SEND Parenting Podcast

ADHD Medication: a teen's experience

• Dr. Olivia Kessel • Episode 133

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FREE GUIDE: ADHD Medication Made Simple đź’Š
Understand how ADHD medication works, the different options available, and how to talk to your child about it with confidence.
👉 Download your free guide here

What's it really like to take ADHD medication as a teenager? Forget the clinical explanations—today my daughter Alexandra bravely takes us behind the curtain of her medication journey with refreshing honesty that only a young person living the experience can provide.

The journey begins with Alexandra's genuine fear: "I can't take a pill. What if it gets stuck in my throat?" Using Tic Tacs as practice pills, we found our way through that first obstacle together. But the real challenges emerged during those initial ten days—a period of emotional turbulence that nearly led me to discontinue the medication altogether. This rarely-discussed "worse before better" phase is something every parent should know about before starting this journey.

Alexandra's description of life before and after medication is striking in its clarity. Homework sessions transformed from battles requiring constant supervision to independent work. Morning routines shifted from chaotic to manageable. Even navigating school medication schedules created unexpected social connections with other students taking similar treatments. When we accidentally missed a dose one morning and attempted homework, the stark contrast reminded us exactly why this intervention mattered so much.

As Alexandra enters her teenage years, our medication journey continues to evolve. We recently transitioned from a stimulant to a non-stimulant medication to address emerging anxiety symptoms—a change bringing its own set of challenges and adjustments. Through it all, Alexandra's perspective remains clear: "It wouldn't help me at all," she says when asked about stopping medication, recognizing how treatment enables her to function at her best despite the adjustments required.

Download our free comprehensive guide "ADHD Medication: The Top Things to Know When You're Considering It" at sendparenting.com/medication. Next week Alexandra returns to discuss another challenge affecting many with ADHD—sleep difficulties and how we've navigated that aspect of her neurodivergent journey.

www.sendparenting.com

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Send Parenting Podcast. I'm your neurodiverse host, dr Olivia Kessel, and, more importantly, I'm mother to my wonderfully neurodivergent daughter, alexandra, who really inspired this podcast. As a veteran in navigating the world of neurodiversity in a UK education system, I've uncovered a wealth of misinformation alongside many answers and solutions that were never taught to me in medical school or in any of the parenting handbooks. Each week on this podcast I will be bringing the experts to your ears to empower you on your parenting crusade. Welcome back to Alexandra Unmasked a teen's journey with ADHD. I'm Dr Olivia and this is part two of our special mini-series where my daughter Alexandra shares her real experience living with ADHD. Today's episode is all about ADHD medication, one of the biggest concerns parents have when navigating this journey. Alexandra talks honestly about her initial fears, what that first day and week was really like and how medication has actually impacted and improved her daily life.

Speaker 1:

Now I know medication can feel overwhelming to consider. Even as a medical doctor. I wasn't sure where to begin or was it going to be of value. I didn't really understand it. There's so much information out there and it's completely natural to have questions and concerns. But more knowledge and when you get into the research and you see the impact that ADHD medication can have, I think you'll start to feel more confident and more secure. I know that's what happened to me, so I wanted to provide you with a free, comprehensive guide from all the research that I did before I put Alexandra on medication. It's called ADHD medication the top things to know when you're considering it and this guide will cover the different types of medication classes, questions to ask your doctor and what to expect in those crucial first weeks.

Speaker 1:

You can download it right now. It's at sendparentingcom forward slash medication so my website and then forward slash medication. I'll repeat it one more time. So it's at S-E-N-D parentingcom forward slash medication. And if you can't remember that, don't worry, it's in the show notes and you can click on it there and I'll send it to you immediately. So, whether you're just beginning to consider medication or you're already on this journey and want to hear another family's honest experience, this episode is for you. Journey and want to hear another family's honest experience, this episode is for you. Alexandra's perspective might just give you or your child exactly what they need to hear, so let's dive in. So welcome back, alexandra. Thank you for agreeing to be on the second yeah, yeah, very exciting, because we're going to talk about something big today, aren't we?

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

ADHD medication.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, adhd medication and how to take a pill.

Speaker 1:

Yeah so. Can you remember back two years ago when mommy first suggested that you were going to be able to take a pill? What did you say to me?

Speaker 2:

what did you say to me? I can't take a pill. I don't know if, if I can do this, this is so hard. What if it gets stuck in the throat? Or what if it gets um? What if I chew it? What if blah, blah, blah.

Speaker 1:

So it was really difficult to yeah, just to even mentally think about taking the pill, isn't it so can you share with us what we did, like I think we were on a train back from London yeah, I think we'd been. Actually, we'd actually been to the cardiologist to check out, make sure everything was good with your heart, that you could go on to the medication, and so on the way back, we bought what. Did you tell the story?

Speaker 2:

We bought Tic Tacs and we we had the Tic Tacs and we put one in my mouth and then we grabbed a water and practiced swallowing it with water, because you found another person doing that technique. Yeah, I think it was someone on the same parenting podcast recommended it. Yeah, we tried it and now it's now I can take like um three pills at a time yeah, you're like a.

Speaker 1:

you're a professional pill taker now, aren't you? Yeah, so, other than just the swallowing of the pill, were you a bit nervous to go on a medication? Yeah, you're a professional pill taker now, aren't you? Yeah? So, other than just the swallowing of the pill, were you a bit nervous to go on a medication?

Speaker 2:

How did you feel about that? I felt kind of nervous and if it may have got stuck in my throat or if the medication was going to work, or how the medication would make me feel that was.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, those are very valid questions to have was going to work or how the medication would make me feel that was. Yeah, that's, that's a very valid, like uh, questions to have, because, yeah, we know how calpol works but, uh, that's about it, isn't it? That's the only kind of medication you've had, yeah, um, before. So you know you got over the swallowing of it and you know we, then we, you know you, you had your first pill and I remember we were on holiday in the lake district because we decided to do it in the summertime so that we had time to kind of get used to it without being in school. Yeah, I don't know if you remember, but I remember it was pretty bad.

Speaker 1:

Those first 10 days, like your emotions were all over the place and I honestly I thought I don't know if you know this, but I thought about stopping the medications because it was just really bad and we were on holiday with your grandfather and it was embarrassing, but you know he was really good. He said you guys have said that you're going to be on it, do it for six weeks and try it out, and what was really funny? Well, not funny, but when I talked to the clinical psychiatrist. He said oh, oftentimes children who go on adhd medication, they can have a period where they get worse before they get better. Do you remember that?

Speaker 2:

yeah, a little bit and that was difficult, but we got through it we did get through it now um yeah yeah, and so we got through it.

Speaker 1:

And then I guess how would you describe being on adhd medication? I think you used an example once when you went to the art painting class for Jeanette.

Speaker 2:

So without ADHD medication I would be really distracted. Looking at anything that would be like fountains running or the noise of paint splatter on the paper or anything would distract me. And then after the ADHD medication it didn't happen and even once we forgot to take it and we were doing homework and we really struggled.

Speaker 1:

It was like going back to Groundhog Day, because we'd been doing so well. I mean, the listeners don't know, because we told them last episode about how horrible horror stories of homework I mean after taking the ADHD medication just describe like did you need mommy to sit? Next to you.

Speaker 2:

No, just describe like did you need mommy to sit next to you? No, and even you and my granddad were playing backgammon and I was doing my homework all by myself.

Speaker 1:

So, yeah, I, I, I was just amazed, you know, like you could concentrate, and it was just night and day. And then I remember, that morning actually, that we forgot to take your medication. It was like like, oh my gosh, we're right back to square one. So what did we do?

Speaker 2:

We took the medication. We took our ADHD medication and it helped.

Speaker 1:

We gave it 30 minutes and then we went back to homework again and so with your medication that you were on, you were on methylphenidate, big name and you would take it twice a day. You'd take it once in the morning and then you would take it twice a day. You take it once in the morning and then you would take it at lunchtime. And we had to be kind of careful because we talked about yesterday about the difficult morning routine, so we actually wanted you to take it pretty early in the morning so it could help you with your morning routine, but then that could sometimes affect your appetite, couldn't it with?

Speaker 2:

breakfast. Yeah, like I would eat my breakfast really early because I would be really hungry when I woke up.

Speaker 1:

Then you could take the medication.

Speaker 2:

So I would have to eat all the food, then take the um ADHD medication and then get ready to start the day yeah, and it changed our mornings, didn't it?

Speaker 1:

yeah, yeah, we still, we still had our, our cues and stuff like that, but it really it made a huge difference and now you don't even need to take your medication. You're able to get ready in the morning, which is good. And then I guess it was challenging also because you have to take it at school, didn't you? How was it at school?

Speaker 2:

like having to go at lunchtime and take your medication yeah, at the beginning I could remember always forgetting to take to go to the office to take my pill and and then I kind of got used to it and even like different people and different kids in my school had ADHD and also took ADHD medication at that time. So then I kind of made friends from taking my ADHD pill. Yeah. From different classes, not even the same classes.

Speaker 1:

So there's a benefit there, huh. And then mommy would always forget on weekends. So I had to put an alarm on my phone, didn't I? For one o'clock? Yeah, for one o'clock, because also we didn't want to take the pill too late in the day, because then it can also affect you going to sleep at night so we couldn't take it after two.

Speaker 1:

yeah, that's right. So there's a little bit of organization there. And then you know you've been on the medication now for over two years and then also like last year, you know, I talked to the doctor about like emotional dysregulation and that that was, you know, the focusing, the concentration. All of that had really been fixed by the ADHD medication but you still kind of were getting a little bit emotionally dysregulated. So he recommended upping the dose a bit, which we did, and that really helped. The way you described it is instead of going into flash anger, you could kind of stop and think before things happened at school, kind of because sometimes I would just if it was a huge thing, I would sometimes just flash anger no, no, stopping.

Speaker 2:

But also my teachers would would help me stop and think about my emotions before I got to that red zone.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I think the medications kind of helped with that, which was great. So I mean, I think it's it's kind of key because every it's not like, oh, you just take a pill and just forget about it. It's changed over time with us and we've modified it. Now we've also had a big change this summer which so you're almost I think we mentioned it yesterday you're almost 14. And kind of getting a little bit more anxious and some anxiety, which is common in ADHD, right. So I talked to the clinical psychiatrist about it and we thought, well, maybe we should change you off of the stimulant, even though you were doing really well on it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

To see if maybe that's having an impact, and also because the second line, which is a non-stimulant called adamoxetine, can kind of help with anxiety a bit too. But you were a bit hesitant. You're like why would I want to change?

Speaker 2:

right yeah, because I was used to this and we were actually getting really good at this and now I have to change, which is hard and also, can you remember like it was? It was really hard, as a like, because we did it quite recently.

Speaker 1:

So we did it like we were actually in our fourth week now and the first week week was. I mean, you woke up, you thought you were ill, you were like super tired.

Speaker 2:

You were dizzy. Now, I remember the last time that I was. Well, this isn't yeah, it's just yeah. I was dizzy, I was tired and I was like Zonked. Yeah, and how much sleep I got didn't really matter, because I would still be still be because this one's a bit different.

Speaker 1:

So you take it in the evening. It can make you drowsy, and then you only take one pill in the evening and it would have different colors depending on each week, like this week. I think it's blue it's gonna stay blue, so going to stay blue. So we started you on a really low dose, thankfully, and then we increased it every week and now you're on a stable dose, and now it's. You know, I didn't know that it was on a stable dose.

Speaker 1:

Well, stable just means that now we're not going to increase it anymore. Now it's doing its trick. But what's nice is now we don't have to worry about taking that pill at lunchtime well, I was doing fine with that at school, but you were the one that wasn't doing it I was having challenges and now, now we've come to a good place with this one.

Speaker 1:

So and we'll see when you go back to school well, maybe yeah, and I, you know, I well, I'd be noticing like, because you, you get up, you're, you're making breakfast, you're finding recipes, you're cooking, you're, you know, you're baking and cooking are two different things.

Speaker 2:

Cooking is actually when you make a breakfast, lunch or dinner meal. Bacon is when you make like sweet things or um, savory, but sweet things.

Speaker 1:

Thank, you for that clarification. Like cookies, cupcakes, pizzas, cakes, pancakes and other stuff like that and what if I said to you we were going to stop all your medication? How would you feel about that?

Speaker 2:

It wouldn't help me at all, you wouldn't. Even though that I have to take this pill and it's just like another thing. It gets to be a part of the routine, Like we do this, we do that and then that's a part of the routine.

Speaker 1:

And you can really see the benefits.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Like. Would you want to do homework without your ADHD medication?

Speaker 2:

No, that would be really bad.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and you're about to go into GC.

Speaker 2:

Well, not, well, no, I have to pick it at the end of my year nine. So I'm going into year nine in September and at the end, like a couple weeks before the end of year nine, I have to pick a GC.

Speaker 1:

So, yeah, scary times, but it's great that you feel and I know a lot of your friends too have commented that it really makes a huge difference. Is there any advice you would give to any kids who are thinking about going on to it?

Speaker 2:

To practice first of all with Tic Tacs and to just see if you can swallow it. I have a friend that doesn't take ADHD medication but can't even swallow. Maybe Tic Tacs and Tic Tacs are small and that's what makes it easier. It's because they're really small and they're easy. Well, for me, they're easy. Well for me, they're easy to swallow and it and it teaches your brain to be like you can even grab a drink of water and swallow it with. And I remember when you were, when I was first taking pills, you told a story about your first taking pills with water and stuff like that yeah, mommy threw water all over her face.

Speaker 1:

That was very bad, but you know, for kids that can't get over it there is a liquid form, but you really thought you couldn't and you did it, so it's like you can do it. And any advice to moms out there who might be nervous about putting their kid on? I hear from a lot of moms like oh, I don't want to put my kid onto a medicine.

Speaker 2:

What would you say to them?

Speaker 1:

it. It does actually help. Has the pill made a big difference in your life? Like if would you say to that mom you know, if your kid has ADHD, would you?

Speaker 2:

the ADHD medication helps with concentration and being able to do things being able to do things much more much easier much easier, yeah, because I think some parents worry about that.

Speaker 1:

I think I thought about it too, but it's been amazing to me to see what it's enabled you to do, so I think we need to take some of that fear away from it as well. So, thank you, alexandra, excuse me, and you know, next week you know you're yawning here, so that's a perfect introduction to what we're going to be talking about next week, because another thing that's been really challenging has been sleep, hasn't it?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I can't even go to sleepovers, overnights and stuff like that, but when I had the melatonin, that really helped me. And that really helped me because I actually got to staying away for five nights by myself.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so a remarkable thing, and we'll talk about that in more detail next week. But you know, what's amazing is I didn't even know that difficulty sleeping was part of ADHD. Like I thought, why does my child struggle every night to go to sleep and stay asleep? And then I realized it was part of ADHD, and so did you. So I look forward to talking to you tomorrow about, or next week actually about, sleep and how we've kind of navigated that.

Speaker 2:

So thank you, alexandra, thank you Bye.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening. Sem Parenting Tribe. If you're considering medication for your child, or if they're scared like Alexandra was, I hope today's episode gave you some real insight from a child's point of view. Sometimes hearing directly from someone who's been through it can make all the difference. Don't forget to grab your free copy of ADHD medication the top things to know when you're considering it at S E N D parentingcom forward slash medication. It's packed with practical information that'll help you navigate these conversations with your doctor and your child Everything from different types of medications to what those first few weeks might look like. Next time.

Speaker 1:

On Alexandra Unmasked, we're diving into something that affects so many children with ADHD sleep, From anxious thoughts and midnight wake-ups to finding what actually works. Alexandra will share what bedtime used to be like a nightmare and how things slowly started to get better. Sleep can be one of the hardest challenges for families and, honestly, one of the most misunderstood. I didn't realize the connection with ADHD and when you haven't slept well and have disrupted sleep, and, honestly, one of the most misunderstood. I didn't realize the connection with ADHD and, when you haven't slept well and have disrupted sleep, how much it impacts the challenges and symptoms of ADHD the next day. So if you're dealing with bedtime battles or endless wake-ups, you don't want to miss part three. Thank you for listening and I'll see you next week. You, you.