concerta and not growing | ADHD Information

[QUOTE=diane_76]

Thank you so much for sharing your info with me, that has helped reassure me a lot, my son's pediatrician told me the same thing your pharmacist did and said basically the same thing, he will reach his potential height, in so many words when he was born it is already decided and if he will be 6 foot or 5'10 or whatever he will get there, just will not have these huge growth spurts like other kids.

Thanks for your help it makes me feel better.

i'm actually goin thru the exact same thing w/ my 8 yr old son. he was considered obese weighing between 82-87 lbs and being 4 ft 4 (i think he was somewhere around the 97 percentile). since he's been on concerta for 8 months he now weighs 62 lbs and has not grown in height at all. he's always been tall for his age but now the other kids are catching up to him. i stopped his concerta for 4 days and he would not stop eating and put 5 lbs on...but i couldn't deal w/ him being so hyper and not listening to me. so i started to give him the concerta everyday again. i have read that weight gain is a common thing once u stop taking the meds and concerta will slow down there growth. i actually asked my pharmacist about this and i dunno how accurate the info he gave me is but he said that "if i child is meant to be 6 ft 2 then they will be 6 ft 2 but it will take them longer to get there if they are taking the concerta." what ive tried to do w/ my son is give him a huge breakfast before giving him his meds and theres times i wait acouple hrs b4 even giving him his meds and thats helped too cuz he would get hungry and then id give him his pill. his pediatrician said that she will stop his meds prior to puberty since everyones body chemistry changes every couple yrs and that way it doesnt interfere w/ growth. some kids have even outgrown adhd after reaching puberty. hope this helps. [/QUOTE] We have had this exact problem. Our 14 1/2 year old son is tiny - average 10 year old height and weight up until a few months ago. There was no sign of puberty. Then we noticed he had grown 5 cm (2 inches) and had put on 9 kg (about 1 1/2 stone) in a matter of 2 months. We were very concerned about this as he has been on medication for 8 years. Things are starting to happen down below as well which is a great relief. He is delayed academically and emotionally so his physical growth is in line with this. We have in the past 6 weeks given him a small dose of an anti depressent called avanze (remeron) and it has really helped with his sleep and eating especially at night time. This we feel has helped also with his growth. One of his specialists feels he will be over 6 ft tall which makes us laugh but says it won't happen until he is 17 or older. We have notcied that his med needs have changed as his body chemistry has altered. I wouldn't take him off meds now because it is such a confusing time in every teenagers life. The only down side is that I have to buy clothes and shoes - he hasn't changed size for the past 4 years!!!!!

We've been dealing with the same thing. My 8 yr old son had been on Metadate CD 10mg for 1 1/2 yrs. In March he was 48" and weighed 47lbs. Dr. put him on Periatin at night to increase appetite. He took that for about 6 weeks and we stopped didn't see a big change.

This summer I took him off meds, and he has gained 11 lbs since March. We went school shopping yesterday went from 7 slim to 7X slim.

We're now tried homeopathy to see if that will help, we didn't want to put him back on meds when school started.

Thanks again to all for sharing their stories. This board is wonderful and has done a lot for me to see other's points of view. It is hard explaining it all to moms who are not going through the same thing. Thanks again.

Hello, I am new to this message board My son is 7 and has been on concerta 27 mg for about two years now, the problem I am most concerned about is he seems so small for his age and doctor was even concerned at one point. This is a child tht was normal birth rate but was always a large chunky baby. even at three he was a little chunky and husky. He was always in the 95 % after meds he is between 5 and 10 percentile. It scares me because he is so small and thin, doctor says he will reach his full height weightjust may not have a huge growth spurt because the meds do not stunt growth but do decrease appetite, there are days he hardly eats anything most than not.

Anyone experience this and wht did they do? He also takes clonidine at night to settle him to sleep for bedtime.

I was just wondering if anyone has a child that was on concerta for a long time and experienced a failure to grow..I am scared for my son.

mariylyn1539261.001875My daughter has been on and off stimulants for about 4 years. She barely eats whenever taking stimulants is very, very thin. She was thin before though. Right now we are off stimulants and she is putting wieght on quickly. My youngest has been thin from even before meds. We first added guanfacine (tenex, same class of meds as clonidine) to augment the concerta (could not go up quite high enough due to weight loss). This stabilized the weight. After 8 months of no weight gain, we moved to focalin, because for some people, it does not suppress the appetite. She started to slowly gain weight. With the guanfacine, we could skip the stim on weekends and for the summer (guanfacine controls hyperactivity, impulsivity and calms her). We recently added risperdal because of an underlying anxiety and aggression that would get worse with stress, and she has further added weight (side effect of that med). She is currently 11, weighs 76lbs and wears size 6 pants which are about a foot too short, but has started her development for puberty.

Thank for replying to my post, I guess I better check with the doctor, as I know and did not expect my child to be heavy ever or anything just so small now. Maybe we need to make some changes to his meds. Thanks for all the input it helps to know that you are not the only one going through this. Have a great weekend.

Does anyone have a child on concerta for a long period of time and had problems with their child being small? No weight gain?

How did they do when you take a break from meds? And do they gain weight?

Sorry so many questions I just feel lost and need some info as I do not know anyone who has a child with adhd. Thanks

My son is 14 and not even on the height and wieght charts! We have been on stimulants for 7 years - concerta for the past few years. Recently I took him to another specialist because there was no sign of puberty. Just went you give up things happen!!! Yes there has been some development down there!!!!!!!

The specialist said that meds won't delay puberty. Medication will slow growth. So he had put on 5 kg and grown 5 cm in the past 4 months. Hope this is reassuring.

Since this doctor's visit we have started on avanza (Mirtazapine) an antidepressent that in small doses makes him very tired!!! We were not getting to sleep until after midnight and we all needed him to sleep! This has been amazing for appetite. He is absolutely starving after dinner and ate 6 muffins the other night! We can see the weight additions before our eyes! Hopefully we can arrange his eating for the day so that he is eating healthy foods during this raging hunger.

We used Mirtazapine (remeron) with Adderall also to combat insomnia and appetite issues when we used Adderall.Thanks for sharing your experiences as it always helps to see there are other options out there.My DS has been on Concerta for 6 years and was very small & thin. He is 15 now and went through puberty about a year late. We held him back in 4th grade so he was right on track with the kids in his class. Actually he was first boy to have a deeper voice and thought he was so cool

. He just went for his 3mo check up and was 99lbs (I jumped for joy). He could use alttle more height, but is finally as tall as me 5'5. clm3- When did you son start his growth spurt / puberty? Our son is 14 1/2 and and is about 80 lb and is 4 ft 6 inches. He has grown 5 inches this year and put on about 18 lb. Did you notice a change with his academic abilites, attention and behaviour?

[QUOTE=Happyrock]We have had this exact problem. Our 14 1/2 year old son is tiny - average 10 year old height and weight up until a few months ago. There was no sign of puberty. Then we noticed he had grown 5 cm (2 inches) and had put on 9 kg (about 1 1/2 stone) in a matter of 2 months. We were very concerned about this as he has been on medication for 8 years. Things are starting to happen down below as well which is a great relief. He is delayed academically and emotionally so his physical growth is in line with this. We have in the past 6 weeks given him a small dose of an anti depressent called avanze (remeron) and it has really helped with his sleep and eating especially at night time. This we feel has helped also with his growth. One of his specialists feels he will be over 6 ft tall which makes us laugh but says it won't happen until he is 17 or older. We have notcied that his med needs have changed as his body chemistry has altered. I wouldn't take him off meds now because it is such a confusing time in every teenagers life. The only down side is that I have to buy clothes and shoes - he hasn't changed size for the past 4 years!!!!![/QUOTE]

Boy that sure does help, and I guess Ijust needed some reassurance from everyone, I trust my doctor totally but it is so nice to hear from other moms who are experiencing this also. Thanks again

Thanks for the info, And if I am being to personal please do not answer as I am not trying to. I am just curious, my son is only 7 so it is hard to know how he will be. But is it normal for a child on Concerta to have a delay in puberty? MY son has always been right on track academically if not somewhat advanced, fortunately since he has been on meds which is about 3 years now we have not had any major behavior problems in or out of school. At school he is wonderful... Just curious on the puberty thing? Or is it reccommended they stop taking it before puberty onset ? Just curious?

[QUOTE=clm3]My DS has been on Concerta for 6 years and was very small & thin. He is 15 now and went through puberty about a year late. We held him back in 4th grade so he was right on track with the kids in his class. Actually he was first boy to have a deeper voice and thought he was so cool . He just went for his 3mo check up and was 99lbs (I jumped for joy). He could use alttle more height, but is finally as tall as me 5'5. [/QUOTE]

Thank you.

And another question.....anyone out there have a child that has been on stimulants and is older now and have they reached what they consider normal growth?

[QUOTE=parshmar]From what i've read this is normal (slowed growth w/ stims) but it isn't a
permanent thing. Meaning, at some point it "catches" up with them.
Though, it might be hard for the child during these young ages, there is no
evidence (that I know of) that shows stimulants permanantly stunt growth.[/QUOTE]

From what i've read this is normal (slowed growth w/ stims) but it isn't a
permanent thing. Meaning, at some point it "catches" up with them.
Though, it might be hard for the child during these young ages, there is no
evidence (that I know of) that shows stimulants permanantly stunt growth.my daughter has been on and off stimulants for about 4 years. She is now turning 13 and 5'1" and 80 pounds. So although still pretty thin, I would consider her on the low-average. I do not think the stimulants "caused" this as she was always small (ish) even pre meds. It certainly didnt help her weight. She is now off stimulants since June and has had 2 big growth spurts this summer and consistent weight gain. She is right in the midst of puberty and rapid growth is normal and I feel she is growing on track. Not sure if this helps, and I cant say whether her growth over the past few years has mostly occurred off stimulants, but she does grow, and gains weight rapidly when off her stimulants. I do no think it really ever affected her height growth significantly. Diane V39312.1641550926Thank you for sharing your story with me, every little bit of info helps, it is so nice to hear from other moms.

This is helpful.

This was a concern for my child to. My psychiatrist was many years a pediatrician also so she knows the best of both worlds...she relayed to me that there was no correlations or studies that concerta slowed down growth, however, she did acknowledge my concerns and speaks with my child PCP on the regular..so far my child growth pattern has been fine....he is on the small side but within range normal on the percentile chart..but I am a small person as well so he could take after me..

Inner_Beauty39313.6833101852Thanks to all for sharing with me it helps so much

It isn't uncommon for kids to lose weight on Concerta or other stims. My ds now 11, was a fat, cute toddler and weighed about 70 pounds at 7 when we started teh stims. Now at 11 he weighs around 68 (has gained some with Tenex). HE was 53" tall for two full school years. Never outgrows anything. I throw clothes out when they wear out...even shoes. Has been in 2.5 shoes for two years. He is small boned so wouldn't be huge but he is tiny and hates it. He has grown abou2.5 inches lately which made him happy.

We have always taken him off stims in the summer to let him grow until this year. He usually gains about 10 pounds in the summer then slowly loses half of it again during the year. I have also tried feeding him high protein, higher calorie foods to help the weight loss. It works when I work hard enough at it. I was buying Boost for him and he'd drink that. He eats peanut butter bars for snacks and loves cheese so I was always stuffing cheese sticks in his lunch. He loves PBand J so I make him sandwhichs for school with thick layer of peanut butter. Also, when he gets hungry later in teh evening, I feed him, even if dinner is already put away.

[QUOTE=TLCsmom]

Thanks for the info, I do a lot of the things that you do, and luckily my son will drink ensure. I guess I worry too much, he is healthy and happy, and doing so well in school/and home but always wonder if he will grow to his "potential", I guess I just get afraid he may always be small and wonder if anyone has a child that their height and weight eventually catches up?

Thans for sharing your experience it is so good to hear fron other moms.

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