I am worried, perhaps prematurely about loss of appetite due to ADHD meds.

[MammaTJ]

My DD is in the process of being diagnosed. I am fairly confident.
She is a skinny minny at the best of times!! I am worried first that she will not be allowed to have meds because of her heart condition and second because if she is allowed, then I am worried about further weight loss due to the loss of appetite due to the meds!!

How have others dealt with this?

[MedusaIsHavingABadHairDay]

My DD2 was very thin when she started on ADHD meds. She stayed thin ..worst age was around 8-10 when she looked skeletal but it didn't do any long term harm. She's now a very slim young adult!

[coff33pot]

heart conditions and any family history of heart issues and blood pressure issues do play an important part of giving meds. ds was checked every couple weeks and now every 6 months. He does not have any heart issues and nor does family though.

Eating ds was a very good eater before and the first couple weeks he lost his appetite but I found giving him breakfast before meds and school allowing him to take snacks plus his lunch as that we're the picky times, reminding him to drink, and being prepared with a hotel as soon as he got home followed by supper which would have been his tea time worked to keep a routine and he only lost a couple pounds and put it back on again.

[crazygal]

hi mammoTH.
Our ds is on adhd meds,(well hes having a two week break at the mo)
our peas had him on a very low dose because he was very slight,but behaviour wise,we were not seeing any difference,so the pead agreed to up the meds,on condition that we see her once a month and keep her informed on ds progress....the 1st month he didn't lose any weight at all,and had grown 3 cm :) but the second month he lost 5lbs! and had not grown.....
she was a bit concerned but said his blood pressure was low,but fine,and he seemed ok in himself...
he looks very slim,but we can see he is ok,
hes off them at the moment as the pead thinks hes now aspergers...
i don't know anything about the heart part,but i can remember them saying that the heart can race a little,but quite normal....obviously with a heart condition that could be a lot different,so cant help you there.

[MammaTJ]

Ah, sorry, am not expecting you to answer the heart bit, that will be up to the cardiologist. As I think she may be better anyway, I am hoping it will not be an issue.

coff,what snacks did you send in to school?

[streakybacon]

Ds is nearly 14 and built like a rake. He has had food issues from a very young age and it's always been hard to find a decent range of foods that he will eat. Like you, OP, I was worried about him starting on methylphenidate because of the known side effect of suppressing appetite.

But it's been OK. He's been taking the drug for two years now and we manage to keep him built up by having regular meals, high-cal but nutritious, and availability of lots of snacks. That's not so easy because he doesn't like things like milk shakes, nuts, grains etc that his psych recommended.

As an idea, this is his day:

Breakfast: Shreddies and full fat milk, large bowl of full fat yoghurt, orange juice.
Lunch: Cheese or turkey sandwich, pretzels, fruit.
Dinner: He doesn't like 'mixed' food (he has AS as well as ADHD) so his meals are very plain - chicken or turkey breast/sausage/pork with carbs (potatoes/pasta/rice/chips) and lots of veg.
Evening snack: Toast with chocolate spread, chocolate bar, banana and milk.

He often doesn't feel like the snack but we encourage him to have it anyway and most of the time he does.

I also do a lot of home baking which he will wolf down - biscuits, muffins etc. Good quality ingredients so he's getting the calories while still getting reasonable nutrients.

Generally, little and often is a good idea to keep him topped up. We get through loads of bananas because they're so convenient .

[coff33pot]

Snack wise he takes a lunch box full with banana, yoghurt or custard covered apple or raisins, mince pie (his favourite) high fat yoghurt and crisps. during his break times and his short breaks from class for sensory diet he is encouraged to have something from his box.

He still has a school meal. But school allow the snacking due to keeping him topped up as he didn't look or ask for food or drink at first so we has to form a regular habit so to speak :)

He is fine now but still takes the snacks.

[MammaTJ]

I think breakfast before meds will be fine. She is not so bad over breakfast, not a morning person or maybe due to the fact that she gets up in the night and sneaks downstairs to watch TV.

Will let her switch back to full fat milk. That is an easy change.

She likes the idea of milks shakes but has never actually drunk one! Yoghurts are ok though. She won't eat nuts.

One thing I can do well and she would enjoy doing with me is bake!!! What healthy but high cal things shall we make?

She does love bananas.

She loves chocolate, so may eat choccy raisins or yoghurt ones.

[streakybacon]

Full fat anything is a good idea. Ice cream is a good standby too as it feels like a treat .

As for bakes, try these. Ds can't get enough of them

CHOCOLATE BANANA MUFFINS

10 oz self raising flour
1 tsp of baking powder
4 oz butter
2 oz cocoa
300g good quality plain chocolate, chopped into small pieces
3-4 oz light muscovado sugar (according to taste)
3-4 ripe bananas, mashed
3 large eggs, beaten with?
1 tsp good vanilla essence
Milk to bind if needed


Sieve the flour and baking powder together into a large mixing bowl and rub in the butter to breadcrumb stage.

Sieve in the cocoa and add chopped chocolate, bananas and sugar. Mix these together evenly then add the eggs and vanilla essence.

Add enough milk (if necessary) while you beat the mixture until the consistency is slightly stiffer than that for a sponge cake.

Spoon into cake cases in a deep muffin tin, piled up quite high (they don?t rise as much as sponge buns so you?ll have to start big). You should get between 20 and 24 muffins from this quantity.

Bake in the middle of a pre-heated oven, Gas 6, 200ºC, 400ºF for about twenty minutes. They will be ready when they feel quite firm on top, not as springy as sponge buns so once you get to that stage leave a minute or so longer. Remove from the oven immediately ? you might need to lever them out of the tins with a palette knife as they are quite soft when warm ? and leave to cool on a wire tray.

These will keep for up to a week in a sealed box at room temperature, if you can keep your hands off them.

[MammaTJ]

Mmmmm, They sound yummy. Not good for me, who definately does not need to gain weight, but DD would love them!! She always answers chocolate when asked what she wants for tea and her idea of a balanced diet is a chocolate in each hand!!

It is just so hard to balance the thought of my obsession with her eating healthily because of her heart and suddenly having to think about not letting her lose too much weight.

[3b1g]

DS2 is affected by this. We deal with it by giving him a giant breakfast before he takes his meds. He then eats v.little all day. He has a reasonable size evening meal then a build-up type milkshake. He is growing although not as fast as he should be. In the two years since starting the meds, he has dropped from the 25th centile to below the 9th. However, the meds have helped him so much with being able to participate in school and other activities. His paediatrician isn't concerned and so we are trying not to be either.