I don’t think 36mg will be enough... | ADHD Information

awwwwww how sweet :)  he really is a sweet boy... always has been :)

Hopefully everything works out well for him !  He sounds like my daughter with bargaining about how much they have to eat before they can get up!

Chasesmom: I read your reply to my post about our first day on meds to my dd, she really liked it....she said that you are such a nice lady.  I also showed her the picture that you had posted earlier of Chase & she has been talking about him all day!!

Emily wants to send you this:  

MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I EFFING FORGOT MY APPT TODAY :(

 

Chase started on 36mg of Concerta on thirs week, and I have noticed that he is extremely short tempered with his brother tonight.  I will continue giving it to him for at least a week, but if this keeps up, I will be switching him back to the 54mg.  When he was on the 54mg, he wasn't all sweetness and light, but he did not lose it at the drop of a hat at 6:00pm either.  And there is no real difference in his appetite for the good either...that is why the doctor and I are trying it at the lower dose.  

I went ahead and started him on the Periactin as well, I am so tired of seeing him stare miserably at the food on his plate and bargain with me as to how much he must eat to be allowed to get up from the table.  It has gone on since March.

The good news is that it does not make him tired, but he has slept better, so I have discontinued the Melatonin, and his nose is clear for the first time in about a month.  This is the only reason that he is taking it as far as he knows. 

Piggurl (the mom who posted about the Periactin) told me in a PM that she noticed a difference in her daughters appetite w/in 3 days, so we will see...

He is not up yet, but he will be happy.  Your daughter is on Concerta as well isn't she? 

Yes, he is a sweet boy and always tries to be helpful especially when he is on meds.....to the point that his siblings think that he is just 'sucking up' as they put it.

Thanks

Yeah, after I posted that I read it in another post of yours...ask your doctor about the melatonin for sleep.  It really worked well, though it is in pill form..I get it at the dollar general store, and it is 75 pills for .  You can cut them in half to start, as the optimum dose is 1 mg, and they come in 3mg.  It is not too big of a pill either,and can be crushed if need be into applesauce, etc.  What I did when Chase was using it was to give it to him about 1 hour before bedtime, and he said it makes him sleepy enough to fall asleep.  Since your daughter seems to be 'emamoured' of Chase, you can tell her "this worked for Chase, honey"  Might work, ya never know! LOL

The Periactin also has a side effect of drowsiness, so we discountinued the Melatonin when I noticed that he fell asleep rather quickly the first night I gave it to him.  He has reported to me that he sleeps really well on it.  I think that it may be working because after Chase ate his breakfast this morning...2 scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon bits, wrapped in a tortilla (his current fav), and drank his instant breakfast, PLUS a little more milk, he came looking for a cookie about 15 minutes later...never woulda happened on a medication day b4..I am giving him the meds this weekend so I can observe him on them for myself, usually I take him off for the weekends.  This is something that you can discuss with your doctor as well if need be for appetite, but it sounds like she is a dream on the meds if you can work out the rebound issues.

Good luck and keep the periactin in mind for future use if the appetite issues cannot be resolved any other way.

No, she is on Dexedrine (slow release capsule).  This is our 2nd day.  Hopefully it will be as good as yesterday.  Only drawback so far seems to be NO appetite, did not go to sleep until 11:30 (usually it's more like 8:00), and it seems to have started wearing off by 3:30 & she became very fidgeting, chatty & could not sit still.  Hopefully, her little body will adjust to it better these next few days.

We gave the 36 mg a week and that was all that I could take. 

Last night was the last straw...time got away from me and Chase was doing his homework later than usual, at about 7:00pm...I usually get him started on it at 6:00. 

Every time I looked at him he was staring into space and it took him forever for what he said was just a little...the last thing he had to do was an English paper to prepare for the proficiency tests that they take in the Spring..he had to read a paragraph that pertained to John Ogelthorpe and his plans for the Georgia Colony way back when.  He had to read the paragraph, then write a speech as if he were a settler, giving the speech at a town meeting, giving 4 ways that these plans would affect the settlers.

He came to me saying that he did not understand what he was to do.  I explained it to him, but the whole time he kept putting his head in his hands, shaking it as if he still didn't get it, even before i was done explaining.  I finally had to practically tell him what to write, and he still didn't get it, but it was done, so no discipline ticket at school.  I probably shouldn't have 'helped' so much, but this is not for a grade, and by the time of the test, they will have had many more chances to do this, with him hopefully in a better frame of mind the next time.

He was angry,tearful and beligerent the entire hour and a half that he worked on the homework.  Afterward, I thought to myself I remember this...this is how every night used to be-full of anguish, tears and loud words...on both of our parts.  He also tearfully told me that he no longer wanted to ride the bus because he couldn't take it anymore...something that I haven't heard all year this year, but a common complaint last year (before meds).  I decided then and there to put Chase back on the 54mg Concerta.

I really had almost forgotten how tense every night used to be...and it took me a minute to remember..it has been 6 months of pretty peaceful times around here and I do not want it to go back, ever!!

His appetite issues are pretty much resolved with the Periactin, as well as the sleep issues, so I have no reason not to switch back.

 

So Chase comes to me tonight at dinner, and says "mom, I don't think that this 36mg thing is gonna be good for me"  I said "oh?"  and he says, "I just get too mad at Jake too quickly, I can't be calm enough." 

Now I have thought the same thing for 2 days but haven't said anything to him, and today was HORRIBLE!  They actually got physical for the first time in a long while...Jake called Chase a retard (something I have been punishing him for for weeks) and Chase got mad and threw a bottle of juice at him (plastic, but full) which missed, and then Jake (who is 3x Chases weight) got up and pushed Chase off the chair, and the fight ensued.  By the time I got upstairs, it was over, Jake was in the hall, and breathing hard and Chase was beside himself with frustration, and in pain, his head hit the (wood) floor and also his knee. 

He came down and laid on the couch with an icepack on his head for a while, then all was well and they played okay for the rest of the day.

I had a talk with Jake about home being a place where you should not have to worry about being teased and called names (not the first time we've had this talk, believe me) and how ADD kids are more immature for their ages than nonADDers. I hope it sinks in this time....

Anyhow, on one hand I am proud of Chase for seeing this himself, and telling me, but sad that he has to think about these things at all....he is my baby even though he is 10 years old...

I told him that we would give it a couple more days to be sure, then call the doctor and let her know that we are switching back to the 54mg...it seemed to carry into the evenings much better. 

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