At the beginning of this past school year we took our son off Adderall because it caused him to have hallucinations. It was horrible. Probably one of the worst things I have ever experienced. Zachary did very well, academically, this school year. He went from reading below grade level to reading a tiny step above grade level! Go Zack! However, as you know, he was bullied like crazy this year. While I still believe that the entire bullying situation was handled WAY wrong, I also believe that Zack not being on medication and therefore, not having the ability to think through his actions, contributed to kids picking on him. It’s sad, but probably true.
We started seeing Zack struggling with paying attention and he was getting dangerously impulsive, so we sat down with him and asked him how he was doing and he told us that he was having a hard time focusing. He said that he hears the teacher talking, but he can’t stop thinking about Star Wars. It was then that we knew we needed to discuss medication with his doctor again. I was nervous, but if it can help him (and not give him hallucinations), I was willing to give it a try. So after talking with his doctor, we decided to go with Concerta XR.
Zack has been on it for one week and I am thrilled with it! I see my son thinking through situations before just acting. He is no longer all tensed up…his face is relaxed. But most importantly, he’s Zack; happy, go lucky Zack. The Zack that we saw before this school year started. Not only that, but the Concerta XR stays in his system until around 5:30pm AND he is eating!!! I make sure I give it to him around 7:30am with breakfast. By lunch time he is hungry, but by dinner he’s starving!! He doesn’t snack during the day, but occasionally will have Instant Carnation mixed with whole milk for dinner. So I am not concerned at all with the amount of calories he is getting.
I am really hoping this up coming school year is a good one for him. He deserves it more than anything.
Don’t they look happy (and cute)?!?
Your children are beautiful! I hope he has a great school year as well.