new to Concerta | ADHD Information

It has been a life saver for me!I am glad to see positive stuff about Concerta!  My DS was just rx'd it today.  We started with Adderall XR- loved it but it had awful side effects.  Went to Focalin XR and it was just the same as him on no meds- even when we upped the dose.  Now on to Concerta.  Man, I sure hope this stuff helps!

My son started on Concerta in July and was taking 27 mg daily up until two weeks ago.  He had started showing signs of depression and agitation.  He was also regressing in behaviors that he was once able to remember when we initially started him on Concerta.  Since there is a history of heart disease in my family, we decided to take him off completely.  We had great hopes of beginning some Omega 3's, etc., but he is refusing to take the large capsules.  He is also regressing rapidly at school...he is in 1st grade and has dropped over 6 levels in reading and his writing is almost unrecognizable...all of this in a little over two weeks!  Needless to say, we have an appointment with his Dr. to discuss our medication options.

Hockeymom

Thanks hockeymom.  My granddaughter is on 27 mgs of Concerta and is doing well so far.  She went from being argumentive to being compliant on her homework and is able to complete it and school work now.  But I will keep an eye out for signs of depression and agitation.   18 mg worked well for us. Saw results immediately

Hi I am new here and wanted to thank you for posting on this subject.

My son is 9 and just went on Concerta (18 mg) about 2 weeks ago. I am only seeing a slight change with the meds ( slightly calmer) but he is still distractable, and having a hard time in class.  I wasnt sure what to think about it since we were seeing a slight change ( I thought you would see change or not) It sounds like the ped might just adjust the dose.

How often do you go see the Dr at the beginning? 3 weeks seems so long ( esp when I am not seeing results) it feels like a waste of time- esp since I should be able to tell if its working or not within a week ( is this correct or does it take longer)

Kim

 

Kim- we started at 18mg and she said come back in 3 weeks also.  However, she did tell me that if I didn't see much change I could double his dose and see how that worked.  We also had mild changes so we went to a double dose and he was really fixated and obessive so we brought him back down to 18mg and for some reason it is working better now than it was the first time we tried the lower doseage!?  She did tell us there is a doseage in the middle though- 27mg I think.

Why don't you call and see if she will okay a doseage adjustment?  She may be willing to do it over the phone or at least move your appt up!

Txmom - thanks for your input.  So far so good.  My granddaughter doesn't take it on weekends or holidays and will not take it this summer.  Hopefully that will extend the life of it a little further.

My son started on Concerta more than 3 years ago.  He is 7 now and takes 54mg.  Concerta has been great for him, but it seems like the longer he is on it the more it takes to get him through school.  18mg worked 8 - 10 hours for maybe 2 months.  We moved up to 27mg and that was good for about a year.  Then to 36mg and within 8 months the teachers were calling me almost everday after lunch.  Now he is on 54mg and he takes it at 6:30am and he is good until about 4:00.  I hope you don't have the mood swings like we have though.  We had a really ruff time during the "coming down" period for about 6 months.  I think that he finally got used to it and can control himself a little better now.

Good Luck!!

 

My dd has been on the Concerta 18 mg for 2 1/2 weeks, and I see a big difference.  For us, it is enough, she can concentrate and focus in school and she is stll herself.  She doesn't have any side effects, either, that are noticeable.  If she is good enough I would personally hesitate to move up to another dose.  I would think the idea is to get the benefit with the least dose possible.

Glad to read your messages.  My 8 yr old son started on Adderall XR the beginning of December at 5 mg.  We increased it in January 10 mg and I didn't see much improvement.  We just switched to Concerta 18 mg a week ago so I'm hoping for a more positive result. 

When he started on the adderall xr and when his dosage was increased he would cry very easily and would also whine alot in school.  So far I haven't notice either of these things.

My granddaughter was on 18 mg's of Concerta for three weeks, saw no change in her being able to complete her homework, but seemed slightly calmer.   The doc  just upped it to 27 mg. but since I don't give it to her on weekends I don't know if it will help yet or not.  I haven't seen any side effects as yet. 

We mainly wanted her on it for school work sure hope it helps.
 thanks for the reply!  Did you see more positive or negative results at higher dosages?  My daughter says she feels better already. I need to speak with her teacher, etc.  but the doctor said we can increase next week if she is showing positive results.    My son has been on 18 mg Concerta since Oct 2005, and we have noticed the postive effects almost from the beginning.  I was worried about him taking medication to begin with.  I'm glad our doctor placed him on the lowest dosage to start. Concerta has made such a difference my son's life.When I started on Concerta my dr. ramped me up to the full dosage.  I started off with 18mg and I apsolutly could feel the posative effects.  I was 190 lb man when I started.  I am still a man just lost some weight .  So from my experience you should see some results.Hi- I'm new here.  My 8 year old has started Concerta this week.  She is only on 18 mg and she has been told this med is to help her memory and concentration.  Her pdoc told me that normally this low of a dose doesn't really do much.  Is it possible it is really help her or is this a placebo effect?  Has anyone out there noticed this low of a dosage helping your child?  thanks in advance for any answers! Update- I saw results right away.  After about two weeks, we upped her dosage to 36.  She is doing AWESOME.  Schoolwork has improved dramatically.  She can focus so much better.  At home, she is doing great.  She never wants to watch TV any more.  She wants to play games, read, etc.  Its not like she's a different child, but like a new & improved version of the old one.  I am thrilled with the results and she is too.  She has much better self-esteem.  I think she was starting to feel stupid. I'm not saying she is brilliant now, but she is just working along a lot better and I the areas she was having problems in are now definitely improving. Yabs -  so sorry you have had bad results.  You might check out the alternatives board to see if there is anything there you might want to try.  Alternatives don't work for everybody, but then what does?

I sure hope we don't have that happen with my granddaugther.   I am trying her on fish oil (omega-3's) but it has not worked as yet.  So right now Concerta is the only thing that working.

Best of luck to you.

About (1) year ago we started our 7 year old son on 18mg of Concerta and witnessed the most amazing results.  All our prayers were answered!  He was doing amazing in school, playing unbelievably with his little brother (no fighting), staying on task for long periods of time, stopped wetting his bed, behaving beautifully... the list goes on.  However, 6 months later we noticed a "manic" type behavior when he woke up in the morning - almost "euphoric" like, yet somewhat uncontrollable.  Once we gave him his medication... he would calm down. We played with the medication levels... however this "mania" was getting worse.