100 Questions & Answers About Your Child's ADHD by Ruth D. Nass & Fern Leventhal

Author:Ruth D. Nass & Fern Leventhal
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Medical, Physician & Patient
ISBN: 9780763781798
Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Learning
Published: 2004-09-30T21:00:00+00:00

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1 0 0 Q & A A B O U T Y O U R C H I L D ’ S A D H D : F R O M P R E S C H O O L T O C O L L E G E

during drug holidays. Drug holidays are certainly not mandatory and may not be a plus.

No medical concern argues against daily stimulant medication. No studies show more side effects when medicine is used every day as opposed to only weekdays.

Unless your child has significant problems with eating when using stimulant medication, you ought to consider carefully a decision against everyday medication. After all, once you’ve decided that medicine is acceptable and you see it working for your child, “less is not necessarily more.” Children with ADHD should take medications to cover times at which they have problems. Although parents’ continuing concerns about the effects of medication often lead them to want to minimize the times at which their children take medications, the best choice is to medicate children during times when their ADHD

symptoms interfere with their everyday life. Under-treating children who are having problems during weekends, vacations, or summers has no long-term advantages.

Indeed, it may have long-term disadvantages. However, some children definitely need medicine only from Mon-day through Friday during the school year.

62. My teenager’s medication has been

working well throughout his high school

years. Do we need to consider other factors

and make changes in his medication before

he heads off to college?

As a general rule, most college students do not get up at 7:00 AM for classes. They also may take naps in the middle of the day or stay up late into the wee hours of the morning to study. Although long-acting medication might have been used throughout high school, some college students prefer short-acting medication which 90

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they can tailor to their own needs. It is very important Medic

It is very

that, prior to going to college, you and your child work important

a

with your physician to develop a medication plan that tion and ADHD

that, prior

is realistic for your college student. This medication to going to

plan should include not only which medication should college, you

be prescribed, but also how the student will remember and your child

to take the medication and how it will be renewed.

work with

your physician

The way your child obtains medication while he or she to develop a

is at college needs to be planned. Does he go directly to medication

a doctor at home or at college? Does he receive his med-plan that is

ication through his parents? Once your child gets to col-realistic for

lege, there are alternative ways of proceeding. After the your college

student settles in and finds out his schedule, he can get student.

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