Hi Lucy, and welcome to the boards. I can certainly understand your apprehension about starting meds, It's not an easy decision to make. As for what you can expect, there are as many varied results as there are children taking them! That is to say, every child reacts differently. There are so many meds to choose from, and so many combinations. I think the two most important things are a good doctor, and a very keen awareness on your part. You know your child better than anyone and if you feel something's not right, then it probably isn't.
I''ve read about many success stories on these boards, but you've got to be realistic. There's a small probability that the first med you try will be the answer. And the side effects sometimes are very minimal in the beginning, but increase as time goes on. From what I've read here, and from our own experience with our son, age 6, the most common thing is loss of appetite. Sometimes that goes away, sometimes it doesn't. But there are things you can do to prevent too much weight loss such as high calorie shakes and timing meals around when he is hungrier. Sometimes sleep is difficult, but many parents here use melatonin. We saw much improvement in his activity level, and he was able to perform much better in school. Concentration improved greatly, his impulsivity decreased greatly, and he was able to get along with his peers better. But what we didn't like (besides the weight loss) was his increased anxiety, and his loss of enthusiasm. He had been such a spirited and joyful little boy who became too compliant and disconnected. I've read so many times here that if the medicine changes who your child is, it's not the right one! So we stopped after 5 months to give him a break. We will be having him re-evaluated and may be starting a new med in the near future because he is struggling in school now.
It's a definite balancing act trying to find a medicine that tones the inmpulsivity and hyperactivity down without toning down his personality too much. But, from what I've heard, when it works, it changes your child's life! Good luck, and remember that there's someone on these boards that has had experience with just about anything you will be going through.
Hi Lucy! I am new here, this is my first post, but felt compelled to respond, as you described your son, you could have been describing mine. He is 5 and just diagnosed this past summer with adhd. We have decided to try meds, after much thought. At home we tried everything we could think of, diet, house rules, checklists, organizing his room, schedules etc to get him ready for kindergarten. After 2 months at school he was really struggling and starting to become discouraged and not want to go. We started on Vyvance on Nov1. . We have seen some minor improvements as well as some minor side effects, such as an upset tummy. At this point when he does not feel like eating at meal times he seems to make up for it by eating eating larger amount at other points during the day. As it as only been 8 days I cannot offer too much in the way of what to expect but just wanted to show some support. From what I have read and heard, you have to do what you think is best and trust your gut, you know your child best....thats what we are trying to do Thank you for your responses. I am so anxious and just don't know what toOur DS has been on meds for almost 3 yrs now, he just turned 8. As mentioned above, keep in mind that the first med you try may not be "the one" but there are many choices available so don't give up first try if it doesn't work. Ultimately the biggest result you should see from meds that are doing their job, is your son--w/much less hyperactivity & impulsiveness. The meds shouldn't "change" your son to something he's not, it should just bring him to a level that is more cooperative and able to focus w/o all the "clutter" that ADHD brings. Our son still has his silly personality and quirkiness, he's still very clever & smart...he's just able to concentrate & focus much better and is much more calm. Some of the side effects can be tics, appetite suppresion, upset tummy...some of these side effects can decrease w/time, others may not & that may be a clue to you to find something else. Our son deals with tic's each time he has had a new prescription, dose increase or even just changing the time the meds are given. His tics usually dissappear within a couple of months. Fortunately for him, his tic is just an eye twitch/eye roll so it's not as major as some of them can be so we were able to just deal w/it until it went away. He also experienced appetite suppression & lost weight when he started meds. The appetite suppression also decreased w/time as his body became used the meds. In the meantime we just loaded him up when he was actually hungry, allowed him to eat very large breakfasts because that was before meds kicked in & he was hungry. We substituted w/Pediasure for a while to help also. From experience, you should know within the first few days if the med is helping or if it's an absolute "NO" and you need to find something else. Most symtoms of it being a "NO" med is anger/agression, ill, emotional/crying lots, these are all red flags that it's either the wrong med or dosage is too high. Good luck on your journey, hopefully you can find support here, it's a great site!
So glad to have found this board...reading others advice and experiences is so helpful!! Lucy, to answer you question...my son is very similar to yours and always has been an excellent sleeper and needs about 11 hours. So far in our 8 day experience he was having a little trouble going to sleep at night but only ended up being up for about an extra hour. The mornings the first few days were awful, up at about 5am, but now on day 8 we are back to the normal approx 7am, although he now wont fall asleep till about 9pm when he was always alseep at 8 or earlier before. He seems to be doing alright with a little less sleep. On another note I just received an email from is teacher and she commented how well he did today!!! Focused during group work time and was able to "keep his hands to himself" at carpet time, which has been one of our major problems. I know there will be up and down days and meds wont make everything perfect but this brought tears of relief and happiness to me!