Pediatrician Appt - To medicate or not to medicate?

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My son has a pediatrician appt booked for April 22, we have waited 3 years for this (since he started his Concerta on the belief that he has ADHD). A lot has happened in those 3 years and he's been on the highest dose for 2 of those 3yrs.

His behaviours have gotten worse and more aggressive outbursts and his social impairments even more obvious than when he was 6.

He recently started at a new school (this past sept) and the teacher has researched ASD quite a bit and has noticed he seems to be on the higher functioning end (something I suspected for years, but my DR is useless when it comes to anything outside of physical impairments). She has been making notes and etc and he's only been to school 1 time without medication (which was a whole diff ball game for her - she really then saw why he's on it).

The medication doesn't take away all his symptoms, but it helps with his focus and the brunt of his impulsiveness (it slows his brain down a bit so he can think). But it doesn't do anything for social interactions, hoarding, and much more...

I know that if I bring him to this appointment medicated, the DR may not see the full force of what is going on....

but if I bring him unmedicated it's going to be one hell of a day - we're going to the city for this appointment and have to wait in a waiting room and etc...

I feel like it may be better just to say "eff it" and go unmedicated anyways so the MD can see it all... all the fun parts (i.e having to ask him repeatedly to sit down, having to remind him repeatedly to lower his voice, the lack of focus, the sensitivity, all that fun stuff).

But im still not sure.

Any thoughts on this?

I fear that if i bring him medicated then the MD will mark it down to him being a slightly overactive boy.... which is certainly not the case. But his impairments are not something you will notice within 20-30 mins when hes medicated... you need to actually see him full force to get it. I am bringing all teachers notes and observations as well as my own notes and observations.

Doctors can't treat symptoms they can't see and unfortunately a generation of lazy parents who just want their kids sedated until they go off to college has left them not trusting the one person in the equation who actually knows what's going on. It will be a rough day but I would take him unmedicated. Let the doctor see for herself what you are dealing with and maybe your son can actually get the help he needs. I know when I took my son for evaluations and tried to get someone to listen, he sat quietly and played his video game the whole time and just refused to answer questions. That got us brushed off. The next time though, we discussed having his tonsil out (a major trigger) and he had a complete meltdown. Once the doctor actually saw there was a real issue, he got us some help.

I would much rather not pay the $100 for Concerta every month but the school a most kicked him out so we went the med route to save his education. He was failing miserably.

The teacher at his new school was floored when she saw him full force no meds, he was even complaining about 1 hour in to her about how he's having a bad day.

I don't wanna waste these past 3 years waiting only to have the dr tell us he sees nothing.

I think I'm going to withhold medication and no video games outside the car ride. I want the dr to see how things really are for my son...