Ritalin Patch | ADHD Information

Does anyone have any feedback on the Ritalin Patch. We are considering this med for our 10-1/2 year old son.

Thanks,

Take a look at the very long Daytrana thread (a little further down). There is info on the difficulties (and solutions) to removing the backing and the experiences of many members.

My almost-6-year-old son was recently diagnosed with severe ADHD (combined) secondary to alcohol-related nuerodevelopmental disorder (apparently his birthmother -- NOT ME, his adoptive mother -- drank while she was pregnant with him).

I have no words for that woman that would be suitable for use in this forum, but I am sure you can imagine what i would like to say to her.A nice slap upside the head for starters.

Anyway, he began daytrana about 3 weeks ago at 10 mg, moving up to 15 mg in the last 10 days or so. It is working quite well; his teachers are amazed at the difference in his behavior, and I am generally pleased with it also. (he has developmental delays and a number of learning disabilities that qualify him for services at our local school, its just a question of how much services we'll be able to get.)

I apply the patch about 8 am and it takes 2 hours to work. I remove it at about 4 pm when he returns from school and continues to work for several hours - up to 8:30 or 9 pm. So far he has shown a lack of interest in eating until right before bed, which is a concern due to his small size -- only 40 pounds and 46 inches tall I think.

The biggest day-to-day problem I am having is the rebound effect and the effect on his sleeping. He used to go to bed around 9 pm and would fall asleep within a half-hour. Right now he is awake until 11 pm at least and sometimes later. During the rebound period he completely ignores everything I tell him to do. His squirmy behavior and impulsivity comes back with a vengeance. He went so far this evening after he was in bed to get up and mess up some of the clothes I had folded, put in his dresser, and specifically warned him not to touch (to keep him from messing them up). When I became angry with him and began to verbally discipline him, he put his fingers in his ears and said "I'm not listening, I'm not listening," and was laughing the whole time even as I was threatening to take away certain privileges the next day. Then he continued to come out of his room at least 3 or 4 times afterwards, in spite of my clear directions that he was to stay in his room, stay in his bed, and try to go to sleep. It was well after 11:30 that he finally conked out. And he gets up at 7:30 in the morning, meaning he's only getting 7 or 8 hours of sleep when he should be getting more like 11 hours.

Today I took the patch off at 2 pm instead of 4 to see if it would help the sleep, but it didn't. I am thinking of cutting a 15 mg patch in half or in thirds to get back to the 10 milligram dosage and see how he does. I had been complaining about his bad behavior shortly before bedtime to friends but wasn't sure until today that rebound effect is actually a quite common side effect.

Does anyone have any suggestions for handling this? Like vigorous exercise before dinner or after dinner in the summer (assuming he heats at the regular dinner hour); encouraging him to continue his daytrana-induced good behavior even after the drug has worn off, cuttting off a portion of the patch when he comes home but leaving the rest on until a later hour to see if it will continue controlling his behavior without interferering with sleep? The medicine in the patch continues to be effective for at least four hours after it is removed, which is why his rebound conduct starts at about 8 or 8:30 every night.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

susu