Medication change questions | ADHD Information

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My son needs the max effect, we learned the hard way. He takes it, sleeps, then gets up and he is great. He sometimes eats breakfast, but not usually. If we let him eat then give the meds, the coverage is lousy.

My son makes up for the calories at dinner, believe me!!!

I would let him eat, and then take the meds or take them just as he was eating as then he gets the food and nutrition in him. My son is underweight and he needs his food before any meds get into his system.This is very common. I think letting him will be fine. He needs to eat, especially fi the Concerta is preventing him from eating lunch.

The recommendation for use on an empty stomach is to get maximum effectiveness and speed of effect when this is the main treatment med. You are using it as a pre-med boost and the dose recommendations are strickly those that the doc gave (as you are using the concerta for the main treatment med).

If appetite is effected, it is usual to take the med just before or after breakfast. Making sure a good glass of water (not just a sip) is taken with the med will also speed the effectiveness.

Hi
My 6.5 year old was dx ADHD back in March.  We have tried the usual line of stims with the ritalin family working best.  He was on Ritalin LA for the longest with great results until rebound became horrible.  So we switched to concerta(and now he can swallow a pill).  Concerta has been great, long lasting and no rebound, but the morning was tough(not enough initial med release), so now we added a 5mg ritalin boost in the am.  Is this pretty common?  And also the ritalin says to take 30 min before meal but if we wait he will then not eat breakfast.  Any info is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!