You may need to try a different stimulant- they all work differently and each person reacts to them differently, but if he's worse then you should call the doctor. He or she will be better able to judge how to proceed.
The headache is a common side effect (as it is with most medications) and should go away after a week or two if you stick with the meds. Another thing that I just thought too is that my son was worse when he started on a low dose of Focalin XR (compared to the ritalin that was barely working), but when he moved up to the 20mg pills he was like a different child.
So your son was worse on a low dose of Focalin but when the doseage of the actual Focalin was moved up he improved? I just want to be sure I am reading what you said correctly. Thank you!Yep. When I told the doctor what we were seeing she put him on the higher dose and he's done really well on it for the past 8 months. We did see a whole lot of rebound in the first few weeks, but that subsided after a couple weeks- the doc gave us a short acting pill to help with it, most of which we still have sitting on the shelf. Well, it looks like I have an even bigger problem. One that I thought was a possibility but nobody would ever pay attention to me when I brought it up. My son's dr. did not have all the notes from his counselor when we saw her Monday. She has since got them and just called me a bit ago. I have always tried to get someone to see if it was possible my son is actually bi polar. Once the pediatrician got the rest of the notes from the counselor this became her biggest concern because of his family history of bi polar and his rages. Both of his parents have it, at least one grandparent, and two great grandparents. So now we're starting all over. She is going to get him in with a child psychiatrist and call me Monday with the information. All I ask is she forward ALL of his records to the new dr. so s/he will have the background before we even walk in the room. She also said since I thought the concerta was making him worse, to stop it. It was making him talk so fast that he was getting confused, which is very unlike him. So we may have had the wrong diagnosis of ADHD, or maybe it is ADHD combined with bi polar. It sounds as if I have a whole 'nother world opening up before me. I'm a bit overwhelmed but also feel as if we may be headed in the right direction for the first time yet. Thanks for listening to me here, everyone has been so nice and helpful. Wish us luck on this next journey, I already feel the pain in me because I know how awful bi polar has made my life. (I've only had two manic epidsodes in my life, I mainly deal with the depression side of it) My poor baby.see if the insurance will take a referal to another psych. when the doctor calls you back see if they can give you anything to treat the bp...just keep pushing, get push, be tough....make them understand that you are not goign to let it go, you need some relief and so does your children....
Hi Steph. Actually, I did take it upon myself to call my insurance company. I found a dr. that would evaluate him to see if he needed medication. So I called the ped's nurse back and when she gets me on the phone she tells me that they've found a new person in the area ( I guess in the area, she didn't say where really) that took our insurance. She said they have to fax the psych. a letter why they are referring him and that then the psych office will call me to make the appt. I sure hope this isn't just another counselor, and it's an actual psychiatrist that can prescribe medication. They caught me off guard when they sidetracked me from why I called them and I didn't think to ask them the details. But surely it is a psychiatrist. I can't look it up online because it is a new dr. It's a woman, not that that matters. So I guess all I can do is wait for them to call me next and then I can ask them where they are located and if it is an actual psych. Maybe since it is a new dr. it won't take too long to get an appt. The one I found on my own would have to schedule it in January if I made the appt. and said if the dr's office called, which they could have, that they could schedule it in Oct. I guess one of these days we may actually make some progress with all of this. And if I get called by this next office and they can't prescribe medication I will simply call my pediatrician back yet again and tell them I want them to make the appt. with the dr. I found on my own. Argh! They know I'm not giving up, I could tell from the nurse's tone of voice when I called back this afternoon. So that's it for now. Thanks as usual to you all.Scared - I am so sorry that you are in a rough spot right now. I remember last week you really debating using the stimulant, and I can see now that you did, and you did not see the effect that you desired. That sometimes happens, but do not be discouraged. I hope your new evaluation goes well and that you get some answers. It still may be ADHD, but the bipolar has to be ruled out first (80% of children with bipolar meet the criteria for ADHD). Who knows - your DS may have ring-of-fire or Temporal lobe ADHD and may benefit from an anti-seizure med. Hopefully you will get some answers today.