Are you considering a medication holiday for your child this summer? We asked CHADD's resident expert about the benefits--and drawbacks--of a break in treatment. This is what he told us. Read "Summer Break, Treatment Break?" at bit.ly/nrctreatmentbreak to learn more.
Has your family done a medication holiday? Was it helpful for your child?
Our 11 year old has been on 20mg on Vyvanse since his Kindergarten year. By our own decision, we have always given it to him for school days ONLY (so that means no weekends, no holidays, no summers). We wanted him to be able to experience his true self without medication as to not be surprised by who he really is without it. My concern was if his medication were ever recalled or our insurance were to drop it. We didn't want to be in a situation where not having it equals total panic. This has worked for us and he has steadily grown over the past 6 years. His doctor is impressed with his health and height. His weight is on the low side but it's not due to the suppressed appetite...that's just him. Me and his father are both small people. He eats breakfast and picks at lunch, but once the effects start to wear off he has quite a healthy appetite and enjoys snacks and meals that are very beneficial to his growth and well being. Of course he also loves Reese's cups, but you have to have some fun! This routine has been a work in progress over the years, but it works for us. I think the best advice for any medication routine is to utilize advice from others as a tool, then do what works best for your child and family. As long as it's easy to maintian and produces overall positive results that doesn't compromise healthy habits, that's all that's needed.
I would love to give my 14 year old rising sophomore a break this summer. However, he has ACT/SAT Camp and his summer online class every day. Our compromise has been to not give him the evening booster he gets during the school year so that he can do his hours of homework. He's lucky because he was already extremely tall. He's really skinny but I he's already gained 4 lbs this summer and a half inch. When we were on our vacation, we only gave it to him every other day and mostly because we were doing excursions such as ziplining that he needed to focus for.
I agree, you need to see what works for your kid.
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