Ritalin works so well, we have become complacent. John is eating more carbohydrates overall, and more corn and wheat (with their oligosaccharides). You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?
These drugs were totally ineffective, or should I say inadequate, when John ate a typical western diet, so we're not surprised when he begins to escalate. We get a call from school one morning asking if we remembered his medication, as John bounces around the classroom. We reply in the affirmative, and his teacher is a bit surprised. Fortunately John straightens himself up and has a good day, but this is the beginning of a downwardl spiral. By the end of the week he is in time-out, a place he hasn't been since December. His teacher calls again. He is quite concerned, as he should be. John has not had a good week at school. The teacher also makes his recommendation. Now pause for a moment and try to predict - what did the teacher suggest?
"I think you need to increase his medication. You said he was on a low dose. I don't think it's working any more."
Give me a break!
I wanted to tell him about John's diet, about the carbohydrate connection. I wanted to tell him we expected this, that his (recent) bad behavior was no surprise to us, and we'd try to get him back on track right away. I wanted to explain it all, but I decided it was pointless, like telling him I was going to pray to Zeus. So I told him I'd call the doctor and see what we could do about increasing John's meds. Of course I will do no such thing. The dose is fine, and I won't overmedicate my son. We simply need to return to the diet that works, the diet we've spend four years sculpting, by hand, out of the hardest marble.