He is better | ADHD Information
Update: My ds finally got titrated up to the 36mg Concerta and it seems to work well. He is under control but still a little "edgy". He is not talking as much and is back to the sweet child I knew he was before the dr started to vhange all his meds. Also, I noticed that he is eating like a horse and growing like never before. He did not do as well in Foculin. Any others out there on Concerta notice the same thing?thanks for sharing Chasesmom79... you are always so helpful
I most definitely will do my reading on this med. I just like to have all my ducks in a row. My only concern for my son would be the side effect of weight gain. My son has never had difficulty with low weight. He has always been on the high end of the scale in both weight and height. He is finally starting to average out on the charts. He could go either way I suppose on the weight as I am overweight 
and his dad is underweight 
.
My son's current med hasn't posed any problems thus far for weight either increased weight or decreased weight.
This whole med thing is beyond me. I wish there were some magic potion that we could sprinkle on our children to miraculously help them.
Yes it is a prescribed med. I had to ask my ped for it...I researched it and printed off tons of info to take in to the appointment, and she already knew about it...she said that she had often prescribed it with the stims to counteract the aggression and anger that sometimes is a problem.
I don't know how to put my finger on the changes it has brought on and they were gradual....but he is just a happier, calmer boy. He is able to cope with the stressors at school, able to stay calm when things don't go as he wants them to, and the bus ride issue is a major one. He used to literally get off of that bus daily frustrated to the point of tears! The ped did not think it would help with the frustrated tearfulness, and I think she was thinking of anti-depressants, but did not want to make several changes at once, but after a month on the guanfacine, I saw improvement and when she asked Chase, he told her that he was not getting tearful at school anymore (and I didn't know it happened at school that much!) so she stuck with the guanfacine...and I think it helps a little with school, though that may be a factor of the stim change made at about the same time....he went from concerta and guanfacine, to ritalin LA and guanfacine. I did notice some improvement on the concerta/guanfacine combo as opposed to the concerta alone, but once he switched to the ritalin LA, it was even better....
I think it is a good thing to research, and keep in the back of your mind for future reference. I truly believe that it is a factor in his weight gain as well...his appetite came back with the periactin, but he was only slowly gaining weight, then on the guanfacine, he is putting on weight at a higher rate. For him, that is a very good thing! He told me this morning, that he wants to get to where his ribs are not showing. I did have to dig out the 10 slims this week, and they are just fitting in the waist...and only a little too long, so maybe he will get into a regular size someday....
"Once guanfacine was added, he mellowed out. The afternoon bus ride home is no longer the worst 30 minutes of his day, he is able to roll with the comments at school from untactful 10 year olds, he is no longer quick with his temper (not near as much...he still has his daddy's temper
), it has been the icing on the cake....the combo of the ritalin LA and the guanfacine is perfect. I think that the guanfacine helps him to keep things together even when the stim is no longer in his system. To think before he screams in anger...."
Chasemom, I know you guys have discussed guanfacine before but I was just curious. Is this a prescribed med? I notice sometimes with my son that he can become extremely defiant. . Not all the time. Maybe once or twice in 6 months. The other day he was so determine to get ice cream from the ice cream truck at the park. Mind you we had already gotten some at home when the truck came by our house thirty minutes earlier. When I said that we couldn't he ran off and around the pond and started calling me names. When he reached the busy street he proceeded to run across it even after I told him not too. Thank God, there were no cars at the time. He is only 5. I about lost my heart and stomach. I don't think he is to the point of needing the med now but I expect I may need to look into it for the future as his body and mind start growing. What do you think? He currently is on 5 mg. of Focalin XR.
well, I guess the best thing to do is to talk to the dr. I will do so before I pull him. I am touchy, I know but he is getting in trouble for things like not walking correctly through the hallway. I think" gee, not a big deal" but the other kids are doing it so he should too. It is when the teacher reminds him to walk correctly that he cops an attitude. He NEVER did that before!!!!Get a list of possible side effects from your doctor. It sounds like the teacher needs to be educated. Do you have a 504? By no means should his adad be used as an excuse to misbehave but there are some things that he just can't control. For example my son is allowed to stand up for short periods of time while he is doing a writing assignment and the teacher is great. She takes her cues from him and when he stands she says "OK anyone who needs to stand and stretch for 5 minutes may do so" then the other kids all stand and eventually sit back down on their own. Then my son just stands as long as he needs to. Is the fact that he is not walking correctly effecting his learning or the other children? Maybe I'm just lucky we have agreat teacher. Sounds like she's sweating the small stuff.I just came from getting ds from school. His teacher told me he pulled 3 tickets today. Before I could get mad, she told me that the student teacher in the room is being very hard on my DS and is "jumping the gun" as they put it on him pulling tickets. I asked them to tell the student to lay off and realize that she will have other adhd kids in her future and she had better not be like that or she will have problems with parents. I am not punishing my son for 3 pulls today. The regular teacher said he only deserved 1 of them and he was not alone, there was a group.Hey good for you! Sometimes these teachers just don't know. Keep the faith!There is one concern., My sons teacher noted that he seems more "defiant" than usual. Could this be a side effect? When she tells him things, he says no or shrugs his shoulders like he doesnt care. I told him today ( after he wrote lines for her) that if he did it again, I would pull him off the baseball team.I really liked concerta for both kids. Unfortunatly the oldest could not regularly swallow the concerta (would just suck off the outer med and finally give up), and the youngest never gained weight on concerta. If the Focalin does not help the youngest with the weight issue, I will probably want to go back to concerta with summer breaks for weight gain (the last 8 weeks off concerta she has gone from 58-65 lbs). She is also on guanfacine for those times when the stimulant is not on board. It helps quite a bit on the social issues (with lots of extra coaching
).We got lucky. Concerta was the first med we tried and it has done wonders! Wish there was an easy fix for the social struggles though.It may be that your son is still adjusting to the meds or they are adding to his anxiety (which can come out as defiance and other things). Make sure to mention it to the doc. You might even keep a diary to help remember everything.
You might also work with the teacher for rewarding him for each day that he is compliant. It would help reinforce the behavior you would like to see.
I agree....negative consequences don't usually help....and before I added the guanfacine, Chase had social problems....was way too defensive and touchy about normal 10 year old boy antics....and was unable to ignore a taunting bully on the bus long enough for the bully to move on and leave him be. He was more aggressive and angry...the ped said that these were all unfortunate side effects of all the stims.
Once guanfacine was added, he mellowed out. The afternoon bus ride home is no longer the worst 30 minutes of his day, he is able to roll with the comments at school from untactful 10 year olds, he is no longer quick with his temper (not near as much...he still has his daddy's temper), it has been the icing on the cake....the combo of the ritalin LA and the guanfacine is perfect. I think that the guanfacine helps him to keep things together even when the stim is no longer in his system. To think before he screams in anger....