M.S.
Hi!
First off, don't worry, things will work out. When my son was 6 he was placed on ADHD medication. He is 7 now. It has been quite the journey!
> First off, trust your gut. I knew that my son was "a little different" from age 2 when he was in a gym class and couldn't stay on task like the rest of the kids. My son, also a total sweetie, never did these things out of rebellion, it was just like he NEEDED to move, NEEDED to explore and just had the hardest time being still.
> I totally agree, find a therapist that you can TRUST. My son's doctor who has special needs kids himself, says he only trusts two in my area - which surprised me - they are not all equal, and never be forced/coerced into anything you don't want to do.
> Question the therapist will want to know: Is your son showing these behaviors just at school or at home too or other environments. The therapist will have a very lengthy questionnaire that you and his teacher will have to fill out. And your son will need an evaluation exam which is also very time consuming for him -- ours was something like 2 hours just him and the therapist.
> Medicine was such a tough decision, and I darn near cried giving him his first dose. But my son eats healthy, he gets exercise, he is in a loving home with little to no chaos. The doctor explained it to me as "if your son needed glasses you wouldn't think twice about it" in our case, my son needed the meds to help him not be so distractable and to follow tasks, and in essence to function.
> A word on medicine: you most likely will have some trial and error in what works for him. We were put on adderall XR first, the lowest dose. Which by the way, I liked how my pediatrician started at the lowest and worked up, many others I have heard start high right off the bat and I don't think that is right. He warned us that most kids end up around 30mg, my son started at 12mg. The first night he was quite moody and cried over the slightest thing - very odd. As he got use to the med, the crying stopped, but he was moody and actually I have to say a tad zombie-like when he wasn't just in a bad mood. So we switched. I had heard concerta got good reviews, so I taught him how to swallow a pill and we switched to concerta. The anger moodiness is gone. Though I will say around 5pm he comes off of it and you can tell by him just being quiet and a bit moody, but it only lasts for about an hour. But the improvements were astounding -- IT WORKED LIKE A CHARM. It was so weird! Suddenly he was getting up in the morning and getting dressed ON HIS OWN without us prompting him "go get dressed" - never before. When I told him to put his shoes on, he would do it and not get distracted by something on the way. His grades shot WAY UP. Went from all 4s to all 1s and 2s. Most of all, he was so much happier. He was always a social butterfly, but now his friendships were going a lot better. So while I still DETEST that he has to take medication, we are doing well. I am told that over time the effectiveness starts to fade and it is necessary to boost the dosage to get the same effect. I am told we will notice in his school work/teachers reports when that happens (it hasn't happened yet).
> So do what is best for your son, trust your instincts, whether that is meds or no meds -- you know what is best. My son actually turned out to be both ADHD and Dyslexic and I feel that we are finally on the right path for him.
Good luck!!