Boost in the afternoon for homework

[2Care4Health]

This is a new request for input. My son has been feeling better with his sleep and calmer throughout the day, with taking Zoloft in the evening time. We decided to have him to take the medication before bedtime because of the side effects of having dizziness.

However, since he started an intensive reading program that lasts 4 hours in the morning, I have noticed that he is mentally exhausted in the afternoon. This conflicts with the remedial work that we have been trying to work on. So I was wondering if anyone here give their kids a short acting medication to push through homework or other enrichment classes.

Grateful for having this community.

Nancy

[Onthemove1971]

We do! Long acting in am and short acting in pm.I think you have a child psychiatrist on your team, but if not I really recommend one. They are skilled at making suggestions a knowing what impact medication has at different times of the day. Once we started seeing an amazing child psychiatrist I felt like things really started working for us becuase she understood our son's individual need and she talks right to him about helping him become the best he can be and that medication is one part.

I don't really think of it as a booster, I just think about it as a continuous use of medication. To me I want him to benefit from medication at the important times of day and that is until 7ish during the school days.

Hope this helps.

[Sloth_around in reply to Onthemove1971]

Hi there! May I ask how you found your child psychiatrist? I want to go this route but from personal experience I have tried several and not "clicked" with any. I thought maybe there are other research venues I have not explored. Thanks!

[Onthemove1971 in reply to Sloth_around]

Our sons Psychologist ( which our son does sessions with) referred us to her. She really changed our sons life. I was so scared to start seeing her, another specialist and another label on him for seeing someone like that. But she quickly wrote a letter to the school and got him on the proper medication. Everytime I feel something is not right ( I feel he needs a medication change, or timing has changed) I get in touch with her and she asks great questions and we adjust things. I hope you can find a wonder Psychiatrist to help you.

Is your child see a psychologist? You could ask them for help in finding one that matched your needs. They have close contact with Psychiatrist all the time.

[Sloth_around in reply to Onthemove1971]

Thank you so much for the insight. We do not currently have him seeing a psychologist, though I know we should. I've struggled with where to start and we just moved to another state so I wanted to start fresh in the new state, not find someone in the old state just to have to start all over again so quickly.

[Onthemove1971 in reply to Sloth_around]

No worries.. take your time it will all get done. Best of luck with this process. It take a long time to get everything set up.

[Redpanda5]

Hi. You didn’t share your son’s dx so that makes it tricky to help answer your question about afternoon exhaustion.

Zoloft is an SSRI which is an antidepressant so it’s not designed to help with focus. It’s designed to help with OCD, anxiety, depression, etc. and causes fatigue. Maybe try a different SSRI that won’t make him so tired? Everyone reacts differently so it’s a lot of trial and error in finding the right one.

Does he also have adhd? If he also has adhd, a short acting stimulant would help with the mental exhaustion.

Is the exhaustion from the SSRI or from adhd?

[2Care4Health in reply to Redpanda5]

Thank you for your response. He has diagnosis of ASD and inattentive ADHD. He started on zoloft to manage his anxiety. Increased demand on cognitive work exhausts him.

[Redpanda5]

Got it. I hear you. My daughter has inattentive ADHD as well as anxiety. The anxiety wipes her out (the meds don’t help with focus - only anxiety) and then the ADHD too wipes her out after having to focus for several hours. At first the stimulant exasperated her anxiety. Our doctor dialed down the stimulant and then began increasing it gradually and that helps her fight the fatigue. For late afternoon he prescribed a very low dose of Adderall to not be taken after 3pm (to last about 4 hours give or take). I hope this helps!

[2Care4Health in reply to Redpanda5]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience