In our experience, if the med shows initial trackable, graphable effectiveness, it rarely loses that clout in less than six months...more often a couple years. Weight gain does play a role but rarely weight loss. We use Excel to track responses to med changes after several bad doctor experiences. What we have noticed...
-Meds don't change sensory issues. DS's writing issue appears to be a sensory motor planning issue (which can manifest in anxiety masked as perfectionism). We hope OT will automate some of his lacking skills. For writing, meds without therapy proved ineffective even while the meds were highly effective in almost every other life-quality category, including mood and social.
-Meds can be completely ineffective if the child is getting too little sleep.
-We sometimes use on-and-off-meds timed math facts tests to identify whether a med is working properly for the boys...get a baseline to track production.
QUestion...how long did your psych take to titrate up to the 20/30mg dose? Did he give you worksheets to track titration over several weeks? Track side effects? On that dose weight loss is not surprising--and insomnia might also result depending on when she takes the second round. Around here sleep loss is the #1 reason for med inefficacy and lack of productivity. On the higher doses, we've also learned that meds don't fully leave the system until well past their purported "window"...if at all, depending on the frequency of dosage. Might be interesting to find out when your DD did written work in relation to med intake if she says she wrote while off of meds.
Last edited by ilmomto4; 01/05/12 12:04 AM.
