After age 16, a person usually settles into an optimal dose, which, in most cases, does not change for the rest of a person’s life. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends adjusting a child’s dose once a year to achieve symptom management. It is determined by three factors that are unique to each individual: How efficiently the medication is absorbed in the GI tract, how efficiently the medication is metabolized, and how efficiently the medication passes across the blood-brain barrier.Įxperts agree that the right dose of stimulant will change as your child grows. The optimal dose of an ADHD stimulant is not determined by age, weight, gender, or severity of symptoms. Medications come in many different doses and use many different delivery systems (short-acting, long-acting, liquid, orally dissolving, tablet, chewable tablet, skin patch, etc.). When they don’t, a doctor will consider using a non-stimulant medication to improve symptoms. Stimulants do not work for 20-30 percent of people diagnosed with ADHD. Every child has a biological preference for one or the other classes, but it is only through trial and error - taking methylphenidate and then, in separate trial, taking amphetamine - that a doctor can determine which one will work best for your child. There are two classes of stimulants - methylphenidate and amphetamine. When you and your child’s doctor are confident of the diagnosis, and you decide to start your child on medication, understand that you must work closely with your doctor to find the optimal medication and dose. Studies suggest that 70 percent of children diagnosed with ADHD have one or more co-occurring conditions. Doctors frequently mistake ADHD for other disorders, so it is important that your doctor use all the tools available to assess your child.ĭiagnosis should include the following steps: taking a medical history to rule out physical causes of the symptoms meeting the symptom guidelines of ADHD in the DSM-5 interviewing parents, teachers, and guardians about a child’s behaviors filling out rating scales to compare your child’s behaviors with the normative average and assessing for co-occurring conditions, such as anxiety, learning disabilities, and others. A faulty diagnosis leads to treatments that don’t improve symptoms or, in some cases, make them worse. Getting the correct diagnosis is the foundation of successful treatment. They improve the core symptoms of ADHD - impulsivity, hyperarousal, and distractibility - in some 70-80 percent of the people who take them. Experts know, from years of research and many studies, that ADHD stimulants work. According to the American Academy Of Pediatrics, the most effective treatments for ADHD are parental behavior therapy and/or ADHD stimulants for children over age six. The good news is that there are safe, effective treatments for the disorder. The numbers tell the story: according to the Centers For Disease Control, 6.4 million children ages 4-17 have been diagnosed with ADHD. Get the Right Diagnosis (and Treatment) for Your Child
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