ADHD medication - Metadate CD?

[nancyy925]

Hi all. I’m just trying to make a decision here. My son’s dr recommended this medication at 10mg, but left it up to us. I am on the fence. My husband wants to try it. I just read reviews of this drug, and they scare me: seizures, tics, heart racing, mood swings coming off of it... I am really struggling here. My 7yo son is just struggling with spacing out in class, mainly in math, and not hearing directions, easily distracted. His has the inattentive sub-type. Can anyone share their experience with this drug?

[Love11]

Hi-my son just started taking medtadate a week ago. He is doing much better in school and socializing with his peers. He was struggling with staying on task, had problems socially in the classroom. His teacher has written an email expressing to me that she has seen a positive changes in my son. He participates in class more and social better with everyone during this time. He only takes the meds during the school week. On the weekends he doesn’t take the medication. He does tend to get moody at night for those days but I feel that the benefits that he is experiencing out weigh the negatives. I feel like he is just acting like he usually does at night. He doesn’t not eat as much in the afternoon but I make sure to give him a good breakfast in the morning and monitor his eating with the teacher at school via emails. The other day he kept giving me kisses (which he didn’t do before). I feel like he notices a break through as well. When he goes through his mood swings I just let him get it out and give him big hugs. He does still have to be redirected sometimes but far less than he did before the medication. Overall he is so much happier at school. It really just brings me to tears. Honestly I felt the same way as you very torn in the beginning. I know that I can take him off the meds anytime that I want too. I do like that the meds are out of his system everyday around 4. Then I try to focus on other therapy techniques. I hope this helps😊have a great night!

[Painter2 in reply to Love11]

Have you asked your son how he feels over the weekend? Is there a reason to not allow him to continue his prescription 7 days a week??

[Love11 in reply to Painter2]

I don’t put him on the medication on the weekends because he is an avid soccer player and it doedmake his heart rate go up. He gets tired on it while playing his games. So for now we just opted to take it only during the week. After we talk to the doctor to see if we should change meds or just stick with it during the school week.😊

[anirush]

Every medication has possible side effects even aspirin.. Look at the commercials on TV that have five minutes of side effects at the end of the commercials.

If you decide to put him on meds just monitor him very carefully. We have had a couple of meds that have caused a reaction and just immediately stopped them.

Weigh the pros and cons of medication and make the decision that works for your child

[MunchkinMommy537]

Since this is a stimulant there are a couple of benefits to trying it:

1) it is fast acting and you should know quickly if it will work for your son.

2) it will be out of his system quickly, so even if he does have side effects, they should be short-lived.

Everyone reacts differently to medication, so the only way to know if it will work for your son is to try it. We are on our 10th medication with my son, and we are hoping we have found the right one.

[JDsmom]

Medication is very helpful if it works. My son is on metadata and I typically don't give it to him on the weekend to give his body a break. Some children develop side effects, my boy developed ticks - eye blinking, twirling hair etc. If you start him on it on the weekend you will see for yourself if it works. You can also ask the teacher to observe him and tell you if it's helping in class. That is a very small dose to start with which is good. My son is on his 10th medication - each child responds differently so as the parent you have to pay attention and do your meditation research. I hope this is helpful!

[Danseuse]

Yes! Both my 9 year old twins are on this. My son started towards the end of 2nd and my daughter started last spring. It's made all the difference. Now they can pay attention and learn. Both of their self esteems are normal now and they've caught up to their peers quite a bit. The earlier they start the medication the faster they can catch up to their peers. It's so important. Hello them learn, enjoy school and feel that they are smart too.

[Danseuse in reply to Danseuse]

Also, 4th grade is so much harder! You need to get them up to speed as much as possible before they enter the upper elementary grades. All medications can have scary side effects. This is no different.