Struggling in the “No Med” Zone

It is New Year’s Eve morning at an ungodly hour. I am up this early not because I really want to bask in the pre-dawn glow of the Christmas tree lights while sipping green tea – but rather to revel in my peaceful solitude while I can… because – just like for Robert Shaw on the fishing boat in “Jaws” – any minute now it will be attacked and chomped away by a giant, lurching beast.

 

My un-medicated 13 year-old son.

 

“Jaws”, as I will refer to him for this blog anyway, sports an unpleasant and impossible-to-fully-medicate smorgasbord of disorders – ADHD, OCD, ODD and Tourette’s.

 

Plus a side order of hormones.

 

It was incredibly hard for me to go down the pharmaceutical path with little Jaws. I was determined to treat him naturally. I didn’t want him to lose his “spirit” – no matter how challenging he became. I also feared the havoc the drugs might wreak on his liver. I felt like I would be doing it less for him and more to make things easier for me.

 

But finally I realized that things weren’t easy for him either.

 

So, like I do with many pursuits in my life – I pulled an ideological flip-flop that would blow even Mitt Romney away and threw myself full force into the quest for the med miracle.

 

Of course, nothing with these kids is easy. And after consulting with many top child psychiatrists in Chicago, we found out that Jaws’ cocktail of disorders was extremely hard to treat. A drug that would control one problem would always open a Pandora’s box of another.

 

I had that deflated feeling you get when you finally decide you are going to spring for those really expensive kick-ass boots at Nordstrom and you rush back right before you’re going to a party only to find they are out of stock. Forever.

 

Of course, a child’s welfare and future are SO much more important than designer footwear, but you get the idea.

 

Anyway, currently we are back to Concerta only – which is mainly to treat the ADHD – and his out-of-control impulsivity. Concerta is a stimulant and one of drugs you can skip without repercussion (medically, that is). So during this holiday break, I have been giving Jaws a break.

 

Which is basically like living with the love child of Pee Wee Herman and the guy from Radiohead. On crack. And hormones.

 

Let me tell you, giving Jaws this medicinal leave of absence is hardly a vacation for the rest of us. And – ironically – decreasing the abuse on his liver has certainly taken a toll on mine. But, hey, this is what we do for our kids, right?

 

Yikes. I think I hear him stirring.

 

We’re gonna need a bigger boat.