My son is also on Concerta (36 mg) and has been since 2nd grade - he is now in his second year of 6th grade. Our doc tried a small dose of Strattera last year for a "pick me up" in the afternoons and we hated it. My son would cry or get upset at the drop of a hat. That's just him, though, and thought I would pass it along. I have a few posts under "ADD Inattentive Type" if you want to check those out.

Also, it's interesting that you said your son doesn't like to write. My son failed Reading last year and this year he's struggling with / failing English. Got progress reports yesterday and he had all 80's and 90's except for a 57 in English. They only have 3 weeks of school left so I don't know that he can pull it up. When I asked him what the problem was, he said, "I don't like to write." I wonder if this is just another "symptom" of ADD???

Anyone?

MSmomof2

Hi Ladies---
Just wanted to chime in here and share my exp.


My son was diagnosed adhd since second grade, he now is in 8th. He has been taking concerta ever since diagnosed until the past 3 mos. The concerta seemed to have just stopped working! Even after all the up dosages it seemed he build up a tolerance to it---it was just giving him migranes and making him very agitated/angry. So after checking into our options--there is a fairly new med out called Vyvase---it is working wonderfully! His grades have gone from D/F's to B/C's, his attitude is so much better towards school work-friends-us all around a new kid :) We also inrolled him into IEP---what a great program--Mom's look into this med--it just might be time for a change. BTW he went straight from concerta to vyvanse--didn't need to taper off the concerta to get on the vyvanse---Best wishes!

~Angie

ok so we went to dr.'s on tuesday and my son is now on a higher dose of concerta. He is taking 27mg. He has taken one dose so far and I'm hoping this will help. I'll wait and see.

I took my son to a child psychologist specialized in ADHD. This really helped him. The regular pediatrician was great, but something was missing. He was taking Concerta to start with, 18mg, then 27. Man, he was like another person. It made him irritated, mad, sad, cried at every little thing, and I mean EVERYTHING. It was awful. My life was consumed with him and his issues. He was so bad I almost didn't even want to be around him anymore.

Since the child psych, he has switched to Adderrall. He takes 15mg in the morning and 5mg at 3pm. BEST THING EVER!!! She also recommends that he comes in for therapy and counseling. This will allow him to release some of his feelings as he can't always talk to mom or dad, they need a third party person to get things out to. It's hard to accept, they are our babies and they can't talk to us? But how many of us talk to our parents about everything all the time? I am close with my mother, but there are some things I just don't want to talk to her about.

Treatment should be all around... meds, therapy, diet even. I've cut down on the amount of soda and chips I let my son consume and it seems to be making a small difference.

You just have to find the right medicine and the right dose. Everyone is different. But when you do, you'll know. Life gets SO much easier. I finally have MY life back!

HI,
We tried adderall before and it wasn't good for him. Several bad tics and he was losing too much weight. He is a very small boy to begin with. So far so good with the concerta change. I know its early though. He does do counseling. I have it set up thru school. He does 2 times weekly for 30 min. then they do one time a week with a group on how to interact with other children. Also his diet is strict as well. I have health issues and can't have the junk so I don't buy it. He actually enjoys fresh fruits and veggies as a snack as opposed to chips. He never liked soda because of the fizz. Someone tried to give it to him at a birthday party once and he hated it. He said it burned. I think he also has sensory issues. But thats ok he doesn't need it either. I've tried starttera and it didn't help. We tried ritalin and it was an awful experience.