new to meds | ADHD Information

Hi, welcome

   I agree two weeks is good amount of time to see if side effects will subside. They frequently do. Trouble falling asleep and tics are common side effects. There are many different med options out there. Don't get too discouraged if your first med doesnt work out, generally just switching to a different med can be all thats needed. Concerta is a 12 hour med, switching to Ritalin LA (10 hour) may be worth looking at if the side effects dont subside.

Good Luck.

My almost 8 yr old son diagnosed with ADHD just recently started Conserta 27mg 8 days ago. I have been EXTREMELY hesitant. I have also noticed a HUGE change in his behavior for the better, so has everyone around him. The side effects that I notice the most are his inability to fall asleep and what I think are tics. He says he gets a pich or a jump in cerain parts of his body. His doctor told me to give it at least 2 weeks to see if the side effects go away, before Itake my son off the meds.

Anyone with any insight to if your children or yourself maybe started out with side effects that got better or worse or stayed the same. I feel soo bad for my son, because he gets frustrated not being ablt to fall asleep, and having the small tics in his body, but Im not sure if this is enought to stop the meds, and if it is to soon.

Very confused and frustrated!!!! :(

Thanks you guys. It really really helps to read things tlike this to let me know that Im doing the semi-right thing. I dont know many people around me who deal with these issues. Iam really glad I found this site.Diane V,

On a related note, do you know what the difference between Adderall XR and Ritalin LA is?  My son was just switched to the Ritalin, and I thought I remember the psych saying something about how one acted like twice its strength in the other (not worded well, sorry;  either 10 mg Ritalin is like 20 mg Adderall or 10 mg Ritalin is like 5 mg Adderall.)

Do you, or does anyone else know off the top of your head which is the case?  I guess I was doing a bit of ADD'ing myself at the appointment today, because I somehow managed to totally space that part of the conversation!!!

Stefe:  We are fairly new to the meds thing too.  I do think the side effects slowly go away after a few weeks, but i guess it depends on the med and your particular body's chemistry.  For my son, the adderall side effects just haven't really improved, and he's been on various doses of that since February.  We're hoping Ritalin will be more effective, but less side effects.  My son is just super skinny and is not gaining weight well, so it's a bit of a worry.

Anyways, good luck with the trial run, and I hope it works well for you!

Ritalin LA and Adderall XR are totally different meds. RLA is methylphedinate, Adderall is mixed amphetamine. No way to compare doses. Saying that, if he said anything like that, my guess would be that the lower Adderall was more comparable to a higher RLA.

 

my dd is on concerta also with positive results, she to is having a hard time falling asleep, before meds she was passed out by 8:15, after meds it's closer to 10, but i give her melatonin a half hour before bedtime, and she now falls alseep easely, and is not so cranky the next day.

only other side effect she has is lack of appetite at lunch time, but she makes up for it after school, she had lost 3 lb at first, but now has regained it and plus some.
Thanks Diane!  I think that's probably what he was trying to say, because he said something to the effect of: "We'll try a lower dose now that there's only 4 weeks left of school, so if it's not working, it will only be a short amount of time before summer."  I'm quoting, but not sure that's right. 

I need to start taking a notebook and writing this stuff down!  My mind starts thinking of all kinds of things sometimes when people are trying to talk to me, and I really have to reign myself in.

I dunno, maybe I do have mild adhd myself! ;)  If so, I self medicate...can't survive without 2-3 cuppa's a day!

Thanks again!  I appreciate it!

How's it going with your ds, stefe?  Things any better yet after a few days with the meds?  Our first day on Ritalin...well, ds was GREAT when I picked him up from school, but once we had been home for 30 minutes and he had had his break, it was time for homework and *BAM* here came the tantrums!  Terrible evening, but after he settled down and was able to talk more calmly about things, I think we had some breakthroughs.  We'll see!

Keep us "post"ed! :)