Hello, my son is 8, we have had great behavior results with giving him 5mg of Dexmethylphenidate. The main issue we are having is he will sit at the breakfast table and not eat his breakfast. We can't figure out what is going on, and he tells us he wants to play. He knows eating breakfast is a responsibility before he can play to get ready for school. He will play with his sister, the air, stare at the wall/ceiling. Anything except eat. This has been a long-time problem with many interventions implemented.
Is anyone having the same problem? Not sure if it's his medication, we do have him take his pill first thing. Could simply be just ADHD. Has anyone found anything that works?
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RainForToday
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we had an issue with loss of appetite when our daughter was on dexmethylphenidate. Unfortunately it is one of the common side V effects. To counter this, we found giving her breakfast before medicine helped to ensure she completed her meals. Hope this helps!
I believe Jessica McCabe of the How to ADHD YouTube channel, who was diagnosed with ADHD at 12, said that this has been an issue with her. I remember her saying that she would have her morning dose of medication, a water bottle, and something like a granola bar on her bedside table.
About your son wanting to go play, instead of eating because it's time to eat:
• People with ADHD tend to be 2-3 years behind their peers for development related to executive functioning.
• Some children can be very intellectually precious, advanced in academic skills and/or knowledge (particularly for whatever interests them); some may even display remarkable reasoning ability sometimes and not others. But they would still seem to lack "common sense" about basic things, like eating.
As long as your son is getting his basic nutritional needs meet on a regular basis*, he should be fine.
• When in doubt, talk to his doctor, and consult with a pediatrician nutritionist, if you feel the need to.
* (I knew a boy a number of years ago, the son of a family friend, who appeared to me to have autistic traits. He mostly ate Cheez-Its from about age 4 until he was at least 12. He would occasionally eat other food, which amounted to about 3 dinner plates each week, and he would take a quality multivitamin. His mom was worried, and she asked his pediatrician about this tendency of her son's. The doctor replied, "Does he eat a variety of foods throughout the week?... Yes? Then don't worry about it." - I lost touch with that family, but met the boy when he was 18 at an incoming student event at the university where I worked, and he seemed as healthy as can be...sharp minded and vivacious.)
My son is 7 and used to have a very good appetite at all hours of the day. He is old enough to communicate his medication makes him have no interest in food, sometimes even sick to his stomach. Since we know he usually won’t have a mid morning snack, and sometime even lunch, we try to ensure he gets up and gets right to breakfast. I try to make sure it is heavy with protein and fats to get him through until his hunger comes back. Especially bc my guy is pretty thin already. Food before meds! We’ve even tried meds right before food and we’ve seen the meds apparently kick in pretty quickly to where he’ll eat half and then say he’s not hungry anymore. As with most kids, the more things are forced, the less they want to comply. Try having him be an active part of getting breakfast together/having a day in his food choices and less talk about what has to happen while just moving him along.
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