Concerta Usage

best thing I did for my son was use medication for ADD. he now takes vyvanse. He had trouble in Elementary school, but it didn't get really bad until 5th grade - couldn't keep up with the class, take tests, etc. He also was an A student. Dr said his brain works so fast he can't stop himself from drifting off when he didn't need to listen anymore. He no longer has any problems in school (7th grade now) A lot of boys with ADD (no hyperactivity) don't show big problems until middle school.

My youngest grandson took that but he has been recently diagnosed with turets. They thought all these years he was just being disruptive and it the turets doing it. The concerta helped some. They would only medicate him on school days and hoped it helped him to understand to take control over his self which it did.

Hi H., I am not sure if you have looked at natural alternatives to medicine for your son. Many families have found success without drugs and the unwanted side-affects they bring. I would love to help you if you are interested in learning more about natural solutions.

Good luck and I hope to speak with you soon.

Tammy Mutter
www.greenmoms4kids.com

I am adult age 32 and I take Concerta. I dont know if it because the medication is meant for children but I dont have any adverse affects from the meds. It helps me concentrate. Make sure you give it early in the morning only though, because if you wait too late in the day to give it, he could be up all night. I have ADD and I have been in school since 2003 I was tested becuase i had a hard time focusing. For me the feeling is like putting glasses on and being able to see cleary, thoughts are just a lot sharper when I take it. I also am able to test outside of the class room in a quiet area. And I have longer to take test. I would say if he is getting As I would not medicate him. As he get older he will develop more impulse control and maybe you should just wait and see how he does. Give him a little more observation time.

We had some of the same issues with my son last year during first grade except he had a few more issues where they did diagnose him mild ADHD. He had a few sessions with a counselor and she even suggested we consider medication so we didn't jump to conclusions. We worked with the pedi, counselor, and did the AAP evaluation and all signs lead to where we are now.

We currently have him on Vyvanse, similar to Concerta in that it's a once a day, slow release medication. He is on the lowest possible dosage for Vyvanse and we saw wonderful results within the first 6 weeks (grades jumped 20 points and he went from failing some subjects to passing with flying colors). My son is now in 2nd grade and is getting A's and B's where he was struggling to pass before.

One thing we have not done is involve the schools. We do not want our son to be labeled or treated any different than the other kids. There is nothing wrong with him, he just needs a little extra help to concentrate and he is getting that with Vyvanse!

It's going to take a couple of weeks for your child's body to get adjusted to the medication. We almost went back to our doctor saying we needed to try something else because our son was too laid back but it was just his body adjusting because after a couple of weeks on the medication he was almost 100% normal but was able to focus better. One of the biggest side effects we have seen is loss of appetite. This typically occurs around lunch time when the medication is at it's peek. There are days my son will eat a ton and other days he's not very hungry around lunch. We just do our best to get him to eat something so that he maintains his energy throughout the day.

When we first started working with our pedi on this, she was very up front in telling us that not every medication works for every kid and the first dosage may not always be the right one. It's a trial and error process and should be a partnership between you and the doctor. Our pedi asked that I keep in constant communication with her for the first month regarding his progress and it was great to know that she was not just trying to tell us what we needed to do but actually wanting to partner with us to help our son be successful!!

Best of luck with this process, and don't hesitate to ask questions!!

C.

Sounds like you are talking about my son! :) My son was on Concerta from his peditrician. He did well in the beginning. I highly recommend that you go to a specialist. My son was with his Ped until summer. His ped had slowly upped his Concerta and it caused some major side effects. When I called his ped with the side effects he had me take him to a specialist. We still love our ped but it isn't what he specializes in. My son went to the specialist and was NOW diagnosed with ADD, OCD, and Anxiety disorder. They told me that they never would put any of their patients on the dose that my son was on. They think that his problems now were medically induced. I know it was an accident and like I said we still go to the same Ped. But he goes to the specialist for everything else. We took him off Concerta and he is now on Vyvanse. But he is also on Zoloft for his OCD and Anxiety disorder. Watch his weight! My sone went from 64 lbs in Jan to 56 lbs now. He is 10. If you have any questions just ask me. We have been through a lot. See a specialist! My son wouldn't go out this summer because of his anxieties. Bugs were 90% of his conversations. He was so worried about everything and freaked out all the time. Concerta isn't for everyone and every child is different, but please see a specialist.

All of my three kids were on Concerta at one time or another, my youngest is still on it. I think of all the ADHD meds, this is the best one.

My older two kids had other issues, so had to move on to stronger drugs, but my youngest is just ADHD and she takes a large dose of this med without any personality changes that I can see.

She knows when it wears off and remembers to take it because she knows it helps her in school.

I never wanted to medicate my kids, but if you need to, I would recommend the Concerta extended release over any other form.

good luck
L.

My niece was diagnosed with ADHD when she was about 8 years-old, and they immediately medicated her. It's always bothered me as she's starved for attention, and I think this was an easy way out for an over-worked and stressed mother of three young kids.

There's a lot of controversy regarding the diagnosis and treatment of ADD and ADHD. I agree with others that you should have your son checked by a specialist before starting medication. Your pediatrician may or may not be able to appropriately recognize and diagnose appropriately. A lot of kids are needlessly being started on medications because of their availability when other means are better to address their learning/behavior issues.

Good luck!

Before you start medicating your son please try rewarding him for not talking. I've had 2 nephews and myself that when younger would interrupt class cause we simply felt the urge to say what we had to say. My mother simply created a rewards system for me. My love was M&M's. If I didn't interrupt or talk in class (she would call everyday to see if I had) then I got a handful of M&M's. Then it got to the point where I didn't get M&M's anymore but the look of my mother being proud that was reward for me. My brothers used this same methods on their sons and it worked for them also. We all were between 8 and 10 when this happened for us.

Hope this helps. Medication isn't always the answer but dedication is.

Katrina

Has be been tested for ADD/ADHD? If not, don't jump to meds. Is there a chance that he is not being challanged enough or does not have enough work to do.

I do beleive in treating ADD/ADHD with drugs if needed, but trouble in two classes does not make your son need them.

Hi, H.,

I'm afraid I can't tell you anything about Concerta, but I thought I would mention that a book I am reading (Last Child in the Woods, by Richard Louv) states that several new studies are showing that spending more time with nature is proving to be very therapeutic for children with attention deficit disorders and other maladies. So I would suggest that in addition to any medication you try, you also make sure he is getting enough time outdoors. That's something that schools don't do anymore. Recesses are shorter, and there are less of them. But when he gets home from school, you can dress him for the weather, and ship him outside for an hour before he has to do his homework.

Blessings,
J.

H.,

First of all, you don't "loose your little boy" if he needs a medication for a real issue. If he is not getting the kind of response you are looking for (focus) then it is not the right medication. None of these drugs casues kids to be "zombies" which is just a rediculous assertion I read on this site all the time.

I am always a little weary about pediatricans prescribing for ADHD (there is no ADD, there is only one diagnosis with two types, inatentive type is what you are probably describing as ADD) It is usually best to see a psychaitrist or a developmental pediatrican to prescribe these medications, after one of these professionals has done a full evaluation (pyschiatrists may send you to a neuropyscholgist for the evaluation-which I highly recomend)

Concerta is a good medication with good results for some people. You will have to try it and see how he does. Some kids respond well, others do not. Aggitation is something you should look for, as is decreased appitite. I have also known kids to have increased anxiety if they are already prone to it, and but these things will go away after you stop the meds, and the good thing about stimulants is that they are short acting and are out of the system quickly. Kids with ticks that have not yet come out can begin to display them. Stimulants do not cause the tick, they would come out some day anyway, but these may not go away, and you would be describing all kinds of other behaviors if this were going to be an issue.

Did the school do the evaluation? If so, I would highly recommend that you invest in your own private evaluation (a neuropsychologist is a great place to start) especially since he is borderline. You should always know more about your child than the school does, and a "borderline" diagnosis is a very good reason to know exactly what is going on.

M.

Was he tested by a behavorial psychologist or just the questionnaire in the pediatrician's office? In the doctor's office is not adequate for a proper diagnosis. He almost sounds like asperger's syndrome. Make sure a true specialist has checked him out before giving him any meds. My son was on concerta. It gave him headaches. He ended up stopping it.