The slippery slope of medicating my kids

My boys are not in any physical pain. They are not bleeding, their organs aren't failing, they have no broken bones. They very rarely get colds or flu. But this afternoon, I'm visiting another medical professional seeking more drugs for one of my sons.


I started motherhood with the idea of being as natural as possible. I get a lot of headaches and didn't want my kids turning into their pill-popping mother.  I failed at this miserably.  Natural gave way to man-made, synthetic and then prescribed and beyond.

I breast fed until Anthony refused to drink. Breast milk turned to formula when he was losing weight and we ended up feeding baby Anthony formula with a teaspoon. It took hours.

I looked at disposable nappies but Anthony cried at all the types I tried. We went with all natural things to help with the boys sensitivity to touch, then went with the manufactured versions because they worked better. We try to feed David fresh food... but after he doesn't eat for several days and is crying whilst trying to get into the fridge, he has blasted chicken nuggets.  The list of failures goes on and on. Although most of this is related to the boys having autism, it is like many other neuro conditions in that it doesn't require medication.  There isn't a 'cure' and therapies are about helping them develop the skills they needed to function in society.

And most kids have probably had some form of fever reducer or pain relief as they grow up right?  I don't think twice about giving their younger sister something when she is ill. But I remember very well the circumstance that led to me playing my first 'autism card', our first seeking medication for one of the boys that had nothing to do with any pain... at worst it could be perceived as being for convenience.

We I was extremely nervous about taking David on a long haul flight. We spoke to our GP and they prescribed us some heavy antihistamines that would make David drowsy and therefore, hopefully more calm.  It seemed to work.

A while later, after we had tried everything we could to get David to sleep more than a few hours at a stretch, we sought a prescription for a drug, melatonin this time. We have upped his dose twice since then.  We now import patches as it's a real problem trying to get a five year old boy who has no concept of what's going on to take the daft pills that they prescribe to us in the UK.

Then, just before last Christmas, Anthony was diagnosed with ADHD.  Most of the 'natural' therapy for ADHD is the same as is used to help him with autism. This meant that the wonderful pile of papers we received from the neuro-specialist who diagnosed Anthony's ADHD was a list of things we'd either tried and rejected, or mostly were just doing anyway as a matter of course. Ultimately it meant the only thing left to help Anthony was... yep... medication.

As this conclusion dawned on my husband and I whilst reading the specialist report, we looked over at Anthony. Could we get away without medicating him?

Sure, he was skipping around the kitchen like a lunatic and you really don't have any idea about kids climbing the walls until you've seen one with ADHD.  He wasn't in any pain or hurting anyone right? But that night in bed, when he was wriggling around doing a pretty good impression of Lord of the Dance because he couldn't lie still, I knew. "I'm very tired mummy, but I'm just not very good at going to sleep." Bless him, it's his brother in the other room with the melatonin drugs that's got those problems. Anthony couldn't sleep because he couldn't stop moving or concentrate on staying still long enough to drop off.  In the days that followed where it took him 15 minutes to put on shoes because 'I keep forgetting and can't stop jumping' it became more obvious.

I resigned myself to the fact that I'd be making another appointment to ask for medication to help one of my boys and today's the day. I feel like I'm turning into some sort of dispensary.

About a month ago Anthony was also diagnosed with anxiety, will I be here again in a few months?  I'll wonder all over again if medication is the right thing in the next situation. But it's a slippery slope, and I can't help feeling that each time we consider if another drug is the answer, it gets easier to swallow.

Links
Our blog - The miracle of light through a curtain, autism and sleep
Our blog - Are my children in need of someone better?


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