I'd been adamantly against medication for over a year now, ever since the possibility of ADHD came to light. Who wants to just hand their four year old a stimulant? She was (still is!) just a BABY! It's weird though, the differences in feelings we have with medications for the mind, compared to medications for physical ailments. It wasn't until our consultation with J's pediatrician and in my response to my eager denial of medicating her he said, "We don't want necessarily want to medicate our children for asthma, but we want them to be able to run the race." Which gave me an "ah ha!" moment:
J was diagnosed with asthma when she was three, and I didn't think twice about administering her a steroid (pulmicort) in order for her to be able to breathe. So what's the difference? I think that because physical ailments can be SEEN as harmful to the self, medication isn't questioned. But we can't SEE the harmful effects mental ailments have on people... maybe we don't even see them as REAL issues that need meds. This is certainly not the case for me though. Almost every person I know, including myself, are on some sort of Anti-anxiety/antidepressant/etc medication. The Husband is on Ritalin himself, and NEEDS the medication to function with some sort of structure. I think my reasoning behind my choice to not medicate her over a year ago was because I really didn't feel that her symptoms were severe enough to justify meds, especially when there are other options out there to try.
Behavior modification/management is a very important technique to incorporate into the life of someone with ADHD with or without the help of medication. This of course includes structure and routine, bu also includes the encouragement of good behavior and appropriate consequences for negative behavior. Sounds like pretty typical parenting doesn't it? You're like, "Duh, these "techniques" are necessary for parenting of ALL children!" Here's a difference: these kids need visuals and a majority of the time a reward system is also necessary. star charts, reminder notes...anything they can see and touch. I have a little confession though: I HATE REWARD SYSTEMS. Why should I have to buy my kid a toy, or give her candy in order for her to behave and do things she should just do because she should, or so that I don't get upset? Well, for J, there's no end result to cleaning her room other than having a clean room, which she could care less about. I've learned though, that a reward doesn't have to be necessarily material for it to work. I'll let J pick what we're going to eat for supper, or pick a movie for movie night. I can live with those types of rewards and not feel like I'm selling out to the "what am I going to GET if I do what you want" (ugh, I REALLY hate that question).
There's also some evidence out there that suggests that diet can make or break ADHD symptoms. There's no question that cutting out SUGAR is beneficial to all children's hyperactivity and should be a no brainer. Foods that encourage brain activity, and productivity can be helpful. Omega-3 fatty acids, protein, and complex carbs are all nutrients that are supposed to help with the various symptoms of ADHD.
A few months ago J's sleep habits got worse than ever. She's never been much of a sleeper, began refusing naps at 2 and a half, fought her 8pm bedtime more than most kids, and was up with the sun (sometimes sooner) regardless of what time she went to bed. But in the last few months I question whether she slept much at all. The bags under her eyes, and the many times caught wandering the house at 3 or 4 am. I actually began to worry about her safety, particularly the 4am moment I caught her ON TOP of the refrigerator trying to get into god only knows what. A dear friend suggested I try to give her melatonin to help her sleep. I found some chewables at Wal-Greens and that night was the first time in months I had to wake HER up to get ready for school at 6am. I was sold. There was one night a couple weeks ago I sent her to bed without it (accidentally) and I went up there the next morning to put some folded laundry away and found her castle tent, that was still in the box the night before, completely erected with a little blanket, pillow, and stuffed animal nest inside. This wasn't an untwist-and-pop up tent either, it requires poles.
Now to get to the question I imagine most are wondering... whether I decided to medicate J. I did, only after J's pediatrician assured me that I could stop it whenever I wanted to, without any risk of side affects. I truly hope it's just a temporary thing. We are in the works of getting her a case manager, as well as getting her into play therapy to help with managing her symptoms. Because these other resources are several weeks out before we can incorporate them, and the fact that she is continuing to struggle more and more in school, with her teachers getting more and more worried about her progress... I gave in. We are now in day four and no word as to whether it's beginning to help. I suppose it probably takes a week or so to begin to notice anything though. We shall see!!
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