![]() Not all kids would have unpleasant side effects if they stopped quickly, Dr. But antidepressants, anti-anxiety medication and anti-psychotic medications are designed to accumulate in order to maintain a desirable level in the brain, and those should be reduced gradually. The child is essentially off the medication when he gets out of bed each morning. Stimulant medications for ADHD, for instance, leave the child’s body overnight, explains Dr. There are some exceptions to the go-slow rule-medications that are so fast-acting that they leave your child’s system within hours, rather than building up in the brain to produce the therapeutic effect. “So even if there are no known withdrawal symptoms associated with a particular medication, it’s usually not a good idea to stop abruptly.” “The brain doesn’t like to be pushed or pulled any direction quickly,” observes Ron Steingard, MD, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Child Mind Institute. If you move too abruptly, it can cause unpleasant or confusing side effects. This does not mean that your child is addicted to the medication, but that the brain has become used to a stable level of medication and needs time to adjust gradually to functioning without it. With most psychoactive medications it’s important to taper off gradually rather than stopping quickly. When you’re considering medication for a child with emotional or behavioral problems, how you start is very important. Also explain why you think it makes sense to stop and check in about how they’re feeling as they wean off. Make sure they’ve been taking it as they’re supposed to before you stop, since kids sometimes forget to take their meds. Talk to your child about stopping medication, too. Vacations are not a good time because they’re breaks in routine. ![]() It’s best to stop medication when other things in your kid’s life are stable. Talk to the doctor about side effects to look out for and how to tell if your child is getting better. Your child’s doctor can help you figure out when and how to take your child off medication. Or if your child is having a very hard time, a doctor might take them off all their meds to make sure that the meds aren’t causing the problems. In that case, your doctor might take them off it to try something else. A doctor can slowly lower the amount the child takes and see how they do.Īnother reason to stop is if your child has taken the medication for a while and isn’t getting better. Or, their symptoms may have improved so much that they might not need meds anymore. They might have grown out of the problem the medicine was treating. There are a few reasons it might make sense to take a child off medication. These medications leave the child’s body quickly, so it’s okay to stop taking them all at once. The exception is stimulant medication for ADHD, like Adderall and Ritalin. ![]() Stopping quickly can sometimes lead to unpleasant side effects. The most important things when taking a child off medication are to go slow and follow your doctor’s advice.
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