Today I'm happy that I have a caring and loving husband who supports me when I'm stressed. I'm also happy that I got to spend some time cuddling my dog today.
Hey Renn, just want to offer my thoughts on this. Please take them how you will, but know that I definitely feel your pain on medication. I have always been a HUGE advocate of medication for diagnoses where there are tested medications available that have clinical success to support their use. In my thought, we were born with brains for a reason - some people use those brains to come up with these wonderful medications that allow people to live their lives better. To me, I decide to use MY brain to critically think and come to the conclusion that it benefits me to take the medication that allows my life to be improved and safer (specifically, epilepsy medication). As long as at the end of the day, you can confidently say that you are doing something for your child because you feel it is best for them and in their best interest, you should do it and you are doing the right thing, even if that doesn't include medication. Medication ISN'T right for everyone, but if it is, it's the best option. Medication administration is something I take very seriously and I'm very passionate about (probably because of my mom's clinical background as an RN). I already teach Nicholas how important it is that he takes his medication and he knows what each of his medication's names are and what they are for. For him, it's imperative that he takes his medications to maintain safe bladder and bowel function. He doesn't always LIKE it, but he knows he has to do it.after much trepidation on whether to medicate him for ADHD or even on whether his diagnosis was accurate... and the pain of trying to acquire the medication while there is a national shortage... we have had a couple weeks to test out the effects of the low dose and his teacher has reported a vast improvement in behavior and participation and task completion. Life is crazy as a parent in terms of never knowing if you are quite doing the right thing despite trying your best, and every success/failure is felt tenfold. I love my kids.![]()
I am so thankful you spoke up; I feel like I needed all the support I could get in this decision. I worked for years to get medications approved, so I'm no stranger to the enormous effort and rigorous review involved, but I still have to deal with the stigma around medicating my own kids from family. I swear I'm not using drugs as a crutch to replace proper parenting, but again, it's a losing argument when the other party has their own prejudices and has already made up their mind. My son seems to be the same when he gets home at the end of the day-- my biggest concern was how it might change him or if it would impact his appetite and health. A protestor might ask why we even use it then, but I've weighed the cost and benefit over and over so... sighHey Renn, just want to offer my thoughts on this. Please take them how you will, but know that I definitely feel your pain on medication. I have always been a HUGE advocate of medication for diagnoses where there are tested medications available that have clinical success to support their use. In my thought, we were born with brains for a reason - some people use those brains to come up with these wonderful medications that allow people to live their lives better. To me, I decide to use MY brain to critically think and come to the conclusion that it benefits me to take the medication that allows my life to be improved and safer (specifically, epilepsy medication). As long as at the end of the day, you can confidently say that you are doing something for your child because you feel it is best for them and in their best interest, you should do it and you are doing the right thing, even if that doesn't include medication. Medication ISN'T right for everyone, but if it is, it's the best option. Medication administration is something I take very seriously and I'm very passionate about (probably because of my mom's clinical background as an RN). I already teach Nicholas how important it is that he takes his medication and he knows what each of his medication's names are and what they are for. For him, it's imperative that he takes his medications to maintain safe bladder and bowel function. He doesn't always LIKE it, but he knows he has to do it.
Yes, many medications have undesirable side effects, but often those have their own remedies and are much more manageable than the thing that is being treated initially. I will say, and I'm sure you know this, but many people don't follow this and then form an inaccurate thought on the medications efficacy - if you do decide to go the medication route, it's important for whomever takes the medication to take it as prescribed - so that means, if it's to be at the same time every day, it really needs to be as close to that as possible. So many people, specifically with anxiety medication or antidepressants it seems, take it randomly and then wonder why it doesn't work. It's not one of those things that you can just take on a bad day and then expect to feel better, and many of those types of medications actually have to be in your bloodstream for at least a month before showing signs of improvement, and many have withdrawal symptoms that make it worse when you skips days at a time.
Anyway, sorry to go on a tangent, it's just something I have strong feelings about and always like to be a support or resource to people on. None of what I'm saying is obviously official medical advice, and you should always talk to your child's pediatrician about concerns or questions, but this is advice based on my own experiences with myself and with Nicholas. You know I'm always here to chat, if you ever need or want to. You are doing great, mama (also, LOVE that your son is in to Pokemon now)![]()