ADHD meds

Well, we did it, we started Garrett on some ADHD meds.  After a few very difficult weeks and some major temper tantrums at home, I had a serious meeting with his teacher, and then his pediatrician.  Matt was still on the fence, but with the kids insurance running out we decided to try it.  There was only 5 weeks of school left, so we thought let's see how he does, he won't take it all summer so we can think about the best options over the summer.  The Dr. agreed, and suggested 2 doses of Vyvanse, , only because the meds are expensive and without insurance he didn't want us to have to pay cash.  He made me promise to try the lowest dose for 2 weeks before I went to the next dosage.  The first day he did better but could not stop talking!  The first day he took it was a Friday, so he didn't take it over the weekend.  Monday, he did ok, but Tuesday was horrible!  So, I called the pediatrician back, and he just said give it time.  Well, Wednesday and Thursday were fantastic days, but Friday, and Monday and Tuesday were not.  Wednesday was good, but Thursday wasn't.  I called and talked to his teacher rand she agreed she could see some change, but not a lot, so we decided, on Friday to try the higher dose, and it worked!  He is now reading much better, writing so much better, behaving so good, the teacher admitted she forgot he was there on Monday!!  On Tuesday, he not only finished all his work, but even offered to help another child with his!  This has never happened.  Mrs. Sowell said he is just doing SO good!  I was glad we both were able to see her Tuesday night and Matt could hear her rave about his behavior, he needed to hear that to put his mind at ease for doing the meds.  I think it did.

She did tell me that he needs to be reading at a level 2 to graduate kindergarten and at Christmas he was reading at a level 4, but they retested this past week and he's now at a 10!  A 10 is required to graduate from first grade, so starting next week, he'll start reading at a second grade level!

Tonight, he did not argue or fight with me, and he choose to color pictures for Mrs. Sowell and Mrs. Brewer rather then watch tv, this has probably never happened, and at bedtime, he picked out a book and wanted to read it himself!  He had started really fighting us on reading.  So for everyone who says "don't put your kid on meds", I argue, look how much Garrett has improved in such a short amount of time!  I am very pleased with our choice.  I do still worry about long term side effects and i hope someday I don't regret this decision, but to see him do so well at school makes me feel so much better about my choice.