Well Nicky has been on Adderall for about 8 months and at first it seemed to work well, then a couple of month later it didn’t so they upped his dose from 5mg to 10mg that only worked slightly. I did notice that he was more emotional, more meltdowns and getting upset at the littlest things. Not doing well at school this year either. We are going to try him on Concerta this weekend. Just wondering if anyone has used it.
Thanks,
John
When my son was 6, we tried Ritalin. At that time, these other options didn't exist. The Ritalin worked great and he still would be on it if it weren't for his tics. Anyway, if you have not tried Ritalin, you might give that a shot. It's a pain in one way because it has to be re-administered every 4 hours. However, that very fact can help you adjust the meds for when he needs them most. Sometimes not every dose is the same strength. Some kids have issues with Ritalin -- after the last dose of the day wears off, they crash, briefly. However, it also can help to give Ritalin if appetite is an issue. Many parents wait until the last dose wears off, they feed their kids THEN, and the re-dose. Ritalin is the simplest to control of the stimulants and you can adjust it quite easily to find out the optimal dosage. Talk to your doc about this option.I'm A.D.D. and I took Concerta. I didn't like it because it made me feel more hyperactive/shakey, but I think everyone responds to it differently. I'm currently on Adderal XR which I like because it's not a stimulant. Was Nicky on Adderall or Adderall XR? We tried Adderall...Payne went psycho on it...tried Focalin...same situation....Ritalin - not as bad, but not enough pro's to outweigh the con's so we decided to go with Clonidine...it's a blood pressure med that kids that don't handle any of the stimulants/nonstimulants take to slow them down. Payne can't even have dark chocolate w/o side effects...he is VERY sensitive to stimulants.Over the past few years, the move to once a day stimulants to treat ADHD was welcomed by kids, parents and I'm sure school nurses too. Now kids only had to take one pill in the morning and it lasted for 10-12 hours.
Approved by the FDA in 2000, Concerta was the first real once a day medicine for ADHD and it quickly became popular.
Concerta is also available in a 27mg, 36mg, and 54mg tablets, providing flexible dosing options. There are also reports that a 72mg tablet will be approved soon, making it easier to prescribe higher doses.
Although Pediatricians often start with low doses when starting a stimulant, keep in mind that in a recent study1 95% of kids were either on the 36mg or 54mg strength tablets, so don't give up on Concerta if the lower dosages don't seem to be working.
Switching from Adderall or Adderall XR is also easy. You usually just double your total daily dose of Adderall.
If your child is having significant side effects, a lower dosage or a switch to a different medicine might be needed.
For one thing, although they are all made of methylphenidate, they do have differences in their delivery systems.
Concerta's delivery system provides a child with an initial dose of about 22% and then the rest of the medicine later in the day. So if your child is taking Concerta 18mg, he will get only 4mg on medicine in the morning, and will start off with a little lower dose if he was previously on 5mg three times a day of regular Ritalin.
Ritalin LA uses a method similar to Adderall XR, so you get half the dose first thing in the morning after taking it and the other half later in the day. That means that if your child is taking Ritalin LA 20mg, he will get a 10mg dose in the morning. That's a big difference from the 4mg dose he would get if he was taking Concerta 18mg.
So if your child is mainly having problems in the morning when taking Concerta, changing to Ritalin LA might be a better option than increasing the dose of Concerta. It is available in a 20, 30, and 40mg capsule.
Metadate CD is similar to Concerta in that you get an initial lower dose. Metadate CD is made up of immediate release beads that give 30% of the dose right away and then the other 70% of the dose is continuously released from extended release beads. A downside is that it is only available in one 20mg strength, so your child has to take more than one capsule to get a higher dose.
Concerta can't be chewed or crushed and must be swallowed whole, so it can be a problem for kids who can't swallow pills. Both Ritalin LA and Metadate CD can be opened and sprinkled on food, like applesauce, if your child can't swallow pills.