Skip to main content

The decision to give our 4 year old meds


When we got Nathan's diagnosis in July of 2018, it was a lot to process. We knew he had something going on with him and had our suspicions for a long time, but it still cut deep to hear the official diagnosis.

Dom and I said we will do everything we can to help, but with a cliche thought and lack of understanding, we were both adamant about not "drugging our child."

Fast forward to 2020 we had to do something. When you watch your poor 4 year old deal with so much anxiety about day-to-day living, it breaks your heart.

Nathan's anxiety comes in the forms of not sleeping - waking up at 2:00 am and not going back to sleep. 

His anxiety is shown through melt downs that cannot be consoled.

His anxiety comes in the form of having something in his head, that he can't communicate, and being stuck on it for hours and sometimes days. 

Anxiety for Nathan is moving every picture that is not attached to a wall to different rooms in the house, literally all day long.


Nathan's anxiety is not being able to focus at all.

With that being said after lots of research, reaching out to my autism groups, and talking to his amazing doctor, we decided to start meds.

Best decision we ever made! 

In March 2020 Nathan started his first med. It made him tired, it made him calm, it made his focus so much better. 

Meds are a never ending battle. You have to try until they work. But we have found 2 that work for him right now. We don't know how long he will need them, if we will need to change them, but for now these meds have made Nathan's life better, his brain more calm, and for that we are thankful for the decision.

I know meds are a touchy subject for some, but until you see the anxiety and hurt forming in your sweet child, you won't know the desire for a fix. I know I had a bad stigma about them at first.




Comments

  1. Heather, this is wonderful. I know how helpful it is to write your feelings and share with others which helps in the healing process. You are helping others by doing this as well. So proud of you and your family.
    Don't worry about what some might think of meds. You need to do what you feel is best for Nathan and you took your time to make that decision. Remember, some people think they are wonderful, others have different experiences but no two people have the same DNA. No two people react the same or have the exact same solution.
    Bless you and your family. You and Dom are wonderful parents.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

You can never be too young to advocate for autism

I usually post a picture of our family wearing shirts to promote world autism day. This year we didn't get the chance to do that. But we promote and advocate autism all year long.   This picture represents how our whole family knows autism, we live with autism and we work hard to make sure that Nathan knows he's more than just autism. See when we were about to have Nathan's little sister, Chayse, I was a nervous wreck. I was so worried that Nathan wouldn't adapt to her. That he wouldn't pay attention to her. Boy was I wrong. From day one he loved her. He wanted her near him all of the time. He made sure we never left home without her. He was her big brother. Now that Chayse is 3 years old she has surpassed Nathan in a few things. She can talk in full sentences. She can use the potty. She makes friends. But the one thing she does best is helping her big brother. She gets concerned when he's having a hard time. She goes to him and wants to help fix his "boo b...

Nothing Comes Easy

Nathan got a "big boy" bike for Christmas.  He's five so it seemed fitting. But  in our world age doesn't mean anything.   He's five and just got potty trained a few months ago.  He's five and still can't talk. He's five and is still learning how to dress himself. So being five really doesn't matter. He was outside today on his bike. He loves it. He gets on it like a big boy and tries so hard, but he can't ride it. He doesn't understand the concept of pedaling. So his dad pushes him along pushing his feet as they go. I stood in the window watching with tears in my eyes.  On one hand they are tears of utter joy that my son is out there trying to ride his bike. But...on the other hand my tears are of such sadness that everything he does is so extra hard for him.  It tears me apart. I know he will get it. I know he won't give up...we won't give up. We will celebrate the milestone extra hard when he's riding a long all on his own. A...

Autism Changed our Marriage

"Your son has autism."  These words were a sledgehammer to my chest.  These were the words that changed our lives. These were the words that changed our marriage. Neither one of us wanted to accept it. We didn't want our son to have a lifelong struggle. We wanted his life to be as easy as we were able to help make it.  Dom didn't want to accept it at first. He didn't want to believe that anything could be wrong. He wanted to keep believing that Nathan would be fine. I on the other hand dove into the dreaded INTERNET. This was the worst thing that I could do to myself. I would read the worst of the worst about autism and cause myself such anxiety and stress. I would cry all day long. Dom didn't want to hear any of it. He would get so angry that I would "intentionally" make myself cry.  I began keeping what I would find to myself. I felt like I couldn't talk to him about it.  With Autism comes anxiety. Nathan's anxiety would increase.  He would...