Summer break is fast approaching. What are you going to do with your medications this year? This is a guide to help you make the decision about whether you (or your child) should go off medication for summer break. The key to making a good decision about medication is weighing the risks and benefits of treatment with medication during the time when you are planning on possibly taking a break.
What are the benefits of taking a break?
You can decide whether you have developed the necessary coping skills, or have adequate relief from other methods of treatment, to go without medication.
You don't have to deal with side effects like reduced appetite and insomnia, or wide swings of emotion from coming on and off medication. For some patients, summer is a time to get weight back on that was lost during the year.
You don't have to visit the doctor or pharmacy so often, or be at home when medication is delivered. These can all be hassles when summer vacation is in play.
Being off medication may allow you (or your child) to appreciate ADHD. This isn't for everyone, but some people do like some aspects of ADHD and find medication at best a necessary evil. Yes, you might forget some things and never finish others, but you may also explore areas you would probably not have thought of off of medication.
What are the risks of taking a break?
You may not have the necessary concentration or focus to do what you are supposed to be doing during summer break. Just because you are out of school does not mean you do not have to focus on camp, a summer job, or summer classes. It's especially important for a person with ADHD who is learning how to drive to take their medication during the learning process, as this requires extra focus and could result in a serious accident if a person isn't paying attention.
The person watching your child off medication may not be equipped to deal with a child with full blown ADHD. This is especially true if your child is in a summer camp primarily staffed with teens and college students, or if the adult you have engaged is not experienced with children with special needs. Combining an unfamiliar environment with unmedicated ADHD could result in meltdowns.
If you will be traveling, changes, transitions, and loss of routine and sleep can all make it hard for a person with ADHD to engage coping mechanisms. Removing medication from vacation time may not really be much of a break if the person has to deal with other stresses during that time.
Some medications are more easily stopped than others. If you take a stimulant it is easy to take your medication only when you need it. But if you take a nonstimulant, it may take several weeks for it to wear off and then several more weeks to get back on again, leaving not much actual break time.
In the end, whether you take a summer break from medication is mostly a personal decision. In today's busy world, many parents are opting to keep their children on medication for the summer, but some still are giving breaks.
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