Starting Concerta

Our son was on Adderall 20 mg. xr was doing great in school but having emotional troubles and appetite problems.  So, we went to the Doctor and had him switched to Strattera 40 mg. was on that for about six weeks and absolutely no change with his attention he was like a "air head" but emotional problems got better.  Now, we are trying Concerta 27 mg.  I'm hoping this will work.  He is eleven years old and has been diagnosed with ADD since third grade. 

Thank you

  Our son will be starting Concerta 18mg in the next few days.  This is the second med. we have tried the first was stratterra and he did well, but it just made him too tired and withdrawn.  You will have to let me know how it is going.

Hi Mommaofthree,

The concerta seems to be doing well!  Has with any medicine you have pros and cons to it.  The Strattera wasn't working at all, it is a non-stimulant which you probably already know, he had been on Adderall which is a stimulant drug, so that's why the Concerta is working well for him because he does better with the stimulant drugs.  Let me know how your child does. 

Scoutmom95

My son DJ is on both Strattera 40mg and Concerta 36mg and he is doing wonderful. For him the Strattera is for more of the emotional and Concerta is more for the attention. His grades ALL came up and he is much better in the evening.

The one thing I like about this combo is he only has to take them in the am. Nobody at school has to know there is a problem. He never has to come in from playing to take meds or anything. It has made my life better as well as his.

djmom

Hello all my first time posting here.

My son was started on the Concerta about a week ago. Nothing I see no change at all in him. I am thinking the dose it too low he is at 17 MGs. Curious as to what dosage works for others. I need to get the med or doseage or what ever right before school starts again. He has to repeat 1st grade but I don't what him to have so many problems again. Its been just a pain in the butt to go between the phycolgist and the Peditritian and costly.

Put my 7 1/2 year old daughter on concerta and it was the worst 3 1/2 weeks of our lives.    She went from being a very outgoing and bubbly kid to a weepy, emotional, sad, little girl.  The school even noticed a big change in her as she wasn't happy and didn't want to play with her friends she was just aloof to all.

Hopefully, you have better results with your little one.  Good Luck!!

Dear Rescuelady,

My son is 11 and he is on 27mg.  A lot of times they use their weight as a guideline.  I have learned one thing, not to let the Doctor dectate to me what I know is best for my child. 

Scoutmom95

Well I am awaiting the medical doctor to change the dose which he is taking his sweet time about. I am considering changing doctors as this guy will do nothing until I pester him. The Psy even faxed him about upping the med.

Has anyone tried this and it not work and been switched to another. Just curious as to what to expect if this is not the right one for my child.

I am considering changing doctors as this guy will do nothing until I pester him.

I certainly think you should change doctors if this doctor is so laxed as the most important part of creating a treatment plan is trusting that your docter  has your childs best interest at heart and also, any doctor that would be so laxed is not very well versed on childhood disorders. I can tell you from experence that many children sometimes don't respond to one type of stimulant  med and are switched to another. Thats why its called a medication trial. Not uncomman at all. 

Curious as to what dosage works for others.

Hi Resucelady...if you see no change in your child aftter being on the meds for a week, perhaps the dosage has to be adjusted. A medication trial is often used to determine the dose and dose is not determined by height and weight with regard to stimulant medications. Every child metabolizes the medication differently so its all very individualistic. The doc usually precribes the lowest dose intially and then either increases or decreases the dose depending on how the child responds to the meds. Dosages that work for others will not give you any insight into what dose will be best for your child. Contact your childs doctor and report your observations as it is very common for a dosage change during a medication trial.

Hi scoutmom.

Just wanted to get back with you on the Concerta trial.  Our son didn't react well at all to it.  He was very frustrated, agitated, angry, the worst though was over an hour of intense pain with screaming, crying and him thinking he was going to die.  He is very emotional, but I felt bad for him.  The Dr. asked us to hold off on giving him anything else until we have a psychiatrist look into his anxiety a little more.  I just feel bad now because he never wants to take medicine again.  He is scared that it will hurt his stomache and head like the Concerta.  We're going to be optimistic that we can find something that works best for him.  I've learned through reading all the messages that every child is different and it is all basically how their body handles the medicine.  I hope your child continues to do well.

Thanks,

Hi everyone

Just read all your posts re:concerta.  My son Tom, who is 9, has been on this for 12 months now.  First dose was 18mg.  This worked really well for about 6 months.  His work got better and he started to calm down.  Before the new term started in September 03, he started to get hyper some day.  Went to see his specialist and she recommend uping the dose to 36mg.  I agreed as he was proving to be hard to handle again.  1 step forward 2 steps back!  When he started year 4 at a new school, he seemed ok and happy.  This continued for about 2 months.  Then I got called to school, Tom had bit someone and the parents had complained!  I told his teacher that next time a parent complains about Tom, I would like to see them myself.  To this day no-one has! Scared of confrontation I expect.  Well, he went back to his specialist and she recommended 54mg so we tried that.  Tom was really doing well when the school told us that his teacher was leaving April.  This was something Tom could do without.  Change for him really screws him up.  Because of this change Tom has had major problems at school.  It took about a month for him to adjust to 54mg of Concerta which was hell, but now he seems ok.  Still has problems in the mornings but I except them as part of his way.

I have found that this drug suits my son alot better than Ritalin which was taken 4 times a day.  Slow releasing drugs work better on him as there is a constant flow to his system and no stop-starting with the drugs.  His weight and height are steadily growing and his bloodpressure is normal.

Hi all,

I have been lurking for some time, but this is my first time posting. I had to throw in my $.02 cents about Concerta. My daughter was diagnosed with ADD when she was 13 (two years ago). She was given Concerta and she believes it was a gift. She suddenly understood what she was missing. She coordinated the dose with her doctor until she settled on 36 mg. No ill effects except for decreased appetite, so she tries to eat healthy. Lucky her, lucky us. Memory and organization still a problem, but a least she can cope.

My son was diagnosed this past spring with ADD and Executive Dysfunction. He is 13. We tried Concerta first, but it he didn't see any difference. I think the dose is too low. We are going to try again before school starts with a larger dose. The moral of the story is: not all meds work for all kids. My daughter was extremely lucky to be successful with the first one. My son my not be so lucky. In fact, meds may not help for him at all. Stay with it until something clicks.

I am interested in the posts about the supplements, esp. fish and flax seed oil.

Good luck all.

Hello,  my son (age 9, 10 next month) with ADD, pred. inattentive started a year ago in May onAdderall xr and it was wonderful in school but he was an emotional basket case. His doctor changed him to 18mg of cocerta last summer. He did great!  In October he said he didnt think it was working as well so it was changed to 36mg which he did very very well on.  Slight decrease in appetite and trouble sleeping at first.  We gave him a book light so he could read in bed if he had trouble sleeping.  Well in April his teacher left to have a baby. NIGHTMARE!  My son does not handle change well at all!  His teacher was great, she had a routine and helped him so much.  When the new teacher came in, it was like the concerta just stopped working.  On top of it all his guidance counselor (who he looks forward to meeting with every week) left around the same time for knee surgery! We tried to change the dose to 45mg but it did nothing for focus, just made him very aggravated and frustrated.  We tried 54 and he did good in school but he said he didnt like how it made him feel.  We took him off everything for 2 weeks.  His doctor wants us to start over.  Try 18mg for 3-5 days.  Then move up to 36mg for a week or two.  Then if we see no change or improvement,  we can go from there.  He is doing this because he wants to make sure that it really did stop working before he changes his med. and that it was not because of all the abrupt changes when his teacher left, which could very well be.  time will tell.

Hello all.

The doctor  finally upper my step son's dose of Concerta yesterday was his first day at 34MG. Nothing except that he woke up at 3 am wide open and ready to go. He could not go back to sleep and was a terror until 8 when I gave him the med. then it was more the normal terror. I am begining to wonder if this it the right med for him, but maybe its to early to tell. We are sopused to keep him on this dose for at least a week or so. Well see. Does'nt this stuff usually start acting within an hour or so?