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Can My Child Start Chiropractic Care While on Medications?

Episode 52 — Experience Miracles Podcast | Host: Dr. Tony Ebel, DC, CACCP — Pediatric Chiropractor & Founder of PX Docs | Published: November 15, 2024 | Duration: 43 min

Key Takeaways

• Children do not need to stop medications before starting Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care. Chiropractic care can begin immediately, even while a child is on ADHD medications, seizure medications, or other pharmaceutical interventions.
• Medications can be life-saving in acute situations — Dr. Tony Ebel’s son Oliver survived a severe hypoxic brainstem injury thanks to emergency medical intervention — but long-term pharmaceutical use creates a neurophysiological roadblock that can prevent full healing.
• Over time, the body develops drug tolerance through three mechanisms: pharmacokinetic tolerance (faster drug metabolism), pharmacodynamic tolerance (receptor down-regulation), and physiological adaptation (counter-adaptation that generates so-called “side effects”).
• There is a predictable “fork in the road” in every care plan where neurological improvement plateaus if medications remain in the system — Dr. Tony identifies this juncture using INSiGHT Scans and neurological soft signs like improved sleep, digestion, and sensory motor function.
• When families work with their medical team to taper medications, increasing chiropractic adjustment frequency directly supports the withdrawal process by reducing the physiological stress load on the nervous system.

Can Kids on Medications Still Heal Through Chiropractic Care?

Yes — children on medications can absolutely begin Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care without stopping their prescriptions first. The nervous system can begin healing even in the presence of pharmaceutical intervention, and starting chiropractic care immediately is both safe and beneficial. The more nuanced question is not whether to start, but how to understand where medications fit within a long-term healing plan.

Dr. Tony Ebel frames medications across three realities parents must weigh: they can be genuinely life-saving when used appropriately in acute situations; they come with short- and long-term direct effects on the body’s physiology; and over time, they can interfere with the natural neurological restoration that chiropractic care is working to create. None of these realities require a child to be medication-free before starting care — but understanding all three helps parents make informed decisions as healing progresses.

The critical moment in any care plan is what Dr. Tony calls the fork in the road — a point, typically after neurological function has begun to measurably restore through adjustments, where a medication can become the ceiling. At this juncture, a child’s nervous system can only heal so far when an outside chemical is continuously re-entering a system that is simultaneously trying to self-regulate. Parents who want to eventually reach a drug-free outcome need to first build the neurophysiological foundation that makes that transition possible — and chiropractic care is precisely what builds that foundation.

Why Medications and Chiropractic Can Coexist at the Start [00:00:00 – 08:30]

Dr. Tony Ebel: The question comes in multiple times a week across the PX Docs platform and in his clinical practice: “Can I combine my son’s ADHD medicine with your care, or is it better to have him clean first?”

The short answer is no — you do not need to wait. Change nothing when starting chiropractic care, especially in the initial phases. If multiple variables change simultaneously and outcomes improve, there is no way to know which change drove the result. Conversely, if something goes sideways, there is no way to identify what to pull back. Starting chiropractic care as a single added variable gives both the family and the provider the clearest possible picture of what the nervous system is doing.

One important framing note: this episode is not limited to ADHD medications. It applies equally to seizure medications, anxiety medications, medications for chronic illness, and any pharmaceutical intervention for neurological or developmental conditions in children.

“You do not need to wait to start chiropractic care until after your kiddo is clean or off medications. In fact, if getting to a drug-free outcome is your goal, you need to first restore neurophysiological function — and that’s exactly what we’re here to do.”

The Three Questions Every Parent Should Ask About Their Child’s Medication [00:08:30 – 19:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: Before getting into the neuroscience, he walks parents through three questions that form the foundation of any medication decision.

Question 1: Is the medication working? Not just technically — but in a net cost-benefit sense. Is the medication delivering direct, meaningful improvement in the child’s quality of life? This answer has to come from the parent and from careful observation, not from an assumption that a prescription equals a solution.

Question 2: What are the short and long-term side effects? ADHD medications commonly cause appetite suppression and significant digestive disruption. Antibiotics compromise the gut microbiome and weaken the gut-brain connection. Seizure medications — including Keppra and phenobarbital — carry documented risks of long-term cognitive and neurodevelopmental delays, as well as behavioral effects including what is clinically known as Keppra rage. Parents cannot make a fully informed decision without accounting for both what is happening now and what the research shows about long-term use.

Question 3: Will the medical team support safe medication changes? If a family reaches a point where tapering or discontinuing a medication makes clinical sense, will the prescribing physician, neurologist, or psychiatrist work with them to do it safely? If not, that is not a final answer — it is a signal to seek a second or third opinion from a more integrative provider.

“Your child, your family’s health. Every doctor — no matter their initials, their experience, or what they recommend — works for you. They work best for you when they work with you in an empowered, informed, open communication partnership.”

Oliver’s Story: When Emergency Medicine and Root Cause Healing Work Together [00:12:00 – 19:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: His son Oliver was born with a severe hypoxic brain injury, physical injury to the brainstem, PPHN (persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn), cardiopulmonary failure requiring heart-lung bypass surgery (ECMO), and active seizures from birth. The MRI and EEG findings confirmed significant brain damage.

For the first two weeks, the medical team deployed phenobarbital and other medications to stop the seizures and stabilize Oliver’s body. Without those interventions, he would not have survived. Dr. Tony is unequivocal about this: you cannot heal, and you cannot thrive, until you can survive. Emergency medicine saved his son’s life, and that is not in dispute.

What followed was a different question entirely. The medical team recommended keeping Oliver on phenobarbital for two years and adding Keppra for three years. When Dr. Tony asked why — and what neurophysiological data supported those specific timeframes — no one could provide a clear answer. Knowing the documented long-term cognitive consequences of both medications, and knowing that Oliver needed the best possible neurological environment to develop and recover, he and his wife pushed hard to move Oliver off medications as quickly as the medical team would support.

Oliver did have two withdrawal seizures during the taper. On those days, Dr. Tony adjusted him three to four times instead of the typical one to two times. The increased adjustment frequency was the clinical strategy for supporting the nervous system through the added physiological stress of withdrawal.

The Fork in the Road: When Medications Become a Healing Ceiling [00:23:00 – 29:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: There is a predictable juncture in every care plan that he trains PX Docs practitioners to watch for and proactively communicate to families.

In the early phases of care, chiropractic adjustments begin restoring neurophysiological function. The evidence shows up first in what are called neurological soft signs: a child sleeps better, digestion improves, immune resilience increases, gross motor coordination improves, sensory processing becomes more regulated. INSiGHT Scans provide objective, measurable confirmation of what the family is observing at home.

At some point in this progression, improvement plateaus. The nervous system reaches a ceiling it cannot move through while an external chemical is being reintroduced every single day. The body is simultaneously trying to self-regulate and being chemically overridden. This is the fork in the road — and it shows up in both the scan data and in the clinical picture.

This is the moment for the “knee to knee” conversation between the PX Docs provider and the family. Not a recommendation to change medications — that is outside the scope of chiropractic practice — but a full explanation of the neurophysiological science, the clinical data showing where the child’s nervous system stands, and a clear handoff to the medical team for the conversation about what changes might be appropriate.

“There’s only so far that the neurophysiological system can heal on its own when there is an outside chemical medication continuing to come in each and every day getting in the way.”

The Science of Drug Tolerance: Why Medications Lose Effectiveness Over Time [00:29:00 – 40:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: This section addresses why medications that may provide initial symptomatic benefit tend to become less effective over time — and why so-called “side effects” often worsen in parallel.

Pharmacokinetic tolerance occurs when the body becomes more efficient at metabolizing and eliminating the drug. The liver enzymes and other metabolic processes ramp up in response to the daily chemical load, which means the same dosage produces a diminishing effect. For families whose children have been on medications for any significant period, Dr. Tony strongly recommends that liver enzyme and kidney function be monitored, because many neurological medications create substantial metabolic strain on both organ systems.

Pharmacodynamic tolerance is receptor-level adaptation. When a drug continuously stimulates specific receptors, the body responds by reducing either the number of those receptors or their responsiveness — a process called down-regulation. The drug becomes progressively less effective not because the dose is wrong but because the target has changed. This mechanism operates across virtually all pharmaceutical classes, not just pediatric neurological medications.

Physiological adaptation is the body’s counter-response. When the nervous system senses a chemical forcing a particular outcome, it may generate an opposing physiological response to re-establish homeostasis. The direct effects of that counter-response are what the pharmaceutical industry calls “side effects.” Dr. Tony is direct about this framing: they are not side effects. They are direct effects. A child would not have those experiences if they were not taking the medication.

Drug accumulation adds a fourth dimension. Because many children begin medications in the context of an already-dysfunctional neurophysiological system, their bodies often cannot fully clear the compounds. Medications accumulate in tissues and organ systems, create metabolites that produce additional downstream effects, and trigger immune system sensitization — all compounding over time in a system that was already compromised before the medication was introduced.

“It’s criminal that we get away with calling them side effects. It’s a misnomer — the cute little term to say direct effects. Your kid wouldn’t have those challenges if they didn’t have the medication.”

How Chiropractic Care Supports the Withdrawal Process [00:40:00 – 43:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: When a family has worked with their medical team to begin tapering or discontinuing a medication, the chiropractic care plan shifts to actively support that process.

Withdrawal from neuroactive medications — particularly seizure medications and ADHD medications — places significant physiological stress on the nervous system. The withdrawal effects are real, documented, and often challenging. What makes that process smoother is having a nervous system that is already better regulated, more resilient, and functioning at a higher level than it was before chiropractic care began.

In practical terms, PX Docs providers increase adjustment frequency — not necessarily the intensity of adjustments, but how often they occur — during the withdrawal window. The goal is to offset the added stress load with increased nervous system support. Dr. Tony describes this as fighting fire with calm. When Oliver was experiencing withdrawal seizures, adjusting him three to four times on difficult days was the direct clinical response.

The takeaway for parents: chiropractic care belongs on the team when medication changes are happening, not just before or after. It is the mechanism that both prepares the nervous system for a drug-free state and supports it through the transition.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does my child need to stop their ADHD medication before starting chiropractic care?

No. According to Dr. Tony Ebel, children can begin Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care while still on any medication, including ADHD medications, seizure medications, and medications for anxiety or chronic illness. Starting care without changing other variables gives the clearest picture of how the nervous system is responding.

Will chiropractic care eventually help my child get off medications?

Dr. Tony Ebel explains that chiropractic care’s role is to restore neurophysiological function — not to prescribe or recommend medication changes. However, as the nervous system heals and INSiGHT Scan data shows measurable improvement, families are in a much stronger position to have a productive conversation with their medical team about tapering. Restored function is what creates the opportunity for that conversation.

What is the “fork in the road” Dr. Tony describes?

The fork in the road is a clinical juncture — typically several months into a care plan — where neurological progress begins to plateau. Dr. Tony identifies this through INSiGHT Scans and neurological soft signs like sleep quality, digestion, and sensory processing. At this point, the ongoing presence of a medication can act as a ceiling, preventing the nervous system from completing its natural restoration. This is when a detailed conversation with both the chiropractic and medical teams becomes important.

Are seizure medications like Keppra and phenobarbital safe for long-term use in children?

Dr. Tony Ebel (speaking as a parent, not prescribing) notes that the research documents significant risks of long-term cognitive and neurodevelopmental delays with many seizure medications, including phenobarbital and Keppra. Keppra in particular is associated with behavioral dysregulation sometimes called Keppra rage. He recommends that families work with their neurologist or epileptologist to evaluate the long-term risk profile and seek integrative second opinions if needed.

What happens to chiropractic care when a child is tapering off medications?

When a child begins tapering a medication under medical supervision, Dr. Tony Ebel recommends increasing the frequency of chiropractic adjustments to offset the physiological stress of withdrawal. The nervous system experiences real strain during this process, and more frequent adjustments provide increased support. In his son Oliver’s case during withdrawal from seizure medications, he adjusted him three to four times per day on the most difficult days.

How do I find a PX Docs chiropractor near me?

The PX Docs directory lists neurologically-focused pediatric chiropractic offices trained in the clinical protocols Dr. Tony Ebel teaches. Find a provider at PX Docs Directory.

Resources & Related Content

• ADHD and Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care — Understand the root-cause neurological explanation for ADHD and how chiropractic care addresses it
• Seizures and Chiropractic Care — PX Docs overview of seizure conditions and the nervous system’s role
• Anxiety in Children — Drug-free approaches to pediatric anxiety through nervous system restoration
• Birth Trauma and Neurological Development — How birth interventions affect the brainstem and nervous system from day one
• The Perfect Storm Framework — Dr. Tony Ebel’s explanation of how prenatal stress, birth trauma, and early toxin exposure combine to create chronic childhood conditions
• Find a PX Docs Office Near You — PX Docs Practitioner Directory
• Next Episode: Kids Don’t just ‘Grow Out of It’… Here’s Why