What You Should Consider About ADHD Medications
Posted by Healthy Family on Aug.09, 2009, under Health and Fitness
I know some of my readers are up in arms that I even wrote this article. You think there is no question about ADHD medications. The funny thing is, some of you think there’s no question that your child SHOULD take ADHD medication, and some of you think there’s no question that your child SHOULD NOT take medication for ADHD.
The truth is, it’s a very individual decision, and there are a lot of things to consider. First, just to be fair, let me say that my son takes ADHD medication and will as long as I have anything to say about it. For us, not medicating is not an option. It helps him handle his ADHD symptoms and he does better in school and at home. He stays out of ADHD-related trouble caused by impulsive behavior and gets better grades than before the ADHD medication. He also has more friends because he’s easier to be around. That’s why we decided to medicate Jack’s ADHD in spite of side effects like lack of sleep and lack of appetite.
When deciding not to medicate ADHD kids, a lot of parents talk about fear of side effects. This is a legitimate concern and one you should discuss with your doctor before deciding for sure against medications. Since ADHD medications affect different people in different ways, it’s possible to mitigate side effects.
Some parents just don’t want to give their kids medication for something that is “normal kid behavior.” To this I would submit that if you’re concerned enough about ADHD to be discussing medication, it might not be “normal.”
Other parents really want to try natural remedies/diet/alternative therapies for ADHD first. Again, I would say do your research and know what really works in treating ADHD and what you’re getting into.
Some parents believe every ADHD child should be medicated, and don’t investigate very thoroughly what medication might work best for their child, but just go with the first thing the doctor suggests. I would suggest that ADHD medication is at best an art and not a science, and sometimes ADHD is very hard to medicate correctly.
My point in all this? There is no right answer. There is what’s right for you and your child, and the best judge of that is you, once you’ve researched all the possibilities and are making informed decisions.
For me, the informed choice is to medicate my son and myself. For you, there may be something that works better. But you need to do your homework first.
Angie Dixon is a writer and ADHD mom of an ADHD son, Jack. For a free report on helping your ADHD son, see Angie’s site “That’s My Son!” at http://www.Raising-the-ADHD-boy.com
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By N2H
August 9th, 2009 on 10:32 pm
As a former elementary school principal, I am quite aware that attention difficulties are just the tip of the iceberg. ADHD children can’t filter out distractions, finish tasks on-time, use their memory optimally, etc. A pill doesn’t teach these skills.
My wife and I opted to use cognitive training for our son, Alex. We used Play Attention (www.playattention.com) and ADHD Nanny (www.adhdnanny.com). We’ve been very successful with these approaches. We also changed our parenting skills with great success.
It’s just important to know that medicine teaches nothing. Parents and teachers must actively participate to help change a child’s life.
As parents we need to remember that there’s more to do than just medicating over the summer. As a former principal and educator, I’m aware that 1 – 4 months of academic achievement are lost over the summer by the average student. It was far worse than that for our son, Alex. Thus, we began the next year with a big deficit.
August 10th, 2009 on 9:03 am
I enjoyed your blog about ADHD and whether or not to medicate your child. I myself am ADHD and so is my youngest daughter. We are both medicated and neither of us would NEVER want to give up our Adderall (generic). But this is what works for us.