New here

[saffie]

Hi, I'm Steph. I have a 10 yr old son with ADHD. He was diagnosed at age 4 and has been on meds since that time. Recently we took him off his meds as we just hated the side effects he was suffering. It's scary and hard to go through this but I have faith that it will all work out.

Are there people here who have stopped meds? I am really looking for some advice and info on how to get through this difficult time.

Thanks

[camismom]

Hi saffie and welcome to the "family"! To answer you, yes, we have plenty of people here that have stopped meds at one time or another. Take a look around in the Medication section and you are bound to find answers there.

[saffie]

Thank you so much! I am really desperate at this point. I want to find all the information I can and hope I can be an encouragement to everyone here as well.

[Kaiti]

Welcome home Steph :)I don't do the meds, we go the natural route. In the natural alternatives section the top 2 threads can help you start diet modification.

It might seem overwhelming to begin with, but we are here you, day and night, 24/7.

Look around, and when the stress gets to much, go to the LOL section......you'll forget the stress after a while.

Ask away, don't think any issue is too small. We have alot of memebers that come from different areas of learning, some one is bound to know the answer

Take Care
Kaiti

[tridlette]

Welcome Steph! I have an "almost 15" yo son who we took off of meds about 2 yrs ago due to adverse reactions.

It isn't easy, but you already know that. Especially with all the wonderful changes puberty has in store for your son! But, the big thing is to talk with him. He knows that he has trouble controlling certain behaviors, and his meds have made it easier for him. now you need to get to him when he is calm and cooperative and set up some "code words" that can help him work through difficult times.

When Michael gets aggravated with a friend when they are here to play, he turns to me and says, "Mom, when are we suppose to GO" that is my cue that he needs to have his friend leave. He is always afraid of ruining the few friendships he has, so he has me do the dirty work and throw the kids out!

If he does something forgetful, like leave the milk out, I turn around and joking call out, "somebody needs to have their butt kicked!" He knows that there is something he didn't do, so he is responsible to come solve the problem.

It has taken us 2 years to get to the point where he doesn't see it as "ALL you do is NAG" and he still gets bugged easily. But for us, humor has really played the key role.

The teachers even are joining in now. His Special Ed. support teacher will send him an e-mail reminding him that he didn't turn in an assignment... and she signs it with a picture of a witch on a broom stick! She knows that he has a great sense of humor, and that he calls her a witch behind her back, so she plays along with it. It has really minimized the number of confrontations with him.

You know your son best, you know his temperment and what he can handle. Things change fast over the middle school years. Have a million different ideas up your sleeve, because just as soon as he gets adjusted to one method of avoiding responsibility, you will have another plan in place to bring him back into the main stream of behavior!

Good luck, hang on tight!

Welcome to the family, I hope we can share a lot more ideas with you!

Laurie

[saffie]

Wow, I'm overwhelmed at your quick responses! Thank you!

This is so new to us, we have only been med free for 3 days. I noticed he was fidgeting so much in church yesterday and I told him....ok son next sunday we'll bring a notepad or something so you'll have something to do. Of course I want him to pay attention as well, but don't want him all over the place. I know it's going to be hard, but we will succeed. I'm fortunate to have a very wonderful husband who is so supportive.

I love this site....so much information.

[camismom]

saffie said:

I noticed he was fidgeting so much in church yesterday and I told him....ok son next sunday we'll bring a notepad or something so you'll have something to do. Of course I want him to pay attention as well, but don't want him all over the place.

oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that! You'd be surprised at how much our kids catch even while doing something else!

[cheermom]

saffie, i am in the same boat, i just took my son off concerta. he is doing really well but i am concerned about school starting. he has done so well in school on meds i hope we don't ruin anything by trying no meds for school. we are still trying to decide we have 4 more weeks

[saffie]

cheermom, good luck! We start school in a week and a half! I keep thinking oh gosh, what did we do? But I know we couldn't have even gone one more day! My son had begun to stutter VERY badly and the day we took him off his meds, he quit stuttering. He's had a voracious appetite off the meds too, which I'm happy about!

I think I'm going to pack his lunches for school as well....that way I'll know he's eating stuff that's good for him. The schools don't always serve the best stuff.

[tridlette]

Packing lunches is really good for a lot of reasons... especially if you are going to try diet modification/natural alternatives. You will be able to prevent (or at least cut down on) his exposure to foods that might cause problems.

Michael was so bad on his meds, that they sent him home most days right after lunch because of migraines. We took him off the meds and he hasn't missed a single day of school since then, two years ago... except when he broke his ankle snowboarding!

I know there are a lot of kids with tics and stuttering that improve dramatically without the meds. Glad to hear that you had success. And for him to have an appetite is awesome... my kid would go with one meal a day and only pick at it when he was eating...

The biggest problem with packing lunches is getting him to remember it~ unless you have ADHD too, like me, and then the problem is remembering to pack it!

[Kaiti]

I think the best thing I do is look for the great qualities of our kids.

Keep in mind, my absolute favorit word for Mikey is MULTI-TASK.

When he was in 1st grade, his teacher thought he was goofing around. So she directed the next question to him, with a bit of a tough twist to see what he would do.

He apparently answered completely and when the kids were out of the room, she checked his desk.

EVERY SINGLE BOOK was open. :oShe figured he was tearing crayons apart or something.

So now when it comes to super important things, I make sure to pick my battles and see how to best navigate toward a solution

[saffie]

I am looking forward to this new chapter in our lives. I am looking for the positives. I have been complimenting him on his behavior that is good and when I see something that needs improvement I sit him down and talk to him about it.

I also wonder.....kids coming off these meds, might it be like a detox type thing. Adderall is an amphetamine, so just curious about this.

[Linda]

I don't know that much about Adderal but when Paul was taking concerta it was out of the body quickly.

There are a lot of positives in our kids. When I think of how Paul was when he was little :oand the way he is now....all I can say is how proud of him I am

[milesofsmiles]

Linda,

I think you could say that all of his extended family here is very proud of the way Paul is.

Steph, welcome. It is great that you have good family support at home. Now it is just going to get better with your new friends here.

Our son is not at the point of removing him from medication, but he is finally at a point that he can start to learn coping mechanisms to function in life. He was quite the wild boy before he was finally diagnosed with anxiety and properly medicated. This year should be a great one for school.

I agree with what Kaiti said above, our kids are great multi taskers. My son is horrible with writing and taking written tests. He looked like he was paying attention to everything but what he was supposed to do. When the teacher got him one on one, he tested two grades above what he was in. She was totally shocked, because he looked like he didn't care about anything she said. Our kids have amazing abilities well beyond my comprehension. That is why I am here a lot.

Miles

[SKay]

Welcome, Steph! Although I've been at this board for almost 2 years, we are just now getting our son evaluated, as you saw in the dr section. I'm looking forward to your input and hope that all of us here will be a help to you also.