PLEASE READ THIS,PLEASE!!!! | ADHD Information
Sandra,
I am sorry you are going through all this.I am 25 years old and 165lbs and I am on 54mg of Concerta.It seems like an awful high amount for a 7 year old.I know I get moody when my meds are wearing off,usually about 6:30-7pm (depending on when I took it).I think maybe you should talk to your dr about decreasing the dose.Daven is right.You should try Melonin for her sleep.Good luck and keep us posted.
Liz
SandraM,
I would like to challenge you to read these books :
"The Hyperactivity Hoax, how to stop drugging your child and find real medical help" by Sydney Walker III, M.D.
"A Mind at a Time" by Mel Levine, M.D. who is considered in many circles to be one of the nations foremost authority on learning.....This may be one of the most profound books you will ever read. He has written others as well, find them, read them. Empower yourself with knowledge.
Something else very important that I've learned of my own accord. Not all doctors know the same things. They can only reach a conclusion about something within the confines of their own personal knowledge. Some doctors know alot more about certain other things, and are able to understand and "see" a broader possibility of connections.
This is why you must continue to seek the opinions of other doctors. Above all, follow your gut instincts. You know your child better than any doctor can ever know.
maybe if medication is something your Daughter needs for ADHD( I do need it I read others don't) you could talk to your Dr. about the shorter acting form of ritalin or the new ritalin focalin which requires lower doses? I don't know a lot about dosing and know that it isnt weight depenedent but 54 mg sounds high for a small child but like I said I dont know diddly other than my own experience. I take the shorter acting form. It requires I take 2 or 3 doses depending on whether I have school at night or not but...it flushes from my system so fast I very rarely have trouble falling asleep.
Diet also made a huge difference for me...I really hope your little girl gets some relief!
Then you need to get her to the doctor. Try some melatonin tonight for her sleeping, that would be a factor in bad behavor, and make a appointment!SandraM, How long has she been on the med before she started behaving like this. cause if it wasnt that long it might be the meds she's taking. But please take her back to doctor. Please let us know what happens.Maybe something is wrong with her besides ADHD. You would be smart to seek a second and third opinion.
Seeking the advice of a doctor who "sees" everything as ADHD related, is dangerous. Your going to get a quick fix, not a solution.
ADHD symptoms are too general, and can be simulated by LITERALLY hundreds of other physical problems.
Think about this....the medication that is currently in place, isnt working. You need to take a hard look at it and ask "why".
Objectively speaking...it could mean that the doctor was only a little bit wrong, and you just need another brand of ADHD medication.
But the possibility also exists that the doctor was completely wrong, and the underlying ailment has gone undetected and is still at battle with your daughter.
I urge you to be thorough in your search for answers.
Doran,the concerta seems to help her focus some what at school what the teacher says but her reading teacher said that she does not like to work in a group with other kids,she is always the first one to get done with everything in class then the teacher has her read to keep quiet.Just once nighttime i say around 630-7 pm she gets very unhappy does not wannna go to sleep and its like pulling teeth to get her to sleep,even with the clonidine 0.3 mg.
Sandra, If I'm not mistaken I thought you wrote in another post your daughters been on concerta for 2 years? but a smaller dose, if so, my question is, why did the doctor raise the dosage? and also give her an additional medication to counter the insomnia? was the lower dosage not working, even so if she seemed better on the lower dose, and didn't need an additional sleeping aid, tell your doctor you want to go back to the lower dose, if thats not acceptable, to either you or him, then seek another opinion. after all she is your daughter, if its bothering you this much, and it doesn't feel right to you, chances are she isn't happy either, you are her mom and your instincts are probably correct.---------------------------------------------------- on that note, i sure hope it was you talking about the lower dose in the other post
good luck!!!!!!!!hang in there, when my doctor changed my sons meds i went through 6 weeks of pure hel@ i went back and had it changed again. i know how you feel.
Someone please if u have any support group info pleasse inform me,i really need some support right now with dealing with my daughter,she is 7 years old with adhd and sleep insomnia and she is my life.I reallly need someone to talk to she is having temper outburst for no reason and 30 minutes later she acts like nothing even happened and im really afraid she is gonna hurt herself or somebody else and its not normal for her she is usually passive but very busy.
Please im very concerned and in need of some support info!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sandra M,
The underlying desperation I detect in your words is the same as my own desperation in my heart. Please know that you are not alone. Take down time for yourself everyday. I'm learning that it's good for me to do this, and no need to feel quilty. As far as support groups, try CHADD.org to see if there's a local add/adhd support group in your area. I haven't looked too much into it for myself, but I will be.
Not sure how long your daughter has been on Concerta, but is it possible that she is having "rebound" as the meds wear off? My son had this (7yrs old on 36mg Concerta) for the first several weeks he was on the medication but we decided to stick with it, and it did subside greatly. As did a few other minor side effects. I realized that all medications need to be given time. We have struggled with our son not being able to get to sleep as well. After 3 months of trying everything to get him to sleep, the dr put him on Clonadine and that did help. Here's a few suggestions that I'm sure you may have already tried, and may not have done the trick for us, but may for others and certainly helped in that bedtime routine: warm milk, starting a calm bedtime routine 45 minutes prior to bedtime with stories, laying in bed with him, peaceful instrumental music, low lighting. Like I said, these didn't get my son to sleep, but if nothing else it made for a much happier and calm part of our day.
I wish you the best.
Always the first one to get through with work seems to be a common theme. Does anyone but me wonder if the work is just really boring? Why does this bother the teachers so?
ok calm down. ADD meds are stimulants. it is normal for them to cause (sometimes severe) sleeping problems. there is also something called the rebound effect that you should know about.
in many cases, when an ADD medication begins to wear off, the child becomes very moody, irratable, angry, and downright mean for a very short period of time, say... a half hour. then she's back to her peppy self. it is the chemicals in her brain trying to "regulate" themselves (for her brain, the levels of "regulation" are a little different than the "norm"). i don't remember what causes this, but i wouldn't worry about it.
as for the insomnia, i have had a little bit of trouble with that too. i've been on meds since... before i can remember til 1998 and then i stopped. i started up again in november.
have her take a few calcium pills before bed (but never vitamin c before bed, she'll wake up and have to pee a lot) plus something called deep sleep. it's an herbal medicine. i think it's made by like "herbs etc"
the best advice i can give you: go find a natural food store, they always have herbal medicines. walk in and tell them that you're daughter's on add meds that make it hard for her to sleep and you want something homeopathic that will help counteract the effects of the concerta.
or... keep trying different add meds til you find one that doesn't affect her so much
I found this plave called meeting.com, I have joined a new add group in my area. Hang in there!