Army of Mom

So this is how liberty dies ... with thunderous applause.

2.16.2005

More scares regarding ADHD meds

Having a challenging child with many issues left us experimenting with all kinds of things to help him struggle less with school and his behavior. We took him to a behavioral psychologist and the first thing she did was prescribe an ADHD medicine. I told her I didn't want to do that, but she was adamant. We went without it and after a while with no improvement despite play therapy, reward charts, restrictions for punishment and various other interventions, we gave it a try and really didn't see any difference except in the side effects he now had to deal with.

Stories like this one just reinforce my gut feelings that he didn't need these meds. I'm glad I stopped them. I think we finally found the best learning situation for him, too. That makes a world of difference.

posted by Army of Mom @ 11:10 AM  

3 Comments:

  • At 1:28 PM, February 16, 2005, Blogger Gadfly said…

    "cannot tell whether the rate is higher than it is in the general population"

    That's not much of a scare.

    I just worry about the mothers out there who agonized and prayed and wept before giving in and allowing the drugs just so their child can get an education and not end up in prison.

    I see your point too. It's wonderful that you guys managed to find another way. I was just trying to hold up the other side of the debate.

     

  • At 2:38 PM, February 16, 2005, Blogger Army of Mom said…

    Oh yeah. I know what you're saying. It may have absolutely nothing to do with any of it - but if you had seen what Adderall did to my son after only TWO days on the drug, you, too, would be wondering just what that drug could do to a child. He had developed tics so bad that I was scared. He was twitching, licking his lips to the point where they were raw, chewing his fingers even more than usual. I called the nurse hotline and she said to stop the medication immediately (they usually tell you to wait until the next day after you talk to your doctor before they advise stopping ANY medication) and she said to watch him closely for seizures and if he had one to take him straight to the ER.

    Hard to believe it is a benign medication. I'm sure everyone responds differently.

     

  • At 2:51 PM, February 16, 2005, Blogger Gadfly said…

    Woof. Yeah, sounds like pulling the meds was definitely the right thing to do. The idea is to limit the disruptive neural processes, not AUGMENT them. Like Shrek said, "that is the OPPOSITE of helping".

    I'll bet you were scared half to death.

     

Post a Comment

<< Home