sons Concerta dose | ADHD Information

My son has been on Concerta semi quickly working his way up to 54 mg now after how long 2 years. he is 11. They were recently raised to 54 before school started and they are not hanging in for the day. How high a dose is normal or a litle higher because it works great when is in effect but afterwords forget it and it is weraing off during school. My psych is gone till the 8th and we don't know we have Ritalin bumps but he refuses to take them

OMG I am going nuts with the behaivior again it is terrible as well. he won't do his school and homework this is getting serious, he is going to get kicked out of his prestigious program at school because of this, and the teacher is only helping out for a few weeks if it isn't any better he is getting kicked out. and no psych to call

 

How high a dose depends completely on the child. not only on his individual height and weight, which can vary greatly from other kids his age, but also his own personal tolerance can play a huge factor. For one child that is 11 years old, 54 mgs may be WAY too much...  Simply because if he's taking it for the frist time and has no tolerance. Then that is definitely a high dose. However, for another 11 year old, who maybe has been taking concerta for 3 years, 54 could in fact be too little, as his body has adjusted to it over that length of time and definitely needs more. In addition, some kids can take the same dose of a stimulant medicine for maybe 2 or 3 years without ever needing to go up, while another child may have to go up 2 or 3 times in one year, simply because his body adjusts to the medicine quicker. Confused yet?
All in all, just gauge by how well your specific child is doing at his dose. Up the dose, and if he does great on it, then by all means, stick with it. If you up the dose and he does not respond well and it is obviously too much, then a dose raise is obviously not the problem, and that particular raised dose is too much. That's really the only way you know.
Good luck.
oh, and one more thing. you say he refuses to take his ritalin boosters. It seems like at first glance, the most obviously solution to this problem is going to be either one of two things. A dose raise on the Concerta, or in fact just getting him to take the afternoon boosters. I would say since it sounds like you already HAVE the boosters, try one more time to see if you can get him to take them. If you are in fact having that hard of a time, then just go for upping the concerta. Good lcuk with your ordeal, I hope your child feels better.  Do you know why he won't take the Ritalin booster?  Does he tell you? I was just wondering if he doesn't want to take it because it makes him feel bad or if it's something else.