Side effects of Concerta- Jaw moving? | ADHD Information

Today we gave my 6 year old son, 44lbs, his first Concerta 18mg.  Within 1 hour, he began to move his jaw back and forth very rapidly and consistantly throughout the day.  I am so scared that this will not diappear.  Is this a permanent tic?  Has anyone else ever heard of such a side effect?  Please...any information will help.

Thank you.

MomofRAF wrote.... we gave my 6 year old son, 44lbs, his first Concerta 18mg.  Within 1 hour, he began to move his jaw back and forth very rapidly and consistantly throughout the day.  I am so scared that this will not diappear.  Is this a permanent tic

 

If your child developed a tic, that indicates the the dose is too high or its not the right medication for your child. These are transient tics not to be confused with tourettes syndrome. Once the medication is stopped, changed or adjusted to the proper dose, the tic will dissapear. Please contact your childs physician as with adhd medications, many times it takes a while before the right dose and right med is found for that particular child. Hope this helps.

Hi Luvmykids02,

Thank you for your reply.  As I'm sure you can understand, that was a very scary experience for us.  Concerta was the first medication that we have tried. I called our pediatrician yesterday and he also recomended we stop the Concerta.  He also said this is now out of his leage and so we have been referred to a pediatric neurologist.  The downside with that is it typically takes 3 months to get in.  He had hopes of just treating him quickly, to avoid the wait to get into the neuro. office.  Everything is new to us as we just received his diagnosis 2 weeks ago.  In addition, he also has sensory integration dysfunction, and a slight language processing issue.  We will be a busy family running from OT, to speech therapy and now Neurolgist appointments.  Just curious...what meds have been successful in your family?

I guess I was just hopeful that the first meds would do the trick and give him some relielf.  Oh well, we'll keep trying.

Thank you for your thoughts...  You seem pretty knowlegeable.

you are definately on the right track with seeing a pediatric neurologist!!  My daughter (now 32 yrs) had so many problems and had been on meds since age 8, at age 19 she finally got the right help.  I am a nurse so imagine how guilty I felt realizing that she needed more than even the pediatric psychiatrist recommended.  Now I am raising her son who had ADHD!

It will be worth the wait the see the specialist.  In the mean time read every thing you can about ADHD.  You can start doing things that will help your child even before he is medicated.  Read "Taking Charge of ADHD" by Russell A Barkley PhD.  This book is a great help to me!!

I guess I was just hopeful that the first meds would do the trick and give him some relielf.  Oh well, we'll keep trying.

Thank you for your thoughts...  You seem pretty knowlegeable.

Its my pleasure to share Ive been at this 18 years and Im still in one peice so dont pull your hair out yet

Hi MomofRaf,

I think it was very wise of the pediatrician to refer you to am pediatric neurologist because pediatricians are not qualified to treat these type of childhood disorders as is a neurologist or a child pscyhiatrist. Of course being new to this is very scary to parents but the more knowledge you gain, the less fearful you become and no matter how well versed one beccomes, we can never learn enough. Its a hard journey for all concernced but the earlier the intervention, the better the outcome and once you start seeing progress, life does get easier. My son was on short acting ritilan but it took 4 months before the right dose was found. My son was also seen by a neurologist and also a child psychiatrist. Your on the right track and while there are always bumps in the road, your giving your child the opportunity to have quality of life and there is no greater gift a parent can give. Feel free to post questions as you go along becaue the more you understand, the less you will fear. Let us know how it goes with the neurologist and good luck