Opinions of Ritalin?????

My sister took it, and she would get a little weepy in the afternoon--but at svhool she was great. They wound up chnging her medicine though. My Mom LOVES her Ritalin!!

Well my son was extremely moody on Ritalin. Accually he was awful when the stuff wore off. Worse than he was before we put him on anything. It was unbareable.
We put him on Foclin which is from same company but not as drastic side affects when drug wore off.
Now he is on Strattera the best thing ever. Its a once a day pill and a non stimulant so didnt have problems with moodyness or depression.

DO NOT use ritalin. I was on it as a child and it made me never eat. I was like a zombie then after it wore off i was hell to deal with. I mean I was moody. Had a constant attitude. My mom switched me to Adderall. I did fine on that. Please dont put your child on Ritalin

I didn't read through all the responses as there are so many, and the question was geared toward ritalin (which, btw, my older brother was on as a child and I refuse to ever put my kids on it because I think it did more harm than good for him. but that is a personal issue). I didn't read anything as to why they want to put her on Ritalin, but your daughter's emotions sound like my 7 yr old. He is in the gifted program at school and I have been given ALOT of information regarding the emotional and mental health of gifted children. They are more sensitive/emotional, and all I have read relates to my son. Va Bch city schools is even having a seminar in January on this topic (raising the Spirited Child). Has your daughter been tested by the school? I am not sure which of your dd's you are referring to, the 8 or 6 YO. I know they test all 1st graders in school. That might be something to look into if you feel the doctors are going in the wrong direction. I worked with someone whose son was so disruptive in class, and had alot of emotional issues. they tested him and his IQ was at 135! once they got him in the right programs for his intelligence level, he improved dramatically.

As for the high cholesterol, both my son's have that too. I have been watching their diet, but my 4 yo's cardiologist (he has a heart defect) said that diet and exercise will only help so much. The rest is genetics. and that the only medicine out there for kids tastes like chalk and they don't want to take it. Have they mentioned to you medicating her for the cholesterol. The dr also told me that their's is not high enough to worry about just yet. (their fasting lithopanels were at 204 and 210 for total choles.) I was just curious because not alot of kids are tested for high cholesterol so I don't get a chance to meet a mom whose kids are. (altho all kids ages 2-18 should be tested, I think mine only were because of my son's heart defect).

K.

When my son who's now 12 was in the 3rd grade, the school forced me to take my baby to an emergecy pshychiatrist. My son was neither hyper or disruptive. He was being picked on constantly in school for being and talking like a "white boy" (we are latino/african american). He eventually tired of the bully treatement and one day went OFF in gym class. (I wont go into detail) But the doctor I took him to, after a (5) minute evaluation, prescribed my non-hyper, non-violent child ritalin. The school threatened legal action of I did not comply with giving him the meds. Ritalin made my usually happy, intelligent and upbeat child; lethargic, zombie like and he devoloped a twitch as a side effect. Also, he would do things repetitively like, put lotion on the same arm several times consecutively. I said HECK NO!! I took my son OFF of the medication and took the New York City Board of Ed to court!! I am proud to say that I won my case, and was awarded punitive damages. I am happy to say that my son hasn't had any long lasting side effects and is still a straight "A" student on the honor roll here in Richmond VA.
The choice to medicate your child should be/is totally up to you. It depends on what YOU feel is the best course of treatment for YOUR child.

K.
Iknow the subject is a touchy one. Some parents are ok with putting their kids on meds and others aren't. I was a special education teacher for 7 years and worked with a full range of just this type of issue. to medicate or not to medicate. In some instances it worked wonders, in others no change. I do think that some doctors are quick to medicate. Since becoming a wahm, i've been exposed to a whole new world of health and wellnes and all the types and ways we can prevent many illnesses. For instance, there is a natural way to keep blood pressure in a healthy range, cholesterol and so on. I've started taking the vitamin line so that I can stay healthy for my son. So, my thoughts when I read what you were writing was more along the line of what i've learned from the wellness company and all their publishings, research and findings. What they're specialty is is bringing nature and science together. They make products that are made from all natural ingredients. I've read a lot how some kids are affected by the toxins in their environment and how easy it is for us to remove them and replace them with all natural products so that there isn't that horrible reaction. My step son is currently being tested for ADD and he does have some issues focusing. His mother and I spoke about it and we've decided to not put him on meds and try a more natural method first. This way there is no fear of addiction or side effects, etc. So we're currently just having him take the children's vitamins and supplements recommended for children with ADD. They do also make supplements and things for other types of medical issues such as depression, anxiety, lupus, fibromyalgia, bi-polar (just got some new emails about that today), etc. there's just too many to name. But it's nice to know that there is an alternative that parents can try if that is their choice. Obviously would still need to keep in contact with the doctor and let him/her know what you're trying or wanting to try to be on the safe side. NOt sure if I helped at all there, but I wanted to share what i've learned.

Hey K., My son started Concerta last spring a form or ritalin. I know medication sounds like a horrible answer to deal with a childs problem, but my son started off being kicked out of every daycare, and then kindergarten was horrible. How does a kindergarten child get suspended 7 times in a year. 1st grade was terrible too, and half way thru it last year, he was so bad at school that it was effecting his grades and they had him to fail 1st grade. I got serious about finding an answer before he failed a grade. Joey seemed just hyper at home, but school was a nightmare. Hitting, constantly wanting attention to the point of getting in trouble for it. I can go on and on. I had no choice but to give meds a chance. Oh my god the difference, He past 1st grade and 2nd grade has been great! Now he still has bad days, but he has friends, girlfriends, kids that wanna come over, or him to go to their house. Its like nothing I would have believed. We have been on Concerta a form of the ritalin, but its the lowest dose 18mg since about April. Over the summer we didnt take it much, but come school, we started right back. Last Monday he ran out. All week he has struggled to be good, but once at home I see how hard he tries to be good, but just cant help himself sometimes. Next week we will have a full prescription again. I cant tell you how much it has increased his self esteem. He used to say he hated himself cause he was bad. Now he is excited about the boys from down the street that ride his bus, that wanna come down to our house and ride skateboards. My opinion of it is if you feel like your at your wits end and dont know what else to do....try it. If it doesnt work, stop it. Hope this helps.

J.

My son is on Ritalin now, but I am trying to have him taken off. It helps him during the school day, but once he get home it is going out of his system and he goes "crazy". He becomes very emotional and mean. I have seen this in several children. They seem to go through a period that is kind of like withdrawal from drugs. He gets gittery, shakes, screams, and (again) just can't seem to sit still. He has to be moving or doing something. I am sure that this is not the case with all children that are on it but it is with my son. I have done a lot of research on the medicine and found a few really good websites that I will post later for you.

My son is on Adderall which is kind of like Ritalin.. He is on a low dose for it and takes it one time a day. He has ADHD and you can tell a difference between him not being on it and him being on it. He can sit down and focus on it. My son is five and was diagnosed with ADHD at 2 but we waited until he started school to put him on it and you can see a 100 percent difference. I am not sure about ritalin but adderall is the only thing approved for his age.. if you have any questions please email me back and I will help you as much as I can.

You know your child better than anyone else...You do what you have to do & don't let people make you feel guilty about it. There is nothing wrong with medication if it is needed.

I do feel that everything should be investigated.
Minimize caffeine and sugar.
Look into allergies...Red Dye allergies can mimic symptoms of ADHD/ADD
Make sure there aren't any underlying medical conditions.
Get their vision checked.
Is it really ADHD/ADD? A PSYCHIATRIST should be the only one to DIAGNOSE and TREAT ADHD/ADD. It is what they do, it is what they specialize in.
A lot of Pediatricians are quick to diagnose children with ADHD/ADD and prescribe medication.

My daughter is 12 now. When she was 6, she was having a hard time concentrating...getting in trouble in school...her pediatrician said that she had ADD and prescribed medication for her...the ritalin made it so much worse, then we tried Adderall...same thing SO much worse...To make a REALLY long story short. Everyone involved kept labeling my daughter as ADD, when all along she had congenital cataracts...which resulted in 20/80 vision in both eyes, she has ANXIETY disorder (which was diagnosed by her PSYCHIATRIST) and she has Dysgraphia (which affects her ability to write) Any one of those alone can easily mimic ADHD/ADD.

Before starting any medication, I would reccommend:

-a Neurodevelopmental Evaluation
-a complete physical including an eye exam
-a psychiatric evaluation

I would not start any medication for ADHD/ADD unless it was prescribed by a psychiatrist. Diet and exercise are the most simple things to start with, but they might not have anything to do with it.
Investigate everything you can think of...you are your childs biggest advocate...do what you have to do...& if the bottomline comes down to medication...it doesn't make you a bad mom.
Good Luck & Take care...

well i have never used it, but i do have a nefew who has been on pretty much all of them, and i have no clue what he is on now, My own personal opinion, i dont believe in all the meds like that for children. I feel there is ways to change behavilor issues and so fourth, for one change of diet, and there is so many other ways. I just hate to see children on this type of medication to calm them down or so fourth. I do believe some children or more hiper than others, but I would search the problem deeper and the times when it happens the worse and see if i could not fix the problem that way before i put them on meds.. Most all children are hiper, but like i said there are some that are more than others. I have seen alot of moms personaly, put their children on it for their own personal reasons, like they just couldnt deal with them, well welcome to being a parent.. STRICK DISPIPLINE COMES A LONG WAYS and u have to STICK TO IT.. Good luck and I hope u choose what is best for your child

While I have never taken it, I went to college with kids who were HOOKED on it from their childhoods. I agree with some of the other moms. Try changing his diet first. No refined sugars, no dye (especially yellow and red), organic whole grains. I have a friend who did this with her daughter, and never needed drugs.

My son started presenting with problems in school in kindergarten. I did not want to put him on anything because alot of times teachers jump to the conclusion that they are ADHD and need medication. Luckily his kindergarten teacher was not like that , she attributed it to being a little boy. As the years passed on he started struggling with his work, his behavior could use some improvement but it wasn't terrible. He has always been our "social butterfly". We took him ourselves to be tested, I did not want to go through the school system. We took him to a private phsycologist in Mont. Marnie Dillon. It was costly but worth it! We learned that he had a learning disability that was keeping him distracted. He was having trouble comprehended what he read and retaining it. And he did have some ADHD nothing severe. We decided to try a low dose medication. His Dr put him on Concerta 18 mg and it is wonderful. He is not zombied out or anything like that, he can focus in school and is now 11 years old and on the AB honor roll!

My son is 7 and is currently on Focalin, which a modified version of Ritalin. He was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 5. His symptoms ranged from lack of focus/attention to constant fidgeting (he felt the need to move) to eating inedible objects. His favorite was cardboard. He was struggling with his schoolwork, wouldn't complete his assignments and he was constantly disrupting the class.

It was a difficult decision but finally we decided to seek treatment for his condition. He's now doing very well in school and is able to stay on task. Focalin has basically been a miracle for us and has helped him tremendously.

Now there are some possible side effects to the medication, as there are with all medications. Loss of appetite, headache, nausea, vomiting,stomach pain.. My son only experienced loss of appetite but it was short lived.

Hello, Im 25 years old and been on ritalin since I was 3rd grade.. Im still on it but a smaller doseage. I know a lot of people hate the idea of medicating children and for people who feel this way have NO clue what the mind of a child with ADD/ADHD is like. The best way I can explain it its like Shopping the day after Thanksgiving each store is an active thought and all the people in it is you concentrating on that thought. If a child had an illness you would treat it, why not treat this disorder when it actually HELPS and is BENEFICAL to the child, I believe NOT medicating it almost like not putting a cast on a broken arm. But anyways about ritalin.. I was diagnosed with Dyslexia in 1st when I still showed problems I was finally diagnosed by a pychritrist withh ADD, something I know for sure now was not a wrong diagnoses. I was the ideal student.. I loved school loved to learn but I struggled. I forget to bring homework home, my desk looked like a bomb exploded.. and most the time of homework I forget to turn in, I'd stay up late trying to finish homework or studying spelling words and was totally frustrated. My brian was just totally disorganized... AD/HD is beyound just being easily distracted. When I started taking ritalin my 3rd grade year I went from failing out to making honor roll. I stayed on it all the way through HS where I graduated top third in my class. Only playing was done was on dosage as I grew and when the time release came out so I wouldnt have to leave class anymore to get my meds... just a pointer time release dosnt work for everyone it didnt for me without a booster. When I graduated and went to college I tried go a few semesters with out it. It was horriable, my grades slipped and I ended up failing a few of my classes. I was again seeing myself totally lost in my own brian disorganization, I went on it to finish college. After getting married though I was off it again, granted Im not being graded but found myself unable to finish housework and the MANY projects I started around the house. I went back on Ritalin a very low dose just to help get through the day. The effects ritalin has.. it dosnt stunt your growth like it was once said Ive always been the tallest. It dose inhibet your ability to sleep, but you just make sure you dont take a pill anytime 4 hours before bedtime. The pills (other than the time release) wears off in 4 hours. It also kills your appetite. Ive always been over weight so the Drs told me to take my med BEFORE a meal, for those at normal weight or under you should take the meds AFTER eating. Alot of people says it changes a person.. well it does.. thats the whole idea. I become a pretty quit and more observant which is good for school. I think the outcome outways anything else. My Dr had me taking the morning and after lunch and again to help with homework. I didnt take any over the weekend or during school breaks. I hope that helps.

Hi Kayde,

I've been through everything with ADD/ADHD with my son who is now 9 years old. I agree about the fact that meds are way over prescribed and this disorder is way over diagnosed. Not knowing what to do, I had my child tested and put him on meds per doctors advice. HUGE MISTAKE!! His personality completely changed as he went from bing completely happy to crying all the time and having fits of rage. In my opinion, I'd rather have my child be a C student at school than have him an emotional reck. After his crazy outbursts, I did more research on the meds and found out some alarming stats- risk of death etc. The lesson that I learned is to take control as a parent and DO NOT rely on teachers, doctors, etc. My son is doing well now, as I have adjusted his diet, I give him Multi-Vitamins as well as DHA (Fish Oil -Omegas for brain and nerve development) and minerals. He's pretty much completely ADD/ADHD free with no terrible meds and their side effects. Please try changing your childs diet before turning to drugs. It will really make you feel like a better parent and it's in your childs best interest.

Best of Luck,

J.

My mother had about all my siblings on it. It worked pretty good while they were at school, but it was the afternoon that was the problem. They acted like zombies alot of the time and they would cry and just be in a bad mood. It started rotting out my brother and sisters teeth so they had to see a specialist. the doctors thought about putting my son on it and I said no all that he needs to do is to get outside more and play. It is your child and the choice is yours to make, but I said no about my son.

I think that every situation needs to be evaluated seperately, but, with that said, I do have a very strong opinion.

My father started on it when he was about 10 and since has become very dependent on it. He needs it to get going, prozac to stay even all day and other stuff to get down. He is a manic depresent and he and the rest of our family regret him ever getting on it. I think many (not all) look to these drugs as a quick fix. If you choose to go down this route, please do it very cautiously and make sure that all other avenues have been persued. Also, try to work with the dr to see if you can develop a plan to eventually ween him off of it. Previous generations did not rely as heavily on medication as this one does and they grew up just fine (many argue better). Often it just takes finding out what it takes to make your little one focus which might be different from others.

I put my son on ritalin for about 9 months......I didn't want to mut the school just kept pushing. I won't lie, he drove me nuts sometimes but he is my child....thats what they do....right? Anyway, I didn't want to put him on DRUGS again so I put him in a Baptist school ( I am not Baptist) and problem solved. They work around the ADHD (his Dad is in his 30's and still suffers from ADHD) and he is doing great. We have changed his diet...no sugar and no caffeine. I used to think that depending on the different kids and issues that Ritalin was a choice but now I don't agree......do your research before you do anything drastic. This is your baby....what did parents do 200 years ago when their kids were being kids?????

you can have 10 children and they will respond 10 different ways to Ritalin. In my opinion it is over prescribed and misused among the medical community. I recommend first changing their diet, getting to a whole food, no preservatives, no food dye, no artificial ingredients and see if that makes a difference. There have been numerous studies that prove diet directly affects attention and just fixing the diet can cause ADHD to disappear. There are some cases where a child is true ADHD and needs to be treated, but this should be the last resort after more natural methods have been tried. I wish you the best. Just arm yourself with knowledge to help you make the best decision.