4 reasons your child might be a good candidate for a nonstimulant ADHD medication:
4 reasons your child might not be a good candidate for nonstimulant medication:
Your child’s condition hasn’t improved with stimulant medications.
Your child has experienced problematic side effects from stimulants that you’d like to avoid, if possible, such as tics, nervousness, or trouble sleeping.
Your child is at risk of addiction or substance abuse with stimulants.
Your child is going through a growth spurt, and you’d like to remove any potential slowing of growth that can occur with stimulant medications.
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Your child has just been diagnosed with ADHD and hasn’t yet tried a stimulant medication.
A stimulant medication is working. Even if side effects are problematic, adjusting the dosage may make a big difference and could be tried before switching to a nonstimulant.
Your child experiences fatigue or major mood swings.
Your child has other conditions — doctors sometimes call these “comorbidities” — that make nonstimulant ADHD medications risky to try, such as severe heart disease or narrow angle glaucoma, which dangerously increases eye pressure.
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