I apologize in advance for a long post but there has been so much to consider lately, hubby & I don't know what direction to take. DS8 has been on meds for 3 yrs now and is currently at the highest dose of Daytrana & Guanfacine that he can have (as has been for about a year). We've questioned the effectiveness of his meds for about 6 mos but are hestitant to make any changes. He also has sensory issues & wears a compression vest at school & sits on a bubble seat, which seem to help him. The reason we question the dosage but don't make a change is because the meds seem right for him...once they are fully kicked in. The problem being, is that the Guanfacine (which is supposed to help while his Daytrana kicks in) doesn't seem to be doing it's job. But, once the Daytrana kicks in (2+ hrs), he does very well. So...we've had the discussion of a med change w/Doc & he said our only other option is to completely start over with something totally different....which scares me to death (comfort zone!). He's hesitant because the Daytrana works so well for him AND we control it because it lasts as long as we leave the patch on, when pills only last a certain amount of time & we would have down time. He's been struggling at school in the mornings with impulse control and we are frustrated w/the school right now too. We are at a private Catholic school that has been AMAZING to work with when it comes to DS issues and now it seems like they are just giving up. There was an incident last Thurs between him and another child (supposedly a friend) and both of them got in trouble but now we have been asked to either bring DS to school later to avoid outside morning recess or have him sit in the office until school starts because he can't control himself & causes too many problems on the playground! I breifly made mention that I can't bring him any later since I work & already bring him as late as I can and also that he needs that time in the morning to burn his energy & get his sensory input before being expected to sit for class. This conversation was taken very lightly and never really resolved. I realize that they are probably getting frustrated w/his behavior & its getting to the end of the school year...but that doesn't mean we give up & just punish him for the next 3 wks til school is done! So basically the things that hubby & I are trying to sort out are, do we change meds? Do we just try to work something out w/the school for the last 3 wks? Hubby plans to talk w/the school (at this point I'm too frustrated & don't want to come off as a bitch) but the meds thing still has us pondering. We love Daytrana & how it works for him ONCE it kicks in but it sounds like our med options for the morning while we wait for it to kick in are zilch if what we are doing isn't working! Also, we are already getting DS up at 6am to give pills/patch & send him back to bed for 1/2 hr so they can start working in time for school....we're still struggling. We're just at a loss as far as what to consider doing and feel like we're never going to get a break!
I'll preface this with the fact that at this point I know nothing about the ADHD meds, so much of this is as much questions for me to know the answers to as it is maybe things that you haven't thought of yet.I so understand! My son has been on every single adhd med and none seem to really work because he metabolizes them too quickly, so we had him on the patch 2 different times... both times he had allergic reaction to the glue. So we had to take him off them... he would be scratching during the night like crazy... red, raised bumps etc... but when I was doing it... I would get up at 4 am to put it on him while he slept... because he is up at 6 - 6:30 am every single day (not sure why they say adhd kids are hard to get up, I can not keep my DS9 asleep! So as hard as it was for me I did the 4 am duty... sometimes the issue was he would not go back to sleep after I put it on... so I would try putting it on earlier, that will do the trick!
good luck!!