I was diagnosed with ADHD around age 12 in early school. For about 10 years, I was on a lot of stimulant medication; Vyvanse, Adderall, Concerta, and tried many others. Only in the last couple years did I stop entirely. You get used to the sleep impairment after a while. It affected my ability to socialize. I was making excuses for my behavior and largely, I could summarize it as "feeling like a zombie, entirely reliant on a pill." My opinion on it now is that it can help you, but now I prefer to be in my default mode, unencumbered by meds.
The effects of stimulants is an upside down parabola. Too much and you actually get worse. However they always make it easier to sit with stuff like homework, so it makes parenting easier even when their kid don't need it and the medication actually hurts the kid. Therefore I think it is wrong to medicate a kid before they are mature enough to make their own decisions about medication.
I do know that medication helped me a lot, I got diagnosed as an adult though. I don't think I would have liked it if I was diagnosed as a kid and got pills with ever increasing dosage forced on me just so I would stay quiet in class.
