A Pill is not the ANSWER!!

I am highly frustrated right now. I made the decision to take Justin off his ADHD med because of the horrible side effects. The poor kid was in tears and emotionally unstable on a daily basis. I couldn't watch him like that anymore. I made the school aware of my choice and told them I want to work with them closely to monitor his behavior and come up with alternative solutions to divert his energy. I told them I didn't want him to be made to sit out recess as a punishment. I think that's a cruel thing to do with a child who has extra energy. I also told them I think we should come up with some other consequences, since he obviously can't be allowed to get away with everything. His teacher has been uncooperative and basically just pissed off that I took him off the medication. By his teacher's own admission, Justin isn't disrupting class or being inappropriate, he just has a problem standing still in line and talking. Well, whoop-dee-doo. Make the kid run laps around the gym if he can't hold still. That seems to be a more appropriate thing to do than to work against what comes naturally (which is all that extra energy). I got so angry that I yelled at his teacher on the phone, which I felt was justified after he interrupted me several times and spoke to me as if I was one of his students, not a mother of one. I had problems with this same teacher when he was Jake's 5th grade teacher. I think he may still have some animosity toward me because of that. I've made every effort to try and work with the school on this, and they just won't have it. They want him to be a zombie, and they don't care about the side effects. My foot is down on this one.