Our doctor appointment with Jordan did not tell us anything we didn't deep down already know. ADHD. He scored pretty high on the evaluation that we completed (my husband, myself, and his teacher.) Still it hard to hear that there is something "wrong" with him. He talked about three options: diet (seeing if removing red dye or processed sugars would be the link; studies are inconclusive of that working), cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), and of course, medication. We exnayed the diet route for a variety of reasons. I am 100% for CBT, however, we felt like we needed to start with medication first due to the severity and quicker results.
I already knew what I wanted him to start on because I did my homework on the medication. Adderall 2.5mg daily; the only medication with dosing recommendations under 6 years old. He discussed side effects, most of which I knew except for one: "coming 'off' the medication can lead them combative, uncontrollable, and extreme regression back to previous behaviors." Guess which side effect my son gets.... but we'll get to that.
The doctor suggested trialing the medication over the weekend to see what side effects he experiences and if the medication at the lowest dose proves to have an efficacy. Saturday we gave it to him and it seems like a miracle. No appetite suppression, no insomnia, no "coming off" the med symptoms, and it seemed to work all day even though its not extended release. It was the best day we've had with him in what seems like years. We were ecstatic. Then we gave it to him Sunday. It worked for the 4-6 hour time span its supposed to, no side effects except you could tell the instant the medication wore off. From sane to insane. Almost like Jekyll and Hyde. The real test would be how it helps at school.
This week during the 2.5 hours of kindergarten have seemed to be successful. He's had no bad reports (although we won't find out officially how well its helped until our conference with teacher on Friday). His work seems more completed than before. The only question unanswered is how it will help on his bus trips because he's not allowed on the bus until Monday. However, the after school care program has raised heavy concerns to what happens when the medication wears off. Its like the chemical light switch is shut off and hell is broken loose. It happens exactly at the 6 hour mark of giving medication. He's uncontrollable, unable to reason, unable to think at all through his choices, more impulsive than before, and down right awful. We've also seen this at home. Its a form of him we've never seen and is not like this before medication.
We've decided to give it to Friday before we call the pediatrician because of the conference with his teacher. Now we have a lot of questions on where to go from here. If we give him another dose of 2.5 in the afternoon, he'll be coming off the meds past his bedtime. Will he even be able to go to sleep normally? He can't take any different medication (including extended release) and from what I've read a twice a day dosing has not been studied under 6. Even if we try something not recommended for under 6, we may lose this side effect to gain more.
I feel like my child is an experiment.
To be continued....
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