mom

Thank you all for the great posts. I guess time will tell what his experience is. I know about this website because he directed me to it and asked me to read as much as possible to better understand what he will be facing. He is a pretty great kid and I am looking forward to him feeling more comfortable in his own skin. One day at a time...

Thank you for your viewpoint and advice Marissa. Since he is away at college, I agree with the support system you suggest. I think it would be great for him to have people in his daily life who are there to encourage and hold him accountable. I also like the idea of making sure you celebrate the small stuff because it may be huge for him. He just made the decision yesterday and today he called really excited because he studied yesterday without medication and took the test today without medication and he thinks he did great! One victory at a time. I still don't completely understand the whole brain chemistry thing and the balance between what is right for any one individual....a non-medicated hard to focus person or a medicated not themselves person. Is it all or none, is it retraining, is it low dose? I'm sure it is different for everyone and I have a lot to learn as will he.

I'm the mom of a young man who has been taking Adderall type medication for 4 years. His dosage is much higher, he is up to 70mg/day and he wants to quit. I agree with your statement about not wanting young children to start on the medication, when teachers suggested he might be ADHD we didn't agree with medicating him so we did our best in other ways. When he hit about 15 yrs old he was really struggling with everything and asked to be tested for ADHD then went on medication. At first it was a wonderful thing. Now he is seeing and feeling all of the downsides with it and wants to quit. Being in a supporting role, I wanted to know whether his experience in quitting will be different. It is entirely his choice but given his dosage perhaps weaning him will work better than cold turkey.

I'm just now reading information on your website and trying to figure out if the addiction is any different for people who took Adderall as prescribed due to ADHD or people who took it on their own? Is the addiction different? Is quitting different? Are the challenges different?