ADD Medicine for children | ADHD Information

Definately try a new medecine. They make dealing and living with ADHD so much more managable.  Hi, I'm new to this forum but I need some advice. My daughter, who is in 9th grade has been having a tremendous amount of trouble focusing in school and doing her homework. The doctor put her on Concerta and it worked like a charm! She went from failing work to getting B's. She was a brand new person and that made her very happy.

The Problem: The concerta made her so angry all of the time...although she was doing well academically, she felt like she hated everything, everybody, friends..she'd cry, scream, etc. Needless to say, we had to stop the Concerta. Her doctor feels that all of the meds will do that to her. Do you thing that's true? She is back to getting very poor grades and her self esteem is back down to zero!

Any suggestions?

My daughter was diagnosed with ADD in 1st grade but managed to get by okay through middle school. High school has been a MAJOR struggle for her.Welcome to the board :) It is untrue that every ADHD will make your daughter angry. If the treating physician is not a specialist, I recommend that you get a recommendation to a good psychiatrist as they specialize in med management. Normally when this happens its because the dose is wrong or its not the right med for your child. Every child responds differently. If you were seeing significant improvements on Concerta speak to a specialist about either changing the dose or prescribing another ADHD medication in the same family. Don't give up and don't let misinformation stop you from providing your child with treatment that can restore her quality of life. Good luck and please keep us informed.My son had a really strong reaction to Concerta. His anger was truly
scary.

He's been on Vyvanse for 4 months and it's working fantastically. He has
had no personality change, just an ability to function and concentrate.

There are 3 classes of ADHD medications. Concerta is in the Ritalin
family. Try another class of meds.

I know what it's like to try another drug when the first one caused such a
negative reaction. It takes nerves of steel. But you can do this for your
daughter. Like you said, school is a struggle, and it's making her feel
badly. She doesn't deserve that. She deserves to be able to concentrate
so she can reach her full potential.

And it's very common for kids to hit high school and not be able to
handle ADHD as well. There's just so much more work to do, so many
more responsibilities, that their previous coping techniques can't keep
up.

Best of luck to you both!Oh, and to add to my message - my son's doctor was also scared that my
son might react negatively to all drugs. Not true in my son's case. The
plan was that we would try all 3 classes - thankfully it's worked great on
the second drug - and then my son would go to a pharmacological
specialist who would be able to find a combination of medications that
would work without causing his angry outbursts. I was comforted by his
doctor's concern; I would have been unnerved if he was calm about my
son's poor reaction.

My son's pediatrician is an ADHD and autism specialist. He's great - he
knows his limitations and is very quick to send my son to specialists if it's
outside his expertise. If your pediatrician does not seem to be on top of
ADHD that's fine - pediatricians are supposed to focus on healthy
children - but I would request a referral to a specialist.