Help! I am at a loss!
Dear Judy,
I have a friend, with two daughters, 17 and 19. One started out with Ritalin about ten years ago. And as years have gone by, higher doses have been added, along with other medicines, to offset the increasing side effects.
My friend is convinced that medicines are the way to go, and that the extra doses and extra meds are part of the package. Some people think her daughter is a walking pharmacy.
For that reason, we have been trying several alternative methods with our son first, and I am glad we have. However, I can't point a finger at those who find stimulants work for them or their children, though. I would think that as parents, we need to do a lot of research and know the possible scenarios.
Good luck!!
This is the first time I have been to this sight. I have a litle boy who is 7. We were told that he had ADHD almost 2 years ago. He was put on Concerta 18 mg and everything was going great for about 1 year. Around this time last year we started to see the same patterns that all of us are well awear of. His Dr. changed his percription to 27 mg and everything went back to normal. Now the nightmare has stared again.... I am very worried about another increase in his meds. It looks like a patteren, once a year we are having to increase his meds. I hated to put him on this in the first place and i am sceard of these increases in his meds. I too have experienced all of the side effects, but they always seem to fade after a month or so. I guess what I am looking for is someone who has a child alittle older than 7 that has found a dose that worked for their child longer than a year. Or am I going to be forced to medicate my little boy until he is on the max amount of this med. I am just sick about this!The amount of the dosage depends somewhat on the child's weight. If your son is growing he may need a higher dosage. My son is on Adderall and when we tried to switch him to Concerta or Strattera he had problems. You may want to talk to the doctor about other medications.I saw the same issue here in my life meds were always increased with no increase in help. I am Ld also. I do not learn visually ,handson/auditory. I only read things that interest me. I am blunt in what I say. I have anxiety of others cause I seem to keep the relationship going. I want our son not to experience life how I have. Try with out adhd if possible. Try supplements first. Try other options also. I find my son can do more than leads on. One day I said do all you can then I will help he finished things he wouldn't before. His biggest fight with school is low reading level and refuses to read the books needed to do the work. I think it's cause the stuff makes little sense to him. I accomidate for some by rewording into smaller things when needed.Yes, it is very common to have to increase the meds every so oftern because your child is growing and the meds lose their effectiveness. The increase does not affect him any differently as far as side effects because it is proportional to his size. If they are working for your son when the dosage is correct, then I wouldn't worry very much about them. It is when the dose or type of med is constantly having to be changed that I would be concerned.
If you are uneasy, though, I would check out the alternative meds board. There may be things there that you can do in combination with his meds or without meds altogether.
One thing that can help Concerta's effectiveness is varying the dose. For example, give your child the 27mgs during the week and the 18mg on the weekends.
Concerta is known to lose its effectiveness after a while on the same dose. 36mg still is not that high, and if you choose to increase to 36 you can then add 27mgs on the weekends to help the effectiveness.
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