I haven't posted about it at all, I guess because I didn't want it to be true. He was evaluated for it a year ago but the doc that saw him concluded he was a happy, healthy normal 8 year old boy bored with school. So we tried behavorial modification and for the past year it has not worked. David isn't hyper, I mean no more hyper than a normal boy but he loses focus in school and at home with homework. He is very social and not defiant but can be passive aggressive.
This time, we saw a different doc and he went way in depth of what ADHD is and why he feels David is ADHD with emphasis on inattentiveness. I didn't want to have him on medication unless as a last resort and since we have tried for a year doing other things it appears we have to at least give medication a shot to see if it helps. The doc recomended Concerta. We haven't decided absolutely but are really leaning for putting him on medication.

Has anyone here had experience with Concerta or any drug and ADHD? My concern is appetite suppression. My son is skinny enough already and I worry he won't eat enough and cause him to lose weight. He's 9 years old, 4'9" and 68lbs. Yeah, he's all arms a legs it seems!
Thanks for any feedback and advice in advance!:D

My son used to be on Concerat..it worked ok for him, for a while anyway. I really didn't notice TOO much of an appetite suppression on him. He is 43" tall and weighs 50lbs..so he's small anyway (he's 8). We have him on a fairly new drug that seems to be working really well, it is a 12* pill so it covers school and most of his extra curricular activities. It is called VYVANSE. The only issue I have is that the base doesnt carry it so I have to pick it up at Walmart:duhhttp://www.vyvanse.com/

caleb takes concerta. if you give them the medicine every day 7 days a week the side effects will go away. caleb does eat when we put food in front of him but if we ask him if hes hungry he says no.

I haven't posted about it at all, I guess because I didn't want it to be true. He was evaluated for it a year ago but the doc that saw him concluded he was a happy, healthy normal 8 year old boy bored with school. So we tried behavorial modification and for the past year it has not worked. David isn't hyper, I mean no more hyper than a normal boy but he loses focus in school and at home with homework. He is very social and not defiant but can be passive aggressive.
This time, we saw a different doc and he went way in depth of what ADHD is and why he feels David is ADHD with emphasis on inattentiveness. I didn't want to have him on medication unless as a last resort and since we have tried for a year doing other things it appears we have to at least give medication a shot to see if it helps. The doc recomended Concerta. We haven't decided absolutely but are really leaning for putting him on medication.

Has anyone here had experience with Concerta or any drug and ADHD? My concern is appetite suppression. My son is skinny enough already and I worry he won't eat enough and cause him to lose weight. He's 9 years old, 4'9" and 68lbs. Yeah, he's all arms a legs it seems!
Thanks for any feedback and advice in advance!:D

My DD has the same thing. She went on meds at 8 and has tried Concerta and Adderall. I watch her weight close along with regular appts with he Dr. Last year she switched to Dytrana(the patch) and we both love it. She is 11 now. I have noticed an improvement in behavior and school. I have to watch her weight close but other than that this has worked out really good for her and I both. She hates pills and get's a say so in the management of her ADHD.

My son who will be 6 in October was diagnosed with ADHD last year and after being kicked out of 2 daycares/preschools and trying the behavior modifications it wasnt working either and his is a bit of both being hyper and inattentive and some defiance. So the Dr started him on Adderall and now he is on Adderall XR. He eats but not as much as we would like so we are trying to make him eat more. Lately he has been doing alot better with the eating but since he is on the hyper side and I think he has a very fast metabolism he still is really skinny. I hate being able to see his ribs. I would gladly share some of my fat with him though. LOL


But sounds like to me that your son is more ADD than ADHD if he isnt super hyper. I would not stress over having to medicate him if it will make a huge difference. I know personally we do not regret in the least about having our son medicated. Its simply amazing at the difference when he has his meds in him and when he doesnt. When he doesnt have his meds he is more hyper and doesnt listen to us as much. He is a really good little boy too but just needs to mature a bit more. Your son also may not have to be on the meds for a long time, but just enough to teach him the skills he needs to function.

I also have ADD and let me tell you it can get quite frustrating and I had difficulties in school as well. I didnt even know I had it until my oldest son from a prev marriage was diagnosed when he was 5 yrs old.

You really have to learn how to compensate and organization and routine is everything.

Anyway if you have any more questions or just want some support feel free to PM me.

My son is on concerta as well and has been for about 5 years now. We tried others but concerta had the fewest side effects for him. I think most of us are against the meds in the beginning but after you see the big difference you mind changes a little.

Eating has been a slight issue. He just eats a big breakfast, not much lunch, and then a big late dinner after the meds has worn off. I also dont make him take it on weekends and holidays. Our bigger issue is sleeping. If he isnt super active during the day then he will just lay there in bed for hours. To help with this we send him to bed and have him read for at least an hour and he falls asleep. They were going to put him on sleep meds but I did not like that idea. Uppers for the day and downers for the night :no no way!

My son is on concerta as well and has been for about 5 years now. We tried others but concerta had the fewest side effects for him. I think most of us are against the meds in the beginning but after you see the big difference you mind changes a little.

Eating has been a slight issue. He just eats a big breakfast, not much lunch, and then a big late dinner after the meds has worn off. I also dont make him take it on weekends and holidays. Our bigger issue is sleeping. If he isnt super active during the day then he will just lay there in bed for hours. To help with this we send him to bed and have him read for at least an hour and he falls asleep. They were going to put him on sleep meds but I did not like that idea. Uppers for the day and downers for the night :no no way!

Yeah, I definitely wouldn't want to do that. I wonder if his sleep would be affected, he's always been a great sleeper even when he was a newborn, he slept longer than most newborns and since he was my second child I didn't freak out that he wasn't eating every 2 hours and he was a little porker then, too.
Now he's super skinny. I was looking at some pics from the pool the other day and I am just amazed how thin he is even though he eats a lot now but he is very active, loves to be outside all the time.
I used to baby sit a girl who was ADHD and probably ODD. Geez that girl was all over the place, never shut up and argued and screamed till she was gasping for breath and throwing up. It was awful.
Also I agree it probably is ADD and not ADHD but that was what the doc kept saying was ADHD, maybe because David fidgets, he couldn't sit still to save his life, he's just not the type to bounce off the walls although he has been that way. He just has to mess with his hands, his feet, make noises with his mouth, etc.

Yeah, I definitely wouldn't want to do that. I wonder if his sleep would be affected, he's always been a great sleeper even when he was a newborn, he slept longer than most newborns and since he was my second child I didn't freak out that he wasn't eating every 2 hours and he was a little porker then, too.
Now he's super skinny. I was looking at some pics from the pool the other day and I am just amazed how thin he is even though he eats a lot now but he is very active, loves to be outside all the time.
I used to baby sit a girl who was ADHD and probably ODD. Geez that girl was all over the place, never shut up and argued and screamed till she was gasping for breath and throwing up. It was awful.
Also I agree it probably is ADD and not ADHD but that was what the doc kept saying was ADHD, maybe because David fidgets, he couldn't sit still to save his life, he's just not the type to bounce off the walls although he has been that way. He just has to mess with his hands, his feet, make noises with his mouth, etc.



Oh well my son does the fidgeting as well. Actually thats not something that will ever go away as he gets older since both my hubby and I do it. they might not be bouncing all over the place but the fidgeting I guess is considered the ADHD part.

Its bad when a child has ADHD and something else like ODD or any other disorder too. Its like a double whammy. My oldest son had verbal processing deficits too.


Have you taken your son to a psychologist yet? Thats the first place we went and then he recommended the psychiatrist where our son gets his meds from.


I personally have been on Concerta, Vyvanse and Strattera and didnt like none of those so now I am on Metadate CD. Not really sure if thats making a big difference for me but its not affecting me badly like the other 3 did.

I really hope your son does well on this.

I hope he does well on it, too. Thanks everyone!
Here is the pic I was looking at of David from the pool. Nice ribs, huh? All his growth has been his height. I was shocked to see the scale at the dr's office said 68lbs. My older son is the same height but he's 80lbs.
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w252/Navgirl125/CIMG3884.jpg

well he must have a very fast metabolism too. My 2nd oldest son was a skinny beanpole and took along time to gain weight but he ate very very well but he didnt even have ADHD. So it could just be that your son has a faster metabolism and probably just needs to eat more. But its really hard to get them to eat more when they say they arent hungry. We are constantly encouraging Robbie to eat more and tell him that his body needs this fuel for energy otherwise he wont have any energy to play. I just dont know how else to get him to eat bigger portions.

Oh well my son does the fidgeting as well. Actually thats not something that will ever go away as he gets older since both my hubby and I do it. they might not be bouncing all over the place but the fidgeting I guess is considered the ADHD part.

Its bad when a child has ADHD and something else like ODD or any other disorder too. Its like a double whammy. My oldest son had verbal processing deficits too.


Have you taken your son to a psychologist yet? Thats the first place we went and then he recommended the psychiatrist where our son gets his meds from.


I personally have been on Concerta, Vyvanse and Strattera and didnt like none of those so now I am on Metadate CD. Not really sure if thats making a big difference for me but its not affecting me badly like the other 3 did.

I really hope your son does well on this.

I forgot to answer this, it was getting late and I went to bed!
No, he hasn't seen one yet. His teachers were the ones who asked to have him evaluated and he's only seen a general pediatrician. The doc he saw last year just didn't go into detail or show us the results or anything and we did't really know what questions to ask but we were also not wanting a diagnoses. This time though the doc was very good, I like him a lot and I am going to try to see him everytime David needs to see the doc. He showed us all the results from all the questionaire's and he said that when those are compiled and the percentle is 95% and above it indicates ADHD and David averaged about 98%.
So, now I need to change my thinking and try not to beat myself up for not acting sooner, he could have had a great 3rd grade year but he didn't. I voluntarily enrolled him into summer school (beofre the appointment) so we will be able to see how he does on the medication. I am going to ask if the pharmacy here has the patch medicine because David hates pills, too.