I'm fairly new to the board, so I apologize if this has been covered previously. My 6.5 y.o. son was on Daytrana (20mg) for several months. It worked great. He was more focused, less impulsive, especially at school. Our Dr. took him off because he got a bad rash/reaction. He was on 10 mg of Ritalin LA, then 20 mg, etc. and now we are up to 50 mg. It's a dosage the Dr. said he gives to 175 lb. teens and my son is only 54 lbs.! It's just not working as well as the Daytrana and the Dr. thinks it has to do with my son's GI system negatively affecting the absorbtion of the drug. School isn't going as well and my son is moody and very impulsive. We can't go to Concerta b/c my son will not swallow a pill.
Has anyone out there faced this? Any med recommendations for kids who have not responded to Ritalin? Thanks!!
Daytrana and Ritalin LA are the same med, just in different forms. These meds are dosed by symptoms, not weight.
I would say go to something else, metadate possibly.
My son only weighs 58-60 pounds and takes 60mg of ritalin LA. edbson is right, I am not sure why your doctor referenced a 175lb person for that dosage, the stims are not dosed by weight. A 175 pound person could get by on 20mg, and a 54 pounder may need 60mg...it all depends on response, not weight.
Metadate and adderall can both be sprinkled I believe and are not ritalin based, so may work better for your child.