concerta | ADHD Information

My son was diagnosed with ADHD 2 years ago. He had the classic symptoms. After getting on concerta and fairly quickly acheiving optimal dosage he excelled as never before. His grades sky rocketed, school put him in the advanced gifted program and his end of grade test scores were in the top 10% of the state.

At the begining of this school year he began to decline. His grades are now very poor(even in his regular classes), his teacher says he can't focus, he says he can't concentrate. He complains of bad headaches and bad stomachaches. He has become emotional and seems as though he has a low self esteem. I decreased his dosage in hopes that maybe he was outgrowing things...in fact I don't even give him it on the weekends, he seems like a normal active 10 year old boy(no more so than my 8 year old son) ....however his teacher says that childeren NEVER outgrow ADHD. I have talked to the couselor at school (she ssays he is fine). I have an appointment to see the doctor, the teacher, and his AIG teacher.

I'm just so frustrated...I thought we finally had this under control....and things are starting to come apart at he seams again. Reading all of this info at this site is kinda scary...especially all the different drug therapies.

HELP!!!!

The teacher is wrong. Children can outgrow ADHD, but not generally at 10 years old. There is a number of things that could be going on. He could be outgrowing the medicine, so to speak. Their body becomes ammune after a while and it no longer works. He may need his dose adjusted. Or there is always the possibility that he was never ADHD to start with and was simply misdiagnosed. The best thing for both of you is to talk to his doctor. He can offer more insight. I wish you the best.

update :

Went to the doctor today. He switched my son to adderall XL(sp?). The side effects scared the heck out of us. Especially the part about it being habit forming and he could go through withdrawl if taken off abruptly.

The meeting with the teachers is tomorrow.....not sure if we're headed in the right direction.

update:

My sons' med gets increased to 20mg starting tomorrow. I hope that works better because the 10mg didn't work to well....very hyper. Come to find out, with much probing, he is having trouble seeing. He could not pass the eye test at the doctors office. He has an appt to get an eye exam........that could explain some of the headaches. Still keeping a close eye out. I'll keep ya posted.

Thanks so much for everyones advice and concern.

Hi cookie! Hopefully things will work better with the Adderall XR. No one will ever be able to take ALL of your concern away about your son and the effects of Adderall....He is your son, and it shows that you love and care about him because of your concern!!! It sounds like it was a good idea to switch, expecially with the way things were going. I am 19 and currently taking Adderall XR also. I have also tried the Concerta, but I find that I am much happier and that I am more emotionally stable on the Adderall. Hopefully you will find the same with your son! If you have any questions that I may be able to help with, just post them and I'll try my best to be of help! One thing I will say is; if the dose of Adderall is too high, you son may be crabby, and less emotionally stable. Try a different dose if this occurs, and see if it works better...if not, then maybe an alternative to stimulants will be the answer. Good luck!

cookie - None of us know if we are in the right direction - - that is a most popular feeling here!

IT IS SO SCARY - these are our most treasured possessions (if I am allowed to call them that) that we are altering.

That is a big responsibility and a heavy weight to bear. You definately have my sympathy with that emotion.

Hi Cookie.......the teacher is correct in saying that children do not outgrow ADHD. What happens is as they get older, with the proper interventions and maturity, many learn to compensate for their limitation to a better degree. Heres a thought.....do you think that putting your son in the gifted program might ahve caused him to feel too much pressure thus causing him to spiral downward? ADHD'ERS do not cope well under pressure and tend to backslide. The role of medication will allow your child to better focus but limited coping skills can sabbotage the ability to bring out your childs best academically or otherwise. Medication will not fix all and thats why its considered only one of the tools to help a child with ADHD. Any person, ADHD or not feeling too much pressure to perform wont do well. Concerta flushes out of the system so one doesnt build up an immunity towards it. I had the same situation with my son whereas he was put into the gifted program and all of a sudden, he spiraled downward. I was told to keep upping the medication which I did not do. When I took him out of the gifted program, it alleviated the anxiety he was feeling with regard to the pressure to perform and the same medication at the same dose worked as it always had in terms of focusing ability. This is just a though or perhaps something you should look into. Good luck and keep us posted.Hi Cookie, some kids do outgrow adhd, as a mom of a 10and a half year old, with adhd, and also myself with adhd, i don't ever see him outgrowing it. Heck I've been living with it since i was five, and no medication, because back then they didn't care shall we say. Good luck on the adderall with your son, I've heard so many positive things for this med. unfortunately it did not work well at all with my son, I hope everything goes well.

[QUOTE=walker313] The teacher is wrong. Children can outgrow ADHD, but not generally at 10 years old. There is a number of things that could be going on. He could be outgrowing the medicine, so to speak. Their body becomes ammune after a while and it no longer works. He may need his dose adjusted. Or there is always the possibility that he was never ADHD to start with and was simply misdiagnosed. The best thing for both of you is to talk to his doctor. He can offer more insight. I wish you the best.[/QUOTE]

Hi,

we are in Scotland and are desperate for our son Michael to have a normal life in school. We are making an appointment with our GP in a day or so to get him onto to concerta.
I have registered on the notice board and my heart goes out to all parents listed who have children with ADHD.
I will post another message in a week or so to tell you all how we get on.Hi all: I also have an 11 yr old recently diagnosed with ADHD. He was initially put on stratterra(sp?) 45 mg. The doctors chose this med because they believed it would not interfere with his seizure medication, which thankfully it did not. We saw no results and he was upped to 65mg. This was of no help either, in fact it became a nightmare for us. Our very even tempered little boy became an angry often defiant child we did not recognize. He got into fights at school, beat his younger brother up, cried uncontrollably and basically lost any and all interest in everything. He was also experiencing severe depression and difficulty sleeping. Obviously, we and the doctor realized that this was "worse case" senerio, as he also was having some neurological problems (leg dragging, head tilting) which normally follows seizure activity. Today, he started Charlie on Concerta - and I am curious what others out there have experienced with this drug. After our experience with the last drug, we are very leary of introducing anything else. I could use some advice here, or thoughts....my heart is breaking for my sweet boy. I am questioning my judgements on this - more so than not because of my own fear of another life altering experience for my boy.