Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi
We are trying to make the decision medicate fully, partly, ad-hoc or not at all.
Our son has ASD with very likely ADHD although not officially diagnosed. He has significant problems with concentration, impulsive behaviour, distraction,hyperactivity which inevitably makes safety difficult, especially in new surroundings on holiday etc and means we just don't do a lot of things which the whole family could enjoy and things he would love to do himself. I anticipate only 50 - 60% of his ability is accessed at school due to concentration probelms.
Our paedatrician has suggested Ritalin and states it is safe and has been proved to be for the last 50 odd years. She has suggested we try it on a trial and low dose. I have heard the odd snippet of info. that is controversial on Ritalin and wondered if anyone has any experience they could share. Side effects, long term, did it affect them later in life, are they still on it years later or did it help them learn strategies to cope with life? So many questions in my head.
It feels such a big responsbility making this decision. We want him to have the best quality of life and educational opportunity he can but do not want to put him at greater risk of potentially more sinister impacts.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks
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