Dd12 just started ritalin

[Babystepstoteenager]

Hand hold perhaps… or just some advice.
Following diagnosis for combined type ADHD my DD has started on 18mg ritalin. I has only been 2 days. She cried this evening trying to finish her homework, asking me why isn’t it making a difference yet? She says all she is feeling so far is quite mood swingy, some itchy skin and a bit tired. She is very bright, so she performs very well academically but at a lot of cost - she gets very tired and emotional trying to focus.
She is supposed to start on 26 (I think) mg after 2 weeks.
Can anyone share their experiences of starting on Ritalin? Thank you

As far as I can work out, there is just less research on Elvanse in children, and so the safety profile isn't as strong. The other reason is probably that Lisdexamfetamine doesn't have abuse potential and so they will be happier to prescribe that to adults.

I was prescribed a new med about 10 years ago, and told my consultant that he should probably watch out as it was exceptionally nice and had definite recreational properties but you develop tolerance very quickly. It's now very strictly controlled so I suspect other people found it similarly fun to take (although feeling like you are flying down escalators gets a bit unnerving rather fast if you live in London!)

I think that is an interesting one where so many ADHD symptoms can have cross over with things like ASD.

I did ask the consultant what would happen if someone without ADHD took methylphenidate... would they get similar effects on focus and calming, and he said no, they might feel a bit as if they did initially but actually you'd be OD'ing them on dopamine and they wouldn't feel too good.

There may well be kids who tick a lot of the boxes but it's actually better explained by another condition, so resembles ADHD but isn't.

Then there will be the cohort who can't take certain meds because of heart disorders in the family, or because they have tics, or because they just react badly or not at all. Don't think there are any medications with a 100% success rate.

I suspect he found it easy to predict a great response for DD as she's highly unlikely to be ASD.

But you see things like hyperfocus in particular interests in both groups for example, and I wonder where ASD and ADHD begin and end (if that makes sense).

I have bipolar Type II and when I was in my teens and 20s, ADHD was something that was only associated with off-the-wall "naughty" boys. Having done a lot of reading now on how it presents in girls, I tick so many boxes for ADD that I am left wondering if the bipolar was triggered by untreated ADD - and once DD's anxiety started to kick in, that was a big part of my getting the Dx done as fast as possible... my fear that she could be prevented from developing bipolar (DH's father has Type I, so double whammy of dodgy genes there too!)

Thanks Ohcrumbs, you're a fountain of knowledge on this subject. Must be more straightforward in many ways if your DD is just ADHD standalone not that I'm diminishing the effect that can have but ASD in the mix too does complicate things considerably. For now think we'll stick to 16mg Straterra as it seems to at least reduce the level of outbursts. Could be nothing much will help with his focus unless it's something of interest to him of course.

Maybe at some stage we can try Elvanse or even Intuniv (am always curious to see if there is a med that would make all the difference).

Can see how your bipolar dx would have made you very switched on to the necessity of moving fast for your DD. Glad to hear she's benefitted so much.

An update… DD definitely presents as calmer overall, it’s been 10 days on 18mg now. Crashes at 7ish are less dramatic too, but we are increasing dose on the weekend. She still says she doesn’t notice a difference. Interestingly she had a physics test earlier this week, got 95%, top in her class. First time that has happened. She was over the moon about it. Normally she only does brilliantly is subjects that she likes. So…. we will see. Probably too early to put that down to the meds. However it was a test that was entirely online. She does much better when it isn’t handwriting