To medicate or not

My oldest daughter Brayden whom we call B for short was diagnosed 2 months ago with ADHD. We were advised to begin with medication management right off the bat. Well these last 2 months have been an emotional roller coaster.

Growing up B has always been very outgoing and full of energy. Not the kind of bouncing off the wall energy but energy of the mouth. She talks, talks talks, and talks some more. Always has something to say or add to any conversation. Even the conversations she has with herself, there always seems to be one more thing she just NEEDS to say.

 When she started Kindergarten, the dreaded report card started. Every single one since Kindergarten has said the same things : Very bright but talks to much to her friends, easily distracted, doesn't stay focused and (this years said) doesn't stay sitting in chair. So this last year in 3rd grade the teacher mentioned I should get her tested for ADHD. In the back of my mind I am thinking "Ya right lady, she doesn't have that." but the nursing part of my brain jingled (just a little).  We (the teacher and I) decided she would try some different things in the classroom and keep in close contact with me on B's progress. Well the year went by and B's grades were slowly but surely declining. So with a month left of school I got her tested. Well she passed that test with flying colors unlike the math test she had brought home previously that week. So we leave the Dr's. office with a prescription of Concerta.

First off let me add that there is so much stigma over medications with ADHD, so I was very nervous about going that route. After some research, I found that there is so many things out there to supposedly treat this. I also found that some of these ideas are a crock of you know what. Potatoes people, I was going to say potatoes.  Concerta is also called methylphenidate. It is a stimulant which in kids with ADHD is supposed to work the opposite from what a stimulant would do to me or you. So when we got the prescription and was going to give her the first dose, I really had to give my self a pep talk and it went something like this: We don't have to do this forever, this really is the best treatment option, it will help her pass 4th grade, just think of it as organic meth..... etc.

What did we find with the Concerta use is that she had better focus but had side effects such as stomach aches, headaches, crazy emotions, weight loss and started picking at her skin. So a  few weeks ago I looked at her and thought, probably out loud, Oh my goodness, I have a "legal" meth addict for a kid. She looked horrible. She had lost 10% of her body weight. She is a competitive gymnast and only 60lbs to begin with so she didn't have any weight to lose. She has also picked so many scabs into her skin it looked like a polka-dot puppy and not the cute kind, more the kind with leprosy.

So what to do now. We took her off the Concerta and she ate like a teenage boy for a week and the scabs are healing.  I know that there are tons of other meds out there. I feel like we are working with a diabetic trying to find the right doses of insulin. So we will work it out and in the mean time I am trying to nurse her back to cute puppy kid.