Hello,
Tardis_mom. I understand how you feel about knowing if you are doing the right thing as a mom about medicating your child at such a young age. i have a 5.5yr old who was diagnose with adhd at 5yr. But he had already begin to show symptoms at about 3. I was in denial and thought it was just normal, but once he started kindergarden he begin to be disruptive, hit children at school, he even has made his teacher aide cry because of how uncontralable he is. i am worried about my son and i too did not want to give him the med, and i still don't. But unfortunately I am single mother that has to work to support both of us, so I gave the meds a try. I did see a change n my child once he started in the medication..but he begin to have trouble sleeping. We went back to our doc today and they prescribe him clonidine to help him with the sleep. i read about the new med but i am scared to give it to my son...and i don't know what to do. I am very sad...due what you think its best for your child and go with your instinct. i myself thinking about stoping his meds.
It's preschool for God's sake! And he's only 5! It really troubles me to learn of kids that are put on meds before age 7. Symptoms have to appear before age 7 but treatment doesn't necessarily have to. If you aren't seeing any benefits, why is he still on the vyvanse? I believe that some kids are just naturally less attentive (for any number of reasons) at earlier ages. I wouldn't be terribly concerned until he's a couple years older. But that's just my opinion. Maybe he shouldn't be in preschool?? Maybe he'd do better at home for another year with less structure for a while? Maybe he's just not ready for school yet? It's still not unheard of to wait until a child is 6 to start kindergarten. Some kids just need that time. I think that just because everyone else has their kids in preschool at age 4 or so, it doesn't necessarily mean that I would have to jump on the band wagon and follow suit. I need to do what's best for me and mine just like you have to do what's best for you and yours. Is your son in therapy? Talking to a child psychologist may help you. My son is going to be 5 in July and his preschool teachers (he is in special needs preschool through our school district due to autism) recommended that we talk with his pediatrician about what can be done to improve his attention in class. He constantly needs to be redirected and apparently it's also affecting his ability to learn new skills since he is not able to pay attention well. He is on 20mg of Vyvanse and I am not seeing any positive changes (neither are his teachers) and he seems to be extremely weepy (will cry at the drop of a hat) since he started his meds. No issues with sleeping, thankfully. His appetite is slightly less, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I guess I am just looking at my little boy and wondering if he should be medicated at 5 years old?! Is it that bad that he is not learning as much in PRESCHOOL?! I am new to this forum, and I thank you for your help.