KD: the stimulants do work better for a lot of kids. (Our developmental pediatrician says the non-stimulant meds don't have as much "WOW factor" in the outcomes.)
All of the drugs, stimulants or not, have different side effects: the stimulants can make people irritable, eat less, and lose weight or lose sleep; the non-stimulants tend to be hard on the GI tract; so there's no "free lunch."
I'd ask your prescriber to tell you all the options and to clarify very specifically why they prefer the recommended one over the others. And exactly what side effects you'll likely see. And what "plan B" would look like if this med is not well tolerated.
Many kids have to try three or four meds before finding the right one: it's not a nice process, but the payoff can be large. Finding the most experienced and qualified prescriber can help streamline the process, but it doesn't fix the trial and error problem.
DeeDee
