My son did not do as well on concert even with increasing the dose. He takes adderall and my gosh it works wonders for him he takes 20mgs ( the doc had him up to 36 of adderall and the side effects were worse).
If you doc does not want to try something else, I suggest you find a new doc....FYI adderall was the first med that our doc tried ( the short acting) and my son fell asleep. This scare me so much I took him off the med and we did ritalin, concerta, focalin, strattera and then finally back to adderall long acting which did the trick.
Our doctor is a neurologist
joemom39136.4661805556Most doctors have a preference for what order they try meds for a person. My kids' doc has had lots of success with concerta and that is generally his starting med of choice (unless there are good reasons to start with something else -like a preference for a non-stimulant). Docs also lean towards meds that are the ones they have the most experience managing (this is a good thing).
Also, the doc considers the symptoms that are of concern and the period of time the meds need to be effective. The methylphenidates are in general better for the hyperactivity areas than the amphetamines; and concerta is one of the longer lasting methylphenidates (along with Daytrana).
For perspective, most of the kids in the concerta clinical trial were either on 36 or 54mg for effectiveness, so the doc is still titrating up the dose before moving on to a different med.
You might look up the formulary for your insurance to see what meds they will cover. This might help you and the doc pick the next med to try if the concerta does not work. Also if the concerta does not work, you can ask the doc to skip past the rest of the methylphenidate meds and move on to the amphetamine salts (adderall).
I know it is so hard to be patient with this process, but it will be helpful in the end. If later you need to change docs (treatment will cover many years), you will have the experience to discuss which meds worked and did not work when first trying them out.
vickie39136.4410532407My seven yr old son's doctor just increased his concerta to 54mg. My concern is that two weeks ago he increased it to 36mg. and that never worked. i want him on adderall but the doctor (and husband) wont listen to ME! any opinions