I am considering medication for my 11 yr old son with inattentive type of adhd. I have read a lot that medication causes weight loss, anxiety and insomnia. I was wondering if there are medications that do not have these side effects. My son is bright and does well in academics but struggles socially. He is the youngest and that doesn't help either.
Please share your experiences. Thank you
Our son has never had these symptoms on medication. We did a trial of a few different types to find what worked best for him. Many families say their lids are just "not hungry" and therefore don't want to eat much.
As far as sleeping the correct dose and time would help this.
There are many aspects to meditation- type, dose and timing. A skilled professional can help manage all of this. We have had the best success working with a child psycharitrist.
Hope this helps.
Thank you. if you are comfortable, can you please share the name of the meds that are working for your child?
We had many side-effects from medication but there is no way to tell what they will be until you try. Some children do just fine and others, like mine, do not see enough benefits to justify staying on certain meds.
But it is most certainly worth a go. It can be life changing for the better. With stimulants, if you find they don't work or the side-effects are terrible, they are in and out of a child's system so quickly that it's pretty easy to just stop. Often, a combination of stimulant and non-stimulant meds can be great as well.
Stimulants are usually step one with ADHD. But it sounds like he does OK in school so they may try Intuiv or Straterra which can help with anxiety. I definitely recommend you go to a child psychiatrist or a nurse who specializes in medication.
Sounds identical to my son who is inattentive and on a ritalin. Really strong academically, but comes across as very shy socially and doesnt like to speak out in class etc. We have not had any issues with diet or sleep. He is a bit anxious but i think that is more his personality. DS is 11 and has been on meds for last 3 years. Been a complete turnaround and worked wonderfully for us.
This is great to hear. My son doesn't always think before speaking, very sensitive and has some challenges with emotional control which results in social difficulties. Sometimes I feel that we need to help him find workarounds and ways to manage versus taking medication.
Very similar at least to how mine was pre meds. I will say this - even without the meds my DS is soooo much better than 3 years ago. The meds have kind of taught him what is "typical behaviour" and how great it feels to do well - so when he is not on them he still tries to emulate - ie much better at finishing school work because he knows how brilliant getting those top grades feels. To be honest he is a great kid both on and off the meds no trouble at all - it was the social side that always bothered me and not finishing school work. We dont take meds at the weekend or for holidays purely for school days which works for us. He is still very sensitive and highly empathetic but its part of his caring charm really. It took a long time for the social side to improve but now it is pretty great. Meds are a personal choice of course but for us a life changer.
ps i think i am right on this but please someone feel free to correct me..... The benefit of stimulants is they work immediately so you can stop and start as you want - ie break for weekends or low intensity school days. Non stimulants i think you have to take every day so it builds in the system. Just something to consider. At end of day difficult to know what best until it is tried but we havent had any material side effects.
Our son didn't tolerate stimulants. Non stimulants were a better fit. Above all, work with a good child psychiatrist when it comes to meds. They will help guide you and your son through the trial and error process. Unfortunately there is no way to know how medication will work for your particular child until you try. We found it invaluable to have a good child psychiatrist guiding us through the process. Good luck to you!
how did you find a good psychiatrist? was it a recommendation from the pediatrician? I feel like non stimulant may be better.
thank you
My son also didn’t tolerate stimulants (tried 4 different medications over two year period with different dosages, timing, ect). He wouldn’t eat for 8-10 hours on the XR formulas and 4-6 on immediate release formulas and they created tics. Stimulants are still first line treatment and hopefully your son will have better luck with them! We will be exploring non-stimulants if needed when school starts back up with a Pediatric Psychiatrist.
Our child psychiatrist was recommended to us by our sons pediatrician. If I were you I would start by asking your child's pediatrician if they recommend any local child psychiatrists. They should be able to give you some names. Good luck to you!
Depends on the medication and the kid I'd think. Our daughter does have weight loss but she's a picky eater and COVID shortened school lunch time doesn't help. She was anxious before. I haven't noticed an increase in that. She was depressive on concerta and had been mildly irritable on Adderall.
For lots of kids, it's a trial and error thing. A med may work for one kid without side effects while the Sam med won't work for the next kid but will have side effects. ...just a thought.
Medication Alernative
Medication 
Medication recommendation 
ADHD medication and tics
Does the school need to know if your child is on ADHD medication?
