My 13 yo DS was diagnosed with ADHD about 1 1/2 years ago.  He was given samples of Strattera for a month, then when we went to have the prescription filled, we were told the insurance company would not pay for it until we tried Concerta.  The dr prescribed Concerta for him (18 mg per day).  DS felt it helped, but only for about 4 hours.  Then he would become very angry and frustrated.  We went back to the dr and explained this to him.  He increased his dosage to 27 mg.  Same thing -- lasted for about 4 hours and then DS would become so angry and hostile.  We went back to the dr and explained this again.  Dr increased him to 36 mg.  We felt that DS was doing better without the Concerta.  It was becoming so stressful for the whole family.  So, we stopped the meds and stopped seeing the dr.  We were so frustrated over the whole situation. 

Finally, we found another dr.  We had an appt. today with an "intake" counselor who gathers info to give to the dr.  We will see the dr in about 3 weeks.  We explained this Concerta situation to the intake counselor, who said that she is not sure if this applies to Concerta, but that with some meds, you can have adverse reactions until you reach the appropriate dosage and that perhaps that is why the previous dr kept increasing the dosage.  Do any of you know it that is the case with Concerta?  Now I'm feeling kind of dumb, but the previous dr never indicated that to me.  I was under the impression that he was merely increasing the dosage to lengthen the coverage he had from the meds.  DS really does not want to go back on Concerta.  He said it makes him frustrated, extremely angry, feels he yells too much at people when he's on it, and says if they prescribe it, he won't go back.  That tells me we need to try something else if he feels that strongly about it.  Any input?

[QUOTE=duques6511970]THEY STARTED MY 7 YEAR OLD (THEN 6) ON 54 , WORKED GREAT FOR SCHOOL AND DAYTIME, BUT HE CRASHED HARD AT NIGHT, AFTER AWHILE OF UPING, AND LOWERING THE DOSE-AGE CUZ HE COULDN'T SLEEP ECT... THEY CHANGED HIM TO STATERA, 6 WEEKS, MY ENTIRE LIFE WENT TO ----- HE WAS COMPLETLY OUT OF CONTROL, POOR KID DIDN'T KNOW IF HE WAS COME-ING OR GOING, NOW HE'S BACK TO SQUARE ONE AND BACK ON A LOWER DOSE OF CONCERTA, 27 MG ER TABS, IT SEEMS TO HELP A LITTLE, BUT HE WAYS 85 LBS AND I THINK WE NEED TO RAISE HIS DOSE AGAIN.[/QUOTE]

JUST WANTED YOU TO KNOW THAT MY SON WAS ON CONCERTA 54 AND THEN  IT WORE OFF AFTER AROUND 3:00 THEN THEY WANTED TO TRY HIM ON STATERA WELL THAT WAS A BIG BIG NO NO HE WAS OUT OF CONTROL COULD NOT EVEN SIT STILL TO DO HIS WORK AT SCHOOL AND HE WOULD CRY WHEN HE COULD NOT DO HIS SPELLING WORDS AND HE MAKES STRIGHT A'S IN SPELLING.  HE HAD VERY BAD DREAMS WHILE ON STATERA SO THEN WE STARTED HIM ON A 36MG AND A 27MG OF CONCERTA AND HE IS FINE BUT HE HAS BEEN ON THIS DOSE FOR ABOUT 1YEAR OR A LITTLE MORE AND IS NOW SHOWING THAT IT MAY NEED TO BE RAISED MY SON IS ALSO 7 AND 87LBS SO I WOULD THINK THAT IT MAY NEED TO BE RAISED. 

Are any of you/your children taking the long-acting Concerta XL or ER? It's supposed to be good for 12 hours. Just thinking perhaps it may help from not working so early in the day. Thank you.I've found the concerta ER doesn't last that long my son took it at 7:30am by the time he got home at 2:30pm it wore off we have since changed meds he is now on Ritalin LA