To Medicate or NOT…that IS the question

Over the years, I have been asked about medicating Samuel and i have thought about what medicating him early could have done for me…both positively and negatively…i guess, i will never know. 

I am not against or for medication, I’ve always been an advocate for whatever is best or whatever I think is best for Samuel.  I personally don’t take alot of medication, not because of believe but mostly because I cannot be so dedicated to take a pill everyday because of my selective memory🤣  I also grew up on needle and prefer needle over pills any day.  But, I digress…..

When  he was 3, he was prescribed medication to help with his hyperactivity but I felt like he was too young and i felt like I could manage his behaviour.  Looking back, maybe that was a great decision but one mistake I made was not even exploring melatonin  for his sometimes 72 hours of sleeplessness; my personal fear of any medication and lack of knowledge got the best of me.  We learn and grow on a daily.

We had another encounter at about 8 because his focus became an issue that was seriously affecting him academically. I tried for a month and stopped.  I stopped because of many reasons, One, because I didnt feel like the pediatrician  had his best interest at heart. Two, I got introduced to new diet options that worked for some.

The diet worked for many years….we did it for a little over 2 years with no cheating.  Then Samuel started sneaking food and expressed interest in exploring other meals so we stopped.  My goal is to ensure that he never feels like he is being singled out  and I want him to always have a voice when it comes to his life.  Samuel is extremely  smart and vocal….I wanted to keep that Samuel spirit alive.

When Samuels started last year of elementary, I decided to explore other means of helping him with his focus and hyperactivity. I knew highschool was going to be a different element for him and among many things, he will have to learn time management with his work as well as being focused enough to absorb what he is being taught. In the midst of figuring thing out more diagnosis came and then came Covid 19

The presence of Covid has impacted Samuel negatively.  The first 6 or so months we went through different types and stages of emotion.  His ability to focus for an extended period of time diminished, his steming tripped, he was unable to stand or sit still.  He stared making hole in the wall, either by bumping into the wall with objects or with his strong body.  It became a challenge to keep hin calm and steated for even 5 minutes.  This is when it became super obvious to me that I needed to explore other options.

Samuel started seeing a new pediatrician that specializes in ADHD. At our initial meeting, he suggested other Avenue to help keep him calm and manage his energy. We used the summer time to explore alot of energy draining or reduction exercise with the hope that it’ll help calm his nerve.

As of the first week of Septemebr, we introduced Samuel to medication and so far so good. The medication works for about 4 hours and the goal is to help him calm down enough to listen in school and be able to absorb what he is being taught.

School has been going great. Samuel has been doing amazingly well. His grades are way up…mostly A🙌🏾 Medication management has been great. Stemming continue to increase but trying our best to manage and exploring other options again

We continue to move ❤❤