My son was dx in March of this year, and the first drug we tried was Concerta. It worked well in the focusing department and helped a little in the mood/agression/frustration area, but not enough.
I had been getting his Concerta through a patient assistance program that he was booted from in November, so we are now in a quandary.
Should we hop on the med roller coaster and try a few of the drugs that have been around for longer and are therefore available in generic/cheaper versions, or try to find a way to pay the over 0 a month for this one and add Tenex/guanfacine for the emotional issues that he still struggles with?
Anybody have any insight to offer?
How does Concerta compare to some of the older more established drugs such as dexedrine and ritalin?
I have an appointment on Monday the 18th with his doctor and I would like to see what I can/should ask her about at that visit...
If he continues losing weight, try to add Periactin (Cyproheptadine). It is an antihistamine that has a side effect of appetite stimulant and weight gain. I have Chase on it and he now eats normally where before he barely ate enough to keep a bird alive..he hasn't gained a lot, maybe a pound or so..but he eats.
I have also heard that Tenex(guanfacine) will help with weight gain and also other ADHD symptoms...that one is on the Walmart prescription list...
Good luck to you and your son..
Since he still struggles with mood, aggression, frustration on the concerta you could try another med and maybe it would give him the focus plus the emotional control. Since everybody responds to the drugs in a different way maybe he would be even better on a different drug. You can always go back to the concerta.
My DD was dxed 3 years ago. She has tryed adderall XR, concerta and focalin XR. The adderall XR was by far the best for her. She can focus well on adderall or concerta but adderall gives her a lot more self control. She is much more short-tempered on concerta (and she is even-tempered even w/o meds). Right now she is actually on Daytrana b/c the adderall seemed to lose its effectiveness and her dr. didn't want to go higher on the adderall. She has been on Daytrana for almost 8 weeks and it works pretty well. We are hoping that by having her on Daytrana for a while she can return to adderall (hopefully soon) with some restored effectiveness. So for her adderall works best then daytrana then concerta. For my dd adderall just seems to cover more of the adhd symptoms than daytrana or concerta. She also sleeps MUCH better on adderall. Our biggest problem is she seems to build a tolerance to it.
I am no dr. but maybe it's worth trying a different med. Adderall sure worked wonders for my dd for 3 years. I know no drug is 100% effective but since you are at a crossroads with the cost of the drug maybe it is a good time to make a switch. I also know lots of others who absolutely love Daytrana and focalin.
HTH and good luck!!!!!
Well it looks like we will be trying Adderall XR 20 mg. tomorrow after being on Concerta 27mg. The Concerta worked good at the 27mg. for about 2 and half weeks then I don't know what happened it just stopped. Doctor doesn't want to up the dosage because he is only 4 and only weighs now 30lbs. (Before Meds35lbs.) I thought that these stims. didn't go by weight but hey I am not a doctor. My ins. doesn't cover the Concerta so we have been paying big $$$$$ for it so Adderall is covered so I guess I will give it a shot. I will let you know how it goes. Wish me luck or rather my son luck.
My biggest problem is HORRIBLE prescription coverage! I have a major medical coverage that only provides a discount card for prescriptions and that only pays of the 8 ++ of his concerta...so that leaves me with 0 to pay on my own..do-able but it will cramp our financial style in a big way...
So I am really trying to find one that will work and not break the bank.
Daytrana will be too expensive, I am sure of that...what does adderall cost w/o having insurance copays?
There is a generic form of regular release adderall which would have to be taken twice a day. There is no generic yet for adderall XR so it would probably be expensive. We have prescription benefits but still pay /month for adderall XR. I believe I read a generic form of adderall XR will be coming out at some point but I can't remeber when. It may be worth looking into.
Good Luck!
Thank you. I am hoping to go to the doctor armed with enough info to help us find an affordable solution.
Who is the manufacturer of Adderall? If I can find that out, I can find out if they have an assistance program as well...you never know.
I am a little apprehensive of Adderall, because of the many posts that I have seen where the child got mean...but there have been similar posts about Concerta as well I guess.
I would think that it cannot hurt to keep him on the concerta for a bit to see if it does keep on working...maybe it just took a while to start working..
Thank you for the info on adderall...I will keep it in mind in case we need to try that one...
The manufactor of Adderall Xr is Shire Us Inc.
If it wasn't for bad luck I would have no luck at all. As sure as I got the darned Adderall filled today my son started acting like he did when he first started taking the Concerta 27mg. which was very good. For the last week he was acting as if he had not had any medication at all, so I thought we needed to do something. So thats why my doc changed the meds. Now I wonder if I should start him on the Adderall or continue will the concerta. I don't like playing this game anymore it is just no fun.