ADD/ADHD... and our son
We have been having issues with our son for the past few years. his second grade teacher recommened we have him tested for ADHD... for a while we fought it, but they were so persistant that we decided to have it done, just to shut them up. And, just as we thought, they could find nothing wrong. However......since then our son has been having a difficult time in school, we get constant emails telling us he can not stay on task, appears to tune out of difficult subjects and has a hard time organizing his day. His grades have fallen to below grade level on some subjects.. the main one being math. We have to constantly remind him at home 3, 4, or more times to get something done... it has gotten to a point where we felt all we were doing was yelling at him.... ok.. time to have him RE-tested... but NOT at school.
So, we took him to a pediatrician who sais he specialized in ADHD. We filled out a CHECKLIST ( that was ALL ) , this Dr read it and said, ok.. he has ADHD and we want to put him on medication ( Ritalin LA ) , but first he needs to have some labwork done. Well.. he has to do that on a empty stomach so we didn't do it on Tuesday. And since then both my husband and I have been doing heavy research on ADHD and the medications to improve it.
I must say I am more confused than ever. On one hand we read that the drugs are awful and addicting , can lead to death and DO NOT USE THEM ON YOUR CHILD !!!!!! And then we read that they are safe and effective and by all means go ahead....
WHAT DO WE DO ? My gut is telling me that I HATE the idea of these drugs and do NOT want to subject my son to something that may do more harm than good.. on the other hand, he is struggling so bad and is only getting worse.. his self esteem has fallen and he ends up crying over homework more often than not. He is beginning to hate school.
I am hoping that SOMEONE out there can help me with this gut wrenching dilemma... I am losing sleep over it, and I am constantly thinking about it.. do we, or don't we ? And if we DON'T, then what happens to our son ? And if we DO. then what happens if they cause him more harm than good ?
Someone, please help !!!!
We love our son and only want what is best for him, but how does one make a INFORMED decision with such conflicting information out there ???????
posted by Cynnie01 @ 10:18 AM
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