I'm not an expert by any means (we have only been on meds since Dec) but I do not medicate my son unless he is going to school. Weekends and Holidays are med free. He has seemed to adjust to that schedule well.
turtledove77340574.3847222222Well, we're back on the medicine roller coaster, after stopping eight months ago. We didn't like the side effects and stopped near the end of his kindergarten year, but he is having a tough time in first grade. So the doctor has prescribed adderal, and although I realize he needs help to focus in school, I really want to not medicate him on weekends and holidays. I have heard different opinions about not keeping the medication consistent on a daily basis. On one hand, he doesn't need it at home and his appetite will be alot better, but I wonder if his body chemistry will be thrown off by stopping and starting it. His pyschiatrist advised us there would be no harm in doing this, but I was wondering if anyone had any advice based on their experiences?We routinely skips days on the weekend or on school holiday, but never more than one at a time. We found that skipping two days in a row was okay for my son, but then the first day back on really caused a lot of headaches. Our psych told me that skipping now and then may prolong the efficacy of a dose, drawing out the need to increase the dosage longer. The only thing is, if you skip a day, you have to know that that day will require lots of patience and understanding. We never skip a day when there is an activity with friends planned. You have to figure out what works best for your family, because no plan is perfect for all kids or families. For one child I never medicate unless she is going to school. She's got moderate ADHD. She eats a lot on the weekends and is a normal height/weight. For the other I medicate if the behavior is over the top on the weekends and definitely if we are going anywhere during the holiday. It is severe ADHD, and very hard to tolerate. He is skinny and underweight/short. I notice no difference on Mondays with regards to efficacy when they have not taken it over the weekend or longer.I posted a similar question about med breaks recently. (I was asking more from seasoned parents who have actually had children on meds for years and who had children who are now adults or beyond the formative years) Basically, I was feeling guilty not wanting to give intentional med breaks (we had a few unintential = big disaster. My children are 9 & 11 now - and both have been on medication for over 2+ years -FYI)
From what I gathered it depends on what type of ADHD. If it is just attention issues - having med breaks seems ok - according to some of the responses I got.
However, it was put to me - very clearly - that ADHD doesn't stop at the end of the school day or on weekends. Medications can help level the playing field for our children. We, as parents, may not realize the difficulty our children go through being ADHD. And perhaps they can not communicate properly how they really feel on or off the medication. I believe it is our own guilt not wanting to have our children on medication because part of society dictates we are "over medicating" our kids today. - I thought that at one point -especially before we had kids and even when we first adopted our children from the foster care sytem 4 years ago.
But after a ton of soul searching - I have decided not to do med breaks for my kids. We see the doctor regularly for check-ups and both are doing fine physically. I also see how much happier they have become while being on meds long term. Maturity has a big part of this. However, I believe, the medication aided their mental growth. They feel like they aren't so different now from all the other kids - which, face it, at their age: that is all they want - TO FIT IN!
Each ADHD child is different and they have different challenges (I have 2 ADHD - one innattentive & hyper and one impulsive and hyper). If my children aren't on medicatation, they make very poor choices and their self esteem is questioned by us, teachers, friends, etc...
This choice is up to you. You live with your children 24 hours a day - no doctor, parent, etc.. can make the decision for you. Just realize guilt is just part of being an ADHD parent. At least it is for me.
newmom40577.6348032407Thanks for such an insightful response, Newmom. And you're right, part of it is the guilt that I carry for putting him on medicine again. But I know it's something we had to do and he, now at 7 years old, can communicate his feelings so much better. He tells us he likes the medicine because it helps him be good at school and more like the other kids. So, I am at peace with our decision. But he is happy at home on the weekends and although he's a little harder to handle, it's not an unmanageable situation. He seems to only get out of control in social settings, he just doesn't have that "off switch" when he is around other kids. So, for now, the med break on weekends is working and I think we are going to stick with that for the time being. It's all trial and error, that's for sure!Hi, having a diary will help to measure the days he hasn't taken the