Hi Kristine and welcome.
If you have to go back to the concerta, there are a couple things you can try to taylor the meds to your daughter's needs.
You might ask to try 45mg (18mg + 27mg). If you have the time in the AM, give the 27mg first thing and then give the 18mg just before school. This might help ease the period when the meds are leaving the body.
Another option would be to go back to the 36mg concerta and add guanfacine (Tenex) to augment the concerta. This combo has been shown to work better than either one alone. Look on the board for Tenex threads.
Ritalin LA may work as well. My son was on concerta 54mg, and when it quit working as well, he was switched to ritalin LA. I cannot speak to the rebound, because my son has never seemed to have issues with that, and he is on the guanfacine, which I really think has leveled out his moods. The guanfacine also helps him to sleep, and he put on 3 pounds in the last month, so it is all good!
ritalin LA is the same med (ritalin) as the concerta, just a different delivery system...Chase says that he likes it much better than the concerta, and he liked the concerta pretty well, till it quit working....
Thanks for your replies, they have been helpful. I just took my daughter to the pediatrician and they seem to think that it would be unlikely for the Adderall to cause hives (it is apparently a rare reaction) so I remain hopeful that it was something else that caused it. We will try the Adderall again tomorrow and hope for the best. If we do eventually find that the Adderall was the cause, I am glad for your suggestions on what to try next. I have not heard anything before about guanfacine, I will go research that.Hello Everyone. My daughter has been going through the ADD medication rollercoast (Ritalin, Concoerta, Daytrana) and now Adderall XR. This has worked the best of all of them so far and we have been happy with it. On day three of this new medication she developed hives. I am very sad to think that she may be having an allergic reaction to this. Is there any way she can continue taking this medication? For instance, will she become desensitized to it after a while? or, could she take an allergy medication simultaneously to prevent teh reaction? Of course I will be contacting her doctor, but I like to hear other people's experiences as well.
In the event we have to stop this med, can anyone help me with where to go from here? My summarized story is this:
1. Ritalin short acting - had to take too many times per day but worked pretty well other than bounce back at end of day (sadness)
2. Concerta 36mg - worked okay on behavior but focus issue was not improved to our satisfaction. Also bounce back issues and did not last long enough.
3. Concerta 54mg - too zombie like
4. Daytrana - too many mechanical errors with patch but otherwise worked well.
5. Adderall XR - love it! but hives.
If we have to take her off the Adderall, I don't know where to go. I suppose back to the Concerta but does anyone have suggestions on covering her in the evening once it wears off and how to combat the bounceback depression?
Sorry for long post, I hope to receive many replies as I can really use the help!