Hi-
First let me give you a little history before I get to my question/problem.

I have an 8 year old daughter w/ ADHD. She has been diangosed for 1 1/2 years, she has been taking 10mg of Adderall XL. It has seemed to be a perfect match for her with her school work and everything.

During the school year we kept her on meds on the weekends. She seemed to have a lot of difficulty if she was off on the weekends. She would get very grouchy and have meltdowns, sometimes not always - BUT only if something came up that upset her, for example having doing her chores and she would rather play or an argument w/ me or getting dressed to go off and she wants to stay home and play. For me she was a mess until her meltdown was over.
She is Much better for her Dad, (We are happily married, we agree on how we are raising her). Looking back I was this way towards my mother while I was growing up, it is weird how history is repeating!

We have kept her off the meds for spring/Christmas break and last summer.

BUT this summer she seems to not be adjusting to being off the meds.
She is having difficulty with her friends and younger sister, she is being very bossy and mean. She is getting into trouble and I am worried about her self-esteem!!

Should we keep her on the meds??

We want her to know how to react and live day-to-day off of the meds.

BUT.. we don't want her to be on an adhd rollercoaster and all over the board!

We know ADHD impacts how she reacts w/ others, she is very impulsive, sometimes hyper. She seems to be showing more symptoms as she gets older. She has always been very quiet and reserved. This is just so different for us.

Please HELP! :( :confused:

I personally believe that symptoms carry on from school to home and they should take meds on weekends and year-round.

Think about. Describe a symptom, for example. Comprehension at school. Common sense/reasoning at home. All in all, the same problem but in different situation.

Good luck!

I recently discussed this with my 10 year old. She suggested lowering her dose for the summer with the rationale that she did not need as much focus as she did during the school year and we agreed to give that a try.

On the lowered dose, her impulsivity is very much out of control and was driving me NUTS ;) and she would do things that got her in trouble. 2 days ago she came to me with her pill bottle in hand and said "Momma? Do you think I should go back to taking 3 pills?" and I told her quite honestly that it was apparent she could not contain her impulses on 2 pills, that I did not wish to have to yell at her and thought she disliked that too. I did not suggest the solution, I left it up to her. She said "I am going to take 3 pills then" (her usual dose).

Perhaps this tactic would work with your child?

A lot of folks in the field are now saying they don't recommend taking kids of medication on weekends or during the summer -- their social skills, emotional regulation and such are still needed at those times. Also they've found that kids who have been on medication for several years have brains that more closely resemble non ADD kids in the amount of white matter (there is less for the unmedicated ADDer).

Also from my experience as an adult taking Concerta-- leaving it off gives me kind of an inconsistency of mood and performance -- I do much better when I'm on them everyday.

This is of course a question you need to discuss with your doctor but you might want to do some reading up on what some of the experts like Tom Brown of Yale (Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults) and Russell Barkley (Taking Charge of Attention Deficit Disorder -- available at www.addwarehouse.com (http://www.addwarehouse.com) or www.specialneeds.com (http://www.specialneeds.com)) have to say on the subject.

Scattered

I agree with Scattered, I considered taking my daughter off 20mg Adderall xr for the summer and was in the process of weening her. 3 per week and then down to 2, she couldnt even get through the 3 per week. Her teacher had already contacted me and told me that she had spoke to her more in two days than she had all year. She was not paying attention in class, had forgotten things, and was chatting the day away and distrupting other students. As for here at home, she was a live wire. Couldnt stand still, couldnt talk while standing still, dancing around the room, singing, loud outbursts (mind you she has tourettes too) but basically no control of herself without meds. She is back on the adderall on a daily basis and I just sent for her 90 day supply. The impulsivity goes, the out of controlness goes, she is pleasant, easy to deal with and when talking to you she isnt spending ten minutes trying to search through all the fireworks in her head to tell you something that should've only taken two seconds. The more I learn, the more I understand why she has to be medicated, and yes from one standpoint that sucks, but from another she's a much better person on the meds. (still no clean room though....LOL, I have actually been able to let that one go, I'm proud of myself for that, for her sake)

Now that I think about it, it's a bit like saying, "Hmmmmm, since you're not in school this summer you won't be needing those glass, eh?":eek:

Or another one, this was Hyperion's I believe, "We don't want you to wear your glasses all the time, because you might forget how to squint!"

Scattered:cool:

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.:D ;) :)

Your thoughts, personal experiences and opinions are VERY helpful!!
Cassie and I will talk tonight and I am very excited about it!!:D

I have read some good books but I am sure there are more I should read to stay up on things. :eek: :faint: :confused:
Thanks for the sugguestions.:) ;)

My doctoe and I discussed this exact issue regarding my 8yo son. My doctor's response clealred up any questions I had about "medicine or no medicine" for the summer. He asked me this question...if your son needed medicine for his heart to keep a normal pace, would you stop that medicine when he was doing slower activities...or ever for that matter?? Same principle applies to ADHD meds and that made sence to me. My son will be taking his meds year round! :-)

I agree with giving them year round too. If there are weight issues, then I can see taking a week or two break here or there to catch up. Also, I think if a child is constantly needing their doses to be increased because of tolerance, then a weekend break occasionally will help with that. Beyond that I just don't think there is much reason to stop.
Any adult with AD/HD can tell you that this disorder affects much more then just school work. I'm 30 years old and haven't learned how to react properly to the world non-medicated, and I was never medicated until last month. So I've had 30 years of practice being non-medicated:p . It wasn't fun;)