Today is day one of trying M on Concerta. Things aren't going great at school, and the psychiatrist is worried about lots of things after seeing the Conners rating scale the teacher filled out.
M unmedicated is not a pretty thing. Since we're starting at 18mg of Concerta, I think the next 2 to 3 days are going to suck for all of us royally. I don't mean to be negative, but we've been through medication changes before and they weren't pretty.
What I'm hoping is that the Concerta, even though we've tried it before, will hit different receptors in his brain than the Vyvanse did, and that we'll see some of the behaviors that are causing school/friend/etc issues will lessen.
This is a work in process, as is any ADHD medication. Today and tomorrow we'll do 18mg, then Sunday or Monday we'll go up to 27mg. Two to three days on 27mg and then it's up to 36mg for the next 10 days. After that, school will be back in and the real test will begin. We'll see in which areas the meds are helping and which they aren't. We'll decide whether to increase the dose to 45mg or 54mg. We'll also see if we need to tweak the times he gets his meds. There's the possibility that we'll do a short acting in the morning and the long acting at lunch...but for now, we're trying the long acting in the morning and continuing with the short acting in the afternoon as usual.
Wish us luck.
If Concerta doesn't work, we go back to Vyvanse until school lets out again in December...then it's on to Focalin.
Have I mentioned how I much I hate having my kid on meds? It drives me nuts. I hate that he has to take medication to make him "socially acceptable." But I continue the meds because I believe there are children in this world who need medication to function...and children aren't equipped to not be accepted by others. And if this helps him function and gain acceptance from his peers, then this is what we'll do. We've tried everything else...diet, exercise, behavior modification...and on their own, the ends don't justify the means.
While I hate any child to be on medication, I also believe that it's not just about the child. It's about the family. If having a child (or parent) on medication is what's best for the family AND the child, then so be it. We have medications available to us for a reason.
3 comments:
Have you looked at the drug called Intuniv? Our nuero recommended it and we've had great results. It was originally for kids who have ticks, but realized it works really well for ADHD. Some kids need only the Intuniv and some use it with Vyvanse to help during the evenings when the Vyvanse wears off.
I hate that I have to medicate my daughter, but when she has her meds in her, the best of her personality comes out and she does well in school. It helps us enjoy our family life soooo much more!
Hey Kellie -
We did try it earlier this year, but he's allergic to Tenex (Guanfacine)...head to toe rash the entire time he was taking it. We were really hoping it would work for him, but it didn't. We were pretty bummed because we'd heard such good things about it.
I agree about seeing the best of my kid when he's medicated.
Today is day 3 of Concerta 27mg and it seems to be working well. Tomorrow we go to 36mg, so we'll see. The only thing I've seen is a return of some facial tics, but since he's tracked out and he's not at home right now, so we aren't positive the tics are from the meds. It could be stress from not being in his normal routine.
Thanks for the suggestion and I'm really glad it's working for you guys!
Oh the tics! E pulled out 1/3 of her hair on Vyvanse in a very short period of time. It was shocking to say the least. I hope the Concerta works for awhile. I hope your D levels are doing better as well :-)
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