1. Ease Upset Stomach and Loss of Appetite
While it's normal for your child to experience mild stomach upset when he or she first starts taking medicine, some kids complain of lingering upset stomach symptoms. The best way to help ease this is to give your child his or her medicine with food or right after meals. You might also notice a downturn in your child's appetite. Consider taking is to move dinnertime to a later hour. A reduced appetite is a side effect of the medication, and a normal appetite returns once it's worn off. Over the long term, you should also be aware that a diminished appetite can lead to growth problems. Make sure your child gets enough protein, vitamins, minerals and calories. Your physician will be watching for growth deficiencies, and you can work with the doctor by charting and tracking your child's annual physical development.
2. Ways to Beat Insomnia
Insomnia is a double whammy for ADHD patients. First, the condition's hyperactivity component makes kids prone to sleep troubles. Second, the drugs used to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder stimulate central nervous system activity, which can also interfere with sleep. One common solution your doctor may recommend is that you switch your child to a short-acting form of the medication. Alternatively, your doctor may instruct you to give her a longer-acting dose earlier in the morning. You can also encourage healthy sleeping habits by instituting a regular sleep schedule for your child, sending him to bed and getting him up at the same time every day.
3. Reduce Headaches, Nausea and Fatigue
Headaches are another common side effect of ADHD medication, which you can prevent by giving medicine with food. Doctors think that head pain is directly related to taking pills on an empty stomach. Some forms of ADHD medication, especially alternatives to stimulant-based drugs, cause nausea and fatigue. With your doctor's advice, you may be able to control these symptoms by decreasing the size of the dose while increasing its frequency.
4. Regulate Mood Changes and Behavioral Relapses
Because ADHD medicines are often formulated to be time-released in the bloodstream, you might find your child's behavior erratic. These so-called peaks and valleys can be reduced by using different medicines. If these problems seem severe, though, you should track incidents and then file a report with your child's doctor, who will work with you to create an individualized treatment strategy.
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