My son (Shane) is 9 years old. He will be 10 in November. He was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 6 years old. He has NEVER been on medicine for it. I have tried every alternative treatment there is. Many help, but not enough. I am not totally against medicine for treatment, however I think it should be a last resort, and I am at that last resort.

Shane is in the 2nd grade. He has been in resource classes for 2 years. He should have gone into 3rd grade next year, but he's going into a solid resource class. No regular classes at all. Because he is not on grade level. He is just now learning things that 1st graders learn at the end of the 1st grade year.

I TOTALLY trust our doctor. We have both waited as long as possible to put Shane on meds for this, hoping that some of the alternative treatments would work well enough to avoid it. But we are to that point. So my question is, do any of you have children on Concerta? Any concerns? Any success stories? Any advice at all?

Thanks for responding

By Kaye on Sunday, April 27, 2003 - 09:01 pm:

I am a former special eduaction teacher. I think you did the right thing initially, trying other options before meds. HOWEVER, the older they get, the harder it is to get them to take the meds, the notice the change they feel and don't always like it. So that being said, meds for elementary school can be a God send! Children have so much to learn these first few years and they get behind so quickly. I had one child in the third grade, who at the beginning of the year was soo out of control, he was pulled out of class for almost 3 hours a day and was in constant trouble. By the end of the year, he was only pulled out for one hour and was able to just use help via inclusion. Good luck!

By Cat on Sunday, April 27, 2003 - 11:03 pm:

Robin's been on Concerta since August of last year. He's doing very well on it for concentration, but he's also on Risperdal for hyperactivity. You will notice a difference probably the first day, but it may take a week or two for his body to adjust to the med and for them to become regular in his system, and it may take a while to get the right dosage. I'm sure the doc has told you the side effects. Do a search online for your own info. Be aware that stimulants can effect children's sleep and appetite. Robin will be 10 in October and he weighs 63lbs and is 4'3". Small for his age. He's always needed less sleep, but we also have a prescription for Clonidine to help him get to sleep at night. We don't give it to him every night though. Here's a website specifically for ADD/ADHD that I've visited and gotten great advise and support from. http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-ppadd?redirCnt=1 Robin was diagnosed offically at 6 1/2, unoffically at 4. He was on Dexadrine for 2 1/2 years, but when we took him off it for summer break last year we realized it was to blame for his depression (almost offically diagnosed) and ODD (was diagnosed-since have been told he's not). That's when we switched to Concerta. It's been working well, but we might need to up the dose. That happens a lot with stimulants (from my experience). They work well for a while but then need to be upped to keep their effectiveness. I know this is long (longwinded tonight! lol). If you want to email me, you're more than welcome to. The med game is no fun. cathyliz@bigfoot.com {{{{{Hugs}}}}}

By Hol on Tuesday, August 5, 2003 - 11:14 pm:

Saw this post and decided to put my two cents in. Our older son,(15-I don't use their names to protect their privacy. They are adopted)was put on Concerta shortly after the adoption in February because he had a complete behavioral meltdown following the adoption finalization. (Not unexpected. We were warned it could happen). He already takes Adderal XR and Remeron. The Concerta made him irritable and surly. He also looked like a zombie with wide glassy eyes. We took him off it after about a week. Not a good experience for us.

By Mommmie on Wednesday, August 6, 2003 - 01:47 pm:

My 8-year-old son is not on Concerta, but on Adderall XR, which is another stimulant that does the same thing. (Hol, I'm surprised your son was taking both at the same time. Never heard of that. Seems redundant.) My son is not teachable without meds. He is also LD - learning disabled (high IQ, low achievement).

There should be improvement from the first day, although you may have to play around with the dosage. If your son is at all moody and the moodiness gets worse on the med, or he gets violent, be sure and tell your doctor. Kids with mood disorders such as bi-polar are worse on ADHD meds.

Also, you might want to think about having him evaluated for learning disabilities. You may have two things going on - ADHD and LD - or he may be just LD and it "looks like" ADHD since it's undx.

While the school can evaluate your child for free, remember the school is trying to answer the question, "Does the child qualify for services?" and a private evaluator, like at an LD school, is trying to answer the question, "Does this child have a learning disability?" Two different things.

Does your child have an IEP? Have you had his IQ tested?

If your son is LD, you might want to reconsider holding him back. No amount of holding back will help an LD child. They need specialized instruction. To me, and this is just my opinion, a 10-year-old 2nd grader is too old. There is a direct correlation between retaining kids and those kids dropping out of school.

Good resources are www.adhd.com and www.ldonline.com.

By Hol on Wednesday, August 6, 2003 - 03:00 pm:

Thanks. Yes, he does have an IEP. He also receives Resource help via two periods of extra help a day. He's only one year behind due to staying back in the second grade. (long before WE knew him). He IS bright, but doesn't work up to his potential. That is due to a lot of factors. Low self-esteem from being abused in his past, and being moved around to many placements is the chief cause. Yes, he was recently IQ tested and acheivement tested. He is going into tenth grade in our public high school(whose Sp ED dept is WONDERFUL). He has enrolled in college prep courses. Once we can get the trust and attachment issues addressed since the adoption, we hope to see achievement. Even his ADHD is better. He is more focused.

By Lauram on Thursday, August 7, 2003 - 02:04 pm:

My ds (age 6) takes Strattera because he also has Tourette's and can't take stimulants. I know where you are. We started the meds in APril and had definitely reached that "last resort!"

By Hol on Thursday, August 7, 2003 - 11:42 pm:

Laura-- Beautiful babies! Please keep me posted on your progress with Strattera. My ds' psychiatrist mentioned that last time we saw him. We go again next month. I'd like get him off the Adderal if I can. Thanx.

By Lauram on Friday, August 8, 2003 - 09:44 am:

Holly- The Strattera has worked beautifully, though I've heard it doesn't always work for everyone. It literally worked the first day. My ds does have some side effects from it- stomach aches, some vomiting (only if he doesn't eat his breakfast), a bit of reduced appetite, fatigue (he sometimes takes a nap- who's complaining about that one!- and goes to bed at 9:00 not 10:30) and some moodiness at times. It's not all at once and the symptoms aren't bad enough for me to want to take him off it. It's literally changed our life. The stress level in our house/at school was SOOOO high before we started and now it's manageable....

By Hol on Saturday, August 9, 2003 - 12:30 am:

Laura--Thanks. I will definitely bring it up to the Doc.

By Tami on Sunday, August 10, 2003 - 12:06 am:

My DD is 8 and has been diagnosed ADHD since she was 6 (officially-- unofficially since about 3 and 1/2) We have BTDT with the different avenues of treatment before meds. When we finally put her on the meds she was like a different child!! It was amazing! She's been taking Concerta since Jan. We tried Straterra for several months and it did nothing. I was very disappointed. Before that she took Ritalin, but I didn't like her having to take it at school. She has done very well with the Concerta, but we will have to see about the dosage after school starts in a few weeks. We may have some changes to make. By far I would say that the Concerta has helped her more than anything else we have ever tried. Sorry it's so long, hope everything goes well and you and your DR find something that works for you!