TeDo
CD Hall of Fame
difficult child 1 asked me at bedtime last night when he can stop taking medication. I told him maybe never. He said he's not going to take pills for the rest of his life. I can see his point, he's been on medications since he was 5 and has had 2 REALLY bad experiences with two different medications.
I thought maybe if I put my thoughts into words and got some input from more experienced parents, I might be able to come to an educated decision. Here goes:
He's been diagnosis'd with ADHD since he was 3. He's been on medications for it since he started kiindergarten. We have never tried a drug holiday or summers off or any of those things. Now that he has been diagnosis'd with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), I wonder if the Strattera is really necessary. I'm kind of leaning toward giving it a shot this summer. If the behavior goes south, we can always start it back up again (now that we know it works).
He's been on the Tenex for over a year to "help with impulsiveness". It has helped with the sleep issue (waking in the middle of the night or really early in the morning). He only takes it at bedtime because his blood pressure went down with an added daytime dose. Now that things have calmed down and so much of the stress (big time school issues) is gone, I wonder if the sleep issues would still be a problem.
We see the psychiatrist in April and want some idea before we go. I'm afraid of what might happen but don't want to base decisions on just the fear. Do I try a "drug holiday"? What do you all think? I really value your opinions. You've all gotten us this far.
I thought maybe if I put my thoughts into words and got some input from more experienced parents, I might be able to come to an educated decision. Here goes:
He's been diagnosis'd with ADHD since he was 3. He's been on medications for it since he started kiindergarten. We have never tried a drug holiday or summers off or any of those things. Now that he has been diagnosis'd with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), I wonder if the Strattera is really necessary. I'm kind of leaning toward giving it a shot this summer. If the behavior goes south, we can always start it back up again (now that we know it works).
He's been on the Tenex for over a year to "help with impulsiveness". It has helped with the sleep issue (waking in the middle of the night or really early in the morning). He only takes it at bedtime because his blood pressure went down with an added daytime dose. Now that things have calmed down and so much of the stress (big time school issues) is gone, I wonder if the sleep issues would still be a problem.
We see the psychiatrist in April and want some idea before we go. I'm afraid of what might happen but don't want to base decisions on just the fear. Do I try a "drug holiday"? What do you all think? I really value your opinions. You've all gotten us this far.