My older teenager had been on medicine since first grade; ritalin then we switched to concerta 2 years ago. This year I was worried because teen started high school, seemed to have a hard time with transition to high school in the begining, seemed to be depressed or anti social but did participate in a couple of extra curricular activities. Teen stopped taking the medicine about mid-January when some friends responded that he/she seemed sad. Teen thinks he/she is doing well off the medicine. I think at first everything was fine and I was also pleased with the results but now I think the medicine has completely left the body. I am beginning to see that child is beginning to have problems with focusing on homework (I had not had to be the homework drill sargeant since 5th grade); doesn’t understand when he/she is being annoying and easily offended if we dare to say “stop what you are doing”. I find myself saying things that I don’t want to say and then feeling bad but can’t have the house in chaos with other kids constantly screaming “Mom, make ___ stop!” Also teen missed almost two weeks of school due to illness in Feb. and still hasn’t completed all makeup quizzes. I was under the impression it was the teacher that had not given them, then understood this weekend that responsibility lies on the student. School is almost out and all I hear is I’m working on pulling my grade up…I only have a couple of quizzes to makeup… This child has always had good grades while on medicine and falls drastically when not on meds. I want more than anything for teen to be happy and proud of him/her-self but I fear child is struggling with workload. I have a couple of times brought up the subject of lower medication but teen becomes irrate and says medicine is off limits. Although lately has been saying he/she would consider trying a different medicine. Has anyone had any experience in this situation? Sorry for the long post.
I can relate..
We just went through this for 3 months with my 17 year old son…It was nuts…I finally called the pediatrician and he had him come in and talk. My son is back on meds and things are on an upswing again.
my daughter off meds also
We tried meds for a year with our 14 year old daughter. We tried Adderall, ritalin, concerta ( a disaster), metadate and adderall XR. On meds she could focus, but did not eat or sleep very much. On the last, adderall XR she was depressed, kept to herself, did not interact with the family and was very irratible. I asked her if she really wanted to be on meds. She said no. so she is now off them.
She does not focus nearly as well off meds, but now we have our daughter back. She smiles, sits down to dinner with us and is much happier.
It is such a hard decision to make. But I keep telling myself, is it so important that she do well in every school subject that she take pills which make her irritable, unable to eat and not very happy? If the meds didn’t have such bad side effects, I’d have no problem with them.
My son off meds...
We allowed my 13 1/2 year old son to stop meds for several reasons. We have always been very ambivalent about them to begin with as he has had such troublesome side effects and he finally began to be aware of how they make him feel— no appetite, difficulty falling asleep, grumpy, etc.
His grades immediately fell, not surprisingly, and I hear all the same excuses from him about unfinished work etc. as most of you mentioned. It is a constant struggle to get him to write down his assignments, do the assignements, and turn them in when they are complete.
So, it’s a tradeoff. My son was moderately hyperactive when he was younger, but, over the years, that has basically disappeared. In fact, keeping him awake is more of a challenge now. We are hoping that he will eventually learn, with our help, to compensate when it comes to the problems he has with inattention and disorganization.
Anyhow, I can relate as well…
Re: off meds (sorry - long post)
My 8 yo daughter refused to continue to take meds after we tried adderal which made a trmendous positive difference in her attention and school work. However, I refused to force meds down her throat. She has to work longer and harder, thank goodness for public Montessori school whrere she is not forced to work at everyone elses capacity on every subject.
I think with the right school environment, teachers, and attitude many children can survive without medicine. It’s a tough call. Sometimes you don’t have a choice.
This is a teen asserting himself at the most basic level - control over his own body. If you have a great doctor -get a appt. immediately. If not, start calling for referrals to pysch/counselor who deals primarily with tenns/adolescents. You might really have to ‘shop’ hard before selecting one-I certainly would. I would call everyone remotely connected with teen mental health and ask for recommendations.
He needs to talk about this but, at this age, maybe not mom/dad. He wants independence from meds, as well as mom/dad. Hope you can find someone who can win his trust and help him make an informed decision as sounds like he is not being very realistic about his behavior.
Good luck