Time for Change….

It was during the last school holidays, over Easter that I started to feel like things were changing. Leni was eating better but swearing more and he just didn’t like having nothing to do even though he did something almost every day of the school break.

When school resumed there were more items than usual missing from his lunch box at the end of the day which started to make me wonder whether his medication was still working for him.

A few things go through your head when this happens to your medicated child, such as fuck me, here we go again and how long will it take for me to get onto his doctor to get this sorted.

Fortunately for Leni he has an amazing doctor. I have always been able to email her with concerns or questions and she has always responded in a matter of days.

On this occasion when I emailed her to explain what was happening she agreed that he likely needed a review and an appointment was arranged for us within the next 2 weeks.

I know how lucky we are to have a doctor this invested in our sons well being because there are so many out there like us who jump through hoops to get these types of things seen to. For those of you who are not as fortunate I would honestly say find a doctor like ours and don’t ever change. Seeing someone for the sake of seeing someone just isn’t enough when it comes to your child’s mental and physical health.

Until such time that we could meet with her and come up with a new plan of attack we just needed to manage his behaviours and ensure that his teachers and sports coaches knew where we were at.

When I called to speak with his teacher I explained that he had likely outgrown his medication and that we were meeting with his doctor within the next few weeks to make some adjustments. His teacher said that he was grateful I had let him know and that they would make some accommodations to his day like additional movement breaks etc. to make his life as well as theirs easier.

I was happy to hear that he had noticed he was starting to become a little more active and distracted earlier in the afternoons too but despite that happening Leni was still respectful towards his teacher and peers which was great to hear.

Leni has been on his current medication now for close to a year and it’s been a great one for him. There is always the worry that what is to come next won’t be as effective or well tolerated but you just never know until a new dose is started. You also worry that if you need to move to a new medication altogether and not just an increased dose it won’t be nearly as good as what he has been taking which is just another thing to worry about in an already jam packed day.

Until the appointment with his doctor we walked on eggshells in order to keep the peace. People with a neurotypical child will struggle to understand how important picking your battles becomes. For us medication has been the key to more structure, calm and peace in our lives and whilst it isn’t the path that every family chooses it is the right one for us.

When we have the right dose and the right medication we have a child who is able to concentrate, be much less hyperactive and far better at regulating his emotions. If your child has been on medication for a while you become much better at identifying the signs that indicate when it may no longer working.

It’s all a learning curve and one that changes constantly.