Anyone Have a Child on Concerta?

Get the book Out of Synch Child..amazon.com has it. Also, get a book called Children With Starving Brains: A Medical Treatment Guide for Autism Spectrum Disorder, Second Edition by Jaquelyn McCandless (Paperback - Jan 1, 2003)The second one is not just for children with autism..it is directed to ADD and ADHD. Check out a website for http://www.hriptc.org/ this is the pfieffer clinic and they have done some incredible research and treatment on children with add/adhd using supplements and vitamins and not the concerta and ritalin etc. some need it. some can do better on the nutrition and supplement stuff. whatever you do, the 2 books referenced are eye openers. you may want to check into a physician that will do a work up looking at how your son processes foor...through great smokies laboratories etc (I think that's the name). his enzyme, vitamin and amino acid levels will all affect behavior. My son gets vitamin b12 shots..without them, he does not function, with them, he is just another little boy. why? because he cannot absorb the b12 from his food intake cuz of gastrointestinal problems. good luck.

Hi D.,

I have to say everyone is an individual and has their own response to the meds. Our son was very young when he was put on meds. When Concerta came out a few years ago, we put him on that. That's when he started having very scary nightmares. It stimulated his brain after he was asleep. This summer we asked a very trusted teacher to have a two week trail w/o concerta. She said it just made him quite, not better at his work. It wasn't work the trade off as far as the side affects we were experiencing. So we took him off completely.

We are now (I wished we would have started this sooner) doing a diet change. Lisa Lewis, has authored two books/cookbooks called Special Diets for Special Kids. It has made a HUGE difference in our sons moods, behaviors and concentration. We pulled gluten (a protein found in wheat & other certain grains) and all dairy, (we give him a special "milk" now) and avoid artifical colors and addatives like MSG.

We noticed a response in a week. Our son is 10, our daughter is younger and responded sooner. She was barely talking, and had many autisic like behaviors. She now gives me headaches from talking sooo much! We had her repeat kinder, adn the teacher can't believe the difference between her and the other "normal" children.

I'm only telling you about our daughter b/c if we kept going on the path that we were on with her, she'd be medicated too. It's quite my "accident" we discovered what no doctor EVER told us...

That a simple diet change could do more good than any pill ever could!

Good luck, e-mail me if you'd like to!

S.

I would give the meds a least a month before you call your doctor because you should by then see some sort of difference. As far as the Diet thing, I did that for my child and I could not tell a difference. I did the red dye thing the milk thing and I think they just are trying to make there life a little easier. You don't have to replace it just let them go a week with out and you will see if there is a difference. Trust me you will notice. Good luck.

My son was on concerta before and it just wasnt helping him. He has been on several different medications as well. The concerta did OK but it wore off quickly for us and his appetite was poor (worse than ever) and he complained of headaches more often. I would just talk with the dr about it and see what would work best. If this is any help, my son is on the new Daytrana patch and it works really good and no pills to take, he was refusing meds before this and had a gag reflex that wouldnt let him take his meds most of the time. It was aweful!

Hope this helps,
A.

When my son was about 5 years old and was dx ADHD the doctors started off with Concerta but it caused stomach aches for him so after about a week they changed him to Adderall XR and he is now 8 years old and still on Adderall XR. It is the ONLY one that has truly helped him. They put him on Focalin for about 2 months but it caused him alot of anger issues, however, my friend's son is on focalin and they are having good success.

D.,

I don't know much about Concerta. My daughter was diagnosed with ADD at the age of 15. She takes the time released Adderall. She has done very well with this medication. I have heard negative things about Stratera--- actually have some friends who have daughters that took it-- they became depressed and moody. Hope everything turns out.

Hi D.! I have a 10 year old daughter who has been on Concerta for 4+ years now for ADD. We haven't had any issues with it. What's going on with your child?