The Med Game

Tomorrow J has a DR appointment in which we will break it to him that the current meds she's on just isn't working, and NO I will not raise the mgs again. 20mg seemed like a lot to be sticking into my 42 pound child and if it's not even taking the "edge" off, what's another 10mg gonna do? There are a half dozen different medications out there now for ADHD, with another half dozen used to treat other things but have been also proven to improve symptoms of ADHD, so there's no sense in just putting a higher dose of ONE drug into her, when there are a dozen out there we could try at smaller doses first...
 So all morning (I understand it's only 9am and some of you may not even be out of bed yet, but I've been sitting here 2 hours in front of my computer) neglecting my term paper due in two weeks, and online exam due tomorrow in order to do my own research on other ADHD medication options, side effects of each, and pouring through user reviews to try to find one I'm willing to try.
Some of the reviews really bothered me. They talked about how their son is on X drug for ADHD, but on Y drug to alleviate the side effects of irritability (or whatever, that was just the most common one I saw) from the X drug! Seriously?! Yes, lets PLEASE pump our small children full of a dozen different medications to make them "normal functioning." I don't blame parents for this as likely MOST of them just listen to their trusted doctors and are desperate for their children to succeed. I totally relate that that latter part. It was out of pure desperation that I finally relented and put J on medication for ADHD in the first place, but still actively search for other options to help treat her symptoms. I blame the doctors for this epidemic (yes, I do believe this medication to treat side effects to this medication that is used to treat the side effect for this other medication that is used to treat this problem- thing HAS become a true epidemic!). If not the doctors, then I blame the pharmaceutical companies. These people are the ones that are supposed to have the knowledge and medical backgrounds to help people not only get BETTER from whatever ailment they suffer, but assist in prevention as well. Is filling us all full of 50 different medications the answer? Obviously I'm going with a great big "NO" but I'm probably beginning to sound a bit preachy so I should probably step off my soap box.

I got my weekly progress report emailed to me on Monday. This one was a little different from the others in that it actually posted reading, spelling, and math scores. J is doing quite poorly in reading. See, they have this program they do here (new from the old school's program that I liked quite well) called "Red Dot Book" where they bring home a book or two each night of their choosing, so long as it has a red dot on the spine. The next day they are tested over the book(s) to test comprehension. They must get 100 points by the end of the year, each book being worth 1 point. As of Monday J had 6 points. This is (I feel) mostly because she has been bringing home these books that even a fourth grader would struggle to comprehend. I can't remember the title, but one book in particular still sticks out with me that she brought home a few weeks ago about a Native American Legend. Even while reading it to her (three times total!) I kept thinking, who the hell allowed her to check out this book?! sure enough, the results of her test were a score of 4/10. Quite frankly I was pretty darn proud she got FOUR of the points!
So, since Monday, I have been attempting to get with her teacher after school (since I was not given any other means of contact with her...but that annoyance is for another time, another post) in order to try to discuss with her some plans of action to help J improve in this area.Today I finally got my chance. We determined that she obviously needs a little more direction while in the library choosing books. Not to say that they need to pick them out for her, but only that she needs to be steered into the area that books more appropriate for her age are at.
    J's teacher also brought it to my attention that she is really struggling with attention. Which tells me that the meds are no longer doing what they are supposed to be doing. You can guess how pleased I am with this news. Her teacher (Mrs. G) did tell me how much she supports me in that I would really rather not up her dosage if I don't have to. It was quite nice to hear that coming out of a teacher's mouth. I went on to tell her a bit about our journey last year in trying out other methods of treatment before giving in to medicine. It felt so good to hear that she was impressed/supporting in that we didn't just jump on the Ritalin bandwagon without hesitation. Mrs. G then went on to SHOW her support by saying she would start tracking when J is at her worst and see if there is a correlation in time, situations, etc. I told her how helpful that would be and thanked her enthusiastically. I really wasn't very "sure" about this teacher, but I'm beginning to feel like maybe she's all right after all.