Comments on: Concerta: What Every Parent Should Know

By: John Harvey

John Harvey — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 06:13:05 +0000

Beckie thank you for what you just said. Because my little brother literally went through the same thing that your son did. I’m 17 years old and he is 15. I really appreciate that you shared that story because now I hope I can help him out by telling my parents about everything you and your son went through to help him. He is on 27 mg of concerta but I do not see any difference in his behavior and is ability to focus. So I’m going to see if I can do what you did for your kid.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:20:35 +0000

Beckie from March 11th
can i suggest that you look into IRLEN SYNDROME. it is new most teachers haven’t even heard of it my son has it and it helps ADHD symptoms and his ability to read and do school work is amazingly different. just a little tip

By: Beckie

Beckie — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:15:15 +0000

My son Daniel, is the youngest of my 3 children. The other two always caught on to things right away, so it took me a long time to notice that Daniel didn’t have a clue to life. His ADHD had kept him from understanding the basics for going through a day. He would watch everyone, but would never ask how to do something, or why something was a certain way. He had fits if he wanted something I didn’g give him. He still has a hard time with sarcasm and inference, and what is being put forth is not what is being meant. Anyway, he got kicked out of preschool, and I had the school disctrict assess him, they are required to test him by law it is called an IEP. I was still very clueless, but took the medication route and we started with Ritalin and Adderall and a couple other stimulant brands. We always started with the lowest amount and met back with the doctor in 30 days to see how he was doing. I stayed in touch with his first grade teacher (by now) daily. I would know if the medication was too strong and was like a zombie or the meds weren’t lasting long enough. One medication helped with his hyperactivity, but not his focus. Meanwhile, while we are trying to get in there and bring Daniel out so he can understand and focus on school, we are also challenged with the fact that he has basically missed Kindergarten and most of first grade by not understanding what he was supposed to focus on. The school wants him to take summer school, the school wants to retain him. Both of these move would be very detrimental to his self esteem. I say no, there has to be another way, We wind up on concerta, 36mg, a few group therapy sessions on ADHD through our HMO, several very expensive private phychiatry appointmnts. I even enrolled him in SCORE, which was a computer based tutorial learning that we atteneded 2-3 times a week for 1-2 hour a day to reintroduce academic skills. I finally reallized that I was doing more that anyone else, more than the teacher, (and we had GOOD teachers!, more than the expensive psychologyst, more than the therapy groups, more than SCORE, more than even Daneil! I was/am on the computer EVERYDAY trying to FIX THIS! OK, I know there is no cure, we even tried taking fish oils for the summer. Daniel needed more help at school, and the only way to get that was to go through another IEP (Indiviualized Education Plan) and have the school put Daniel in a smaller learning enviroment (like 1:1 or 1:2) Daneil goes to the speech specialist 2 times, the school psychologyst once a week. He is out of the regular classroom 21percent of the time. He has accomodation, also. He will always sit in the front row, near the teacher, some tests won’t be timed. All of this follow under the IDEA and ADA, but you have to go through the IEP process first and get your child qualified. Daniel actually qualified under Other Health Impaired. This gets really convuluted, and I know I am losing most of you with this story, but I was getting lost, too, so I hired a Specieal Education Advocate. They know the laws inside and out and exactly when the school is not doing what it is supposed to do to full educate your chid. The only other thing I want to touch on is CogMed. It is a computer based program that your child does in your home. There are 25 intense sessions 5 sesseions a week for 5 weeks. Each session is supposed to take 30-40 minutes. This program helps build working memory, see http://www.cogmed.com
Daniel did CogMed over the holidays 08, so we are about 6 weeeks out from being done with cogmed. There is a definate diffence in his ability to focus, but please read the cogmed website for information on that.

There is not a one stop answer. I think I am writing the Neverending Story. But this is where we are in the story. We have a review IEP coming up in April, time to call Carol, my special ed representative.

By: randall

randall — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:35:51 +0000

Alexis,

PLEASE talk to your doctor about your concerns. I was in the exact situation as you, and I suffered from anorexia for nearly three years because of Concerta. I was prescribed as a seventeen year old, and I took it until shortly after I turned twenty. I, too, liked that it completely did away with my appetite, and I lied to the doctors about how I was feeling. When I was 19, I was at my worst: I lost my period, and my skin was horrible. But as long as I was skinny, I didn’t care. Stopping Concerta was one of the best things I ever did for myself. If I had kept going, I know that something really serious would have happened. I didn’t realize until recently how dangerous my behavior was, and I know that if I had kept going, something really bad could have happened.

I never thought that I would ever have an eating disorder. But then Concerta came into my life and suddenly I was able to suspend my appetite. This is WRONG, and I strongly believe that this drug should be taken off the market. This is something I feel very strongly about. PARENTS, DON’T LET YOUR CHILDREN’S LIVES BE DESTROYED BY THIS POWERFUL DRUG THAT IS BASICALLY COCAINE IN A CAPSULE!!!

By: chris

chris — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:49:36 +0000

My son has been on concerta for 6 years & it is worth its weight in gold. his dosage has increased a little every year but it really keeps him focused and able to sit still. The only drawback is it affects his appetite so when it wears off he is starving!

By: alexis

alexis — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 01:58:07 +0000

its been a several weeks now since iv been on concerta. im 18, female and also taking zoloft for anxiety. ever since a young age, i wanted to be skinnier. (before i started taking concerta i was 130 lbs, now im 124). i love loosing the weight and for a week, i felt i could now have the power to just not eat. its giving me the power to loose weight like i havent ever before. im hardly ever hungry and for the last week, started thinking i could easily develop a serious case of anorexia. i havent spok with my doc about this feeling, but since i just read in this article that anorexia is a possible noted reaction, i just may mention it. my parents notice im losing weight, but i like it. im more focused on weight now than other important things. my concerta medicine starts to ware off tough after 4 or 5 hrs…but the urge to not eat is ALWAYS there

By: LISA

LISA — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 10:51:24 +0000

My son was prescribed concerta 18 mg. We are suppose to start this morning! After reading this NO WAY IN HELL! He will have to remain a daydreamer, who gets C’s on his report card, I will LOVE HIM JUST THE SAME!

By: Carmen

Carmen — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:19:08 +0000

My son is 4 1/2 and has been asked to leave a PRE school becasue of his ADHD. We have been on Concerta 18mg for 2 days. I have noticed a difference for about 30 minutes each day and that’s it. During this 30 minutes he is sad and crys over silly things. I have not seen a significant change in his behavior. I am wondering if we should ask the doctor for a different medicine or a higher dosage of Concerta?

By: april

april — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 23:53:54 +0000

I had suicidal thoughts on strattera,try something else.

By: Belinda

Belinda — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 19:35:48 +0000

I have a 6year old who just started Concerta 18mg. He was on Focalin XR and it stopped being beneficial. How long should it take the Concerta to actually start helping? Does it have to build up in his system or is it the type that it works that day for that day?