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The decision to medicate a child is one of the hardest choices a parent to make.

Many years ago, we entered the 'golden' age of medicine with the introduction of a panoply of medications designed to 'help' us cope with our daily lives. We had drugs to speed us up and more drugs to slow us down. They gave us drugs to lift our spirits and others to deaden our pain. We took a drug to wake us up in the morning, and another drug to put us to sleep at night.

Many doctors acted as if there were a miracle medicine out there for almost every ailment in the world. We grew so confident in the positive impact of these new miracle meds that we even started to prescribe them to our children.

But when should parents make the decision to medicate their child? Should an all-too-common diagnosis of ADD or ADHD result in a doctor automatically prescribing treatment by drug therapy?

In most cases, parents follow their doctor's recommendation when their child is diagnosed with ADD or ADHD. In most cases, the recommendation is for drug treatment with a group of drugs based upon Methylphenidate' (MPH). MPH is a amphetamine-like stimulant that is usually packaged under brand names such as Ritalin, Concerta, and many others.

Before your child starts on drug therapy, your doctor will explain all of the possible side effects to you. However, if you are like most parents, we listen to the doctor with one ear while thinking of how nice it will be to help our children live a normal life.

But what have you actually done?

An FDA News Release dated Feb. 21, 2007 stated: "An FDA review of reports of serious cardiovascular adverse events in patients taking usual doses of ADHD products revealed reports of sudden death in patients with underlying serious heart problems or defects, and reports of stroke and heart attack in adults with certain risk factors."

My son is diagnosed with ADHD/Asperger's Syndrome. For these diagnoses, he takes four different medications. The possible side effects from his medications include:

- Anxiety - nausea - insomnia - sleepiness - low blood pressure - high blood pressure - tremors - weight gain - loss of appetite - stiffness/pain - diabetes - liver failure - tachycardia - DEATH

For my son, the decision to medicate was easy. His condition was sufficiently severe that we had no option but to accept the medication treatment. The only other alternative was to confine him to an institution where they would blindly medicate him.

During the eight to twelve hours that his medication is at full effect each day, he still does not reach the level of functionality that we expect of healthly children. However, he is (usually) a true joy to be around. He attends school, studies hard, and does well in his special education classes and for the most part maintains his studies at grade level. We can take him out, and we can enjoy life with him.

Without medication, school would be impossible. Trips to the park, the grocery store, or even a short step outside into into our own back yard were nearly impossible. His impulsiveness and lack of awareness of his surroundings while unmedicated resulted in his ending up in escaping into traffic on more than one occassion despite the best efforts of both mother and father.

Your decision to medicate your child may not be as easy as mine. But when you talk to your doctor, ask for alternatives, whether physical therapy, counseling, or simply teaching you, the parent, the extreme patience that is needed to cope with ADD/ADHD. Evaluate the benefits of medicating your child against the possible risks to his/her future.

The decision to medicate your child should not be a light decision; it could be the difference between life and death.

Learn more about this author, Alan Fernald.
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