want to cut back from concerta 36mg | ADHD Information
I would ask the Prescribing Psych about going down, But you could go down to 18, or even stop altogether. I wouldn't worry about going back down, that's not a huge jump. Concerta is one of the ones my Dr. said you could skip on the weekends if you wanted to - I wouldn't worry about a withdrawl or anything. How long did you try the higher dose? Sometimes it takes a little while for side effects to go away (moodiness, crying, ect) My son got moody and cried at first, then it when away and it has been awesome ever since -he's been on 36mg since sunday 4/6...it'll be two weeks this coming sunday. it's just so hard to figure out the right thing to do. i don't want him to be too anxious, but i want to give him the benefits he needs/deserves from whatever meds he gets. i've calmed down a bit since i started this post and i might just wait until the full two weeks is up this sunday before i talk to doctor.
tonight i was glad to see the meds leave and have my own guy back again -- goofy noises and all!
my son started meds in early feb for the first time. concerta 18mg. four lovely weeks. he was happy, but not getting into trouble. then 4 days of symptoms. so i upped to 27mg. focus returned but new intensity too. after 3.5 weeks, chaos of symptoms again! so i upped to 36mg. now he's way too intense. he cried in school today because a wasp had died. teacher says great focus but a little introverted. i find him testy with his little sister and sitting for hours with his DS now. on the 18, he was playing outside and not testy at all, just easier to be with overall. it was those funky days that made me try going up.
i want my happy little guy back
. can i just go back to 18mg tomorrow, or should i wean him down with a couple of days on 27mg? or could i try giving a 5mg ritalin first thing in the am followed with an 18 before bus?
Does the concerta help his adhd symptoms? What you seem to be describing may be anxiety. Stims often increase anxiety in children. Talk to the doctor. Adding a low dose of an antianxiety med or TENEX may help.Waiting for meds to level out tried our patience. we switched from metadate to daytrana this winter and then uped the dosage and then shortened the time the patch was left on-- things are going fine-- for now. We had one scarey day when 10yr.old. dd was like a zombie-- don't know why and it hasn't happened again. The huge benefits of the meds greatly out weigh the trials and errors of using them, hang in there. this is part of the process, sorting out symptoms, side effects and balancing it all. Sometimes it's exhasuting in itself
. You're doing the right thing, being patient. It is a balance, you want symptom relief with the least amount of side effects. Maybe being on the 27 and "dealing with" some ADHD symptoms is the answer. Changing meds altogether may also be a thought. You need to talk it through with the doctor and make an informed decision. As everyone else already said, dropping back or stopping altogether is safe. We stopped Concerta right away last year when my daughter was having terrible side effects. She was fine, all her ADHD symtpoms were there, but all her side effects went away and we started again .