Greetings..
Just thougt I'd provide an update on how Concerta's working on our 9 yr old daughter. After being on Ritalin for almost 2 years, we started our daughter on Concerta last week. She's taking 18 mg first thing in the morning (around 7:30-8 am) which lasts the whole day. Some early observations so far..
- appetite has decreased. Has a meagre breakfast and usually isn't hungry for lunch or supper. Gets some appetite later in the evening after med has worn off when we'll give her something before bed. On Ritalin, she didn't eat much lunch, but she was usually hungry for supper. She's holding steady at about 69 lbs right now.
- sleep not affected. So far, she's falling asleep at the usual time (around 10 pm) and sleeps soundly through the night.
- she says she feels more "out of it" during the day.. that is, she's more in a sedated mood than on Ritalin. However, she seems to be focusing well, and doing her work, although we have yet to meet the teacher to see if that's the case.
- while on Concerta, she seems more talkative and sociable than usual (at least when I pick her up for lunch sometimes) . She will occasionally get into a snarky mean-spirited mood in the evening where nothing pleases her (especially us!) But that's nothing new. She's been like this even on Ritalin.
- on weekends we give her one dose of Ritalin (10 mg) after lunch so she'll have a better appetite. Seems to help a little.
Overall, she seems to coping fairly well with the new drug, but we need some more time to see for sure. We also have talk with her teacher to see if she notices any difference at school during the day. The main thing is we haven't noticed any obvious negative impacts or side effects so far (other than the decreased appetite), so we're encouraged by that. Will keep you posted on how things evolve over the next few weeks.