Hi All,
My 6yo ds has now been on Ritalin 5mg 2x a day (but only during the week) for three weeks. I called his teacher today for an update as we are going for follow up to the dr tomorrow. She has noticed improvement but said other teachers felt the dose was too low? Her take is that since he is with her most of the time, she thinks he will be okay to stay at dose as is. It's tough for me since we've chosen not to medicate at home. I am a little bugged by the fact some teachers think the dose is too low - I am concerned they want Gregory totally docile, which he will never be as his personality is totally outgoing.
We also got first term report card - what a mixed bag! A mix of "A"s and "C"'s - sometimes in the same areas (just different sections). When I called the teacher, she said she thinks a lot of the C's will change as these had more to do with focus than ability.
I hink our dr wants to try 10mg of Ritalin SR - I would appreciate how others find the SR dose vs 2 doses of 5mg a day.
DS severe to moderate ADHD - gr 1
The 10mg XR should be the same as 2 short acting 5mg doses a day. It may be easier to just give a single dose each day. Everyone responds differently to even the same medication (in this case methylphenidate) in the various forms.
I would ask what it is that makes the other teachers think the meds are too low. If it is that they think he still needs to be redirected too ofter to stay on task, then they may be correct. It may also be that different teachers have different tolerance for redirecting a student that needs it. If he still fidgets, maybe letting him get up from time to time or hold something in his hands would help. It would be good to sort out just what the issue is and see if if it is a real issue or a perception problem (on the part of the other teachers).
The only behavior we could use to determine my daughter's dose was how well she stayed on task for work at school and home. I have a high tolerance for the hyperactivity at home and she does not display hyperactivity at school.
vickie39048.9534837963Could the teachers who feel the dose is too low chart what behaviors they are seeing and when? It is possible that the meds may be low in his system at certain times of the day, when he is with those teachers.
Any info at all will be helpful to your doctor.
We also found as we were first starting out with meds was that we would raise the dosage a little, and he would do great for 2 days, and on the 3rd day he would start not doing so well. Our psych said that that is normal when the dosage is not right. But that once you get to the proper dosage it will even out.
Good luck...it takes time, but hopefully you will get to the right dosage.