My difficult child 1 can't take stimulants so we do the non-stimulant. He had loss of appetite for the first month or so then that went away. They have never interfered with his sleep and there is no rebound. It works wonders for us though others here have stated otherwose in their case.
Anyway, I put difficult child 1 on medications for his ADHD when he was barely 5. I hated the idea but I didn't like the "quality" of his life having to deal with symptoms medication free. Things improved drastically because they slowed his mind down enough to be able to think things through BEFORE doing/saying them. It also helped with school, he wasn't "bouncing off walls" and he could concentrate on his schoolwork.
I had decided that quality of life was more important than my bias. The decision about medications for young children is one of the hardest decisions we have to make. There are so many medications with such a wide variety of side effects that it really is scary. I am just glad it worked out ok for us.
I could have written this post about my grandson. He turned 6 in July and he's now been on Concerta for nearly a year. We all literally cried when he swallowed his first pill. We were full of sadness, regret, fear, and all the other stuff that goes along with the journey. We tried everything the docs, teachers, parents, me (Special Education teacher), Explosive Child skill teaching, Raising a Thinking Child workbooks , behavioral specialists, play group therapists--the usual players--could think of and nothing worked durably. We all swore we would never push a pill down a child's throat. We read the horror stories, we read all about all the drug-free therapies that work wonders, read the research about the long-term effects.
All of his behaviors didn't get in the way of his academic learning, (hooray for a 504 plan after being suspended 8 times in two months, and only being allowed to be in school 90 minutes a day). We finally got him back in school full-time after the winter holiday. A half-year gone, but he finished the first grade curriculum at the end of his kinder year. He's so strong in reading, math, science, etc., that the psychiatric that tested him said to keep him challenged and let him go ahead as fast as he wants. His teacher was great at differentiating the curriculum for him so he was still part of the class, but working at his own pace. Socially was another story, and that's just starting to turn around now.
Are there side effects that make us sad? Yes. He used to enjoy eating and sometimes he'll get excited about something on his plate that he used to like, only to push it away because "my tummy doesn't feel so good." Other times, he'll inhale huge slices of pizza, bowls of pasta, mounds of fruit. He's still growing (his jeans are getting too short at a pretty good clip), he does great with gymnastics, and like TeDo said: he can slow down enough and keep the impulsiveness at bay long enough to LEARN SOME COPING AND REASONING SKILLS. Yes, I shouted that because that, above all else, has made him proud of himself and given him some confidence.
He takes the pill when he gets up, eats a huge breakfast and eats a later dinner after the pill has worn off. Mom and Dad, and Grandpa and me, let him eat until bedtime if he wants to. The drugs are gone by then, sometimes a rebound, sometimes not, and he sleeps great. Did we want him on drugs? Absolutely not. What is it the one thing that we threw into the mix that made a drastic difference? medications. It worked for him, but I know it doesn't for everyone. He seems a little anxious and tic-ey at times, which we hate, but you have to look at the big picture, talk to lots of people, do lots of research, and make your decision. It's so hard, I know it is. And I know that stimulants are disastrous for some kids. We were pretty sure we were dealing with a straight-up case of ADHD, so we felt that the risk was worth taking. He started at a lower dose and we didn't see any difference. He's now at 37 mg.
He has a one-on-one aide at school, but she hasn't had to do anything for him this year and they are thinking of fading her by the winter break. And the day we'll really celebrate is when he can stop using the medications. But, it may never happen, who knows?
There's lots of advice on here about this that gives both sides. But when my grandson's first grade teacher brought us in a week or so ago, she asked "What has made the biggest difference in his behavior?" Mom and I both hesitated because we really didn't want say "The medications," and hadn't really thought of it that way, but I think in his case, it's true. It's given his brain the time to slow down, process, and learn to solve his own problems with all of the other tools we've been using.