There's a Reason Only Kids with ADHD Should Take ADHD Meds

Although our Jack does not have ADHD, he sometimes shows some of the attributes, and so this week found us trying for a medication with him. In the past, we had tried Metadate and Adderall.

Although the Metadate seemed to work well, it also started to cause him to have hallucinations. Yes, hallucinations. We, of course, promptly ceased taking that. (Time on meds: 3 days.)

Then, about a year later, we decided to give Adderall a spin. That was also very short lived. You see, Jack is kind of high anxiety. And, when I say kind of, that is me being kind. It is only in retrospect that I realize now (after yesterday) that this has all been really inappropriate, as all of the medications have advised that they might cause high anxiety. Why would we give that to our high anxiety, overly emotional child? Oh...I don't know. Maybe because sometimes we get tired, and we're hoping for an easier fix. (I do have to note here that Noah is medicated on school days, and his medication -- the same one that caused Jack to have hallucinations, works wonderfully for him. It actually makes him feel better. So, just so we don't sound like monsters trying out meds on our kids -- Noah prefers to be on his, and we were hoping the same for Jack.) Anyway, the Adderall caused him to start having motor tics, on top of SUPER high anxiety, so we stopped that one too. (Time on Meds: 2 days.)

And, so here we are...at yesterday. At the boys' yearly check up, our doctor suggested maybe Daytrana (a patch) would help. He did point out, however, that the active ingredient was the same as the hallucination medicine. (Which, of course, is also the one that causes Noah no hallucinations, and helps him focus better.) (TIME ON MEDS WITH PATCH: 8 hours)

I'll not get into all the details, but I'll just cut to the chase. There is a reason that only kids with ADHD should take ADHD meds. I would have been happy to talk to you about it at length last night. You know, like at 11 pm when Jack was running around the living room. Or, at midnight when he was climbing on a climber that is also in our living room. (All while having motor tics. I did later see that it suggests you not take it if you have a family history of Tourette's. Our doctor doesn't know that we do, but my first cousin does have Tourette's. I didn't think to mention this, apparently.)

Anyway, as I was saying -- I also would have been happy to talk to you about it at 1 am, when he asked, "Hey Mom, would it be okay if I play on the computer now?" No, I told him.

Or, at 2 am, when he asked, "Mom -- do you think that I will ever sleep again?"

Or, at 3 am, when I told him, "Eventually, I'm going to have to have Dad come sit up with you."

But, not at 3:30 am, because that's when he finally went to bed, and I did too.

Apparently, I potentially could have then talked about it at 7:30 am when he was back up, saying he was ready to wake up. (He usually sleeps for 10 - 12 hours per night.) But, thankfully, Eric worked from home this morning, so that at least I could get in seven hours of sleep, even if Jack had no desire for it.

But, I can tell you now that we're done with meds for now. At least for Jack. Apparently we all need to work on being a whole lot more patient, because, at the very least, I need the sleep more than I need my sanity.

Photo by hipsxxhearts