This "should we medicate our kids" topic has proponents for both. There are many who feel that they will never ever put their kids on meds, while others have embraced the idea after nothing else worked. What are your thoughts? What has worked for you?

I have long had this debate within myself. It is a difficult decision that we are posed with, to decide for our children to medicate without full understanding of long term effects.

I think that is why we have been so thourough with testing here. My daughter has been through two private evaluations, and we have just committed to medication. She was provisionally dx'd at 4 1/2, then there was thought that she didn't have adhd, then at 7 she was given an adhd/nos dx. Just this past month, she is now 8, we have received results from a second private evaluation, this time done by a neuropsychologist and we have a dx of adhd/combined.

The upshot of the recommendations this time was that she has reached a cognitive level of understanding where she sees and understands that she is different and this is frustrating her and bringing down her self-esteem. So it was very seriously recommended that she now be medicated to improve working memory and executive function deficits; were it a year ago, I think we would have tried Concerta, but with the advent of Strattera, it was much easier to make this decision as this medication is not a stimulant, and was clinically tested on children.

We are not long into this, but we saw immediate positive results, our biggest trouble is getting the pill down <g>

As with all things your mileage may vary!

I have an 11 yr old daughter. In 2nd grade she was going so slow in class that her teachers were voicing concern. We opted to have a private evaluation by a PhD level School Psychologist in private practice, and found she had developmental delays in fine motor skills, which slowed her hand writing, central auditory procesing deficit, which meant she heard things a few seconds after they were said, by which time the teacher was already into another sentence or topic. We also found out her IQ was far above average, ranging between 139 and 158, so she was exceptionally bright and gifted. The problem was this child was unable to experience the ability to express her natural brilliance in school.

Out next step was the developmental pediatrician, which we researched carefully before choosing one, until we found one whose peers and pschologists considered to be a dynamo in the field of add and child development. We had the intial appointment, where he did a thorough assessment of her developmental levels, and he concluded she had ADD. Then we asked whether she might have a sleep apnea disorder, since I (her father) had one since childhood. So he authorized a sleep study for her, and indeed she had sleep apnea.

Next was appointments with pediatric ENTs, to determine the best way to treat the sleep apnea. Surgery, simple removal of tonsils and adonoids was the agreed procedure after seeing 2 seperate ENTs who both gave us the same opinion. The surgery that we were so worried about took all of 15 minutes in the operating room, as I timed it. And she took less than a week to be up and atom, and back in school in 1 week flat.

After the surgery, we monitored her through teacher and parent evaluation forms. The results were that she improved considerably at home and at school, but still not enough improvement to satisfy us, the teachers or the develomental pediatrician. At least she was waking up with energy now, and much more alert through out the day. But she complained that the other children make lots of noises with their pencil erasors, and with their feet tapping, or the teacher erasing the board. So we went the next step, medication.

We were frightened of medication, but statistically, a child that gets proper threatment by 3rd grade does much better socially and academically for the rest of their school years. We wanted out girl to have the best chance at a better social life, at proper motor development, at reducing her auditory deficit, to get good grades without so much difficulty, to be able to do homework without taking all night, to be able to remember where her assignment sheets are. I personally knew the frustration of being smart without being able to do good in school. My IQ is in the same range as hers, yet I graduated from HS with a 1.0 "D" average, 3rd from the bottom of a 300 student class. I did not want this to be my daughter's future either.

Once we started her on adderral, we saw remarkable improvement. At first she was nauseous and lost some appetite, and we were very concerned, but the doctor assured us it would go away. And he was correct. She got her appetite back in a few weeks, maybe 2 months maximum.

Now the beauty of this story. In 4th grade, she was selected by Duke University as one of the academically talented students that they want to keep their eye on, receiving an award.

Now in 6th grade, she has just gotten 5 A's, a B+, and a B, in an advanced curriculum which includes 2 foreign languages and algebra. She comes home with 100% on almost all her tests and quizzes. She has become very responsible for her homework. She studies every night when she gets home.

When she does not get her medicine, she has a hard day in school. She notices she can't concentrate. So for us there is no question, we did the right thing. Socially she is very adjusted. She is in sports after school, she has friends, she is well liked, her teachers have no idea that she has a learning disability, and 6th grade is the first year that we have not had to tell her teachers about it. In the last teacher conference, last week, they asked Abigail to come with us, and then they told her she was asked to be there so she could hear for herself how happy they were with her school performance. They described her as a hard worker with good behavior and excellent effort, a joy to have in their classes. We did not hear one bad word about Abigail, just glowing reports.

Is there any question that medication freed out child to reach her potential, to be the bright and happy child, with friends and admiration, that we always hoped she could be? Without the medications, this would not have happened. We have seen the effect of no medications on the many occasions that we have forgotten to give them to her.

So I say to parents, consider what your child might be missing by being all tangled up in ADD symptoms, and how much of the world they are missing by living internally in frustration and low self esteem. Let them explore their world with freedom, by giving them the medicine they need.

Holistic efforts are wonderful and admirable, and shoe great love and devotion on a parents part, but in truth I have not met a child with ADD that has been successfully treated to reach their actual potential intellectually or socially, on holistic or natural treatments. Yes, there is a placebo effect, but the placebo lasts a few days or weeks, and then there may be no effect, or the effect may be sporadic and you have to find out which offending food caused the last outbreak of bad behavior and eliminate that one too. Its an endless process and frustrating.

No doctor or psychologist, has ever testified to me, that holistic treatments of any kind have any proven effectiveness in treatment. They all grant that vitamins and dietary changes and allergy treatments may be great interventions, but none have pointed to any studies that show a statistically proven benefit. Thus, the hard work of avoiding food coloring and sugars and white flours and candy, which may be great for health conscious folks (of which I am), is an unrealistic approach, because although it yields some results the results are so tenuous and dependent on what you eat that day.

My child can eat candy and icecream and white bread and yellow and red and blue food dyes, and still she is able to conentrate on her homework and not hear the pencils and erasors and shoes tapping in the background. Maybe I'm a bad parent for letting my child eat all that junk! But I figure kids are kids, and part of childhood is sweets and weird foods that only kids eat! When is the last time you ate a TWINKIE! Thats the whole point..childhood is special, and twinkies are part of it! At least in my house they are. And my daughter is not bouncing off the walls from a sugar rush. Everything in moderation as well....I'm not trying to poison her with junk...I'm just allowing her a prudent amount of kid food.

My rational is that if my child were a diabetic I would give her insulin, so if she has ADD why wouldn't I give her a medication to offset the ADD and allow her as exceptional a life as possible, which sometimes can be totally and completely and profoundly exceptional.

Well, thats all I can say. I wish the best to all parents wondering about "to medicate or not to medicate". Its a very personal decision.

Jon

Jon,

Thank you very much for sharing your story with us. It was eloquent, well written and touched on many of the areas of concerns facing parents today. I wish more parents would take the amount of time and effort that you obviously did when seeking solutions to their child's problems in school and at home.

Clearly, meds are not the answer for every parent, and you yourself said that you were terrified of walking that path. But instead of closing yourselves off to that possibility, you investigated and researched and found your answer.

I hope every parent considering whether to try medication for their ADD child reads your story. Very well done.

Thank you!

Thank you Andrew. I hope our experience is helpful to other parents.

Jon

Thank you Andrew. I couldn't have said it better myself. My oldest son is in the Autism Spectrum and very bright but it is difficult for the teachers to reach him due to the distractions of the classroom as well as having the processing difficulties. Not to mention, I as being diagnosed with Adhd as an adult, (totally missed in school) know how profoundly medication can help. It is a very good argument about the fact if your child was diabetic you would give them insulin, I say that to people as well. I am sure your response will help guide those who read it into making responsible decisions in the best interest of their children. Thanks!

Jon, once again, you have gotten a point across that I know I couldnt have done half as well. Thank you for such a step by step engaging post

Thanks Crissy. I just like knowing someone else can gain from another person's prior efforts. You can't learn all this stuff by yourself, it would take forever. And knowing other parents had to make similar decisions is probably helpful.

Take Care

Jon

Thank you so much. I'm just learning about this and am defnintely worried about the prospect of putting my 10 year old daughter on meds. I know people who were put on Ritalin when they were children, and don't have good things to say about it. I know times have changed, though, and there are many other options....but I"m still scared.

Misclee,

I understand your concern. I really do. When it comes to children, we only want the best for our children. Here you are choosing between what seems like two lousy options: to let your child not be treated and continue to behave in a way that is not beneficial to the child's development, or to put your child on a drug program that is compared to taking the street drug "speed" which might cause some stigma to your child, and you are not sure how safe the drugs are.

It's no fun as a parent to make this decision. Furthermore, none of us want our child to be on a drug that effects his or her personality. What if it changes his personality in a way that is not good, crazy, whacky? We have those fears of course. We don't want Zombies for children. We want our children!

I can tell you from my experience, getting complete assessments on my child, followed by approriate treatments which included the drug Adderal, my child was delivered to me and to herself, and to her teachers, and to her friends. She was a wonderful child, no doubt, without treatment, so it was not for a behavior disorder we were treating; it was for inability to pay attention. She was starting to suffer in school, and we could see she was not developing peer friendships even though she was a very sweet child. She was only in 2nd grade, and these things were becoming evident to the careful observer.

Yet, when we included Adderal in her treatment plan, more of our child emerged, that part of her that wanted to come out but couldn't. Does that make sense to you? There is more inside every ADD person, which may not emerge until treatment begins. When treatment begins, the part of our children that was unable to speak, unable to communicate at certain levels, that child emerges as well. We feel we have more of our child, who is growing and developing. It is a wonderful thing to watch and be a part of. She is now doing so well in school we can hardly believe it; she is an honor roll student now taking advanced curruculum in 6th grade.

Get excellent doctors and consider their suggestions. They might be able to help more of your child be able to express herself, to be able to come out and play, and thus be more a part of your life, and more importantly be able to be more of a part in their own life. You might be pleasantly surprised, but you will never know for sure unless you give the medication options a trial. I know its hard, but be assured that these children do not become zombies on these prescriptions.

Also, remember, it may take more than one trial prescription or dosage adjustment to get the best results. Regular appointments and good record keeping on forms the doctors provide, can help you get the dosage at its best in the shortest time. This may in itself seem overwhelming or scary, but if my child is any example, it is very worth the effort.

Jon

I thought when my son was diagnosed with ADD / ODD and put on medication, Dexedrine the world was a wonderful place! He started smiling again. He was in 7th grade. We only gave him the meds M-F during the school year. It affected his appetite and sleeping but it was a remarkable improvement. When he was a senior, he asked not to take them anymore. We let him go off. The next two years weren't too bad. Then he flunked out of college. From then on, 1 1/2 years, he has been a terror. He turns 21 in a few weeks & I just hope and pray he doesn't have his birthday in jail. The ODD has taken over as far as I'm concerned. He refuses to go to the doctor & refuses medication of any kind. It isn't the "manly" thing to do. I'm considering counseling just for myself so I don't beat myself up trying to think of ways to help him through this.

He is an adult but making very bad choices. He has over $13,000 in credit card debt, no job, no schooling at this point, loser friends, won't talk to us, numerous traffic tickets & the police seems to be close on his heels. I think he is doing things he probably shouldn't but have no proof.

When did they say parenting would be easy? I doubt they did but I sure didn't realize this heartache would be part of it. We have one older child & one younger. Any suggestions?

I say.....keep them on meds. They work!

I have my child on adderal for add, and she takes it in the summer as well, by choice, because her days go so much smoother with her medicine. If I had to do some experimenting with new drugs, I would try to do it during the summer breaks and potentially save the child from any negative experiences in front of other children and teachers.

I don't know much about med side effects, but i know from personal experience with self and with my child, that there are side effects of no medicine as well. In other words, I recognize there is a response for every action, including inaction. In my own case, the side effects of medicine are small as compared to the side effects of having no other viable treatment plan. I can tolerate the side effects of my medicine, but I cannot tolerate the lack of results I experience without treatment.

Jon

Found this article from addhelpline.org that may apply....

A Parent Asks For Information To Help Make A Decision Regarding Medication For Her Daughter.

My name is Liz. I'm having trouble with my 8 year old daughter, she has ADD. Both my self and her father have it. Growing up we never got any help but i would like to help her. I'm not sure what to do. The Dr. wants to put her on meds, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea. Wouldn't that make her drugged all day? I've heard about different kinds (other than ritalin) that wouldn't but not sure what road to go down. If you could help in any way it would be greatly appreciated

THANK YOU



Replies:

My daughters first grade school teacher was the one whom detected her as ADD. The first parent/teacher conference had several staff members attending our meeting. They asked me several questions (family history, her various growth stages, etc...) Then they mentioned ADD. I never heard of it.

For the next 2 years I got her tutoring, changed her diet (no food dyes, msg, etc.) enrolled her in sports, behavior mods that worked for me as a kid. I had stopped working and was focusing on her during this time. When her stress related migraines became so bad, and she was so unhappy, I finally started her on the meds. WOW! She wakes up HAPPY. Goes to bed HAPPY. And that's everything to me!!

My knowledge of ADD is constantly growing. As she is growing, I am growing.

Next fall she starts high school. Soon to be 14yrs. old and still ongoing meds.

That's our early experience. IF meds help your child live a happier life....do it!

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My daughter is also 8... I have seen symptoms of ad/hd in her since she was about 6 months to a year old... I had to fight for any help to get her diagnosed before the age of 5. It never happened... but I knew she had it, her father also had it, and it eventually split us apart because he would never get any help with it.

My Julie is a very intelligent child, a creative kid with a mind that is almost Einsteinian. But when it comes to paying attention or trying to put her ideas into words...she is lost. She has violent temper tantrums and in her pschycologists words..."Is one of the worst cases he has ever seen of ad/hd." She fights with me all the time about everything from homework to cleaning her room and everything in between. She used to run off on me in stores, and where ever I would take her to..such as the mall or the park... you name it, she would take off on me. In the past couple of years, she has out grown a lot of the impulsivity with the exclusion of the arguing and fighting, and not cleaning or doing the homework.

I put her on Ritalin after she turned 5, right before she started kindergarten. At first I was very apprehensive about it, but I am glad I did now. She plateaus out at certain intervals, after being on a certain medication for about 6 months or so, and then we switch to another dosage or to Adderal or Ritalin SR, which she is on now, but for the most part..it has calmed her down tremendously and given her an edge on focusing somewhat... she still has a long way to go... but I am sure with the help of medication and creative re-direction of her abilities from her teachers and myself... she will someday outgrow the need for the medication.

When the child is to the point of self destruction...whether it be by hurting themselves physically or by not being able to concentrate or learn ...because of inattention, then medication becomes necessary. Just think of this when deciding on whether to medicate or not...if your child had a pancreas that was unable to produce enough insulin for that child to survive, would you hesitate to put him/her on insulin injections?? It is a hard decision to make...but talk it out with your pediatrician, psychologist, etc....make sure it is the right path to follow and just follow your gut instincts from there.

I hope I have been of help to you. Good luck!

-Lorri

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I have a son who is ADHD/ODD. He was diagnosed at age 7. My son at that time simply couldn't sit still for anything. The ADHD needed to be controlled for him to succeed in school. He spoke of himself as being dumb, stupid and he knew even then that he was not up to what the other kids were capable of. His ADHD at home was almost as bad. He could not get dressed for school in less than an hour and a half and it took all of my attention every morning just to get this child to school.

We tried all of the techniques at that time and meds were the only answer. I did not want to use medication at first either but I can tell you that it was a life saver and a relationship saver at the time. The meds. (ritalin at the time) made all the difference in the world. Being careful with what you use and how much is the only way to know exactly what dosage to use. We always started out small and tried it for a week when he was home. I knew what he was normally like since I worked at home and I could see what worked and what didn't. I was careful to keep a diary of how he behaved and his energy level and such.

After meds my sons life was much better for him and our family. There was a sense of peace once again. Bonnie

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ADHD or ADD or for that matter any of the information processing problems are not restricted to children. A person does not "out grow" the condition. Most ultimately learn to compensate for the various deficits but they still have the problem. Diet plays an important part because sugar usually agitates the individual to a greater or lesser degree. There is a very successful treatment protocol which has been in existence for over 25 yrs. It is known as Neural Organization Technique -- web notint.com. Look it up.

Dr. Carl A. Ferreri

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I have 2 adhd children both on ritalin. I would recommend it to anyone. The difference is unreal, it's not really like having them drugged for the day it's helping them. Ritalin is a stimulant and the brain needs it as ADD and ADHD is a chemical imbalance in the brain.
Kids do have their time off it, as normally they don't take it all day. Mostly the last pill would be at about 4. I hope this helped. As I say the difference in my kids is unreal.
Dawn
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Depends on what you mean by "drugged all day". As with any diagnosis... research it. I've heard of many alternatives (diets, herbal treatments ect..), in our case (I'm ADD - dx 6 mo. ago with much reluctance at first, daughter ADD - dx 3 yrs ago and son ADHD - dx 1 yr ago) we ended up going with meds

Adderall wasn't as effective and had moody side effects for all three of us... we are currently on Metadate CD ( ritalin - time released capsule ). One time a day dose... steady release throughout the day.. and doesn't produce a "zombie" effect. I've seen no side effects with this form of Ritalin...no moodiness, no appetite change, no weight loss or gain, no social change. If anything.. it's helped us all with out social issues.


You will also need a reliable therapist/psychologist/psychiatrist. Meds alone will not help... also think about structuring your day... allowing for plenty of what I call "space" time...this is free time where the kids can pretty much space out, zone, do what they want. But everything else is scheduled. Such as:
7 am - wake up and dress (clothes/shoes/backpacks laid out the night before), make bed.
7:30 - Eat breakfast
7:50 - Brush Teeth
8 am - Catch school bus
4 pm - Homework (if no homework then read quietly... this will also help de-stress after a day at school/work)
5pm - Chores ( 2 small tasks, such as picking up bedroom and taking out the trash. We use a timer... no more than fifteen minutes per task. Or you lose points )
5:30 - Dinner time
6:30 - TV/Computer time ( the kids switch out each day ) both are "learning games/shows such as Discovery Kids, Animal Planet, ect...
7:30 - Showers
8 pm - Snuggle time with Mom and Dad ( no radio, no TV , no outside distractions)
8:30 - Bed time

This is just an example... There is tons of hugs, praise and chit chat in all of this. But we specify down time just before bed... as it seems to help them unwind and fall asleep easier. Plus it's something the kids will always remember.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

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Dear Liz,
My son has A..D.H.D and he is 14. He is on Concerta, a time released form of Ritalin and it has helped him maintain focus in the classroom.. As ADD can run in families my niece, a nine year old without the hyperactive part so prevalent in boys was put on Adderall and her teachers have noted a great improvement on focus and in her grades. Medication works if the child is properly diagnosed. Often kids who truly are not ADD but have other problems or conditions are put on these types of meds. without success. I hope you find a good Pediatric psychiatrist or Doctor first, who can test your daughter properly. again, good luck to you and your family.. sincerely, another mother with similar problems. Cindy

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I also have an 8 year old girl who has been diagnosed ADD. I have read 7 books on the subject and have done extensive research on drugs. Whether you are looking at Ritalin, Adderal or any of the other meds to treat ADD---they are all pretty much the same. The are very similar to cocaine.

They will not help your daughter in the long run. Although the drugs may help her be more focused in class (for a little while), the positive effects of the drugs are short lived. Here are some side affects you can look forward to:

Irritablility, moodiness, depression, loss of appetite, trouble sleeping, growth problems (this includes growth of the brain!), rebound-worsening of ADD like symptoms which usually occurs when drug wears off--typically when you are ready to go to bed.

Don't listen to all the doctors who are drugging our kids. No one knows the long term affects of these drugs. Putting a child on drugs only masks the problem, it does not help them learn to deal with their difference. Many of the these kids are very bright--they just learn differently. I know several kids who have been on drugs and 100% of them are experiencing problems! Before you try drugs I would read these books: Talking back to Ritalin by Breggin and Treating ADD without drugs by Mary Ann Block.

Believe me, I am probably as frustrated by you by this whole "problem" but I don't think drugs are the answer. Good luck whatever you decide.

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Your child would not be "drugged" all day. She would be medicated all day. There is a difference.

Call any psychiatrist to discuss these concerns. They can tell you almost anything you want to know about the medications.

My husband, son and one daughter have been diagnosed with ADD/HD. This was just over two years ago now. My daughter just turned 18, my son is 16 and a half.

Because my children were teens when they were diagnosed, the medication situation was a bit tricky, but they are now both on medications that work well for them.

My husband was diagnosed a month after our children were. He deeply regrets that he did not have the kind of help available to him when he was a child, that our children do now. He shares stories about his struggles and it is clear there is still pain and/or regret associated with many of them.

He is on stimulant medication and he feels it makes a significant difference to his performance overall throughout the day. A day when he forgets his medication is difficult for him. He said he feels like he has to force himself to do his work all day long. Everyone in the house can tell when he is off his medication. On medication he is more focused, he engages in conversations with others, his mood is vastly improved - he is happier.

Because the medications are safe, you really have nothing to lose by trying. You may be doing your child a great favor. If it does not work for her or for your family - then discontinue use. Remember that it may take months and even years to get the medications right. And -- there may need to be changes from time to time, for instance, changes during adolescence are frequently necessary.

~~ Tritty
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She should be on medication, if you don't like the idea just try it for a few weeks and see hoe it goes. She will not be drugged you can hardly tell. That's the way I felt too when I had to be put on medication. She probable see a therapist, you should tell her teachers too.

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Personally I believe that medication is a lifesaver. At least in my case it was. There are many different types of medications available now. One thing to remember is that you can try medications out and if you then decide they are not the course of action for you they can be discontinued. I waited until my son was in the second grade to try medications with him. We have had a lot of success in all areas.

Jennifer

My daughter is 8 years old. She had an incredibly difficult time learning to read. She was extremely frustrated. We finally got her on Strattera this past spring. Within a week the difference in her was apparent. By the end of May she was able to read and her grades improved from D's to B's. Starting her on medication was terrifying. The only thing more frightening was the thought of her trying to struggle through everyday coming home in tears of frustration for the rest of her school life.

It was not an easy decision, but after discussing the mater with her physician and teacher we decided that it would be in her best interest to stay back and repeat 2nd grade. Instead of putting her in 3rd grade and forcing her to try to catch up on what she didn't understand and continuing the cycle of her lowered self esteem due to poor performance in school, she was held back.

This was and still is a very embarassing thing for her. She feels like she 'failed'. I told her she doesn't need to tell anyone that she's repeating the grade - it's no one's business but our own.

This year she is absolutely blossoming. She LOVES school. She is at the top of her class bringing home honor roll grades, getting A's and 100's on her tests and quizzes. She is so proud of herself. We were able to keep her with the same teacher who is remarkable, to say the least. This year she is one of the class helpers - she helps the kids that are having difficulties understanding the same concepts that she had difficulty with.

She is learning to take responsibility for her actions and her decisions. (Amber's not really liking it too much, but she is doing very well with it.)

The only other thing (and I never thought it would actually be therapeutic) was getting her a trampoline. Whe she has excess energy to burn off I tell her to go and bounce around. She finally has a place to bounce other than in the house. When she's finished, she'll lay down on it and watch the clouds go by and daydream about what they look like. When she comes back in she's soooooooo much better!

This is a question my husband and I are asking ourselves right now. My 10 yo son was recently diagnosed and we are in the process of changing therapists. Anyway, my husband is worried about liver and kidney damage. Has anyone had anything like this happen to their children? Dr. said we can have them checked regularly once on meds but once they are damaged do they repair themselves? I am a firm believer that his quality of life w/o meds is horrible. He has no friends, bad grades (d's and f's with the occasional c), bad temper (physically acts out to younger brothers), etc. Just wondering what your experience with this is......

Mom of 3,
Livers reginerate as do lungs to a certain extent, thankfully!

But I've read other's posts I think it was Nucking Futs, that say their peds test for toxity levels in children every 3 months.

There are other meds, like for tourettes that do have a very very scary sometimes permanent effects, but I haven't heard of any with ADD meds...as long as the docs are testing I'd say you can relax about this.

IF I'm wrong I'm sure someone will post and correct me--- ASAP I hope;) as I'm learning too.

;) Charlie, thanks! We are all works in progress which makes us all so special!

I am very thankful to all the good information I have found here! I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone here and learning (hopefully) how to cope, as it is very difficult at times.

Those were excellent responses. With respect to the question at hand, the first research study on the effects of stimulants on behavior was done in 1937 by a Rhode Island physician named Bradley. You can read about that in You Mean I'm Not LAzy, Stupid Or Crazy? by Kate Kelly & Peg Ramundo. Russell Barkley also has info on that as well as the history of ADHD treatment, in his book Taking Charge of ADHD. In addition, he has the longest running ADHD study in the world, called the Milwaukee Study, which he began in 1977. It's still ongoing in terms of following those same subjects ,who are now obviously adults. One of the other great resources for ADHD treatment history is the US Surgeon General's Report On Mental Health Chapter 3: disorders of Infancy, Childhood & Adolescence.

Recently I came across a study on methylphenidate that I believe I mentioned to Big. It was a 24 month study with ONLY 7-9 yr olds . The results reported a height suppression side effect. I'll be glad to go by the office and retrieve it because I don't have the reference here. Please keep in mind that ALL research is never static. It keeps moving on . In the process, it keeps testing & re-testing the null hypotheses to look for longitudinal validity & reliablity. Therefore, more time and study is needed to see if the side effect is temporary or not. There's more to it than that in this study but I'll wait to get the copy. I haven't read anything about kidney & liver damage from stimulants; ever. The truth is that the track record for stimulants is quite good.

ADHD is a proven chemical imbalance of 2 specific neurotransmitters, dopamine & norepinephrine; both of which are classified as catecholamines.The imbalance primarily impacts the prefrontal cortex, which is the site of executive functioning ( or higher order thinking). Barkley's book ADHD and the Nature of Self-Control is a great reference source. Also, the US Surgeon Generals Report mentioned earlier, has the reference for THE landmark genetic study: Cook, et.al. (!995) Association of attention- deficit disorder and the dopamine transporter gene.U.S Journal of Human Genetics.56, 993-998.(I believe thats right but I'll double check the reference at the office).

Good luck to all of you and thanks for the excellent posts. The wonderful people here are really what makes this Forum os dynamic.Thanks.:)

The risk of damage to liver or kidneys is very small. It's the liver that normally is damaged by drugs, since it's the organ that deals with toxins. My belief is that some people that have a genetic predisposition to liver damage - less of particular enzymes, etc. - and really they are testing the blood to see if there are any signs of such trouble. In the vast majority of people, there aren't any problems at all. And even if there is a problem detected, once a drug is stopped, the liver repairs itself - it takes alcoholics years of steady drinking to destroy their livers - it's tough!
Given the low risk - stimulants have been used for 50 years or more, and they are very safe - and the benefits to his quality of life, if it was me, I would try medication - and I wish my parents had tried it when I was 8 or 9, as I've learned 30 years later, I they would have made a world of difference for me.
Good luck,
Greg