hesitantly considering adhd meds...

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Disclaimer: haven't read responses. Sorry if this is out of order or already covered.

When my son was 7, he started saying the same things. For the same reasons. He knew how he was supposed to behave, but he couldn't, so he drew the conclusion that he must be a "bad boy." What other conclusion could a 7 year old draw?

It broke my heart. Because he is a GOOD kid.

Previous to that, I was staunchly against medicating. Philosophically against it. Kids are being overmedicated. I seriously believed it (and I still do). But seeing my son suffer made me realize it was possible that my philosophy and my need to adhere to it was causing my son to suffer. So I decided to give it a try.

He was on extended release adderall and it was life changing. I started him on the meds during a school break and did not tell his teachers. I figured that would be the best way for me to know if it was working or not. Within a couple of days of going back to school, I got a call from the school asking what did I do over the break because he was a different kid. His hyperactivity was manageable. His impulse control was improved. He could focus long enough to learn the social skills that he was missing that made him so intrusive and, well...annoying to his classmates. HE recognized that the medicine helped.

About 3 years later (won't go into the long story here), I took him off the meds. He did OK. His hyperactivity seemed to be resolved (I am not saying the meds did it, I think he probably grew out of it due to sensory maturation) and his teachers did not report an upswing in impulsivity or intrusiveness. So I kept him off his meds.

He's 14 now, and I am probably putting him back on something. He is not hyperactive, but his ability to focus is nearly nil and it is causing him a lot of problems. He wants some relief.

By the way, I still think kids today are being overmedicated. I still think that meds should be a last resort, if a resort of any kind at all.

But sometimes, kids actually NEED medication. They shouldn't be prevented from having it because some other kids get it when they shouldn't.

With a stimulant medication, you will know in a very short period of time if it is helping or not. I am not familiar with the other classifications of ADHD meds. I do know, even with stimulants, you do have to monitor dosing carefully. If my son was overmedicated, he would get a bit zombi-ish. But when he was at his optimal dose, he wasn't. At all. In fact, when we first hit his optimal dose, it was probably the first time I got to "meet my son" because he wasn't hidden behind all of the hyperactivity and impulsivity.

Whatever you decide, best of luck to you.

I have tried ADHD meds to treat my ADHD-pi but they were a disaster. I tried Ritalin IR, Ritalin SR, Concerta, Vyvanse, Dexedrine IR, Adderall IR and Adderall XR. I found Adderall XR to provide the most benefits, it finally unlocked my potential, removed the brain fog, allowed me to concentrate, basically giving me superhuman abilities. My grades went from 60's to all 90-95's. Adderall XR also eliminated my social anxiety, I became extroverted, acquired social skills I did not have before, was talkative, and at many times too talkative. Vyvanse nor Dexedrine worked like Adderall did, I assume because they lacked the levoamphetamine that is in Adderall.

The darkside of these drugs was that I was constantly on a rollercoaster. I would soar into the sky mood and energy wise when the drug was working in the daytime then crash into the pits of hell at night often suicidal, though I still had difficulty sleeping. The general rule of thumb is what goes up must come down. All the ADHD meds destroyed my appetite and altered my taste(a rare side effect) so that nearly everything I ate tasted like the cardboard box it came it which caused me to lose weight. Adderall XR also caused me to be more agitated and irritable towards most everyone. After 12 months of the drug I became so burnt out that I had to come off of all of them. I would rather be a terrible student then go through the hell I experienced from those drugs.

I never got to try Strattera because I couldn't afford it, nor could I afford Provigil so I didn't try that either, and I didn't try Biphentin or Daytranna because my doctor saw no point to, if I didn't respond to Concerta. I guess the only sort of ADHD drug that never caused problems was Wellbutrin XL, which IMO didn't really help my ADHD, it only helped my depression and energy levels.

My son also experienced the rebound effect that Noca reported, but it wasn't that severe. He actually got ramped up as the meds wore off. He also had a decrease in appetite, but in his case it was a welcomed side-effect as he is/was overweight and it actually brought his weight to normal range. He experienced no insomnia or problems with sleeping at all (he has no problems with these things unmedicated either). He didn't become irritable. He certainly wasn't superhuman and he actually had more social anxiety because he noticed for the first time that other kids avoided him.

Unlike Noca, adderall had an overall calming effect on my son. He had less energy when he was medicated and went from being (overly) social to...well, not introverted, but not as intrusive, talkative and in-your-face.

The thing with side effects is that you can never know which ones you will and will not get, nor can you predict how severe they will be.