Proceed With Caution: 10 Things You Should Consider Before Stopping Your ADHD Meds

If you've been taking your ADHD medicine for a while, you may wonder if you still need it. ADHD symptoms can change over time as well. You may have learned coping skills that will allow you to function efficiently without your medicine. Sometimes, the only way to know if you still need your medicine is to stop taking it. 

Are you thinking about quitting because your medicine isn't working as well as before? Once you stop taking your meds, you may find that your symptoms return, since they were partially relieved while you were on the medicine. This is called partial treatment, and it can mean you need a higher dose. Your medicine may have been working, but not to a sufficient extent. 

Some possible side effects of some ADHD medications include irritability, anxiety, social withdrawal, poor eating, insomnia, tics, or obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Discontinuing your medicine can help you determine if these symptoms are side effects of your medicine or related to another condition. 

Depending on what type of medicine you're taking, you may need to taper off it instead of stopping the treatment abruptly. Talk to your provider before you stop taking your medicine. If you're taking stimulants, you can usually stop them cold turkey after getting the go-ahead from your doctor. Non-stimulant medication, though, will need to be discontinued gradually to avoid rebound side effects. 

While there aren't usually risks associated with stopping stimulant medicines, you should still talk to your doctor about it. You should also talk to your doctor about how to safely stop if you're using other types of medicines to treat your ADHD and if there are any risks of side effects.

Sometimes, the answer is trying a different medicine. If your medicine isn't helping your ADHD symptoms, talk to your doctor about trying a different medicine. Make sure you've given the medicine a fair trial and followed your doctor's advice before you stop taking any medications.

It's a good idea to wait until things in your life are stable before you decide to make any medication changes. If you're undergoing any major changes in your life, on the other hand, you may want to wait until things calm down. If you stop medicating during your normal routine, you'll be able to accurately assess how stopping your medicine is affecting you without worrying about confounding variables.

If you're still having symptoms of ADHD, discontinuing your medication could make them worse. If you're still experiencing symptoms after you stop, try to assess whether your symptoms get worse or better or aren't affected at all. You and your doctor can then decide what steps to take next. 

If you're taking more than one medicine to treat your ADHD, you should only stop taking one at a time. If you want to come off of all your medicines, talk to your doctor about which medicine you should stop taking first and how you should go about it.

Before you stop your medicine, have a plan for how you'll evaluate your progress. You can use a scale to rate your symptoms before you stop taking the medicine and then use that to evaluate your condition after you stop. This assessment will give you data about how effective the medicine was. You can also keep track of your side effects before and after stopping the medicine. Having a baseline will help you and your doctor decide on the best course of treatment going forward.