Concerta for ADD?

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I posted about a month ago that DS (4th grade) has been diagnosed with inattentive ADD. Since then he has been taking Strattera. No scary side effects (thank goodness!), but also no improvemnet in the ADD symptoms. Dr. said that might happen, so it wasn't a complete surprise.

After talking with our Dr. yesterday we have decided to switch DS to Concerta once a day. We will stop the Strattera today and begin the Concerta Saturday. From reviewing past threads, Concerta seem to do a pretty good job. Anyone care to share comments, observations, etc?

 

[The LK 4]

My DS started taking Concerta about a year ago, and it's made a world of difference for him. He only takes it on school days. The one pediatrician said he should take it every day, but I don't want to do that.

He has really improved this past year in 7th grade. His grades have always been pretty good, but now he's getting almost all A's. He has settled down to do his homework, and he doesn't get into trouble at school from being too fidgety.

The only side effects he's had have been lack of appetite at times, and this is another reason why I don't have him take it on the weekends. I'm very pleased with Concerta.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

That sounds similar to my DS - decent grades but it is a bit of a struggle, fidgety, hard time doing homework. The pediatrician said it is nice to not have to take the meds on weekends and over the summer. DS is very small and never eats much, so not taking meds over the summer will be important. If the Strattera had worked we would have had to keep him on it continuously, so this might be better. The Dr. also said we should know pretty quickly whether it works or not - no waiting for 5 weeks.

 

[missypie]

DS started on Adderall in 2001 (4th grade); we switched to Concerta about a year later, so he has been on it for about 4 years. No side effects, and boy does it help!

You may have to play around with when he takes it. We used to have him take it right before he left for school, so it would last longer into the day. Last year he had Algebra first hour at school. One day he reported that he kept staring at the posters in the classroom and that they would start moving and he couldn't take his eyes off of them...not very good for learning Algebra! We realized that the meds had not kicked in by the time he started class! So now he takes his pills as soon as he gets up in the morning. The bad thing is, when the drugs wear off and he still has homework, it takes FOREVER! Good luck!

And by the way, he takes his pills every day of the year. He describes his brain (off meds) as "jittery." He prefers having a non-jittery brain (and not having posters turn into movies) on weekends and over the summer, too...wouldn't you?

 

[MOMOFMNM]

my daughter has inattentive ADD

she is very passive too....acting like she hears you and understands, very calm yet easily frustrated with tasks but not a behavior issue at all...she was getting HORRIBLE grades the begin of year...

she used to go to DSM schools and they would tell her
"work faster"

"she is a worse student than this kid and he does not speak English"

"she is at the bottom of the chart"

type deal


we moved.

I put her in a great school (I grew up in that school dist and work for it now)

anyway 3rd grade was tough for her but 4th got down right miserable and we went to see someone.

I love her teachers here at the new school...they have been so helpful...

I feel awful for parents who have to struggle with this in a non supportive environment

I guess I always knew she needed help but I wanted to be a perfect mother...I thought meds was a sign of failure on my part...and I am a teacher!!!!


Anyway she is on 10 MG of metadate...daily


her MIALT scores jumped 29 points in 6 months...!!!!!

she was the best improved in her class

her scores are now 30 pts above 4th grade average...

she was the ONLY kid in her class to know all 50 states before the review and lesson of states!!!!!


She struggles with writing and spelling still...it is awful but her teacher is amazing and says she shows so much growth and awareness that the spelling does not even bother her...

she does long division in a snap....

could not even add in August of this year....


I can not tell you how it has changed our world.


I hope you find what you and ds needs for success!!!

do not give up til he gets what help he needs

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

It will be interesting to see if we can make it through homework each day. The doctor said the meds are different for every kid (obviously) and everyone metabolizes at a different rate and so on. We'll see how it goes on the low dose, increase if we need to, and see how he feels. It looks like the side effects typically aren't too bad, but I guess there isn't any way to know until we try.

If DS prefers to continue on with the meds through the summer then we will allow him to do so as long as he isn't losing weight. This summer should be pretty easy - he isn't going to many camps so there won't be much he has to focus on. But certainly if he feels better and happier on the meds then we'll stick with them.

I knew when we got the diagnosis that it would be a bit of trial and error to find a medication to suit him and a dosge to be effective. If the Concerta doesn't help I guess we'll try another one!

His teachers have never been ugly about it - they just felt certain he had inattentive ADD and needed some help to focus. I also think his math teacher doesn't explain things in a way that he processes well. He had another teacher that he seemed to do better with, but then they juggled the classes around and he ended up with one who doesn't explain things in a way that he understands. Her teaching style just doesn't fit his learning style. That combined with his tendency to think about other things while she is teaching has made math a rather big issue this year! Hopefully we will get things worked out before the year is completely over so we can start off next year with a treatment in place that we know will help.

 

[Pembo]

My ds just switched to Concerta from Focalin XR and it is working great. Focalin made him very moody and depressed. On Concerta he is happy again. We give him a small dose of Ritalin when he gets home from school to get him thru the evening. Surprisingly he goes to sleep BETTER when he has the Ritalin.

We just switched drs and our new one is awesome. He really knows his meds and did an awesome job explaining them to us and ds. I wish I would have found this guy a long time ago.

My dh is also on Concerta.

 

[lewdyan1]

My DS started taking Concerta about a year ago, and it's made a world of difference for him. He only takes it on school days. The one pediatrician said he should take it every day, but I don't want to do that.
The only side effects he's had have been lack of appetite at times, and this is another reason why I don't have him take it on the weekends. I'm very pleased with Concerta.

Ditto to everything she said!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Good reports so far! Hopefully the Concerta will help DS. We noticed some irritability/surly attitude but we don't know if it was the Strattera or just DS being a "tween".

 

[Mermaid02]

Good reports so far! Hopefully the Concerta will help DS. We noticed some irritability/surly attitude but we don't know if it was the Strattera or just DS being a "tween".

My son was very "ugly" on Strattera. Concerta didn't seem to help him- he is doing well on Focalin XR... takes 30 mg in the morning and 5 mg of regular Focalin when he gets home from school. Good Luck to you!