Our son has been on Daytrana for about a month now & doing well in the afternoons. We recently added 5mg of Ritalin short acting in the morning to help boost his mornings and since he's been taking it his appetite is completely gone. He's had some loss of appetite w/Daytrana but at least eats, just less but since the Ritalin, I get him to eat breakfast when he takes his pill but he won't eat a thing the rest of the day, sometimes not even dinner (which I know Ritalin has worn off by then). He's lost 5 lbs over the course of the last month since he's started meds, which I'm not too worried about yet as he is a big kid. But, he's always had a very good appetite and has never turned down any kind of snack, meal or treat and lately he's turning down everything, which worries me a little. Is this something that will get better and his appetite will return once his body adjusts to the meds? Or is it possible that we'll need to find something else that won't affect his appetite so much?
My daughter initially lost weight (8 pounds I think) when she started on Ritalin LA. She eventually leveled out after 3- 4 (don't remember exactly) and then started to slowly gain again. She had a huge growth spurt over the summer and gained 8 pounds (while on meds). Since her height and weight remained proportional and she is in the 50-75 % range, we just keep an eye on things. I try not to worry about it too much.
That said, she doesn't eat tons during the day - and I think it is worse with her on Concerta rather than the Ritalin LA. She hardly eats any lunch at school. I've gotten to the point of just sending in snack type food as she won't eat anything else. The sandwiches were constantly returning home or getting thrown away. I got tired of wasting the food.
Mornings aren't great for us either. She doesn't wake up hungry. I do my best to get food in her before she takes her meds, but it isn't always easy. Sometimes I resort to nachos for breakfast as I'd rather have her this than nothing. I figure the cheese is good for her.
When the evening roles around, she will eat a ton of food. There are time when she eats dinner and then eats more food at 9 or 10 pm at night. I pretty much let her eat when she is hungry as long as it is reasonably healthy.
I really hate the whole fight over food. She's a really picky eater anyway and then with the appetite suppressant of the stimulants, its even worse. I try not to stress out about it too much as she is healthy and growing.