Concerta - How long to see results? | ADHD Information

For many children the appetite seems to come back after several weeks, but for Chase it didn't, and he is very skinny anyhow, so he had none to spare...we found that adding Periactin has taken care of his appetite..he eats pretty normally now.

chase is up to 54mg now and we were lucky, it was the first and only med that he has been on.  I am going to ask the doctor to add Tenex though at the next visit.  He has too many over the top reactions similar to the one you describe Kyle having in the car.  He will blow up over seemiingly trivial things.  He has alway done this and it is somewhat better since the meds, but still a problem. 

But today was NOT good!  He goes to an afterschool program on mondays to do woodworking activities, and usually he walks to his sisters dance studio where I am babysitting...about 6 blocks from school, but it is bitter cold today, so my brother in law picked him up from school, and took him home to be with his older brother for about an hour til their dad came home.  I figured he would have done most of his homework done at the study tables after school before the woodworking, and could be responsible enough to finish it up on his own....NOT!!!  Jon got home and I am not sure what went on but it was not homework!  I got home at 10 til 9 and he was still working on it!!  I told him it was bedtime, he had had 2 hours to do it not including the 1 hour at study tables, and he could set his alarm and finish in the morning or not...it was his problem, his consequences.

He was angry, he said at study tables there is a boy that bothered him too much, but I told him that he had 2 hours at home with no distractions...no excuse.

I tucked him in bed and asked him why he had brought home so much work anyhow, usually he brings home very little...apparently this same boy sits near him at school and is a behavior problem.  Many a time Chase has told me of this boy being sent to the office, been in trouble, not done his work.  So why would anyone in their right mind sit this child right behind a child with ADHD?????!!!!  I am writing a note tomorrow to the teacher asking him to move Chase to a spot away from this child. 

I am frustrated, but I am sticking to my guns..Chase will get his homework done in the morning before the bus comes or he will go with it undone and pay the consequences...he has to learn that it is his responsibility to get it done despite the obstacles....

Am I right?  Or should I let him off the hook?

I know one thing, from now on whether he walks or gets driven he will come to the studio where I am and sit down and do his work..then he can be bored...(which is why he does not like to go there) he had his chance to come home...

chasesmom7939055.8321990741

If Chase is anything like Kyle, he has a great talent for coming up with excuses for anything and everything.  It is like a skill he has developed for constantly trying to cover up his careless mistakes or bad decisions.

  I would say to stick to your guns. Maybe he will learn a lesson from it - does Chase care about making good grades?  I know Kyle really cares alot and gets very upset and discouraged with all the bad marks he receives.  If Chase cares then maybe he will learn a lesson from going to school without his work done.    Also, I would definitely ask that Chase not be seated next to the one causing him distraction during the day.  I've had to do this with mine several times - ask for different seating.

But, as you said he did have the 2 hours at home to get it done.  I wonder if since there was a change in the routine it just totally threw him off balance.  Mine have to either be in a strict routine or have constant reminders (or both) in order to get their tasks completed.  So, since he had some free reign this day and didn't have someone reminding him, it may have just blown his mind....even with the medicine I guess these kids still must have consistent accomodations it seems.

Sigghhh, sometimes it feels like we are being too easy on our kids, but at the same time we've tried and tried and tried pushing them the other way and it just doesn't get anywhere, so we have to make accomodations instead.  It truly has to be treated as a disability, or we can't get anywhere with it. But, at the same time they have to experience failure and the consequences of it in order to learn.  The world most likely will not always be so accomodating. It's so hard to decide what to do sometimes.... I feel your pain.Hugs

After I thought about it, I think the issue was that his meds wore off at some point during the evening and then he was in an unmedicated state trying to do homework....never a pretty sight!

He did get up this morning and finished the 2 questions remaining on his social studies worksheet, and the math worksheet he had, but since his meds didn't kick in for a time ( I had him take them right away at 6:45) that was also not fun.  Then he really didn't want much breakfast, but I got part of a sausage, some chocolate milk and a piece of french toast into him...

Then I talked to him and told him that he HAD to get his homework done by 6:30 or so, to guarantee that his meds were still working to help him to focus.

He 'approved' the note that I had written to his teacher, and I pointed out that my phone # was on it for the teacher to call me if he had any questions.

So, let's hope his seat gets moved today...he has karate tonite, and has to get his work done before he goes at 6:45...

Yes I think that he does come up with excuses a lot.  And he does care about grades...he has told me that he has a goal of not getting anything less than a 95% on a paper this year!  And believe it or not, most times the grades ARE above 95%!!  This from a boy that last year (before meds) barely pulled C's, and a B was a cause for celebration...

But I am going to request he be moved...the teacher says that Chase is not a problem, but has seen how he cannot stand noise and distractions.  One time when that teacher left the room for a time to make copies, the noise level got too high, and Chase tried to get the kids to quiet, but when they didn't he and 2 girls went to the next classroom and got a teacher to help.  When Chase's teacher came back to the room, he was a bit embarrassed that his class acted up ,and I think he was not too happy with Chase (and the girls) for bringing the other teacher in to see it.  But I was proud that he found a solution to the problem, and told him so.  But when the teacher related this story to me, he said "Chase is such a good boy."

 

Also my husband was here from 7 oclock on...I wonder what HE was doing...UGHH!!!

I guess he does not see how I have to kind of keep Chase moving along, and didn't even notice (he is ADHD as well) that he wasn't working....

My child just took his first dose of 18mg concerta today.  How long before you can expect to see real results?  I just called his teacher today to see if she had noticed any differenced and it was a little discouraging as she said she didn't notice any drastic changes. Like there was nothing worth noticing I guess.  I guess I can be thankful he didn't act strange or have a bad reaction from it.  She did say he focused on his work this afternoon...but I'm not going to get too excited about that as he does seem to focus on occasion without meds (seem to being the key words there)

Can someone post their experience? Does it take a while to get in your system before you can tell any difference?

Chasesmom,

From what I've read on your posts, your child sounds so similar to mine with his attention problems.  When Kyle came home today, of course I was watching for any problems with the med.  He had a short emotional "breakdown" in the car on the way home.  He was trying to tell me about something and he kept going in circles with what he was trying to say, seeming unable to get to the point...then his brother made things worse by interrupting and Kyle just suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs at his brother.  I just remained calm and talked really calm to Kyle and told his brother to leave him alone right now. I figured Kyle was having a rebound from the medication.  When we got home I walked through the living room and found Kyle about to fall asleep on the couch.  I spoke real softly to him to get up and helped him get his bath (by running the water and getting his underwear and stuff).  He has not had anymore problems since his bath, but he had no appetite for supper and says his stomach hurts (a common complaint anyway with or without meds - he often says he has a stomach ache when asked to do something he doesn't particularly care to do - we've had him thoroughly checked by doc and can't find anything wrong with him physically).  So, I hope we can get through this time without too many side effects, and I hope this is the one that will finally work.  I have a good feeling about it because I've read many posts describing their children as similar to mine and how concerta worked for them.

We've been through medication "hell" it seems so far.

My son also had his first dose (18mg Concerta) on a weekday, and I talked to his teacher as well that first day.  She kind of had the same response as your son's... not much difference.  BUT when Chase came home, he had much less homework than usual,implying that he used his class time more wisely, and he sat down and completed it right away...very unusual for him at that point.

After he went up on the doses, he remarked to me one day..this was about the 2nd or 3rd week..."Mom, I only space out like once a day now..."  When I asked him how many times he used to space out, he answered.."Basically all day long"

Give it some time...I really don't think Chases teachers noticed a huge difference right away either...

Yay for Chase!!!!!!

Yes, Kyle has been taking Melatonin which has always worked. I was only giving him 1.5 mg which after taking the Concerta the first day (sort of late -10 am-since he took it after his doc appt that morning) the melatonin had really no effect.  However, last night I gave him 3 mg and he was out by 8:45 - thank goodness. 

It maded me kindof mad, too. I was like you - for going to the bathroom?  I had never heard of being punished for having to go, but I guess the teacher felt that was the only way to find out which kids really had to go and which ones were faking. Or to make the kids more aware of how often they are going.

I'll have to keep watching for the academic improvements since that takes time.  Thanks so much for your response!!

Still no seating change at school, there was a sub...but he came home with a reasonable amount of homework, and got right to it completing it by 5 PM!

Regarding the 'pulling the card' issue...my son's school has a ticket system, and Chase routinely got a ticket if he had to use the bathroom..I was a little peeved, because if that is the time that they gotta go....well they gotta go!  But once he got the meds going, that was the only time he got a ticket, so it was ok.

After meds Chase's thing was spelling words and handwriting..he began not misspelling any of his spelling words because his handwriting improved so dramatically....he had been making careless mistakes, and couldn't stay with the teacher as she gave the test before meds, and all that changed after.

Glad to hear that Kyle is having no bad effects other than the sleep thing...try some melatonin...it worked great for Chase for sleep.

I have some good news to report on Kyle - well, sortof mixed results..but he's not having any bad reaction to this medication which I am very thankful for!  There was no rebound this evening that I could detect.  He didn't go to sleep until 11:00 last night, but still woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (which is RARE).  He seemed to have a good day at school (he said he had to pull his card for having to go to the bathroom - I guess the teacher makes them pull their card if they have to go during class time to discourage frivolous trips to the bathroom...I guess...I never heard of a teacher doing that.)  Tonight he showed me a paper he worked on where he was to write his multiplication facts for 5's up to 5x12.  Well, he went ahead and wrote them up to 50!!! On his own!!! For the fun of it!!!  Placebo effect?  So far though, there haven't been any comments from his teacher about any improvement and she knows how hard I am working to get him straightened out.  Maybe she doesn't want to say anything unless she starts to see consistent results.  I've also thought we may need to increase it to see obvious changes. 

Thanks chasesmom for the update on Chase. Hope everything went better this evening!!!