Some help with ADHD medication

[Bruisername]

Hi. I was just wondering if anyone could advise how quickly you see if the meds are working or not? Dd has only had one dose and felt no different and I suppose I am wondering if it’s too early to tell if it is wrong/too low for her?

Just seen it's 5mg. My son takes that as his booster med at 3.30pm. He takes 36mg 12 hour med but he metabolises it very quickly.

I'm the same, I'm on a higher dose 12 hour but I don't get 12 hours either and also take a top up 10mg at 4pm to get me through to bedtime.

I don't advocate this.... but they say that those without adhd get a buzz of the pills. If she hadn't had a buzz that's good.

If that was true they could save a lot of money on the diagnostic process. However some individuals are more sensitive to different types of medication and may not tolerate stimulant type ADHD meds at all. ND is also common for sensitive or high tolerance reactions to medications in general. Some lack genes needed to be able to convert the drug to be active and therefore it will have no effect on them even at maximum doses.

I've had buzzy sensation when first starting meds but it feels more like when I've pulled an all nighter and running on adrenaline to push through the day than a high buzz and also wears off as you adjust to them. I used to drink lot of tea but can't coffee like many ADHDers as I'm more sensitive to caffeine, my meds still make me feel calmer. I'm likely ADHD+ ASD

If feel euphoric on meds your told to stop taking it immmediatly. Non ADHDers misusing the meds are likely to take higher doses than what they'd be titrated on professionally.

OP you may find this guide helpful, It's US based so the brand names and drugs available in the UK will differ but are mainly looking at med type and delivery version as immediate release IR or prolonged release XL as you'll have the datasheet already for the specifics. Additude have loads of other ADHD resources too.

https://www.additudemag.com/download/adhd-medications-a-parents-guide/

@123Squirrel it is true

5mg is tiny, we have always been told to watch their appetite to see if it’s working. Not on it and our child wants to eat snack all the time and they are skinny but when the dose is correct it really suppresses their appetite while it’s active in their system.

It isn't surprising that 5 mg had no effect. That's like taking half a paracetamol tablet for a headache instead of two tablets - it wouldn't reduce your headache by a quarter of the full dose; it just wouldn't do anything at all. It's to do with the pharmacodynamics of medicine absorption across the gut lining.

My DS was on a much higher dose at that age. When he was in puberty he needed 74 mg a day; before and after puberty he had 56 mg per day. I'm sure the dose for your child will be titrated gradually upwards. You want to be taking the minimum dose of methylphenidate for efficacy since there are common side effects (lack of appetite, difficulty sleeping, rebound hyperactivity) and rare side effects (heart or blood pressure issues which are more likely where there is a family history of heart disease.) Don't get me wrong, it can be an incredibly useful medication - my DS would not have made it through school and university without it - but the dosage is really important. That said, I doubt you will see an effect until 20 mg of a short-acting methylphenidate formulation, likely higher than that with a controlled-release formulation.

My DS was started on 20 mg at age 5 and, at that age, got the best result at 30 mg of Equasym which is a controlled-release formulation. He was later switched to 36 mg of Concerta XL because the Equasym wore off before the end of the school day. Then his dose increased when he got older and had to be increased again for some of puberty.

Yes I noticed a small difference from the first dose - but pretty tiny - they usually start with a low dose and increase. I'd say if you've noticed no difference at all after 1w call and ask if dose needs increasing.

The first thing is to not take to much notice of the doseages people are quoting on here. Methylphenidate comes in different formulations and since you haven’t explicitly said which formulation your child on- it is not going to be helpful comparing to other peoples.

It’s usually to start on a period of what is called titration, which means starting at a low “non therapeutic dose” and then slowly working upwards. If they don’t see any effect on the initial low dose- that’s good it means that they are not experiencing any side effects. The dose will slowly start to increase until you either knew that it’s not going to work for your child or they start to see the most benefit. When the medication is at a therapeutic dose it does work on the day but making the most of the medication is still a skill.

If your brain has never let you focus- you don’t know how to. The medication can help with the focus but you still need to learn to sit down, think about what task you need to do and start the task. That’s a huge learning process for someone that has never been able to do that before. So that will take some time, help and coaching.

Good luck to you both.

Hi OP. My 17 year old has just started Medikinet (sp?) 2.5mg immediate release. She reacted horribly to Xaggitin so they are starting her on low and due to go up to 5mg today and 5mg x2 in another 4 days. They said the low dose is really to monitor side effects more than to see if it helps her adhd symptoms. If all goes well, she will be started on the slow release. Fingers crossed for our DCs!

Thanks all!

and good luck Hapagirl!

DD(16) started on 2.5mg methylphenidate in February and slowly, slowly brought up to 15mg now. She says it's still not enough but it did allow her to sit 3 GCSE's. Hoping to increase again in September.

Has yours ever had a can of Monster? It has a similar effect to the methylphenidate. DD says her brain went quiet when she had it. Psychiatrist said this was a good sign for success with the drugs.