Hello and Welcome!
My son is 5 and takes Ritalin. We see a pediatric psychiatrist. My son was diagnosed ADHD combined type in September. He started on 2.5 mg of Ritalin, 1 X a day. 10 mg. seems a bit high to start from my experience. My son is now up to a 5 mg. pill in the morning, and one 2.5 in the afternoon. We will soon up the afternoon pill to 5 mg. I would give it a few days as well. I would also consider a lower dose , as this may be too high for him to start with.
Hi, I'm new to these boards, and appreciate all of the sharing of stories, advice and information. My 6 year old boy, who has an IEP for speech and occupational therapy was very recently diagnosed by a child psychiatrist with ADHD, inattentive type. We had him evaluated because we had gotten feedback from his teachers that, at times, he was having relatively higher degrees difficulty compared to other kids paying attention and was more easily distracted. We intervened behaviorally, but speculated that he could be ADD-inattentive, so we had him assessed; he is not hyper.
We had him thoroughly evaluated by the NYU Child Study Center pretty much expecting this diagnosis based on our research and observations (As an aside, my wife and I are both psychologists, and although not child or clinical, we have some familiarity with this world, particularly through colleagues who are professionals in this space.) He was diagnosed as ADD-inattentive.
It was suggested that we start our boy on a small dose of stimulants. He is on Ritalin 10mg LA. Today is day #4. We started him on the weekend so that we could observe him. The first three days we saw, and the teachers also saw on day 3 (Monday), small but positive changes in his agreeableness. Today, however, we got an email from his teachers indicating that he was "in his own old" and sorta "zoning out" and having a greater difficulty than normal in completing work independently. This is quite ironic, and disappointing, given that we are trying to enhance his focus, not further degrade it. We've given the feedback to the psychiatrist who said it's still early days and that we should continue to meds for another 3 days and then re-assess.
I guess my question to the sages here is if any of you have experienced similar reactions to medication to your ADD/inattentive (or hyperactive) types? (e.g. zoning out). Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.
walkman66639434.5643981481Hi
We are not using ritalin but are using vyvanse. We did notice the first week that about 1 hour after taking it, Ryan would *zone* out. He seemed so quiet, almost too quiet. He just lost his spark. We called the doctor and he said that we needed to give it 2 weeks, or at the least, 1 week to see if this went away. We had him on the lowest does of vyvanse. After about a week, this side effect disappeared. We have not seen it since.
Thanks jacks8897. That is reassuring to read (very). I know it's early days, but as you know, when it's your kid, and you hear he's sorta "in a daze," it's somewhat disturbing. We'll continue and hope that things improve, but I definitely wanted to compare this initial response to what some others have seen with their kids. thx again.I agree, give it a week or even two, finding the right med and the right dosing can be tricky. Quite often it can just be a matter of adusting.Will do, thanks Diane V...!I agree starting with the lowest dose is usually best and work your way up. Also it does take a couple of weeks I found out to work out some of the side effects and kinks. My son was on Focalin XR a derivative of Ritalin and zoned out at first at home sometimes although the teacher said he did great. Now he is off stims, His choice he is 9.
Thanks cali1234, spamula, and Joy2. Seems like we could be too high on the dose, but I will give it some time. I am a bit confused as I specifically asked the psychiatrist about how much methylphenidate is released into the system at one time with a 10mg LA dose.
Our psychiatrist told me that the 10mg LA dose gives 10mg, but in a time-released manner (i.e. 10mg is not released, but rather, 5mg released over the first four hours and then another 5mg over the next). I've sorta confirmed this by googling "ritalin 10mg la dosage." 5mg bid (2x/day) = 10mg la. I'll double-check on this Friday when we speak to him, particularly if the continued feedback from the teachers is that he's zoning out. The equivalent of 5mg ritalin being too much is surprising, but I guess he might need time to adjust, or for him, it's just too much. Thanks again for all of your input.
walkman66639435.3703240741I agree with the others. My son started at 5 mg. at age 5 and he was (is) extremely hyper, so the results were immediate. We see the "daze" when we've overshot.Cool, thanks for the tips, Joy2. We actually did start my boy on the regular, short-acting 5mg pills (2x a day), and then went to the LA, per the doc's suggestion, for ease of administration. I did not think that the 10mg LA could have different effects than the 5mg 2x since they are essentially the same quantity, but I guess it could. And, as you say, we could always take the 5mg and halve 'em if we have to scale back.
I've read a lot here, and realize that I am relatively fortunate as many other folks are struggling with more challenging situations. Inattentiveness at school is more manageable. Still, all the support and info here is super appreciated. thx.
Oh I see now, I didn't realize he was on the LA. I think you are right about the amount released at once. My son doesn't do well on any long acting. We've done Focalin XR 10mg and Metadate 10mg. He does much better and with less rebound on the regular Ritalin. We have to give it to him twice a day which is a hassle, but for us, it works. From what our psychiatrist says, the Long Acting are usually smoother, but we've found otherwise. Gotcha, cali. It's all about the results though, and if the stuff zones him out consistently over the next week or so, we'll adjust or do something. At least I have some peace of mind knowing we're only at the 5mg level, albeit in the extended release form. It just might not be his preferred brew, or it might just need some more time...You might want to try the short-acting just to establish a baseline. You can get 5 mg. pills and even cut these. Then you can work up from there. At least since he's *only* inattentive, you just need to make it through the school day. That's a big plus.