Skipping mid-day Adderall

[MomA]

We're three days into 2nd grade now. On the first day, my son told his teacher he didn't need his noon half-dose of medication (he didn't take it in the summer, but I told him he needed to again.)

The teacher felt it important enough to call me and confirm the time because she felt bad when he said "but I only need that to calm down, and I'm already calm." And he was.

She also said he was making a "clicking" sound a half hour after he took it. That noise is new to me, but I'm getting more and more worried about possible tics.

We're going to try next week without the afternoon dose with the teacher's agreement that she doesn't mind.

I don't know if she knows what she's getting into. And I don't know whether my son doesn't need medication or needs more...since he's growing.

This is kind of scary.

I finally think he's old enough to express his opinion where I should listen, and he tells me that the Adderall does work. But he says he doesn't need it at lunch. (That's what recess does.) He asked to take it right before school ends for homework instead.

He's right about when he needs help again. But stimulants aren't the answer before bed.

[LaurieL]

How about trying Adderall XR- it is extended release and you only need to take it once a day thus skipping the school dose.

[rosyred45]

I'm not an expert on meds, but I hop eyou don't mind me chiming in.

I think that if he can realize himself what the medication is doing for him, and he sees that recess time helps to loose some of that energy, I don't think it would hurt, at least for a trial.

A girl I used to work with would ask her DD if she wanted to take the full does or half does. She- the daughter would make her judgement by what was goin gon in school. If it was test day, she would take full dose, if it was gym day she would only take half. She wouldn't take it on the weekends if they were just staying at home.

This was actually recommended by her teacher, who thought that there was too much to the dosing, and wanted the girl to be able to choose.....BUT if things would have started slacking, she was back to full dose.

She made out fine and OMG she's driving now, I feel old

[MomA]

The XR is a good suggestion, LaurieL, so thanks. Unfortunately, we tried that at the beginning of last year, and it was a disaster in his case. He was an emotional mess, especially as the medication wore off late afternoon. It culminated in a true rage, so we stopped it at once...and that never happened again.

And thanks for chiming in rosyred. I'm not sure I trust him to make a day-by-day judgement yet, but it's good to know some kids can as they mature.

The school nurse would probably flip over mixed instructions. She called me this morning to request a fax from the Dr. saying they could skip the medication. I told her I'd leave him a message but it wouldn't happen today. He's hard to reach, and this just is NOT an emergency I'm tracking him down for. A bit of hemming and hawing, but she said she would follow my instructions in the meantime.

I did call the Dr. becauses it's no big deal, but part of me wanted to ignore her. She knows what the medicine is and what ADHD is. She knows my kid will not get sick or be in danger without it. Last week, they needed the Dr.'s note and prescription plus written approval from me to give the medication. I just withdrew that approval in writing...so it seems like a done decision to me.

[LaurieL]

What about Ritalin LA or Metadate -might be CR- but the long term one or Concerta. If you haven't already tried them there are other long acting ones. Sometimes just switching meds helps the rebound.

[rosyred45]

We just got a thing for tylenol to be given to the kids, but they have to have that signature, I was waiting for them to ask for everything else too, you know rank and serial number

The only thing I can think of for her needing the note from the doc is to cover her butt legally, since that is what the prescription says your child should be taking, if you were to go back and say NO< I NEVER SAID THAT....not that you would, but liability wise, she's got to look at it as a worst case scenerio.

Politics are great aren't they

[MomA]

I'm sure she was just covering her tail. However, she'd have a lot more trouble if she gave him the Adderall when I'd said not to. I did get the note yesterday but haven't turned it in. There's no school today or tomorrow.

I checked with the teacher yesterday and she said he was inconsistent. The first two days were fine and he was involved. Then, yesterday afternoon when they were doing work at their desks, she had to stand next to him to keep him on-task. He also wasn't bringing his assignment book home and had two "incompletes" for homework. That never happened in K or 1st grade.

How do I know after 3 days if it's the missing medication or the fact that 2nd grade is more complicated?

I'll need to decide by Monday whether I continue this experiment or don't take the chance. We have a Dr. appt. Oct. 4, and I think I'll ask about Concerta then. I'm going to avoid turning in the Dr.'s note whatever I decide, because they'll just need another note putting him back on if I need to.

It's funny that he's in the "severe" category for hyper but only borderline on attention. Yet he was able to sit still without his afternoon medicine but not pay attention. By late afternoons, he's been bouncing off the walls again at home.