He does not like that he feels different from the side effects of the medicine. He also feels the success he gets after eating the pills is not because of him and only because of the pills. I tried to explain to him that the pills don't make him smart but it allows him to remove the fog in his head just like how wearing eye glasses helps people see better. He argues that the eye glasses are physical thing and does not have side effects. We also explained that many people need meds in the world to help with whatever is necessary just like how his granny takes diabetes medications to which he argues that those are not impacting the mind. We also got him the book "Otto learns about his medicine" book which he refuses to read. Any other ideas how I can motivate him to take meds (which is really helping him with his tests as well as classwork)?
My 9yr old refuses to take meds - CHADD's ADHD Pare...
My 9yr old refuses to take meds
Hi there. I see it as a good thing the he is communicating with you as to why he doesn’t want to take the meds.
Side effects are different for every person. The dose may be too high or the medication a bad fit. That’s for the doctor to figure out.
Our child psychiatrist always has me reach out to him within days if medication side effects are too much to deal with. There are many options out there and it sounds like maybe he hasn’t found the right match yet.
I would try to help him to identify what exactly the side effects are doing to him (agitation / sadness, etc) because this will be helpful information to provide to the doctor when you call.
Hi NewbieParentI have no practical suggestions for you but wanted to say what a great little debater your son is. A lawyer in the making 
(although I'm sure frustrating for you).
Good luck
This is my 10 year old. Although I don’t want him thinking he’s not capable of doing anything right unless he takes meds. I just want him to see how it helps him when/where needed. He sees it, but doesn’t like taking the meds so I’m thinking we need to try something else.
He sounds like a very bright and articulate kid. I like Redpanda5's reply about trying to understand what the side effects are and talking to the doctor about the dose or even a different medicine. I think one thing he could think about is that the medication might help him be his true self and without it, the symptoms of ADHD prevent him from fully participating in everything.
May you share the medicine name ? I am looking for options . Thanks
Adderall 5mg is what we are using right now.
And this is also what we’re taking. The fast acting made him tired snd the xr he was taking for 2 weeks and he started talking about his bad dreams and thoughts do we stopped. I think he can’t come up with the words to explain, he says it helps him, but I’m thinking because of the thoughts and dreams he doesn’t like to take it so we had to stop.
Of course needing to speak to a doctor, ask to try a different medication ( our son does not feel any different, in fact sometimes he doesn't know if he took his medication). Then ask him choice 1 or choice 2, in our house there is no chose, he can not function with out the medication.
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