Life is Good.

Life isn't always good. Today it is. Ethan started Ritalin this week....he was on it last year but we took him off it.

It was bed time and he had been on the medication for about a month at that point, in conjunction with the med he got a nightly dose of melatonin to help him sleep. We were all in the middle of something, I was dealing with a screaming baby, Lane Michael was getting bed snack and Todd was doing homework. He got the wrong med (Todd or I gave him this med and accidentally grabbed the wrong bottle)...so basically he got a double dose of Ritalin. Ugh, what a night! We called poison control, they said he would be fine but we'd have to just play the night by ear, kind of hold on and hope for the best. So we did. And what a night it was. He woke up a few hours after he had gone to bed, crying that there were spiders on him...crawling on him, attacking him...and the aliens were coming...coming in from the windows...he wasn't safe there...we took him to our bed, hoping he could sleep if he felt safe...the "spiders" started falling from the ceiling, trying to get to him. After much guilt, and diliberation we decided, I would spend the night up with him, waiting out the halluciations. The "bugs" chased him through the night, at one point, there was no floor, it was falling away...the "bees" were nearly as big as he was...he chased through the house with them, after them, from them...never really seemed scared of these things...just couldn't sit, lay or stand still...the "spiders" might start their antics again. Finally at nearly 4 am the hallucinations started to subside...but by that time I was rattled, shaken, scared...I couldn't have a repeat, I couldn't put my boy through that again. I wouldn't. His education is vital but at what price? We disposed of the meds, talked to the doctor we were seeing at the time, and looked again at alternative methods. We tried educational drills, working and re-working, diet changes, sleep patterns and extra activity. But the bottom line, he doesn't have ADHD. He has ADD. There is a huge difference. He lacks impulse control but is well behaved, he's active but not uncontrollable, he sits still for class but can't keep his head in the game long enough to apply what he knows.
So last week we started the meds back up. Thursday morning we gave him his med and Thursday after school he nearly glowed as he told me how he finished his work with the rest of the class...something he's NEVER been able to do! He did his spelling words and on the first try, got 6 of 10 right! Another first. I see the need, I see the difference.