behavior modfication plan will teach the child to make better choices. A "meltdown" as defined is not a tantrum so we always must distinguish the difference. A tantrum will last for a while but a meltdown will last for hours. Some children expereince rebound when the medcation wears off but that can be remedied. There are many variables in terms of the reasons for a child's behavior but please let us know how things are going up until this point.My recommendation would be to keep a journal and seen if you can find any patterns in the good vs. bad days. If you find a pattern, they you can work on avoiding whatever the trigger might be.