Our Experience When Our Son Stopped Taking His ADHD Medication

I don’t want any one to get the wrong idea about the title of this article. If you have been following my blog and you have read some of the articles about ADHD then you know that my husband and I decided to put our son on medication when he was diagnosed with ADHD.

Also keep in mind that I am not a doctor and this is just our personal decision. Please consult your doctor if you have any questions about taking your child off their medication.

My son has been on medication for his ADHD for about ten years. I believe strongly that it helped him with his focus and attention, especially during school. This article is about WHY our son made the decision to stop taking his medication and what that experience was like for our family. This isn’t an article on not having your child on medication.

The Journey Begins

Let’s begin! The number one reason he stopped taking his medication was because he wants to be a pilot. That is his dream. He did the research on his own and discovered that being on ADHD medication can create barriers to becoming a pilot.

When he discovered this restriction, he didn’t tell us right away. He had started to work himself off the medication gradually. Over a period of a month or two, he came off of it fully. We found out later as he began talking to us about his dream of becoming a pilot. When we learned this was his reason for stopping, we were supportive of his decision.

Now, this wasn’t completely new territory for us. He had always been encouraged by his doctor that if he didn’t feel like he needed to take it, like on weekends and such, he didn’t need to. And as parents, we had always encouraged him to decide that for yourself. There would be times he would be like “I don’t need to take it,” and would then take it on test days and such in school. By senior year, him managing his own medication wasn’t new. He’d been making those day-to-day decisions for a while.

The transition happened naturally. There wasn’t one specific conversation where he announced he was stopping. Instead, we had a gradual realization that he was doing it, and then we discussed with him if he was comfortable with it. Once he committed to wanting to become a pilot, it was a full stop. He didn’t take it strategically for tests anymore or anything like that.

I should mention that our doctor had always been supportive of what Damian wanted to do. When we put him on medication, his doctor at the time said it was likely that he would come off of it as he matured, but also may not. The doctor was already aware of his off-and-on taking, the weekends, the summers, so when he stopped taking it completely, it wasn’t a surprise. I’d always recommend keeping the doctor informed like we did, but in our case, there wasn’t a need for a formal consultation about stopping because the doctor had been in the loop all along.

About His Medication

This was our experience with him stopping his medication. I am not sure how other medications work but our son was on a slow release medication so he only took it once in the morning. He would take it before school and it would wear off around 6:00 at night. It worked for about 11-12 hours a day when he would take it.

Sometimes he wouldn’t take it on the weekends. He either forgot to take it or we chose to have him not take it. If we weren’t doing anything that he needed to have focus and attention for, then we didn’t feel like he needed it. Also, most of the summer he didn’t take it either. He would only take it occasionally for the three months he was out of school.

Since there were times that he stopped taking his medication, we already had an idea of how he was going to react when he stopped it all together. I should have also mentioned earlier that my son has ADHD sub-type inattentive. That means that he would have a hard time focusing and paying attention. He doesn’t have the hyperactive sub-type so we never experienced him being super hyper.

Senior Year Without Medication

At the beginning of his senior year of high school is when he stopped taking it completely. I was a little worried about how the year was going to go academically for him. I am not going to say that he did perfect at school because that is not the case. He still struggled with paying attention and focusing at times, and he struggled with getting his assignments done on time and actually turning them in.

As parents, we’ve always been involved in his education. We’ve always just helped him be aware of his homework and helping make sure he’s getting it done. That level of involvement didn’t really change when he stopped his medication, we just kept doing what we’d always done.

Overall though, he actually still did fantastic at school without his medication. He finished his school year passing all of his classes and maintained a 3.4-3.7 GPA (Grade Point Average). I was really proud of how well he did.

Work and Driving

He also started a job at a local deli. I was concerned about him forgetting a lot of things at work but there hasn’t been any problems with him not taking his medication and working. The deli job has a pretty set routine and structure, and he’s just naturally remembering what he needs to do. He doesn’t do anything differently than he would normally do. No special systems or reminders needed.

The last concern I had was with him driving. When you drive you need to have full focus and attention. You must pay attention to everything that is around you. He was always a good driver but this still concerned me. He’s always been a cautious driver and is super attentive when driving to what is going on around him. Him not being on his medication has not been a problem for his driving at all.

The Unexpected Change

When he stopped taking his medication I didn’t notice any side effects at first. There wasn’t anything different about his behavior. He just seemed like the same person to me. There was not some grand difference to me when he completely stopped his medication.

But fairly soon after he stopped, family members started making comments that he was more talkative. At home he would always talk to us. In social situations he would be more quiet and keep to himself. I didn’t notice anything different at first. After multiple people started commenting on him being a part of the conversation I started paying attention. Sure enough, he was more talkative at family gatherings.

This was so fantastic to me. The family was starting to see the person that we as parents have always seen. He has learned to be a little more social and has grown so much in the last year.

Looking back, I felt like the medication took the edge off his personality and he became more subdued. Without the medication, his personality really was allowed to surface. Is it because he stopped taking his medication or is it because he was getting older? I can’t answer that question with certainty, but all I know is it all started happening when he stopped taking his medication.

Learning to Adapt

He has had to learn to adapt differently to things that he would do automatically when he was medicated. He basically has had to adjust to being without medication in his life. He is learning how to live with his ADHD on a daily basis and he has done very well with that.

This has been our experience with our son deciding to stop his medication. Every single child is different. No one will have the same experience that we had but hopefully this article can give some guidance on what it might look like when your child stops their medication.

There is no perfect answer on what to do with your ADHD child and their medication. Do the best thing for you and your child. I would love to hear your experience of having your child come off their medication. Please leave a comment!