ADHD Medications: A Mothers Point of View

My son is autistic and as a result of his autism is also ADHD. He has tried numerous amounts of medications like Focalin, Adderal, and Adderal XR. Too my disappointment, many of these have a number of side effects that have caused my son to get sick at times. No matter what new drug they come out with and he changes to, to me it's all the same.

Vyvanse, Focalin, and Adderal is an oral medication given to children who are ADHD. These medications are also a form of an amphetamine. They are supposed help the child calm down, focus and be more alert. Each of these drugs are a stimulant thought to work by restoring natural chemicals in the brain. These medications are in the form of a capsule or pill that may taken with or without food. Some are taken once a day while some can be taken twice a day. All this sounds harmless but this medication does have side effects associated with it.

When a child takes this medication for a long period of time or is given a high dosage, it can cause dependency. These ADHD drugs may also cause nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, trouble sleeping, irritability, dizziness, and weight loss. More serious side effects may occur such as blurred vision, bad mood swings, fast heart beat, depression and suicidal thoughts. In discussing these medications with his doctor I voiced some concerns and learned that there was no studies to show the long term effects of taking these medications. To me that is scary and makes me wonder if professionals really understand what harm this could really cause. Many say that most of these side effects associated with these drugs normally don't occur but I beg to differ on that.

My son has had to take all of these medications and I have had to watch him suffer each time he has taken them. He has had bad stomach pains, vomiting, major mood swings, severe loss of appetite. It just seems to me that these pills are more harmful than good. Everyone comes to me with new and supposed to be improved better ADHD medications but they are all the same and all are part of the amphetamine family. Once my son stops taking these medications, the symptoms stop.

If you have been told that your child needs these medications talk to your doctor in depth about them. Be alert at all the times if your child experiences different changes while on these medications. I know that not every child on these medications will have bad experiences. I just know that nothing good has come out of my son taking these medications other then he is zombified just so he can make it through the day at school. Sometimes him bouncing off the walls is better than what these medications seem to do to him.