Although a psychiatrist can do both meds and therapy, if your child had developed a relationship with the psychologist, you may want to keep therapy going with the psychologist for a while during the transition. It can take time for a kid to trust someone enough to open up. Just a thought.
If you do not start getting the expected results, you might want to consult a psychiatrist that specializes in ADHD. They have more experience managing meds and there may be coexisting problems that are compounding the situation.Thanks vickie that is what I was thinking I probably should do. They can do the meds and the therapy can't they? Does anyone have any suggestions for me with my 4 year old son who has been diag. with ADHD. He was diag. about a month ago and we have taken Metadate CD 10 mg, then Concerta 18mg. At the present time he is back on the Metadate CD but 20mg. The Concerta 18 mg. seemed to make him become worse than he was before he started taking any meds. It has only been 2 days that he has been back on the stronger dose of Metadate but it doesn't seem as if it is working either. I am discouraged and am about to give up! Does anyone out there have any advise??????? Please HELP!!!Thanks for the replys. It is tough dealing with all of this. I am seeing positive changes from both meds but not quite enough so that is why we have been increasing the doseage. The Metadate at 10 mg. made him cry at every little thing but was working a little so we were gonna increase the dosage. The ped. thought maybe the concerta would be better. It does last longer and he not as emotional but he has became very defiant and unruly. I talked to the doctor about it and she said we needed to switch back to Metadate but at higher dose. Tried it yesterday good morning but about 11 it started going to bad real bad. So I took it upon my self which I probally did not need to do but did anyway. I uped his dose of Concerta to 36mg. At first he was sleepy then he said the med made him sick but I think it was just that the med had kicked in. 3hrs. after giving med we needed to go somewhere and he did not want to go so he refused and I had to pick him up and carry him out screaming and hitting. It bothered me real bad I have never seen him like this. It wasn't like he was being defiant it was like a phobia. But once we got him calmed down it has been a wonderful day. He is keeping to himself playing with his cars. What are your opions?
He is seeing phycologist for therapy and ped. for medication.
Fortunately, we have not had any side effects like that from either med. Hopefully someone who has had a similar experience can shed some light for you. I know how frustrating it can be!
Hang in there :)
First of all, hang in there and don't give up!!
My son is on the second med since starting 11 months ago. The first med was Concerta and after increasing twice we did not see any noticeable improvement so the ped switched him to Adderall XR. We have increased it up to 40mg before seeing a noticeable improvement. I believe that my son's metabolism is very fast and that is probably why it takes such a high dosage before seeing any improvement. This may be the case with your son as well. So hang in there and try increasing the med he is on before switching to another one too soon because the he may be like my son and need a high dosage.
HTH
tcchmoore39032.6577083333
Some of the issues can go away as the person gets used to the med. But some cause you to change and move to different meds.
Is it posible that his metabolism of the meds is very high, so the med wears off early and you are seeing rebound? If you are seeing any good effects of the meds, you might talk to the doctor about the daytrana patch (same med as the concerta and metadate but different delivery system). If you are only seeing side effects, it may be that a different type of med could be considered. It can be hard to find the right med and dose because everyone is so different. Here is a med chart with different meds (is is from 2004 so does not have the patch on it):
http://www.myadhd.com/treatment_tools/medicationchart.html
Is the diagnosing/prescribing doctor a psychiatrist or pediatrician? I ask because psychiatrists are generally more experienced with managing meds.