Can I sprinkle ADHD meds in milkshake for son?

[Ricecakesaremyjam]

About to start 5mg dosage of Methylphenidate for my ASD/ADHD diagnosed little boy tomorrow - planning on hiding this is yoghurt as he is too young to swallow the capsule. If he refuses the yoghurt (PDA profile) can I sprinkle it into a milkshake??? Will this work? Thanks in advance. He so desperately needs to start taking this, I just need to work out how to get it into him if the yoghurt idea fails.

Then again I am a hard ass and both my kids have taken paracetamol tablets for ages.

You cannot open methylphenidate. Get it in liquid of he is being silly. Or elvanse can be drank in fluid.

And i say this as a parent who has a child on adhd meds bet wetting meds and circadin. Its life they have to grow up and babying them doesn't help. Yes he is only 5 but he will take these pills forever. Why make your life harder now. Just try the countdown and see how he gets on. He's prob excited to try them anyways. He doesn't want to be naughty he wants to be happy having friends been good at school. So tell him this see what he says and do the count down.

@Treeinthesky With respect you don’t know my son’s presentation, I wouldn’t be seeking advice if I thought he would merrily take it with no issues

The sports bottle technique for swallowing tablets worked here with two very tricky customers - highly recommend giving it a go:
www.nenc-healthiertogether.nhs.uk/parentscarers/medicine-children/pill-swallowing-kidzmed

They start with 5mg. At 5 it may be enough. Depends on body weight and all sorts like how extreme symptoms are. Dose goes up as they grow. I thought our original 5mg wasn't a capsule, just a tablet bug can't recall now. XL version we have you defo can't break up.
Have you got the book 'parents guide to adhd medications?'
Highly recommend. Covers all your queries

Did you just refer to children (including your own) with a neurological disorder ‘naughty’? ADHD medication isn’t a personality fix, they still have the condition and to suggest their condition makes them ‘naughty’ is an awful thing to say, they will still have days where they struggle medication or not. Speaking like this just builds in a lifetime of guilt that there’s something ‘wrong’ with them anytime anything negative happens. This post is just awful and completely unhelpful to the op and any other parent of SEN children.

@Ricecakesaremyjam I have two children on this medication but theirs is in a small pill form. My eldest learned to swallow it, but my other has high needs autism that makes taking a tablet very difficult. Since it’s a pill it melts very easily, so can give it in a small bit of drink that instantly goes down. Most of the other parents of ND kids I know use yogurt very effectively though!

DD1 is on medikinet and she says it has a really strong taste. She tried it in apple sauce but doesn’t like that so has it in yogurt. She empties the capsule into a spoon of yogurt.

im sorry i think your son will notice. I have a pda / adhd/ ASD child who won’t take medicine / pills so unfortunately I could never get her to take melatonin or adhd meds.

I think you need to tell him and let him decide or he’ll realise and lose trust in you.

I suspect it would be due to the propensity for accidental overdose/abuse compared to a clearly measurable dose that can travel further into the digestive tract before being absorbed at an intended rate and half life.

He doesn't want to be naughty he wants to be happy having friends been good at school. So tell him this see what he says

This is horrific. Do not tell him this.

You’ve had some good advice. I agree with teaching your son to swallow the meds. I had to do that with my son when he first started them. He was older but very clear he didn’t want to take a capsule and it took a while but we got there. There are med clinics in some hospitals that teach children how to take tablets. Look on YouTube for help. I was told not to break up or empty and to keep in capsule. Ask your pharmacist when you pick them up.

DS5 would have it in yoghurts as he can feel the bits against the smooth yoghurt. Milkshake might be tricky as bits might stick to side of cup so he won’t get the full dose.

We discovered putting it in a teaspoon of jam. As it’s a slightly lumpy texture anyway, it doesn’t stand out as much and it’s down in one mouthful.

DS is on Equasym XL, which is slow release.

We used chocolate mousse .. however he grasped swallowing them really quickly but insisted on a chocolate mousse afterwards .

The advice I was given years ago was practice with tic tacs

Gosh everyone - he's trying it for the first time, give the OP a chance!

Don't overthink the future OP. Just go with whatever works for the beginning!

And Nutella sounds like a plan to me

I also have adhd btw. I missed my commas. 'naughty'. My dd is not naughty just dysregulated she was a little sod though and other people do not care and basically jusy dont care. My dd adhd symptoms caused me to have a nervous breakdown. From thumping kids biting beating them up getting kicked out of 1 school in year 1 for constant fighting and biting. To parents shouting at me and the 'can i have a work from the teachers'. I was fed up and so down waiting 5 years for adhd services. When we had waited 2 years and a child in her class brought her ipad to school in her bag and my dd aged 8 purposefully jumped on her bag in big boots for no reason I broke down after i was forced to pay 400 pound out before i had even paid my bills. So i paid privately and she has been using meds ever since. Thankfully the nhs servive have now taken her on now so I don't have to pay as the gp will not do sharwd care with private sector. We have been on every med going she lost so much weight on elvanse going from 35kg to 28kg. Now she takes methylnate xl 40mg and top up 10mg. roll on 36mg concerta coming available. My child doesn't have pda as that's autism. She has the defiance part which is part of adhd. Pda is autism. However I follow the advise of pda website anf other adhd mums from school. being open and honest about the tablet is important why lie? it breaks trust. Then count down. Showing the tablets before maybe tonight and let them process it and then remind as ive said already using the count down. Have a present for the first time they take them or going to shop for sweets. I said slime as that's a treat for my dd. End of day they take them for life so they do have to get used to them and if you break trust then that will cause a meltdown. I am blunt like this with my kids and you know what they see facts and prefer it.

I’d definitely ask the pharmacist, they will be able to help you with whether it can be split open or put into food or water, it’s something I ask fairly regularly as I struggle to take tablets

So I mixed it into a yoghurt (a yoghurt I know he likes and asks for regularly)…..just the fact I was keen for him to eat the yoghurt was enough to arouse his suspicions and he refused all attempts/bribes to eat it and ended up throwing the yoghurt in the bin 😑
at my wits end, with his behaviour then after the mission to get him diagnosed and prescribed meds I discover there’s a nationwide shortage and I have to track some down, only for him to throw it in the bin.
Absolutelu ready to board a train and run away and never be seen again at the moment.

My middle child couldn’t take tablets and was prescribed adhd medication. The consultant showed me to break open the capsule and mix it in chocolate spread. That’s for modified release. For “instant” Ritalin it can be crushed and mixed with chocolate spread (or whatever).

Can you hold off giving it until you're actually preparing food, then mix it in to whatever he's having without comment and just give it as if you were serving up a meal normally?

He has toast and milkshake every day for breakfast, other posters said probably better to not put it in the milkshake in case it sticks to the sides of the cup, i think he’d detect it in the toast.
I have just been to Sainsbury’s and bought a load of chocolate mousses as others have suggested this could work.
FFS 🤦🏼‍♀️

I would do the milkshake rather than risk more refused food
Stir it in hard into a small amount first then top up so it's distributed

Disclaimer that I don't have DC, just awkward cats who don't like medication either

@Ricecakesaremyjam I have a child with ADHD with a PDA autistic profile and he also won’t (and I mean will not) take tablets. We have tried every fucking yogurt, sauce, pudding, drink, technique, trick, threat and bribe, even cash.

We are prescribed Medikinet but have been told by the pediatrician that removing the capsule contents and dissolving in yogurts etc reduces the potency of the drug by about 50%. That has a massive impact on titration. And in DS case, he notices there is “sand” in the yogurt and chucks it away anyway. I despair of ever getting the bloody meds into him.

In the USA they can administer Ritalin via patches (like HRT) but of course the NHS won’t do that. 🙄 I’m interested to read upthread that a liquid form is now available in the UK (albeit not on NHS). I have an appointment with the consultant on 11 February so I will ask. Happy to update this thread after that if it would be helpful?

Hang in there. PDA is - in the kindest possible way - a fucking nightmare for all concerned.

@Vinvertebrate I bloody hear you. He’s only 5, I cannot do this for the rest of my life, every single thing being an issue every day.
the paediatrician told me as he’s young and blatantly wont just swallow the tablet to mix
it into yoghurt etc, she didn’t mention the potency being affected. The pharmacist said while they aren’t told to recommend breaking capsules and sprinkling contents, they know that’s what alot of parents end up having to do. Also didn’t mention potency. Would be so keen to hear back from you after your appointment if that would be alright?
thankyou for your message, appreciate the solidarity x

Did you ask the Dr if there is a liquid form of the medication available? There seems to be liquid form for some ADHD meds, so it may be worth double-checking.