puberty aND ADDEARAL

[kdkat]

my daughter  is 11 years old and has been on been on meds since the second grade she is now going to enter the 7th grade and of course puberty.  she sometimes has dizzy spells and just like she is out of it could it be because of her hor change? she is time release adderall 30mg.i would like to have her off it but when do you know when to stop? can you just decide? she now wants to stop herselp, she doesn't take her pill when told or she pretends to?

[vacationrobert]

I don't know anything about addearal and its relationship to puberty but I did have an interesting insight as an 8th-grade teacher a few years ago. A lad in my class absolutely refused to take his medication (don't recall its name but it was for hyper-activity) and we couldn't figure out why because he was so much better behaved and did so much better in his studies when he was faithful to taking the medication. And then, out of the blue, I overheard him speaking with another boy. His medication was seriously interfering with his needs to masturbate. The medication was taking its toll on his ability to have an erection and to ejaculate. (He described it quite differently from the way I'm stating it : ) but it's all the same.) There was no way that he was going to share that with any adult but it's the kind of thing that peers may discuss with each other. I spoke with the parents and they had the doctor change his medication. I haven't had any experience with female puberty response to medication.

[stinasmom]

My 14 year old son takes Adderal (50 milligram) and according to his Dr. you can only go by the results of the child. You sound like you have a similar problem as I, My son won't take it, I've tried everything. I find his pills under the stove ,couch or in his room. I don't know what to do at this point.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Your daughter has been on medication for a long time. It does make sense periodically (e.g., every one-two years) to take a break from the medication in order to gain some sense of the child's current baseline and to make a determination of the need for medication. This is particularly so when children reach the age when their cooperation is an important ingredient. Your daughter is reaching that age. If the pre-teen or teenage child is not cooperating with the plan, it's often not a good idea to continue, because we might not be able to determine with any confidence just how often the child is actually taking the medication. Of course, parents should always hand the medicine to the child - the child should never be put in charge of the medicine. And, with some children, it's important to actually monitor them when they are swallowing it. However, there's litle point in permitting the matter to be a forum for struggles. If any change is planned, be sure it occurs in concert with the prescribing clinician.