Anyone have any experience with ADHD meds??

[DISNEYFANRI]

My DS - 14 was just diagnosed this year and has been on 60 mg Strattera for about 4 months. The other night he came to me and said he did not think it was working any more because by suppertime he could not control himself (hurray for him to recognize this) - I decided to wait a bit but say it for myself later in the week so I called his pediatrician who upped his dosage to 100mg which he will start taking Sunday.
Since this is the first med he has been I am wondering if this is a common thing??

 

[Lanshark]

Although a pediatrician canand does prescribe ADHD meds I would go to a psychiatrist who works with a lot of ADD kids. We got into the same situation with DS where the pediatrician kept trying the same two meds in different dosages. Once he hit puberty they didn't work. Finally went to a psychiatrist who switch him to a different med and we have had no problems. They specialize in these situations.

By the way DD is 105 pounds and the dr said her upper dosage of Strattera was 60mg. We actually settled on 25mg for her. She is LD, dyslexic, so we only needed the meds for some added focus academically. Also, when the psychiatrist was attempting to find the right dose for DS she increased the meds by small increments. We then observed and went to the next increment if necessary. A 40mg jump seems pretty big.

 

[DISNEYFANRI]

Thanks Marcie - I too an concerned about the 40mg jump. he does have a counselor (he has anxiety disorder as well) but I believe she is a ADHD psychologist and cannot perscribe so the pediatrican is doing meds managment. Trial and error I guess.

 

[Lanshark]

Unfortunately, it is a lot of trial and error. The psychistrist we go to does not counsel. After the initial appointment our followups take from 15 minutes to 30 minutes just to weigh him, check his heart and blood pressure and see how he's doing in school. We went to her for her expertise in medications used to treat ADD. Strattera is the latest and greatest.

As I've said, we've been through this and it is tough. Adding puberty to the mix makes it even tougher. Although I love my pediatrician his knowledge was limited. In our situation I felt a specialist could get us where we needed to be in a more efficient manner.