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Do I force her to take the pills?
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My eight year old was diagnosed with ADHD when she was in kindergarten. Her teacher was the one that spotted all the signs and expressed her feelings to me at a parent-teacher conference. I already was going to a therapist for my anxiety/depression, so I asked my therapist about it. After talking to the therapist, I decided to at least get her tested.
Z has been on medication for the past... wow.. almost three years.. and her grades have done a complete turn around. She used to be not even remotely close to the desired reading level, now she reads at a sixth or seventh grade level and she just started third grade. She knows that she can sit still and pay attention more when she takes the medications. She knows the signs that happens when she forgets to take them. But yet, I still have to practically beg her.. or force her.. to take them. Her checkup was a few days ago. I told her she had the floor and that she could tell the doctor anything she wanted and I wouldn't say anything. She expressed that she felt overly tired and that she didn't feel like doing anything but sleeping. The doctor changed her afternoon pill from Ritalin to Adderall. (She takes Strattera in the morning and it works wonderful, but it doesn't last all day and the stupid insurance won't pay for it so she can have it twice a day.) So far, so good, but it still becomes a "you must take your pill, Z" every single day... She says it's not because she's afraid people will find out about it, because no one knows. I always tell her teacher at the beginning of the class so they know that if she's overly excited and fidgety that it's probably that she forgot to take her pill. She.. just.. doesn't want to take it... and I can't get her to tell me why. Ideas? Same problems? I've even had her write me letters in case she's anxious or scared to tell me.. but they never have anything to do with her medications.... I just don't know anymore... Posted on 09/13/09, 11:09 pm |
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When I finally tried medication with my son this past april, he really didn't want to do it either. For him, it was because "No one else has to do this to be normal, so why do I have to?". Together we read quite a few books geared to their age group (my son is 10), and he slowly figured out that there are many more kids just like him out there. That feel and think the same things that he does, and who take medication to feel better and to make things work more smoothly.
Perhaps part of the reason, too, that she didn't like to take them was because of the way they were making her feel. Maybe with the new dose, it may change? If she's not feeling as tired etc on the new meds, maybe she'll be more open to thinking "This is working for me!". I wish you luck! 
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I think the meds make them feel strange or different to a degree, as near as I have been able to tell. A lot of children do not like taking them.
As soon as my son was old enough he started pretending to take it, then spitting it out, etc. But this didn't happen until he was about 14. I'm glad the adderall is working for you. Keep the communication going with your daughter and the doc and hopefully you'll find the right combination and dosages.
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