OT-Ritalin how quick does it work

[poohguys]

Hi-
Hoping some one can answer this. DS is on Daytrana for ADHD, but it is wearing off before his baseball games at night. We can't put it on him any later in the moring or it will not be working by the time he gets to school.
Dr. is putting him on 5 mg of Ritalin to help get him through his games. My question is how long does it take for the Ritalin to start working after he takes the pill? It usually takes almost 2 hours for his patch to kick in. Also any advice on getting an 8 yr old to swallow a pill.

Thanks

 

[CyndiLooWho]

One of my sons is on Concerta, and we've flirted a time or two with whether or not we might need to add or substitute Ritalin into his day. I always got the impression that it kicks in relatively quickly. The Concerta takes less than an hour - maybe 30 minutes - to get started in the am. He's unfocused when he first gets up, but is fine well before we leave for school 45 minutes later. Since ritalin isn't time release like Concerta, I'd expect it to kick in pretty quickly.

As the parent, it's really your choice on whether to add a med for evenings or not. We kind of went the opposite direction - we only medicate on school days. So on weekends, our son is learning how to moderate his behavior on his own. It carries through to evenings when his meds are wearing off. For instance, he has vision therapy (kind of like occupational therapy) on Wed night from 6-7, after a 75 minute drive. His concentration is wonderful and he's doing extremely well. I think that's due to him "practicing" on the weekends.

I also had concerns about him being too awake to sleep if we used a ritalin for homework. In our house, that is a big concern, so it's flavored our decision to keep the ritalin out of the routine for now. If you give it to him for ball games, count backwards 4 hrs from the end of the game, and give it then, so it lessens the effect on nighttime sleeping. And remember, at 8, no kid concentrates fully by the last innings of a ball game. Our 8 yo is definitely not ADHD, and has played ball since he was 5. by the last 2 innings of a 6 inning coach pitch game, he's woolgathering, esp on weeknights. It's just part of being 8.

As for pills, both of my kids have been taking "swallow" pills since they were 4 or so. At first, it helps to place the pill in applesauce, but at 8, you shouldn't even need that unless there are sensory issues involved. My older son can take his Concerta half asleep, in bed w/o biting the pill or spilling the water (he's 10 and been on Concerta since right before he turned 7).

 

[CyndiLooWho]

Revisiting - btw, I don't intend anything to be a judgement of your parenting. My own style is to be honest and forthright, and I know that my typing suffers from lack of tone. Dh says he cringes when he reads what I write, sometimes.

With ADHD, we've done it all - overmedicating (severely one semester), pills every day, paying more attention to what the teacher says than what our gut says. After 3 yrs, we've finally got things working right for our son and our family. I just want you to hear some opinions that you might not get from teachers and doctors if you're new on this journey.

 

[stacy6552]

I would ask your doctor for a perscription of the short acting version of what he is taking and give it to him on practice days right when he gets home from school.

 

[mr.fajita]

I don't think you should be putting your child on performance enhancing drugs.

 

[CyndiLooWho]

I don't think you should be putting your child on performance enhancing drugs.

Not sure you understand the calming effects ritalin and other ADHD meds have on the kids that take them. They actually tend to slow down the reactions of kids who take them (that's the reason they get prescribed to kids who are hyper).

The only performance enhancement documented for ADHD meds is use for studying for exams in those who DON'T have ADHD. Not the same as what this parent is asking.

 

[poohguys]

Thanks Cyndi loo Who He has been on the meds for about a year and a half. We tried diet changes etc. before putting him on the medication. It has made a huge differance for all of us. Please tell me what the vision therapy is? Is it like behavor modification? We uwually leave the patch off on one of the weekend days and he was off it all last summer.

Stacey-There is no short acting version on the medication he is on. His Dr is giving him a short acting low dose of the Ritalin.

Mr Fajita- Maybe you should read up about ADHD. I am not putting my child on a "performance enhancing drug". He has ADHD and with out the medication he is rolling in the grass and jumping all around. As Cyndi Lou said the medication works to calm the brains of children and adults with ADHD. I just want him to be able to focus on what is going on around him so he can play baseball like the other boys his age. Right now because of his ADHD he is behind the other kids. If he could focus long enough he could be on par. Not everyone wants their kid to be a super athlete.

 

[CyndiLooWho]

I'm glad I was able to give some good info. I will say that when ds10 was first dx'd with ADHD, he was walking out of classrooms and was a real hindrance to the other kids' learning. He is not in the hyper category, but he refused to go along with anything he wasn't interested in and had to do his own thing. We've actually reduced his doses as he's gotten older b/c age seems to be making a really big difference for him. His meds are wearing off when he gets home from school, but he will voluntarily sit down and do his homework now, knowing that the sooner he finishes, the sooner he gets to play. And his concentration is way up as he's gotten more interventions through the school. So, in time, you may be able to slack things down, or not, but you know him best and will know what is the right thing to do.

As for vision therapy, in addition to ADHD, our poor older son has Aspergers and is dyslexic. He's the sweetest kid in the world and gets super grades on all things he can do orally, but reading and writing have been a major trial for him. He still makes reversals at the end of 4th grade and he's barely reading at a 2nd grade level.

We had him evaluated by an optometrist (NOT an opthamologist) and discovered he has a convergence issue (his eyes don't aim at the same place at the same time) and a tracking issue (he does not go smoothly from left to right or top to bottom, his eyes skip all over the place instead). So he is taking vision therapy with the optometrist's office, and we are seeing some real progress.

He does patch 40 minutes a night, 4 nights a week, and they send home excercises that range from physical motion to mazes to other reading oriented pages.

Anyway, I hope there's some good info for you and I hope the ritalin does the trick. We just got back from a Fri night ball game and all the 7 and 8 yos were facing the wrong direction by the 6th inning. They were so funny!

 

[poohguys]

I am glad that the vision therapy seems to be working for your DS. I feel for your 75 min ride to the eye dr. I have an hour ride to work in the morning. DS dr is a 20 minute ride. We are out in the county and nothing is really close. I hope that as DS gets older he will gain more self control and we can cut back on the medication.

DS was moved up to kid pitch with 3rd and 4th graders (he is only in 2nd), but they did not have enough to make a team and moved up the three oldest 2nd graders. I remember one game last year when they were all out in the field picking up stuff off the ground and we could not figure out what they were doing. Well there were catapillers all over the ground and all the kids were collecting them in their gloves. DS has a game tomorrow afternoon (if we don't get rained out). It is early enough that his patch should work fine.

 

[Leajess99]

I am glad that the vision therapy seems to be working for your DS. I feel for your 75 min ride to the eye dr. I have an hour ride to work in the morning. DS dr is a 20 minute ride. We are out in the county and nothing is really close. I hope that as DS gets older he will gain more self control and we can cut back on the medication.

DS was moved up to kid pitch with 3rd and 4th graders (he is only in 2nd), but they did not have enough to make a team and moved up the three oldest 2nd graders. I remember one game last year when they were all out in the field picking up stuff off the ground and we could not figure out what they were doing. Well there were catapillers all over the ground and all the kids were collecting them in their gloves. DS has a game tomorrow afternoon (if we don't get rained out). It is early enough that his patch should work fine.

Have you thought about a different sport?? I only ask because my son could not last with T-ball. He also has ADHD and t-ball/baseball could not keep his attention for anything. He has played soccer from age 4 up and did wonderfully. Becuase it is a constant moving game th kids generally do much better. I have worked with kids with severe ADHD while coachingand they tend to do good with it.

 

[poohguys]

DS did do Karate for 2 1/2 years. He stopped last summer for a break-he had too much going on-baseball, cub scouts, karate. We did not commit to anything over the summer. He was not really in to soccer, so we did not do it. We may try it in the fall, I just worry about how he will do since he has never played it on a team before. They had a basketball clinic at school and he did not want to do it. He is taking drum lessons and loves it. Maybe he will be more of a musician.

 

[Kimmumum]

My DS15 has ADHD and has been on different meds since he was 5. At times our dr. put him ritalin boosters for homework. He now takes Strattera. It isn't a controlled substance and works with the natural chemicals in his body. It seems to last a lot longer than Concerta and Ritalin did for him.

One thing that a pharmacist friend told us is....never take meds with anything that has a silver lining. Like orange juice in certain containers, pop tarts etc. It decreases the efficiency of the meds by almost half.

Good luck to you and your son.

 

[ireland_nicole]

another consideration w/ taking more meds in the evening, aside from the increased wakefulness, is appetite suppression. With DD and DS, very, very little of lunch or breakfast gets eaten, but from 3pm-6pm is when they get most of their calories. If there's any concern about your DS's appetite, I'd just consider whether the benefit outweighs any side effects. We cannot take DS off of his focalin on the w/ends because it changes blood levels too drastically, but DD uses short acting meds (long story, and lots of additional challenges) and we don't use those at all in the evening or weekend, or when off of school. I'm not saying your choices aren't the best for your kid, just our experience.

 

[poohguys]

Thanks everyone! We are off in a little while to baseball . His reg. meds will cover us for it since it is during the day.

That is interesting about the items with silver linings making the medications not work as well.

He is a pretty good eater. Lost about 8 lbs initally when he started, but he was a little over weight to begin with. There are some days when he does eat more than others. I am just glad that he is not a picky eater too!

 

[kristinw3girls]

My DD14 is on adderall XR. The extended release seems to work well for her. Before meds she would chase every butterfly, sing dance etc during the game. The point made about switching sports is fine if the CHILD wants to try something different. My DD LOVES softball, and is happier now that she can follow the whole game!

 

[grlzmom]

My dd7 (almost 8) is severe ADHD, and sensory processing disorder (auditory dyslexia). She is above average iq.

She takes short acting Ritilin twice a day 7 days a week. She has weekly therapy and gets lots of academic support at school (if it has an acronym, she gets it).

My question is there anyone else whose child doesn't get weekends off meds or med "holiday"? My dd's doctor (developmental pediatrician and have had secondary evaluations done privately to confirm school testing) said that she will not get weekends or summers off meds and her psychologist is in agreement at least for this next year.

It has been a very very long process getting an accurate diagnosis, she is way behind academically and will probably be retained in school.

I am comfortable with their diagnosis and treatment, have seen huge changes and great strides with therapy and meds but just want to know if we are alone in not getting a med holiday

 

[Leajess99]

My dd7 (almost 8) is severe ADHD, and sensory processing disorder (auditory dyslexia). She is above average iq.

She takes short acting Ritilin twice a day 7 days a week. She has weekly therapy and gets lots of academic support at school (if it has an acronym, she gets it).

My question is there anyone else whose child doesn't get weekends off meds or med "holiday"? My dd's doctor (developmental pediatrician and have had secondary evaluations done privately to confirm school testing) said that she will not get weekends or summers off meds and her psychologist is in agreement at least for this next year.

It has been a very very long process getting an accurate diagnosis, she is way behind academically and will probably be retained in school.

I am comfortable with their diagnosis and treatment, have seen huge changes and great strides with therapy and meds but just want to know if we are alone in not getting a med holiday

You are not alone with not getting a med holiday. My kids' doctor does not want them taking a med holiday either. My oldest used to get the med breaks BUT the new doctor decided that it is not best for him.

 

[CyndiLooWho]

My dd7 (almost 8) is severe ADHD, and sensory processing disorder (auditory dyslexia). She is above average iq.

She takes short acting Ritilin twice a day 7 days a week. She has weekly therapy and gets lots of academic support at school (if it has an acronym, she gets it).

My question is there anyone else whose child doesn't get weekends off meds or med "holiday"? My dd's doctor (developmental pediatrician and have had secondary evaluations done privately to confirm school testing) said that she will not get weekends or summers off meds and her psychologist is in agreement at least for this next year.

It has been a very very long process getting an accurate diagnosis, she is way behind academically and will probably be retained in school.

I am comfortable with their diagnosis and treatment, have seen huge changes and great strides with therapy and meds but just want to know if we are alone in not getting a med holiday

We did not do a med holiday from the time we started (shortly before 7th b-day) and the summer after he turned 8. Our ped recommended the daily dosing and we went along with it.

We forgot a couple of weekend days here and there (never on a school day, b/c we have a routine on a school day), and things seemed to have improved. So I asked the ped about skipping it over the summer. And then we decided to keep him off over the weekends as well.

At the time, we were seeing a Dutch psychologist. They have a very different take on meds , and she was keen on reducing his dose and letting him go w/o when he didn't "need" it.

He's now 10 and I am certain we made the right decision. He's by no means perfect, and he requires more redirection when he's not on meds, but he's learning how to handle things w/o them, and that is our ultimate goal.

 

[poohguys]

DS's dr had us take him off the meds last summer and it was okay. I did have my parent watch him because I was afraid to have him with someone who did not understand him. He said if we wanted to put him back on for the summer we could. We do leave it off him sometimes on the weekends if we get up late and forget to put it on. DS does not like not having it. He insist he gets a stomach ache from not having his meds. I think it is because he ends up eating a lot more when he is off them.

Does anyone have a kid who "sneeks" food?

Baseball game was good today. Monday nights will be the test.

 

[goofymomof3]

This is always a touchy subject. THere are so many different opinions and so many different ways to handle ADHD someone is always offended by the way it is approached. At the risk of doing that I am going to weigh in. I am a teacher ( 20 years) and a mother of 3 teenagers. My son was diagnosed in K because I was refusing to see that he was not just a typical boy. We are on concerta. THere are many different ways to handle that also. He never knew why he took the meds.... we called it a vitamin and said that everyone takes vitamins to keep you healthy. I didn't want him to say " oh no I hit him or did whatever because I forgot my medicine". As a teacher i hate to hear those words... As a mother I want to give him breaks from the meds even now......but as a teacher I see how they are different on Monday morning. I know they say the medicine takes affect in about 30 minutes but with children who are always off on the weekends they are not the same on Monday morning. By TUesday they seem more able to be with the routine but then you know they will be the same again on the next Monday. IMO they should not take breaks until the summer and if you have many camps and vacation bible school and pool activities they still shouldn't be off the meds...... now this is assuming they are correctly diagnosed. Every child is different and God gave them to us for us to make the right decisions for them so I think if it works at your house that is exactly what you should be doing. It is very hard for teachers to watch kids suffer though especially when we see that with meds and a routine they could be so much more successful. THat is the ultimate goal for the child to be able to function and be successful in life, not only in school which is not made for ADHD kids. whew......sorry so long very passionate about the subject.