Adhd meds turning my child into a depressed zombie

amother

NeonYellow

Mon, Oct 25 2021, 9:39 am

It sounds like you daughter is taking a way too high dosage. I would look for a different doctor.
But anyways, if her symptoms are not worse that what you describe, why is she even on meds? I have 2 kids with adhd, a teenager and a 2nd grader. My youngest could be pretty disruptive in school, but his symptoms are not so severe and the school knows how to handle him, even if I have to go pick him up early once in a while, medications were not even once suggested. My teenage kid started on meds at the begining of high school once his symptoms started affected him socially and in his learning. He started on very low dosage which was raised slowly until we felt he was doing better. He attended the same elementary school as my younger one, and again, eventhough his behavior was at time disruptive, they knew how to handle him. So talk to the school, or consider switching her to a more accepting environment.

amother

Brown

Mon, Oct 25 2021, 9:55 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

We have tried concerta, ritalin, and vyanase and all had similar side effects.

Have you tried short acting? Have you tried very small doses? A half a pill of the smallest dose?

amother

Brown

Mon, Oct 25 2021, 9:59 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Fidgeting, sometimes noisily when she gets restless; moving around the classroom at times when it’s not allowed; calling out, taking too long of breaks in the hallways , especially on days when their is no outdoor recess.
In a perfect world, if she had a 5 minute movement break every hour or two I think she would be much better. Socially she is fine, overall. A leader is her class, super creative and talented. Occasionally gets into fights, but nothing major.
She is only 8 and at home we are fine with her behavior. At school they keep telling me she stands out and requires a lot of reminders to stay seated.

If this is for the teachers, then no, you do not need to medicate her. Medication should be when it is for the child.

imamommy5

Mon, Oct 25 2021, 1:47 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

She is very bright and very bored in class. She gets all a’s with minimal effort. She does behave better when she is challenged but her teachers don’t like her going ahead or doing her own thing so we are kind of limited.

I only read till here when my blood began to boil! Op your daughter probably does not have adhd! she has a bad case of [/b]restless disease![/b] honestly even if she does have adhd if you could do something for her besides medicating go for it! Give her something to do durring class. If the teachers dont want her going ahead you can give her something else to study when shes bored mabe take something out of the library. Then you can give her a test at home and when she gets a certain amount of points have a party! Or something. Make it exciting!

imamommy5

Mon, Oct 25 2021, 2:06 pm

imamommy5 wrote:

I do want to to point out that that is the teachers job and if it were me I would change schools and only pay half tuition because teaching zombies might be easyer than teaching real people but half tuition is what im willing to pay for teaching a zombie.

amother

Mon, Oct 25 2021, 7:34 pm

amother [ NeonYellow ] wrote:

We are considering switching psychiatrists but it’s not so easy to find someone and not sure how much trial and error in the beginning is normal? It seems relatively common.
Switching schools isn’t an option, I know they aren’t doing much for her but their aren’t other Jewish options where we live

amother

Mon, Oct 25 2021, 7:36 pm

LovesHashem wrote:

I was that kid - thank you for actually caring if your kid is a zombie. Many don't as long as they are compliant.

If she was just a zombie, wouldn’t bother me as much 😂 but she is sad and miserable and that to me isn’t worth anything. She is the kid who used to light up the room and was always happy go lucky just half a year ago.

amother

Antiquewhite

Mon, Oct 25 2021, 7:46 pm

I’m a bunch of replies down and this is the FIRST that mentions an actual doctor! Don’t do anything without speaking to the doc that prescribed them. If you don’t like them, find another doctor.

amother [ Brown ] wrote:

Not all meds do this. My excellent psychiatrist will not settle on a med+dose unless the child is functioning normally and seeing the results, not a zombie.

OP, are you referring to a stimulant? Some kids react negatively to some. My dd got more irritable on the long acting, but did great on the short acting. Some kids need a really tiny dose to tolerate it. Even 5 mg of ritalin can be right for some kids.

amother

Marigold

Tue, Oct 26 2021, 4:23 am

Honestly at 8 years old all the kids should be getting the chance to stretch and move around at least every hour or two if not less.

If she is understanding fast and completing work quickly of course she’s bored and restless.
Doesn’t the teacher ever have little errands to send her on?
Would the teacher be open to you suggesting ideas?
Maybe there could be some sort project she could work on, that she can take out when she’s finished the work early.
I’m sure there are plenty of great teachers on here who could come up with some suggestions.

Even small things, like my sons teacher has lots of plants in the classroom, it’s a job for different boys to water the plants or shpritz the leaves. It’s something simple but is a gentle way for someone to move quietly around the room.

FranticFrummie

Tue, Oct 26 2021, 4:29 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

OP, there is nothing wrong with your child! Get her off the meds. It sounds like the teachers want her to be an "easy kid", even if it means sedating her.

If your child were failing badly, starting fights at recess, or throwing chairs at the teacher, this would be a very different conversation. What you are describing sounds like a wonderful child who needs her intelligence celebrated and channeled into the right directions.

She needs to be enrolled in a gifted class, or at least bumped up a grade. There is nothing to be gained by not allowing her to go ahead of the class. That's pure torture.

Having an extremely bright and energetic child can be just as challenging as having a special needs child - just in very different ways. You still have to fight and advocate for your child to get the most appropriate academic environment, where they can make the most progress.

Last edited by FranticFrummie on Tue, Oct 26 2021, 4:30 am; edited 1 time in total

amother

Oxfordblue

Tue, Oct 26 2021, 4:30 am

amother [ Mint ] wrote:

Also another thing I know someone who also was diagnosed with adhd and another attention disorder I forget which she started in first grade by third grade she decided she had enough and secretly stopped taking her meds three the pills in the toilet every morning she said she had so much fun every day the teacher would quietly ask her if she took her "vitamins" that morning and she'd randomly answer yes or no if she was in the mood to be sent out

op this not a one time thing. Its happening everywhere.

FranticFrummie

Tue, Oct 26 2021, 4:42 am

amother [ Oxfordblue ] wrote:

op this not a one time thing. Its happening everywhere.

Quote:

the teacher would quietly ask her if she took her "vitamins" that morning

This screams RED FLAG to me. Lev Tahor has all of the kids taking "vitamins", and the people who escaped said that all the kids are on ADD meds during the day, and sedatives at night.

This is NEVER OK. Medicine is medicine, not vitamins, not candy, or anything else. Kids need to understand the difference, and if grownups are not clear about it, kids can get confused and not take the medicine seriously enough. What if it were antibiotics or something else very important? What if they got into the medicine cabinet and took the wrong thing?

There are just way too many things that could go wrong here. DD knew that my medicine was NOT candy by the time she was 2, and she knew it would taste horrible if she bit into it. I kept it up high in a latched cupboard, in childproof bottles, but I take nothing for granted. She was a smart little monkey.