Medication help

[lhale]

I have a 6 year old who has adhd. She has been taking medication for the last 5 months. She has a hard time swallowing pills so I open the capsule and put it on foods she likes such as pudding or whipping cream. She refuses to take it most mornings and fights me until it's time to leave for school. I really want to help her take her medication in a posirve way. Does anyone have a similar experience to this?

[srwilhelm]

Is she verbal enough to express why she doesn't want to take them? From a patient perspective, we might not want to take our medication because of how it makes us feel or we don't want to be different from other kids. Or it could be that she doesn't like the taste of the medication mixed with the pudding. The routine might be getting old.

If it's due to side effects, you can speak to her prescriber about other options or how to manage those symptoms. As I've said several times before, it's my opinion that the patient be involved in these conversations.

If it's bullying, you can bring that up during therapy sessions as well as bringing the attention to the school and go from there.

If it's a taste issue, you can try other foods, like jello or applesauce (these worked when mine was 1 and had to have a strong antibiotic). Or look into how much you are mixing. Perhaps a smaller amount that can be taken faster would work.

If it's an attention-seeking tactic, then you need to look at how you respond and see where you can make changes in your behavior. Understood.org just posted a blog that might be helpful understood.org/en/community...

It's a small bump in the road. Whatever the cause and the outcome, you are doing your best. Keep going.

[Jakobjeremijames22]

I tell my 6 yr old son thst has adhd and autism spectrums disorder that he needs to take his CANDY BEADS, ore sprinkled on a sandwich and don't say anything. Lol

[anirush]

Maybe you need to change up what you're putting it in. We've used yogurt, whipped cream, applesauce. I have also tried a reward chart for at the end of the we could do something special like a trip to the frozen yogurt place or something as a reward for taking your medicine all week without complaining

[Adhd-mom]

I agree with the reply above. Do you know why she doesn’t want to take it? Maybe it doesn’t make her feel right???? Also not all meds are meant to be opened and sprinkled on food. Make sure you have one that can. If it’s just a taste - thing and she still won’t take you could always consider asking your doctor about the patch formulation. Good luck!!

[trinitylynn53]

There are liquid forms of most add medications. tell her the benefits she will get from taking the medications. Tell her about the differences you SEE and HEAR when she takes it. also, make it clear it's NOT a choice, when she has grown it will be. Tell her Life is hard and fast without ADD but with it, many things seem impossible, life does not have to be that hard, I thank God for my meds every day!

Get her in contact with other kids in the community that take meds for the same things. There are support groups everywhere. Your local Human Services should be a good resource for supporting her.