Trying to find the right meds.........

Hello everyone,

What a huge pain in the butt having to try out all these different medicines. It is a roller coaster ride to say the least. My Son started on Concerta 27mg. The medicine seemed to help him stay calmer and not lose his temper so quickly with his sister, but it made his tics awful and he would stay up until midnight. The doctor switched him (psychiatrist) to Focalin 10mg he started on Tuesday and teacher said seems calmer but still seems lost in class and off task. He also had a big melt down last night

I swear those melt downs can be the scariest thing in the world. I feel like I am giving my child something that is making him crazy. I am going to call the doctor today and see what he says. I don't think the dose is big enough. He weighs 57lbs and is 8. I asked the doctor about tenex to help control tics and melt downs and he wants to try these medicines out before he prescribes 2. Makes since so we will keep trying different combos and I will add a few more wrinkles to my face .

I hope we can be a success story like so many other people on the list. It has been a long road finally making the choice to medicate and I just do not want it to fail. It feels so terrible to not want to be around your own child and when I read your stories and know there is hope IT DOES HELP GREATLY.  

Yes your doctor is wise to try one med at a time.  You really need to be able to see which side effect each med is causing before you add another.

Hopefully, in 6 months time, you will be able to look back on these days and be thankful that you did this because your child will be doing so well!

Hang in there...it can and will get better.

We started at 10 mg Focalin XR in October (5 yo, 50 lbs) it worked for a short while, but the first couple weeks were rough as his body adjusted to the stims.  Lots of crazy meltdowns and rebound at night.  We moved up to 15 mg which worked perfectly for about a month..then suddenly, almost overnight, it just didn't seem to control the impulsivity anymore.  We moved up to 20 mg...and he became like a zombie.  His spring pictures at school were so sad, it was like he wanted to smile, but his body wouldn't let him.

Then we tried 27 mg Concerta..which worked good in the afternoon, but not the morning.  Upped to 54 mg...he became very angry and aggressive, and had terrible rebound again at night.

We are now on 40 mg Metadate CD, with a 10 mg Ritalin booster in the afternoon.  He is doing so well...he is happy and smiling again, he is not having rebound issues and such at night.  We are so happy - for the moment!

Keep trying...it is hard, and it is heartbreaking to see their little minds and bodies struggle through this. 

Thanks for the info guys. I was wondering if your children chatter on the meds? Is this normal. My son will ask question after question after question. It seems a little weird. It is almost like he can not stop himself.

Thanks  

My dd is also on Concerta, we just increased from 18mg to 27mg... she talks all the time when not on the meds... just about anything that pops in her mind.  But when she is on concerta her thoughts are so much more thought out.  She will ask questions... because she really wants to know... like a light bulb has gone on.

Before meds when she was on the phone to her grand parents it would be 5 minutes at the most and then I would have to translate the conversation to them to explain what she was talking about... the first week on Concerta she had a 45 minute phone conversation with my Mum and she understood the WHOLE conversation!!!!!

We had to increase the meds because her focus was starting to lack again in school... now she is fine... but I know we will have to increase it down the line somewhere.

Also, the first couple of nights on the new meds she had horrible melt downs, they lasted 1 week on 18 mg and a couple of days on the 27mg.