Our First Day of Meds | ADHD Information
EEK! I'm so nervous!!! I got her prescription for Daytrana from her pediatrician back on Dec. 12th, but by the time I got around to getting TO the doctor's office it was Dec. 23rd. So I went to our pharmacy to fill the prescription and....they were sold out. WHAT???? Story of my life!!! (Background...we just had Megan diagnosed with ADHD type 2 - stress the H - and ODD at the end of November).
They called 3 other Walgreens and all had the same story. So....we didn't get to try her on the medication over the Christmas break. Well, we've waited 6 years, so at that point, what was another 2 weeks? I called Walmart on my own and even they said they wouldn't have any for 2 weeks due to a back order on the manufacturer's part (that was the same story for all the pharmacies).
But I got a call Tuesday that it was in and I went down Wednesday to get it. I figured that we'd at least try it for Thursday and Friday to see how that went. Well, wouldn't you know....at 1:30 a.m., I couldn't figure out why the bathroom light had been on so long after someone had turned it on. I went in to see who was in there and just as I came around the corner, my daughter threw up. Well, isn't THAT fun with no glasses on to really see!!! She had a really upset stomach. Peachy. So I got her cleaned up and put her back to bed. I didn't think it wise to put the patch on her Thursday morning as I know one of the possible side effects is an upset stomach. I swear....it almost felt like a sign! 
So...after yesterday went fine at school (though her teacher asked her if the doctor put her on any medication!!!!...I do have some issues with her teacher...but they're harder to address as my kids are in private school), I figured today was a go. She was ready to put a patch on last night at bedtime! But I explained that they were only for day use. So this morning, she was up on the bed flashing her butt to me waiting....that's my daughter! 
She did ask what it would do to her body and I explained that it should help her concentrate a bit better and help her pay not so much attention to all the noise around her. And by fluke, her Brownie troop meets today after school (it's usually the 1st and 3rd Monday of the month, but obviously it wasn't happening this past Monday), so it'll be interesting to see 1) if she leaves the patch on all day - which my husband doesn't think she will....and it's possible she won't! and 2) what her behaviour today at school and Brownie's will be like. I'm going to call her troop leader to talk to her because I trust her reaction better than her teacher.
We had some HUGE issues before Christmas with her teacher to the point where I wrote a letter to the principal and my husband marched it down there and we all had a meeting! But that's a WHOLE other post....so it'll be interesting to see what comes of this.
I also gave my son his first day of meds on a school day, and was as nervous as you are...How old is your daughter? I am thinking that if she is aware enough to ask what the med will do to her body, she is aware enough to feel how much it helps (if it does) and to WANT to keep it on...my son definitely likes the control the meds give him over his reactions, and calls his concerta "my sweet pill" because he feels calmer and more in control of his temper while taking it. Hopefully this will be the case with your daughter.
Be sure to check out the medication forum and the "daytrana anyone" thread...it is very informative and has some solutions to the skin rash reaction that many children have with the patch.
Good luck and welcome to the board!
my dd was making some strange comments while she was on her first med-adderal-long lasting. she had dialated pupils, wasn't sleeping, had stomach aches and one day when she wasn't listening to me she commented" i'm defeating the adderal". interesting to say the least. now i can look back and truly realize that this med was not agreeing with her, she was feeling totally *off*...exhausted from no sleep and not feeling well all the way around.
good luck with the patch! i've heard and read good things about it. our pediatrician will not prescribe it YET, because it is so new. i wish that she would though:) keep us posted!!!!!
shelley
She's 6. She'll be 7 in 2 weeks. She does sometimes shock us by what comes out of her mouth. Sometimes she seems way more mature than even a normal 6 year old would be with her thinking....and then somedays....not so much!
Well, it's only 25 minutes till school is over and I haven't had a phone call, so I'll take that as a good sign! It'll be interesting to know if she even kept it on all day. THAT'S going to be our biggest challenge.
And yes, I've read through that thread. I've made notes on Nasonex and Bendryl creme. I'm hoping that we're one of the rare ones who has no problems with it at all. How's THAT for optimistic!!!
The first day is always the hardest. Good communication with the school is important since they see more then we do as parents for when they come home it has worn off. My daughter is on Ritalin LA 10 MG capsule never had any side effects. She was also on m eds last year a higher dose too and nothing so be optimistic.Also truth here my girl was almost failing and did a 180 degree turnaround on meds.
Jillette39087.7735300926
Well....I have NO idea how things went yesterday at school, but I'm guessing not good. They get stars on a bookmark if they've had a good day (Megan NEVER gets stars) and she got a star Wednesday and Thursday (with a note from the teacher saying that Wednesday was actually a really good day) and no star Friday. Well, isn't that just ducky. Megan said that she didn't stay in her seat very well that day. So it seems that she was acting normal on the patch. And then she had Brownies and got sent out early due to 2 kids heckling her in the bathroom. She said one got right up in her face and had had a pretzel in her mouth which got sprayed on her and so Megan hit her. Sigh......So, basically....not seeing ANY improvements. And yes, it was confirmed, these kids were really hassling Megan, so although she got the "you don't hit anyone speech" from me, I don't really blame her for losing her cool, though I keep telling her to just tell the leader or a teacher when kids get right in her face. 
Then today, I asked her if she wanted to wear a patch being that the girls take a cooking class every Saturday from 10-11:30 (Young Chefs Academy....great place!) and then she had a birthday party to attend from 2-4. She said yes. Perfect! I wanted to be able to see if there would be an effect myself. We put it on at 9 and when I asked how she behaved during class (because for the last 2 months, she's been VERY active during class), the instructors said she was quiet and actually put her head on her sister's shoulder!....WOW....must have been a fluke, though....it was all back to normal from there. From the attitude to the snotty tone of voice to the pouting....there was absolutely NO change in her behaviour from how I've seen her behave before. So we've got 8 patches to go. Her 7 year check up is coming up (as soon as I make it!) and we'll definitely discuss maybe going with the 15mg patch.
It does leave a red mark. She said that it was a bit sore when she pulled it off, but she didn't say that yesterday's hurt. And although yesterday's mark was red when it came off, it was a faint pink by this morning. So I'm going to look into putting some Benedryl creme on it to see how that heals it by morning. My idea is to only have her wear the patch during the week. I can handle weekends (mostly!). She hasn't complained about a sore stomach or a headache or a decreased appetite (though come to think of it, she did say that she would only eat half her bowl of noodles when normally she'd eat 2 bowls....but she's not a petite child (to put it politely)....so I was HOPING that she'd have a decreased appetite!
Yes, she left the patch on all day both days. And with Daytrana, they way I'm understanding it, it takes about an hour for the meds to start kicking in and once the patch comes off, about an hour for them to get out of her system. I don't believe it's an accumulative effect with Daytrana. It's a daily effect while wearing the patch. But we'll see how the rest of this week goes.
Chases teacher did not notice a big change in Chase the first day on Concerta, but he came home with less homework and did it right away, w/o my having to pull my hair out to keep him on task. After we titrated up to a higher dose,the change was more apparent to the teachers.Hang in there! You may just need a higher dose...