Meds do not "cure" the problem; they only treat the symptoms. This is why - especially in younger children - it is important to find out why they are having problems. Is it a thyroid problem (which has the same symptoms as ADHD)? Do they need supplements because they are deficient in some nutrients (this has nothing to do with whether or not they eat well but how well the body converts the foods they eat to what the body needs)? Is there an essential fatty acid deficiency part of the problem? If you are extremely lucky, addressing these areas may help limit the meds or eliminate them entirely. And if you are extremely lucky and do treat the causes, the child may "outgrow" ADHD. But maybe not; there are a lot of ADHD adults. Most of the ADHD kids that have been tested are deficient in essential fatty acids (DHA), calcium, zinc, magnesium and B vitamins. This is part of the cause. This was the case with Kyle.
Kyle took Concerta for a while but it eventually stopped working and I didn't want to go to a higher dosage because of heart palpitaions so we went back to regular ritalin. Ritalin only works for about 3 hours with him and it takes nearly an hour and a half to begin working. Extended release only works for about 3 hours too. So he just takes another dose at lunch and it lasts until he gets home. We also tried Adderall but it only made him stay up all night. So be prepared that the med may not continue to work as well or work at all. This sometimes happens. For some kids though they take the same med at the same dosage most of the time. Each child is unique. Just educate yourself as to the potential side effects and read post marketing information also instead of just the pre marketing studies; side effects from a 6 week study can be very different from 2 year post marketing information. rxlist.com is an excellent site for this.
Your son sounds just like ours..same stuff in class, just started Concerta a week ago, even the same progress! They do Levels for stickers-can't remember the last time he got a sticker for good behavior, but this week stickers every day. We are also so worried about the med. I'm afraid that reading this board may make it worse! Seems like switching meds is par for the course. We are hoping that this will resolve itself with time; his pediatrician said he seemed to have a mild case (is that even possible?) Maybe we're just naive.Worst thing so far has been crying easily. He just seems so sad for no reason. Hope everything goes well with your boy. Am also interested in answers to your questions, so will keep an eye open for you as well. Take care.Jenn:
Boy, does that sound all too familiar. My nephew, who will be 7 at the end of this month, also attends a school that uses the color system. And like your son, he was consistantly on the worst colors for the same exact behaviors. He was just diagnosed ADHD and started on the Concerta 18mg just this morning. So, I am new to all this, as well. We will wait to see how the medication affects him. We had a really hard time getting him to swallow the pill, and unfortunately with the Concerta he can't chew it and we can't crush it up in something. It took about 25 minutes for him to get it down. Hopefully, that will get easier after he has done it a couple of times.
HI
My son is 12 now. A pediatrician first suggested ADD to us when he was 2! I was certainly not ready to hear that and not near ready to consider meds. At the time he was also diagnosed with a speech disability and soon after fine/gross motor skill delays. After 2 years of public preschool 4 days a week with a large group of professionals working with him he continued to be a cheerful, very active boy who could not focus on anything long enough to learn very much. I was told that he would need to have a support person assigned to him in kindergarten. I finally agreed to have him screened for ADD/ADHD, and after several months with a very supportive pediatrictian (calling me a couple of times a week to address questions and just see how we were doing) I decided to give medication a try. He started on 5mg of Ritalin and within a couple of weeks he was up to 15mg. I still cry when I think about the changes in him. His exuberance for life was definately tempered, but he became a different person, a sponge - so eager to soak up everything life had to offer. I would see him watching other children, learning from them and how to interact with them. Kindergarten was a success! In first grade his body began to metabolize the medication more rapidly. Our pediatrictian consulted with a psychiatrist and we began giving him 15mg. every 2 1/2 hrs 4 times a day. He did very well with this dose for a number of years. My child who couldn't learn his abc's was in a gifted reading program! When he was in 5th grade his Dr. suggested Concerta and we gave it a try. We settled on 72 mg. and he can still take his 15mg for evening activities. He has done real well on it until this school year and he's struggling with being as focused, he is in 7th grade takes advanced math, honors english and is pulled out for a gifted program in science and math. He recently was swithced to adderall with wellbutrin added in. After 2 weeks he was so irritable and hard to be around I knew something wasn't right, so he stopped those meds and went back on Concerta. We are meeting with a psychiatrist next month to see about upping the Concerta. Since he had such physical growth this year I understand that might impact his meds. ADD is 7 days a week for us. I tried different times in the summer taking him off meds and we never made it a week. Watching him struggle was too painful. I never in a million years wanted to medicate my child, but helping to function in society and watching the amazing person he is becoming has been so worth it. By the way he has never had trouble sleeping on meds. Initially his appetite was affedted at lunch and I just gave him a sandwich and pudding before bed to maintain his weight and within a few months his appetite was okay at lunch. I hope this information helps someone and any info anyone has for me is appreciated. P.S. His dad was diagnosed with ADD as kid and took meds for a couple of years.
Thank you all for sharing your experiences, its such an encouragement.
Cyndi
Hi all - just wanted to share some info on my son. He is 12 now but we knew he was borderline ADHD in 2nd grade, I was absolutely against meds for him then even with the principal suggesting meds! We spoke to the doctors and we all felt he had more problems with personality conflicts with his teacher that year so Dr said don't tell the school he is adhd yet. 3rd grade was better, but not great... 4th grade was almost perfect, few behavior problems. 5th grade went to middle school, 4 teachers having to write down assignments, expected to be at a certain maturity level, teachers not really helping etc.... awful year. Didn't think we would make it!! Went back to the Dr, re-tested still borderline Adhd but with his impulsiveness we decided to try concerta. It was pretty rough at first with mood swings, but after about 3 week we saw an improvement, He is taking 36mg now and doing pretty well. One thing we have found this yr (6th grade) he has 4 teachers again and almost all of his behavior problems are with 1 teacher.... the teacher can make or break an adhd child!! We don't usually make him take his meds on the weekends or school break unless we are planning on an outing or something he has to sit still for etc.
Just remember each case of add or adhd is different and your child might not need meds in a few years. My dr said we should re-evaulate my son yearly to make sure he still needs the support of the meds. Other kids can stop the meds as a young adult and do fine, others will need it for life. Also remember as they hit puberty you have to deal with that in addition to the add or adhd
My brother has adhd, took ritilin as a child (38 now) still has it but as you mature you can control some of the symptoms but not necessarily all. My brother can't sit still, there is always some part of his body moving at all times!! But he has found ways to convert it to acceptable behaviors and has managed pretty well. I would not recommend him as a role model but if he had continued his meds he might have done better in life!! Just my thoughts at this time
Hi Bobbinbobwhite,
My son is very much like yours. My boy is 9 years old and is in 4th grade. He also exhibited ADHD symptoms since kindergarten. We have evaluated him thrice till now once in KG, 2nd Grade and 4th Grade. All the times he was in borderline. We decided to medicate him and started him on Concerta 18mg since Jan 1st '04. He showed some improvements and life was very good for about 4 weeks and then the medication was not as effective as it was before. He probably need a dosage increase but I am hesitating as he lost 3 lbs already and his wt. is only now stabilising and any increase in dosage might affect his wt. again. I am going to wait and see for a few more weeks and then think about dosage increase.
Did you experience this with your boy? Did you start him on 36mg or started at a lower dosage and then increased to 36mg?
Thanks for all the info'.
With regards,
MM
Greetings Jenn,
I'll do my best to share my Concerta experiences with you.
I'm a 38 year old father of four. I myself have ADD (so please overlook my spelling) as does my 12 year old son.
We both take Concerta. I take 108 mg/day and my son takes 54 mg/day.
The only side-effects I've noticed in my son is the occasional "zoning out". Based on my concerta use, I would venture to guess he is probably deep in thought and he will respond when called upon.
He also plays sports and the one thing I do watch out for is medicating him before any strenuous physical activity. I've not seen alot of published data but there is some regarding stimulant use, physical activity and increased blood pressure and heart rate.
At my dose, I've not experienced any heart palpatations but I was ramped up gradually as was my son. Dose increase seems to be well tolerated when done so at a moderate pace.
As for question #2, he started taking Rittalin at the age of 9. He experienced many of the ups and down associated with plain methylphenidate use and the small booster dosages given in the afternoon. Even the sustained release Rittalin can be metabolized faster than intended and still requires booster dosing. This does not occur with Concerta as it is actually a 3 chamber capsule. The outside of the capsule is coated with 1/3 of the total dose. This is absorbed in the stomach as soon as the capsule is taken. The three internal chambers contain two dosing chambers and the expansion device that expells the two remaining devided doses out of one end of the capsule while passing through the GI tract. The empty capsule is then disposed of in tact so don't be alarmed if it should be discovered.
#3. My son has maintained steady stim use since his diagnosis. My experience with starting and stoping the use of stims is that, once you stop, you're as ADD as you were when you started. I took Concerta for almost two years, took a nine month break, and started back again.
As for question #4, I guess it depends on the level of functioning. I attend an adult ADD support group. Some members function very well, with or without the use of stims. Others are so ADD that they don't even drive. It's been explained to me that they get so side tracked that they become lost while driving. On the upside, most adults I know with ADD are extremely intelligent, highly functional people. I survived 35 years without medication or a diagnosis but then again, I worked 12 jobs between my 18th and 27th birthday. I've been on my current job for almost 9 years now. The last 4 years with the aid of stimulants. I suppose the reason I choose to take them is that it just makes things alot easier for me. The one thing I do see people grow out of is the extreme hyper-activity. I was not too hyper as a child but I've always been a leg jittering, finger drummer. I see this behavior disipate when medicated (along with many other symtoms too numerous to mention here).
I would be interested to know what dose your 5 y/o is taking. I would also question your Dr's decision to medicate a 5/yo. These are powerful medications and we make our decisions the best we can with the information we have. I would probably get several 2nd opinions and check with anyone and everyone who knows anything about ADHD in your area.
I will agree that if medicating your child is the only option, Concerta is a very good choice. It's time release mechanism will eliminate the need for your child to take that afternoon trip to the school nurses office.
Another thing I've learned about stimulant medications that may be of interest to you. Unlike Strattera which is dosed based on weight, stims are given and the dosage increased until the desired affect is achieved. While ramping up on the dose, look for signs of hyper-activity to decrease. I also think I read a reply regarding stim use and sleep problems. If your child does indeed suffer from ADHD, sleep should not be an issue while medicating. When I choose not to medicate, thats when sleep becomes an issue. The mind of an ADD'r races. Taking the meds and turning off the noise in your head will generally result in good sleep habits. Without the meds, I used to survive on about 15 to 20 hours of sleep a week. While medicating, I'll generally get 6 hours of sleep a night during the week and as much as 8 to 10 hours a night on the weekends, not to mention a good Saturday afternoon nap.
Hope you find this informative. I know how hard it is to get the ball rolling on these things but if you'll persist and ask questions, the answers will start to follow. Don't take no for an answer.
I wish you and your child the best of luck.
Casper
Hi everyone, I'm new to this board and just had some beginner questions. I need as many responses and as much help as I can get so thanks in advance. I have a 5-year-old son. At his school they have a "color-system." This means if your behavior and work ethic was good all day you get a green, then yellow and so on. He always received the worst colors (blue/purple) everyday with notes attached saying he wasn't paying attention, talking when teacher is talking etc. The last note said "if he doesnt get himself under control, i'm going to have to suspend him." That is the note that did it for me. A kindergartener getting suspened from school?! So I made a dr appointment and long story short, he is taking Concerta now. He has only been on it for a little over a week, but all last week at school, he got all greens! Anyway, here are my list of q's, I hope everyone can help, b/c I was one of those moms who said they would never put her child on meds, but until it truly happens to you, and you have a child that really needs it, you never know: 1. What are any negative side effects your children have had since starting the medication? 2. How old were they when they started taking it? I have noticed alot of the kids talked about on the board are 10 and over. I was thinking my son, at 5 would eventually not need this medication anymore and in a couple years he could stop taking it. Is this a lifetime medication for some b/c I do not like this idea. 3. Kind of going w/ no.2, once the child stops taking the meds (after 2-3years), will his/her behavior be back to hyper and unfocused? 4. Will he be able to function as an adult? Will this be a dependant for him the rest of his life? Will he not be able to live a normal teenage life w/o the drug? Sorry this was so long, I am just very curious. Anything you can add would be much appreciated.
My daughter was diagnosed with ADHD when she was 6 1/2. We decided to go the medication route and put her on Concerta 18mg. This helped a great deal. She was able to focus in school and actually became interested in learning because it wasn't so frustrating anymore. Her teacher, who we hadn't told that we had started our daughter on medication, thought she had made some brilliant breakthrough. That was how much of a difference there was. The only side effect that we noticed was the insomnia. My daughter has always had difficulty getting to sleep and the Concerta compounded that somewhat. She does have an occasional mood swing, but those generally come along with a previous night of not being able to get to sleep. Thus being overly tired certainly doesn't help. We too had the problem of getting her to swallow the pill. There were days before we got her started that we all ended up crying in frustration because we couldn't get her to swallow the pill. Ultimately we found a family friend that she really looked up to to come and help. I think the fact that it was not her parents trying to get her to take it took some of the fear and pressure off of her. Since that day it has been no problem for her to swallow it. All things considered, the Concerta has been a big help and has made her feel better about her self because she can keep up in the classroom now and not feel like she isn't as smart as the other kids.
Now she is 8 1/2 and we have found that the Concerta 18mg is seeming to have less of an effect. She is less focused more often than she has been, especially in the morning. We just saw the pediatrician this week and have changed her medication to Stratera. The pluses as we have been told are a more constant effectiveness of the medication, less time required in the morning for the medication to take effect (this was part of the issue with Concerta - it took a little time to kick in each morning, so unless you can get your child up early enough before school starts, the beginning of the school day could be a little rough from the focus standpoint) and less of the insomnia side effect. We are transitioning from Concerta to Stratera over the next week and so far haven't noticed any negative side effects.
In one month my son will turn 12. He is currently taking 54mg Concerta and 5 mg. Adderall in the afternoon. He was dianognosed at 2 and we went through the who gambit of diagnosis. I am sure almost all who read this will relate. The medications were a nightmare. Ritalin was to up and down for him and then we went to Adderall which he did well on, but when he started to take Concerta that was the God send for him. He has thrived on it. I have noticed that his symptoms are returning with the tapping, he is getting slips from school for impulsive type behaviors. The regular signs that his meds are not enough or are wearing off to soon. He is just starting puberty and I would love to hear from anyone who has a son on Concerta who is experiencing the same return of Symptoms. One email particularly caught my eye from Cyndi, username twiceexeptiona.. Your information was very helpful since your son has the same response to the alternative medications as mine. I tried a long time ago a similar med to Wellbutrin and he was a mess. Any anti-depressant or SSRI is like, so not right for my son. It may work fine for another, but not mine. I am going to call to get an appt. to up his meds tomorrow. Thank you all for your stories about the effects on your kids with the meds. It helps me trust what I see and experience with my son and I would encourage all who have boys/girls that are approaching puberty to make note of how this hormonal change may or may not affect their meds and or symptoms. Any further information would be greatly appreciated. I will share our progress and any information I learn as well.
Mollie