ADHD Meds - Concerta more specifically

[Sherry]

Jordan was just switched to Concerta 18mg to "try" as the Straterra 40mg was no longer helping... He is 8 yrs old, anyone using this? What is your opinion/experiences with this.

Just a little History Jordan has been diagnosed since age 4 and he imoproves with each option, then gets a little oder and bigger etc and things seem to change....

[Billy]

Like I mentioned to you before, Kyle was on Concerta, started at the lowest dose and made it to 36 mgs. before I yanked him off of it because of the side effects. He had some awful twitches that were clearly due to the meds. since he'd never ever had them before. I hope Jordan has better luck :hug99:

[Nadine]

Sherry - we tried Concerta with Yumi last year and it was not helpful at all. It reduces some of the ADHD issues but not much at all. So I am not a fan of Concerta at all. I was told it is better for adolescents than kids.

We are using Ritalin LA 40 mg now and I recommend it. (Yumi is 7 years old.) It hardly has any side effects. The only big issue is sleeping - or the lack of it. Yumi has a hard time falling asleep at night. If he takes his meds at 6:45 (it takes it around 30 mins to start affecting him), then he manages to fall asleep around 9-9:30 pm. The later he takes it the later he will be able to fall asleep and vice versa. His appetite is so-so while the meds affect him but in the afternoon he is VERY hungry these days. So that evens things out.
Other than that- unlike other meds once it stops working there is no rebound effect at all. And he is generally calm even after it stops affecting him.
Hope that helps.

[Joan]

Sean is 13 and just started meds in July. He did take concerta and it worked fine, but he had NO appetite and over the course of a few months lost 6 pounds. he was already in the 25% in weight. Now he takes Ritalin 40 LA And drinks ensure. So far so good.

[Sherry]

Thank you girls.. He is MUCH worse behavior wise on this med compared to the Straterra but, we started at a very low does of 18 mg, so I am thinking that is the cause. We notied he is VERY emotional right now and seems to be VERY angry ( in speaking and looks ) not sure what that is all about, but we do want to give this a fair try, however its not looking so good right now.

[Nadine]

Sherry - seriously, if he is not coping well emotionally, I'd stop trying. Concerta is known for not making them feel good.
Ask him how he feels when he takes this med. Yumi was able to tell us that his stomach hurt and that he was feeling not good with it.