Concerta and Crying ? | ADHD Information

My son recently started Concerta.  5 days into the regiment he has begun having these crying fits (that's the only way I can describe it)

Something little, not a big deal, and he reacts like someone just died.

Has anyone else seen this?  How long does it last?  The other side effects have been improving (appetite loss, and "dazed" like)  but then this suddenly appeared.

thanks paul! I appreciate your help this is all so new to me I am just learning I did mention stratterra but I don't know if it's available in the UK and the Psych wasn't for saying either way just that he had heard of it. I thought concerta was the slow release ritalin but i wasn't sure. Now i know! I think I've overloaded on information over the last few months. ps I've just been on the site you recommended it is really good and uses language I can understand thanks again norma

hi

  I've just come back from the psych and he has suggested we start my son on 18mg concerta XL this weekend! silly me all the research i have done on meds was on Ritalin as it seems to be drug of choice in the UK. the Psych never mentioned any crying outbursts just a lack of appetite and possibilty of tummy or head aches. can anyone give me a more accurate picture of what i can expect is the defiant behaviuor likely to increase as well? I don't know if I could cope with that but then he isn't on meds at all at the moment.

this is the only drug he has prescribed i notice most of you seem to be using a combination of drugs.

 I am very new to this my son was only diagnosed in January all advise gladly recieved and if anyone knows of any good research sites on the use of concerta i would really appreciate the addresses. thanks norma

Hi my 7yr old son also has started concerta 18mg for the past week and a half, and would have crying fits and sometimes we'd ask him why he would be crying and he wouldn't know why, but also he's been getting alot of anxiety attacks we thought at first it was only happening at home at night but we found out that he's been extremely emotional at school as well and having anxiety attacks there as well, so most likely we will have to change the meds, cause my son also complains about chest pain once in awhile and that his heart races

Hi Kimberly,

Yes,  we saw the same thing with Concerta and our 8 year old son. It occured mostly in the evening before dinner.  We found that giving him protein helped some but due to the other side effects of Concerta (loss of appetite and sleep) we had to switch him to Strattera. 

Strattera made his appetite and sleeping pattern return to normal as well as enabling him to focus the same as Concerta.  The evening emotional fits still occured but not as severe.  Our family doctor finally recommend that we consult with a psychiatrist.

This led us to discover that there are two types of psychiartrsts; one who does analysis and a pharmacological psychiartrist whose only job in life is to prescibe meds to deal with these kinds of  problems.  We only spent a few minutes with the doctor who immediately prescribed very low dosage of Risperdal to accompany the Strattera.  Apparently, it is very common to have the emotional challenges connected with ADHD and a trained professional recognizes it immediately.  Now,  the idea of giving my son more drugs especially one that is considered to be "off label" for treating ADHD was the hardest decision for us to make since we believe in meds as a last resort. 

But ya know what, it worked and suddenly we have a kid who is stable, focus, emotions under control and making friends where the option wasn't available before. 

A very important caveat...Risperdal dosage can be modulated to a point where your child is falling a sleep on his feet.  We've chosen to use as little as possible and force him to recognize those periods of high emotions thus training himself to deal with his behavior. 

Hope this helps

Paul

Please dont laugh but I recently started taking concerta (I am 38) and I have cried and cried.  I had a hystertomy (3 years ago) and am on hormones so I thought my hormones were to blame.  I cried over the dumbest things kind of like the old days of PMS.  It seems to have passed now although I am still a little touchy but I try to get a grip on myself. I have been on it about a month.  Also, I get angry very fast and it is like the end of the world.  I have to do breathing exercises and lots of prayer.  I feel for any kids taking the meds.... i know it must be hard on them.  I hope he gets to feeling better.   
Unfortunately with our son, the defiant behavior did increase
with Concerta which is  a time release version of Ritalin.
After trying both for two years this is was our experience:

According to our Psych, Concerta/Ritalin helps deal with a
different mechanism to help folks with ADHD to focus than
does Strattera.  The way he explained it was Concerta/Ritalin is a 'speed' that acts the opposite on children than on adults.
That's the reason why you need a 'triplicate' to get it.
It slows the child down enabling them to focus as well as helping to reduce the impulsive behaviors that often gets ADHD kids in trouble.

Strattera on the other hand works on a different mechanism
(the brain's dopamines), is available without a 'triplicate'
and does not have the appetite and sleeping negative side effects that Concerta/Ritalin have.  We've been using it for a year now and am pleased with the lack of side effects.  

Unfortunately, the afternoon emotional swings still existed
coupled with strong defiance behavior.  We used strong doses of
love and attention to distract him during these periods but no headway was made.  Finally or Psych recommended small doses of
Risperdal which caused dramatic and very positive results.
Apparently the Risperdal helps to balance the dopamine and serotonin in the brain.  Anyway, the afternoon emotional swings are gone and the defiance behavior is significantly reduced.  I'm sure you can increase the dosage more
to eliminate the behaviors but our goal is to keep meds at a minimum and enable our child to recognize and control his behavior without (or with minimum) meds as he matures.  

One other thing I highly recommend, visit the following web
site: http://www.pediatricneurology.com/full.htm.
The content is right on and will help you to balance meds and
behavior modification needs to help your child mature to their
full potential.

Paul

Yeah, I remember that, and it does go away. My oldest is taking both Concerta and Adderall XR (alternately), and had the same reaction. It didn't last very long, but seemed like it at the time!

My youngest reacted the same way right after being put on Adderall XR, and was EXTREMELY emotionally and tearful for the first two weeks, but it's better now. He still gets that way when he's tired, but I pick him up and try to redirect his attention somehow, and he's fine the next minute.

We noticed the same crying stuff. The first few weeks it seemed to be during the times the doses of meds were overlapping (time-realesed concerta 36mg). Now it seems to be more in the evenings, and also when we get home 5pm or so.

While we were relived to find out this was a more common side effect, I think in our case there might be more to it in that like you, there has been a night and day difference in his school behavior...SO we of course have been praising him and reinforcing the good behavior with rewards (video games, cartoons), and not to diminish what effect the meds may have, I think he may have just caught on to the "advantages" of not being in trouble, and was milking it a little. I guess everyone else has noticed how smart and perceptive their adhd kids are..The last couple of nights he had been really whiny and demanding (not his usual thing) ex."WHY DO I HAVE TO EAT NOW???I'M BUSY....WHY DO I HAVE TO GO TO BED NOW??? I'M PLAYING...HOMEWORK! WHY NOW?" We sat him down and explained that just because he's been good in school doesn't mean that he doesn't have responsibilities anymore etc.etc. and he perked right up. Didn't give us any of that this morning or tonight. Hoping that the side effect of emotionality is wearing off, and he was just milking it a little. KIDS ARE SO SMART!
He's been on it about a month, was re-evaluated last week, and his doctor said he was doing really well.
We did have to buy him a belt though. His appetite doesn't seem to be decreased too much, but he just hasn't been holding his weight. We feed him as much as we can get him to eat, because from the message boards, that seems to be one of the biggest problems with meds.

Good luck.