Adhd meds turning my child into a depressed zombie

ora_43

Tue, Oct 26 2021, 8:45 am

What does your child's doctor say about this?

I mean obviously a medication that's doing more harm than good isn't one you want to continue with. But a doctor who has experience with ADHD might have good ideas for how to continue from here.

If you think your dd can function well in class with a few small adjustments, then I would push for those. As hard as necessary. Be willing to take her out of school, even. A school that's not willing to make reasonable adjustments like giving a kid harder material, or letting them walk around a little, is not a good school.

At the same time I'd work on building skills. Even if/when you find meds that work well, in the long term they are much more effective if used together with treatment aimed at building executive functioning.

ora_43

Tue, Oct 26 2021, 9:05 am

For anything involving meds, ask your doctor, but just FYI there are meds out there with different active ingredients, eg focalin. It sounds like this might be a situation where meds aren't needed at all, which would be ideal. But if they do become necessary in the future, it's good to be aware that there are options beyond the usual (ritalin, concerta).

miami85

Tue, Oct 26 2021, 10:34 am

ADHD as a diagnosis is merely a checklist of symptoms. They don't typically do much if any of biological or neurological assessment to determine what is causing the symptoms. Especially with girls who often have a different presentation of ADHD it can be very challenging to figure out if it's truly ADHD or a form of Depression or other hormonal imbalance. While there are several medications available it's all trial and error to figure out because they affect the brain differently. The "flatness" is a common complaint with a lot of medications and why they are not always effective.

How old is she?

Iymnok

Tue, Oct 26 2021, 10:40 am

Your description of your daughter sounds like a very smart child who understands the material quickly then is fidgety due to boredom. A little movement and some challenging (fun) projects may solve this.
A lazy teacher turns to meds too soon.

amother

Pear

Tue, Oct 26 2021, 12:03 pm

I feel so bad for you and your daughter! I think you should trust your gut. Talk to the dr but I would lean heavily into finding a coach for working on skills and appropriate behavior if need be, meet with the school about movement breaks, allowing your daughter to stand while working if easier. There are plenty of relatively easy to apply accommodations. Your daughter really doesn't sound like she needs medication. Certainly not as a first step. I would also look into a giftedness assessment and explore what options you have in school. I have friends with fidgety, exceptionally bright kids and it's extra work for the parents but at different times they've had a combination of tutoring during class times, outside curriculum of work to be done once the child has finished class work (that way doesn't go ahead in teachers lesson plan), coordinating with teachers to modify work (ex: if kids are writing 1 paragraph about something, this child has their own assignment to write 3 paragraphs, make a word scramble using 5 key words, draw a picture of the theme), books/math worksheets/games from home for when work is done.
This won't work for everyone and it depends a lot on how self focused your daughter is and how flexible her teacher can be. But your daughter sounds like she's suffering and I don't think she should have to be on these medications just to be able to sit perfectly quietly.