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Post by charliegirl on Jan 8, 2008 19:03:02 GMT -5
Thats great that you figured out that change is stressful for him and can now tell whether he is having problems from that or that his meds aren't working all that well, Mary.
Welcome Newfnewman! Thanks for posting your experience here. Its really appreciated. You have experience with ADHD and what it entails. I hope to hear even more from you.
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Post by lcdc1 on Jan 10, 2008 0:00:42 GMT -5
As an adult with severe ADHD symptoms, I am on 72 mg of concerta in the day and a low dose of ritalin to go to bed! There are times I had my doubts about the effectiveness of the meds, but then I went to a physc that specializes in adult ADHD and found that my sleep patterns, my hard time adjusting to change and stress and some other things made the meds appear less effective! Not enough sleep being the biggest culprit. It is a vicious cycle for any of us at any age - we need to learn to be organized and stick to a schedule!
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Post by mary2 on Jan 10, 2008 5:01:16 GMT -5
As an adult with severe ADHD symptoms, I am on 72 mg of concerta in the day and a low dose of ritalin to go to bed! There are times I had my doubts about the effectiveness of the meds, but then I went to a physc that specializes in adult ADHD and found that my sleep patterns, my hard time adjusting to change and stress and some other things made the meds appear less effective! Not enough sleep being the biggest culprit. It is a vicious cycle for any of us at any age - we need to learn to be organized and stick to a schedule! lcdc1, my son also takes a low dose of Ritalin in the mornings (only when he goes to school), so he can have better concentration when he has the highest demands. It was a little hard for him the sleeping issues, but he has overcome most of it; the only thing that is still bothering a lot after almost a year of taking Concerta 36mg is that he does not eat anything during the whole morning, just a glass of milk with the pills. He actually eats what I put in his lunchbox when he gets home (at 4pm) because I demand this on him, BUT..., at night his appetite is to the fullest and he would eat very well, so, I think that as he is a boy with a small frame, it is Ok for him to eat that way; he hasn't fainted or felt sick at school, and I know he is playing well during recess because his uniform tells me so, lol; so I think he is doing OK like that; it is just a different eating schedule. I guess I have adapted to his ways after starting to take Concerta and he is doing great. He has good days and bad days and that is completely normal for anybody. He still has concentration issues but the pills are not miraculous. We are working all this with therapies and I know that the pills are helping. I think that without the pills our work would be much more harder. |
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Post by lcdc1 on Jan 10, 2008 20:07:40 GMT -5
that is good and I think all medication will fluctuate or our actions will, but you do have to do what you already stated, give them a try and mess with the doses once in ahwhile to get it right. My physc said you first have to look for underlying causes because they contribute to changes more than meds sometimes!
Sounds like you are all over it, so he should be fine. Wait til adolescence though and look for changes, hormones do strange things to all kids and can really affect ADHD kids.
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Post by lisacap on Jan 11, 2008 8:26:13 GMT -5
There could be hope in the eating for you if he is anything like my son, Christian has been on Concerta for 3 years, concentration and school work are good...but he didn't eat the first 2 years, he was 60 pounds in 5th grade, something changed and the meds are still working, but he is up to 130 pounds now in 7th grade and there are days I can't get him to stop eating. The concerta takes a long time with some kids but they do get their appetites back eventually...he doesn't eat breakfast, but never really has, but he eats lunch, supper, and then some....
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Post by lcdc1 on Jan 12, 2008 20:03:03 GMT -5
my only comment to the eating thing is it is the same for me as an adult, I have learned to try to eat better stuff and eat when I am hungry, even if it is 8 pm. I try to take vitamins too, when I remember to do that. My appetite was way low for a year and a half, but it came back to a reasonable thing again.
I try to drink plenty of water also, it is a fine balance I guess.
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Post by mary2 on Jan 19, 2008 7:39:14 GMT -5
Well, my son was given his report card yesterday and I was very happy with his results. I do think that Concerta is being an effective tool for him. His grades are all passing and there are some which are excellent. He improved in behavior in regard to the mid term report card. The fact that he is asking questions at home about General Knowledge topics is giving me a great feeling because that means that he is paying attention in class. He never asked questions before.
I think he is doing great . He is working very hard and I hope he keeps going on that path. I was a little disappointed about the teacher's comment because I thought it was so poor( actually it was just a sentence that said :"It is a pleasure to work with students who try") and didn't give me much information about his performance; I was somewhat upset for a while since as I am a teacher, the comments I write are much more descriptive and I always try to be very motivating, but then I thought it was OK. I don't know if maybe I am misled about the meaning of "to try"; in my school we are asked to use comments such as "keep trying" when the work is poor; so the " try" impacted me for a while, but then, I thought it was OK. I just think the effort my son does is really more than trying. The word "try" just bothered me at first. Maybe I have to go and check its meaning, lol
Last neuro appointment, he told me that we could try to see what happens if we stop the medication later; maybe 3rd grade when he will be more mature and we could give it a try on how he does without it. Depending on that, we will decide if to resume medicating or not. I think it sounds fair to give it a try later, but I would feel more comfortable by letting school know at the time I decide to make this change.
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Post by bugsmom on Jan 19, 2008 10:14:38 GMT -5
mary...its sounds like the Concerta is working well for Marcel. Tell him congratulations on his report card! That is just AWESOME!
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Post by charliegirl on Jan 19, 2008 17:48:08 GMT -5
That is great Mary! I'm so happy for Marcel. That report card must have made him feel good.
I think the teacher's comment left something to be desired but at least she aknowledged that he is putting forth the effort to succeed and she is happy about it. At least it was positive!!! ;D
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I was about to conquer the world but then I got distracted by something shiny.
