I don't think there are any permanent effects to growth with ADHD stimulants, if that is your main concern. That being said, DD was around 75th percentile for height before she started meds and now 1.5 years later she is 50th. The difference in her when she is medicated vs. unmedicated is amazing. I can tell immediately if she has not had her meds. The other day the teacher called around lunch time and asked if DD had been medicated. Turns out she hadn't had her pill, although she had her patch (the patch takes a few hours to kick in). The teacher was able to tell that she was probably not medicated properly. I don't think her behavior was "bad", she was just incredibly slow (slower than usual) and made tons of mistakes with math calculations.
With meds, you can always give it a try (if you do actually get an ADHD diagnosis), and if you give it a chance, try the various doses (you always start on the lowest and go up) and they do not seem to help very much and it's not worth the risk to you, you can discontinue.
I am taking my DS in for a computerized ADHD test in a couple days. It looks at the kids' responses, how slow they are, how quickly they lose attention, how impulsive, etc. and compares them to other kids the same age. With DD we just filled out inventories with the pediatrician which I thought was grossly inadequate. But it's obvious she has ADHD whereas with DS it is more questionable.
BTW, DD's ADHD was missed in kindergarten when she was grade accelerated. Even the school psych who tested her didn't seem to think it was an issue. And she's pretty severe. Even after we moved her up a grade, it took the teacher about 4 months to finally admit that what she was seeing were ADHD red flags.
