Too somber?? | ADHD Information

When we used adderall we totaly lost our little boys' personality.  When we were trying different doses of Ritalin also the teacher would tell me that he seemed so serious and didn't smile much.  That broke my heart I didn't want to lose the fun loving little boy I loved so much, but yet he had to be on some sort of meds for my sanity.  When we sent to school one day with no meds to see what the teacher thought she told me that he smiled more that one day than he had all year.  That just broke my heart even more.  But then she added that the smiles were when he was being inapproiately silly.  We struggle and still haven't found that right med and dose.  I understand that it is a long road, but eventually you find a med that works and still lets your childs personality show through. Yes, we experienced that too on Concerta. She rarely cracked a smile. We changed meds and she got her personality back. Don't get me wrong, it has been a long road to get to the meds she's on now. You have to have faith that there is a middle ground and a med out there that will work. Good Luck!!

Thank you for the reassurance.  We do understand that we may need to forego some of his "shining personality" during the day so that he can focus and do his school work, but we just don't want him to be a zombie.

We definitely have his little personality ringing through loud and clear at night when the meds wear off.

cr12345mr - it was 20 mg of Focalin that seemed to wipe out his personality.  The concerta so far has not been able to control his impulsiveness - not sure if the dose is too low or what.

Concerta did this to my son.  Adderall seems to be the best for him.  It is different for every child.  Good luck and I sympothize with what you are experiencing. 

Did he do well on the lower dose of focalin?  Could you go back down a notch and see how that works?

DS did very well with 10 mg of Focalin for about three weeks..upped it to 15.  He did very well with that for about a month, then the impulsiveness came back again.  So we upped it to 20 mg...that was when it seemed like too much.  I guess that Focalin releases 50% of the meds right away - it seems like he just was getting way too much first thing in the morning.  He seemed to do a little bit better in the afternoons.  We also had a significant drop in the meds effectiveness from 11 am until 12 am.

The psych recommeded we try the 54 mg of Concerta - which makes me a bit nervous, it seems like a lot.  He is only 5 1/2 and weighs 50 pounds.  I am afraid that it is going to take him back to zombieland.

She did say that sometimes with Concerta they give a small quick acting dose of Ritalin in the am to boost the morning effectiveness.

I plan to call daycare late morning to see how he is doing.

Yes, middle grounds are possible!

The previous posts prompt me to chime in about the importance of getting the right dose of an adhdmed.  Chasesmom had a good question about going down a notch on the focalin if it worked.  Our developmental pediatrician (specializes in adhd) believes in finetuning a medication if need be.  The neurologist who treated ds for the first three years did not.  Same medication, but two very different philosopies and resulting in two very different personalities in my child.  Altho the medication could be safely cut, and I saw a better effect in my son,  the neurologist did not agree with this suggestion.   The second doctor allowed me to break, cut, or shave off the edge of Ritalin until I could see the best dose for him.  Ds was very sensitive to slight changes in Ritalin.  It made all the difference in a happy kid or a zombie. 

Some medications, like Concerta or Adderal cannot be tampered with, so it is important to discuss adjustments with your doctor.
jfla239153.9696875We were having troubles with impulsiveness also when taking Ritalin LA only. We added in guanfacine and that helped so much, you wouldn't believe it....and we were able to reduce the dosage of the stimulants. Maybe you should try it.

I am so sad right now I could just sit at my desk and cry.  We had ds on Focalin since October, and it seemed to work pretty well for him.  Until, that is, we had to up the dosage to 20 mg.  Then it seemed like he was just so somber, especially in the mornings.  Now, we don't really see him on the meds during the week, because he is at school - but I mentioned it once to the daycare teacher and she said "hmm...I guess it has been a while since I have seen him really smile". 

So, we talked to the psych about it and we decided to try Concerta, because it releases a little different, and hopefully he wouldn't get so much right away.  That doesn't seem to be working either, because he has been very impulsive again at school.

Then today, we got his pictures back that were taken at daycare when he was still on the Focalin - OMG...he looks so sad.  He looks like he could not crack a smile if his life depended on it.  I am so sad...how could I let him feel like that every day and not know it.  That is NOT my fun loving, vibrant, passionate baby.  I am going to talk to daycare and let them know that I expect them to let me know if they see things like this too.

We go back to the psych today to see what we can do for him.  There has to be a good middle ground doesn't there?