To medicate or not to medicate....

… that is often the question many families need to ask themselves when their child is diagnosed with ADD/ADHD. And just like SO many other decisions in life, I believe that the right answer is SOLELY based on the family. Public education is right for MY family, but homeschooling may be right for yours. You may choose not to vaccinate your children, however I have chosen to vaccinate mine.

It's a personal decision; yet so often it is ridiculed by those around us who just don't know.
Where am I going with this? Just stay with me dear reader.

ADD & ADHD runs in my family; on both sides. It was inevitable that ONE of my children would wind up being diagnosed eventually. That became our reality in 2008.

We attempted to have her evaluated at the end of her 3rd grade year, but it seemed like only we thought there might have been a problem. So, we left it alone. 4th grade – though she did have wonderful grades – it brought on a whole new set of problems. I did research on ADD/ADHD and made several attempts at treating it myself (without meds). We tried gum, rice sock, removing red food coloring from her diet. Those things helped, but there was SO much more that needed to be addressed.

In spring 2008, we finally had an official diagnosis: our daughter has ADHD. You breathe a sigh of relief when you get the news because now you can focus solely on helping her. Yet you also have the decision.... do you medicate OR not?

We finally decided to try medication. Within a handful of days, we saw a difference in her. She didn't change, but she was able to focus. It was amazing! Don't get me wrong, choosing to use medicine to help my daughter was NOT an easy or quick decision. There was a LOT of debate & research on our part.

I look back to that decision and KNOW that we made the RIGHT decision for her. She is passing her classes & aced the CRCT test (which is needed to move on to 6th grade here in GA). She now has confidence in herself & her capabilities. The change has been AMAZING!! God has transformed our daughter into a person who has just a little more self-confidence.

I'm not saying that medicating is the answer for everyone... hardly. That would be irresponsible of me. What I am saying is that medicating was the answer for OUR daughter.

Many blessings,
Allison