Hello,. My 5.5 yr old was recently diagnosed with ADHD, ASD and anxiety. A Functional child, however can have behavioral outbursts. She's not in school because they want her in a therapeutic school setting, but she's very bright and social thar we feel it would cause regression. The psychiatrist who performed the evaluation recommended starting Ritalin and SSRI.
I'm worried what these medications can do to a young developing brain. I hear from people who take ssri's, adults, that they blunt emotional response. Is that important for childhood development? Anyone have experience with these drugs on a child this young?
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Meddyteddy
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Welcome...We are happy you are joining us. Parenting a child with ADHD is challenging, but we are all here together.
There are pros and cons about starting medication. It takes a while to get the correct type of medication, correct dose and the best timing which all take time.
If you start with a stimulant medication, you will know if it is helping within the first 1-2 hours. With other medication it may take a little longer.
The good thing is if it is not working you can stop. If your child's personality does not seem right, you follow medical advice and stop the medication, of course with guidence from the medical providers.
If you start when your son is young, most likely he will not remember the trials once he us stable on a certain dose.
The con is the medication is not the right fit and you stop. Another con is that he will struggle to control his behavior and will lack focus which makes school, home life and social interacts hard.
Most children with ADHD also benefit from therapy ( sometimes play therapy when they are younger) and school accommodations.
Since our son has been on medication a long time and he has had no issue with development milestones. if I were in your shoes I would follownthe recommendations of the doctors.
Hello, my daughter was diagnosed with ADHD when she was 4. She was in pre-k. The psychiatrist said, we couldn't start her on medication until she was 6 so the alternative was therapy. She did, play therapy, occupational therapy and school accommodations. She is now 6 and we haven't started her on medication yet and for now she seems ok. She has improved her behavior tremendously. She is now in first grade and with the school accommodation 504 plan, she is adapting and doing a lot better in school. Her grades improved as well. She is not doing therapy any longer; however, she did for a year on a weekly basis which it was exhausting but totally worth it. Best of luck!
My 8 year old daughter has the same diagnoses and while there is no magic pill, medication has been a big help and I wish we had been able to start it earlier. I had a really hard time getting anyone in the medical community to support us and they definitely wouldn't have started medicine before she was 6, but maybe you will have better luck. I think we are still trying to find the right combination. As others have said it is a long trial and error experience. We began with Ritalin, because that is what the Dr's said we had to try first, and it wasn't helpful with her behavior. We switched to Guanfacine, which is a blood pressure lowering med the prescribe to help calm ADHD. It was a good help, no big difference but subtle changes that over a few weeks we saw helped. Then we added back Ritalin to try to help with focus and academics. It has been questionably helpful and I think we need to keep trying. However, after Ritalin again proved to not help with emotional regulation, her psych said Prozac is best for kids with anxiety. She thinks anxiety is behind a lot of the tough behavior. And while it didn't help right away, a few weeks in and we were SO much happier. My daughter can navigate the ups and downs of daily life much, much better than before.
So, it is a delicate combination and takes time and the right Dr to work with. Keep looking for what works for your family!
my step kid started ssri at 9, and my partner and I take them as well. With the ADHD brain, we have rejection sensitivity disphoria (rsd). I wish I had them in elementary school because I would always overreact to kids picking on me and run out of the classroom crying every single day.
Being on SSRI, I can describe it as lowering anxiety so I don’t OVERreact. I still definitely have emotions, but being pulled into a meeting with my supervisor would send me into crying and blubbering instead of reacting logically unless I’m on a good ssri for my body.
Honestly, it would help her immensely with making friends and not automatically reacting emotionally to kid behaviors. With ADHD meds and anxiety meds (ssri) She will be able to take a breath (and follow skills learned in counseling) and actually choose how she wants to react to things rather than escalating emotionally.
Both of my grandsons started meds in kindergarten. We tried everything with the oldest one first but he got more behind and in more trouble. He graduated with honors.
The younger one had a lot more anger and emotional problems and it took much longer to get things right with him. A lot depends on how well they function off meds. And it is a roller coaster finding what works for your child.
By the way, both went to public school with lots of IEP support.
Good luck making the right decision for your family.
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