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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 139284" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>Concerta is long-acting ritalin, and only recently available for us in Australia. difficult child 1 was diagnosed ADHD when he was 6 and put on ritalin. It helped a lot, but after a few years of dosing through the day we noticed rebound setting in as each dose was wearing off. His behaviours would get worse for a short while, worse than unmedicated.</p><p></p><p>He was changed to dex, another stimulant, still short-acting but at last no rebound.</p><p></p><p>Then we were told we could get dex privately compounded into a long-acting form. As we were having trouble at the time with schools refusing to give medication to kids during the school day, we grabbed the chance. By this time we had easy child 2/difficult child 2 and difficult child 3 also on dex.</p><p></p><p>Long-acting - it meant the overall dose was reduced a little. It also meant behaviours were evened out, it was much better.</p><p></p><p>Now difficult child 3 has been changed over to Concerta. We've noticed his behaviour seems more manic in the evenings, he seems to be louder and has less control as it wears off. It could be a dosage issue, I will talk to his specialist about it next appointment.</p><p></p><p>The other two were offered the switch to Concerta - it IS cheaper. But as adults, they chose to not change just yet. </p><p></p><p>As adults, they still need the medications. difficult child 1 does manage better these days but without medications is not as capable of handling stress or confrontation. He can't concentrate as well. easy child 2/difficult child 2 without medications is just scatterbrained. Our evenings are wild, I can tell you that!</p><p></p><p>Weight - the kids are all underweight for their height and age. When difficult child 1 was put on risperdal for a time, he gained a lot of weight. But it came off when he stopped the risperdal.</p><p></p><p>They are a light build but not seriously underweight. They have muscle, they are capable of physical work.</p><p></p><p>As she got older, easy child 2/difficult child 2 dropped her dosage. The boys have not; they need it far more. difficult child 3 is on a very high dosage.</p><p></p><p>W were originally told difficult child 1 would not need stims for long; he would grow out of it. We were also told he could (and should) take a break from stims, for at least two weeks of a year and maybe on weekends. We found it not to be the case - it confused him to skip medications on the weekend because suddenly he wasn't coping in so many ways. For the first couple of years we tried giving him a break for a week or so and soon stopped. It was a disaster.</p><p></p><p>difficult child 3 really benefits from the medications - he was non-verbal when he started, only speaking in single words. A week later he was using complete sentences.</p><p></p><p>difficult child 3's best friend is a few years younger but with the same double diagnosis. His mother kept him off all medications because she had (idiot) friends who told her that stims are bad, only irresponsible parents "drug their kids into submission". She finally tried Concerta though, after her son was increasingly in trouble at school. At first she only dosed him sporadically, which meant that some days he coped and others he could not. He was teary, confused and increasingly aggressive.</p><p></p><p>Then she finally dosed him regularly on a higher dose of Concerta (as the doctor ordered) and he came home from school saying, "Why have I never noticed all this before? This is great - I can learn so much!"</p><p>He loves to learn, he's enjoying school, he's absorbing information at every turn and seeking out more.</p><p>She won't take him off stims at all now. I pity the 'friend' who NOW tries to bully her out of it!</p><p></p><p>The weight problems - two main factors here from my experience.</p><p></p><p>1) They aren't as hungry, it's an appetite suppressant of sorts. So you need to coax more, you need to remind them to eat; and</p><p></p><p>2) They suddenly discover that the world is a fascinating place. This distracts them from eating, so you need to nag a bit and again, remind them to eat.</p><p></p><p>I coped with this by keeping a fridge full of healthy food in the form of snacks. The sort of food I would be feeding them for a meal anyway, such as fruit salad, vegetable chunks, cooked meat, boiled eggs, sandwiches. I would let them read or watch TV as I put food in front of them and while absorbed in whatever they were engrossed in, they would often eat more than they realised. Also, they would come home from school hungry (often not having eaten their lunch - Aussie kids take a packed lunch to school) and I would make them eat their lunch first, then feed them anything else healthy that I had. The kids also knew they could raid the fridge and eat whatever I had set out for them there, on special plates. </p><p></p><p>And if they ate like pigs when they came home from school and then collapsed with exhaustion before meal time, I didn't need to worry about their food intake because they'd already had the equivalent of the evening meal, when THEY were ready to eat it.</p><p>Trying to make these kids eat when they're tired is futile and painful. If they were getting tired and irritable before husband got home for our family meal, I would put the kids to bed for the night.</p><p>And feed first, before bathtime. You can always bath a sleepy kid, or skip the bath and go straight to bed. But you can't feed a kid who can't keep his eyes open.</p><p></p><p>Our difficult children have to work so hard mentally to stay on the job, that they often do tire faster, especially when younger. As they got older it became easier for them to go back to eating meals with the family again.</p><p></p><p>I hope this helps.</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 139284, member: 1991"] Concerta is long-acting ritalin, and only recently available for us in Australia. difficult child 1 was diagnosed ADHD when he was 6 and put on ritalin. It helped a lot, but after a few years of dosing through the day we noticed rebound setting in as each dose was wearing off. His behaviours would get worse for a short while, worse than unmedicated. He was changed to dex, another stimulant, still short-acting but at last no rebound. Then we were told we could get dex privately compounded into a long-acting form. As we were having trouble at the time with schools refusing to give medication to kids during the school day, we grabbed the chance. By this time we had easy child 2/difficult child 2 and difficult child 3 also on dex. Long-acting - it meant the overall dose was reduced a little. It also meant behaviours were evened out, it was much better. Now difficult child 3 has been changed over to Concerta. We've noticed his behaviour seems more manic in the evenings, he seems to be louder and has less control as it wears off. It could be a dosage issue, I will talk to his specialist about it next appointment. The other two were offered the switch to Concerta - it IS cheaper. But as adults, they chose to not change just yet. As adults, they still need the medications. difficult child 1 does manage better these days but without medications is not as capable of handling stress or confrontation. He can't concentrate as well. easy child 2/difficult child 2 without medications is just scatterbrained. Our evenings are wild, I can tell you that! Weight - the kids are all underweight for their height and age. When difficult child 1 was put on risperdal for a time, he gained a lot of weight. But it came off when he stopped the risperdal. They are a light build but not seriously underweight. They have muscle, they are capable of physical work. As she got older, easy child 2/difficult child 2 dropped her dosage. The boys have not; they need it far more. difficult child 3 is on a very high dosage. W were originally told difficult child 1 would not need stims for long; he would grow out of it. We were also told he could (and should) take a break from stims, for at least two weeks of a year and maybe on weekends. We found it not to be the case - it confused him to skip medications on the weekend because suddenly he wasn't coping in so many ways. For the first couple of years we tried giving him a break for a week or so and soon stopped. It was a disaster. difficult child 3 really benefits from the medications - he was non-verbal when he started, only speaking in single words. A week later he was using complete sentences. difficult child 3's best friend is a few years younger but with the same double diagnosis. His mother kept him off all medications because she had (idiot) friends who told her that stims are bad, only irresponsible parents "drug their kids into submission". She finally tried Concerta though, after her son was increasingly in trouble at school. At first she only dosed him sporadically, which meant that some days he coped and others he could not. He was teary, confused and increasingly aggressive. Then she finally dosed him regularly on a higher dose of Concerta (as the doctor ordered) and he came home from school saying, "Why have I never noticed all this before? This is great - I can learn so much!" He loves to learn, he's enjoying school, he's absorbing information at every turn and seeking out more. She won't take him off stims at all now. I pity the 'friend' who NOW tries to bully her out of it! The weight problems - two main factors here from my experience. 1) They aren't as hungry, it's an appetite suppressant of sorts. So you need to coax more, you need to remind them to eat; and 2) They suddenly discover that the world is a fascinating place. This distracts them from eating, so you need to nag a bit and again, remind them to eat. I coped with this by keeping a fridge full of healthy food in the form of snacks. The sort of food I would be feeding them for a meal anyway, such as fruit salad, vegetable chunks, cooked meat, boiled eggs, sandwiches. I would let them read or watch TV as I put food in front of them and while absorbed in whatever they were engrossed in, they would often eat more than they realised. Also, they would come home from school hungry (often not having eaten their lunch - Aussie kids take a packed lunch to school) and I would make them eat their lunch first, then feed them anything else healthy that I had. The kids also knew they could raid the fridge and eat whatever I had set out for them there, on special plates. And if they ate like pigs when they came home from school and then collapsed with exhaustion before meal time, I didn't need to worry about their food intake because they'd already had the equivalent of the evening meal, when THEY were ready to eat it. Trying to make these kids eat when they're tired is futile and painful. If they were getting tired and irritable before husband got home for our family meal, I would put the kids to bed for the night. And feed first, before bathtime. You can always bath a sleepy kid, or skip the bath and go straight to bed. But you can't feed a kid who can't keep his eyes open. Our difficult children have to work so hard mentally to stay on the job, that they often do tire faster, especially when younger. As they got older it became easier for them to go back to eating meals with the family again. I hope this helps. Marg [/QUOTE]
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