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jools

methylphenidate/concerta

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G was on the 4hr dose of methylphenidate, given 3 times a day and it was the perfect dose.

in january the consultant said he could change to the longer release and he was prescribed concerta.

we gave it 4 weeks and he was a completely different child. not concentrating, upset/angry, more rigid in his routines than ever etc.

consultant has changed it back to short acting one and the gorgeous G is back.

 

at the time of the change alot was going on. back to school after xmas break which is always stressful, his statement had began which meant a new teaching assistant for him, and my nana died so alot of upset at home.

i'm wondering if we really gave the concerta enough of a go and if outside factors had a lot to do with his behaviour.

 

has anyone else found that changing to the slow release doesn't work for their child? and if so how do they manage taking tablets on a lunch time in senior school. (i can see this being a problem for us)

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Hi Jools,

 

I had problems with Kai when he switched to Concerta. He seemed much more down and more autistic. However, I persevered and he is fine on it now (took about 3 weeks to settle). I think it takes a while to adjust to the constant level of the drug, rather than the "ups and downs" of the short acting version.

 

He also experienced a period of being very down, rigid and having alot more meltdowns after he had his tonsils out last October. He was off the Concerta for about 10 days as he was far too poorly to be "hyper". When he went back on it his behaviour/personality changed. This went on for about 4 weeks, but i'm not sure if it was the drug, being poorly or the fact that he was experiencing alot of anxiety at that time.

 

One other thing, how much Concerta is G on? Kai is on 18mgs (the lowest concerta), which is the equivalent to a constant dose of 5mgs. His paed increased it to 36mgs and he was a total zombie and very tearful and down. After about 3 days we switched back to 18mgs and he was fine again. I know one of his friends however needs 54mgs a day to concentrate, so each child is different but maybe the dose was too high for G?

 

Loulou xx

Edited by loulou

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hi

he is back on 10mg 3 times a day so 30mg total.

he was on 36mg concerta which is supposed to be a 'straight swap'.

 

i think we might try again with concerta when hopefully nothing else major is going on.

i wonder if we try it in the summer hols?

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i think we might try again with concerta when hopefully nothing else major is going on.

i wonder if we try it in the summer hols?

I think that's a good idea. It can be a bit of a change and the way the meds are released in 3 pushes can take time to get used to. For me Concerta is MUCH better because it spreads better (I am a very fast metaboliser of methylphenidate, and very sensitive to fluctuations in med levels) but it does take time to get used to it.

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Hi! el went on concerta first and she started on the 18mg, she was a horror! so then they upped it to 36 and she was a lot better for a while, but she got very stressed and nervy and depressed. her sleeping and eating was getting worse too and she was losing her concentration. i must point out tho that she was NOT getting adequate support at school......so she came off it.....and then went on to strattera.....which didnt work.

 

after that el refused meds for several months......

 

then big problems at school and i was fighting to get her statemented. the head paed came to a meeting at school and he asked el to try equasym and she has had good results on that, it wears off earlier than concerta so her sleeping and eating is a lot better.

 

it can be very tricky getting meds right especailly when they have both asd and adhd.....i think its a good idea to try a meds change when they are at home cos you can monitor them a lot better.

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