son has been on 54mg of concerta with a 10mg bumper of Ritalin at noon. This is working great - problem is his weight. he hasn't gained any weight in the last year and physician says if he doesn't gain weight she is going to take him off meds. what can i give him to try to help him gain weight? we love the meds and don't want him to be taken off them. he doesn't eat to much but eats in little bits - he is a grazer. thanks for your suggestions:) I'd make sure you are giving him whole milk, whole cheeses, full fat peanut butter (if not allergic) .... I know a lot of families will add butter (the real stuff, not the vegetable spread stuff) to ANYTHING they possibly can just to up their child's caloric intake. Maybe see if your son will drink Carnation Instant Breakfast in the morning, and another one when he gets home from school?
edited to add
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Some natural high (good) fat foods are avacados, eggs, cheeses, whole milk, peanut butter, any nuts really, smoothies (to which you can add flax seed which is really good and from what I remember, is high in the good fats!).....
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Basically, increase his caloric intake without increasing the junk foods. Also, lots of protein will help too! :)
Hope this helps
I get those protein bars. He loves them and they are pretty good for him. I have noticed more of an appetite too. I would say it is coming from having something in his stomache during the day.
we give my ds carnation instant breakfast with whole milk and use it for his drink and then give him 2 or 3 snacks at bed time. we try to get him to eat breakfast before his meds so he is hungry. we cant do too much with lunch b/c he is at school but when he is home we give him as much as we can. he hasnt lost anymore weight. we will know next week if he gained. i worry alot about this. also the try to add the higher calorie foods that pp said.
kim
Okay, I just wanted to give you a little bit of advice based on my own experience with Concerta. I am twenty-three years old and was on concerta throughout high school. While I was on it, I dropped down to weighing 92 pounds (I'm 5 feet 1 inches tall). I am not trying to tell you what to do for you son by any means, but I would take him off of Concerta as soon as possible. I felt like it caused me to become almost manic and the weight loss was horrible. Just a suggestion, but I hope it helps from someone who has been there. My ds had lost 8 lbs over the last year. from 60 which is low enough to 52 my ped got angry he told me to feed him xtra protien and Carnation Insant Breakfast 2-3 times a day. so far we are up 4 lbs in 6 weeks only. we are still working hard at this as my son is a nibler who has never cared about food even before the meds, my ped wants him off the meds but he will not make it in school yet without them and he is in a special gifted program. HE JUST NEEDS TO EAT!Hate to tell you this, but my mom, who is 74 y.o., used to take amphetamines in the 70s (between 1972 and 1978) to lose weight. Many ADHD medications belong to the same chemical group as amphetamines, which are well known in the pharmaceutical world to be appetite suppressors.
Of course, she had tons of side effects, and she became dependent on them. She was eventually able to wean off amphetamines, and amphetamines were took off the market for weight loss purposes.
Drug companies know this. When I picked up DS' Focalin prescription for the first time, along came a huge printout of Pediacare at the pharmacist. I knew exactly why a printout of Pediacare would come out at the same time as my Focalin receipt.
[QUOTE=jpmomagain] ....Hate to tell you this, but my mom, who is 74 y.o., used to take amphetamines in the 70s (between 1972 and 1978) to lose weight.... [/QUOTE]
I understand that what is now called Adderall used to be called "Obitrol" and marketed for weight control...
Another way to sneak in some calories is to add powdered milk to regular milk...whether it's consumed as straight milk or in a shake or instant meal... just adds some more "umph" to the diet. The University of Michigan has this and some other hints on their website related to sports.
How about taking him off the meds on the weekends?? Also, I'd make sure he eats a really good breakfast before taking his meds.I started making high protein/calorie shakes for ds in the mornings and
at night. I add milk or vanilla soy milk (1 cup) with a scoop of organic
whey protein powder (chocolate), one banana and a huge scoop of peanut
butter. Very high in protein and calories. Make shakes as much as you
can. Carnation Instant Breakfast is also good to use. My ds is very picky,
but he will eat protein bars, yogurt, peanut butter on crackers, cheese
sticks. After school, we go thru McDonald's and get nuggets and choc.
milk or a vanilla shake. I send him to school with a yogurt or protein bar.
Just pack in as many calories and protein as you can into a meal. My ped.
also gave us a prescription for a med to increase his appetite. We haven't
tried it because the shakes worked so well. However, it's something to
consider if weight gain is a problem. Let him eat when he is hungry.
Mornings and nights work best for us.
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