ADHD Medication Advice
Hi Mums,
My year 5 (10 year old) child has trialled Concerta for his inattentive ADHD and it hasn't worked. We started off with Ritalin and then changed to Concerta at a higher dosage. Although the dosage has been increased, it has had no impact whatsoever according to his teacher on his ability to be able to focus and concentrate. Even my child says that there is no difference. My paediatrician is surprised and says that most children respond to the stimulant based medication and the only other option left that could suit my child is Strattera. He wants me to have a think about it and then we'll discuss it at a follow up appointment next week.
I've been researching Strattera and the side effects are really off putting and it doesn't have many positive reviews. My child has no other problems other than not being able to focus so I'm worried that the new drug could bring on horrible effects and change who is is (a beautiful soul).
Can anyone offer any advice? Have you had experience with Strattera and did it work for your child? Argh, it's so hard for me to know what to do. His school is amazing and he is hugely supported but it's just not enough for him to independently stay on task and concentrate.
Thanks for any suggestions/help :)
3 Replies
My son, at a younger age than this, tried Ritilan, concerta and then strarrera. I think he was in grade 1 or 2.
He had what they called at ritilan rebound so basically when the Ritilan wore off he was practicing jumping off the walls. Likewise, as with your son, Concerta didn’t do anything.
Strettera - Nope!! I wish to god we never tried it. He became suicidal. He tied a rope around his neck and tried to kill himself. He became physically violent (having never been violent before) and was very explosive. Going from 0 to 100 in 2.5seconds. The worst was when he started saying he could hear voices. He was on the medication for 2 weeks. Things resolved very quickly after he stopped taking it (suicidal tendencies and hearing voices) but he continued with the violent and explosive behaviour.
I wouldn’t touch it again with a 20foot barge pole!
In the end we never found a medication which worked for him and used psychologist support and positive behaviour management. He’s now about to finish grade 12, still struggles with emotional management, has anxiety and depression, but really started to calm down and focus better from grade 9 onwards. He’s not in mainstream school but a school for disengaged youth.
Starters was better than stimulants for us, but still pretty useless. Now we use Intuniv. If that didn't help, there were other options too. Stimulants are 1st line treatment but there are a number of other options, not just Strattera. Ps... Strattera is less controlled than stimulants for a reason. The side effects are actually less common and typically less serious in most people.
I’ve got 3 ADHD, they started on Ritalin, moved onto vyvance which only worked for 1, 2 then moved to concerta which works for them. The 2 on concerta take intuniv at night also, the combo works well. Best of luck, getting the meds right can be tricky and sometimes don’t always work, as they’ve grown we’ve had to change up doses increase, decrease etc.