Medication?

Thanks Mum25 and tandemum.  This is really helpful.

Mum25, do you think your older son found a beneficial effect in the long term in respect of life skills, his education, friendships etc? rather than just being calmer generally.  Do you think he is in a stronger position now due to taking Ritalin or it was just beneficial at the actual time he took it?

Sorry for all the questions.  It is such a responsibility and we want to learn from others experiences. 

Thank you so much for sharing your experience so candidly.

I agree with Mum25.  Our son has definitely noticed that he feels calmer and can concentrate better so if he didn't know why he was feeling like that it might be very worrying.  His psychiatrist also went to great lengths to make sure he realised that the medicine would only give him more thinking time and wouldn't make the "right" choices for him.  He seems to have understood as he asks whether he is making better choices (i.e., less impulsive).  I hope this helps as I don't know anyone else who is in the same situation.

Take care.

<p>Hi</p><p>I have 2 sons who have ADHD as well as asd. The eldest was on varying forms of Ritalin, fast acting and slow release, my younger son is on equasym xl. Both have responded very well to it, they concentrate and are far less compulsive and impulsive. My eldest, now 18, decided he didn't want to "take drugs to control him" and stopped at 15, he is still very impulsive now but is doing ok. He did go off the rails for a few years though, got in with the wrong crowd and unfortunately has experimented with other forms of getting high :( but to be honest I think he would of done that anyway, regardless of whether he was on medication or not. My younger lad is still much improved, he's been on it for a year and his school work has improved (although that's had a negative impact on trying to get his statement!). I would tell him rather than not, The chances are he will feel different ( more in control) and he will probably be more aware of his surroundings which he may bot be used to and wonder why he feels different! In my opinion, it helps but is not a magic wand to take away all behaviours, you may find his asd is heightened (this happened to my younger lad his asd side became so obvious) and it generally takes a few weeks to work at optimum level, your son may be a bit more emotional for a while, you can stop it if it doesn't work out for him.&nbsp;</p><p>Good luck</p><p>Mum25</p>

That is great that he can see the benefit and that the books worked to influence him. 

I am swaying as to whether we should give him the medication without him knowing.  I am worried if he knows he is taking it and it has a positive effect, when he is older he will go looking for other drugs as a teenager to give a high as he feels it is familiar and "safe".  He does have an obessive personality with no regard for health etc.   It is possible we would come up against this even if we do not use medication though.  Hopefully not, but I think it is best to be prepared and have a contingency plan.

Will he feel strangely different do you think if he did not know? 

Have you heard of other parents and children it works for or has not worked for?

Many thanks for sharing your situation, it is such a help.

He is the same age as your son, 9.

He does swallow the capsule whole.  It is quite small but the information leaflet says the capsule can be mixed with something soft like apple sauce and taken that way. 

He wasn't very happy about trying the medication initially but I found a couple of good books (american) which talk about ADHD, techniques that can help and the medication.  He choose when we read the books and found them funny and helped him understand he isn't the only one with these difficulties.  Now he takes the capsule quite happily.  He can feel how it helps him.

Thanks for that, great to hear your experience and that it is working for you.

Does your son just swallow the tablet with a drink?  We have a problem that our son struggles with swallowing any tablets at all.  I think we may be able to get it in capsules which we could perhaps sprinkle the contents into cereal or similar.

I am with you on trying it or you will never know if it could offer a better life for them.

Do you mind me asking how old your son is and was he ok about trying medication?  Our son is 9.

Hi Mhairi,

Our son has a diagnosis of ASD and has been recently diagnosed as having ADHD as well.  We have faced the same decision as you whether or not to medicate.  Our son was very impulsive and would kick, hit and punch his younger brother, ride his bike full speed at his brothers trike and hit it side on.  It was when he knocked out two baby teeth that we finally decided to try the medication.  Our son is on a slow release form of "ritalin" called equasym xl.  He has been taking it since Friday and it has been a revelation.  He is calmer, can concentrate and is a lot less impulsive which has been wonderful. 

We have also had a series of sessions with a psychologist who has used social stories, relaxation techniques and some other techniques of coping with him.

This form of the drug is taken at breakfast and works in about 20 minutes and then continues to last until about 4pm when it slowly wears off.  We haven't had any side effects but it's early days.  Our son says he feels calmer and able to think better.  He can concentrate for much longer periods.

It has taken since July to finally get the tablets.  He has had to have ECG, blood test and an appointment with a psychiatrist to discuss the family history before he was given a prescription.  It was further delayed because he has to see the prescribing doctor one week after starting to make sure that there haven't been any side effects and she has been on holiday.

The side effects we have been told about are problems with altered heart beat and blood pressure, it can reduce appetite and affect his growth but we will have to have three monthly doctors' appointments to keep an eye on him.  We have also been told that he will have to have one week a year when he won't take it to see if it is still needed and effective (not looking forward to that week).  The doctor has told us he won't be on it forever that usually they stop taking it by the time the reach adulthood.  It is to help him learn other ways of dealing with his ADHD.

I know how we felt about deciding to try the medication and it feels like the biggest decision ever but we felt that if we didn't like the side effects or it didn't work then we can just stop but if we didn't try we would always wonder what if we had tried it.  The nice thing is you can choose when to take it.  It doesn't have to be every day.

Hope this helps.  Take care.

x