sigh. concerta then.

[madwomanintheattic]

the paed has decided that a 30 day trial of concerta would be appropriate for ds1, to see if it reduces some of his adhd/aspergery/odd type traits. he is not in the least bit worried about the soiling and wetting. apparently it is perfectly normal for a 9yo to soil himself on school/ cub trips/ bathroom refusal etc. we just have to train him. oh, right then. because i haven't been trying to do that for the last 7 years.

ffs.

ok, so concerta - ritalin type thingy. anyone else done a 30 day trial? what can i expect? (the gp prescribed this out of the blue earlier in the year but didn't tell me what it was, just sent me a little bottle with pills in and no info, so i didn't give it to him)

i don't have an issue with drugs per se, if they are helpful, so i'll probably do the trial and see - but i am hacked off about the soiling. he soils at home, at school, on trips. he's yr 4. how long is it going to be before he gets beaten up, really?

Can you ask that you do a 30 day trial of other non-drug stuff first and ask him what that might be?

Our ds asd/ add has trialled methylphenidate generic name for concerta - it's a once a day capsule rather than ritalin which is usually taken in 3 doses per day. Usually you start at a very low dose and work up gradually, increasing at weekly intervals until you unotice an impact and decreasing if notice major negative side- effects. Ideally the effects should be monitored very closely both at home and in school - but you will have to persuade your childs teacher or ta to fill out monitoring form, noting how well they appear to stay on task, any noticable side effects.

Good thing about the drug is that it is very quickly in and out of the system - so no long term effects to worry about. Also if it's going to be effective, some people notice a dramatic positive difference very quickly.

We didn't think it helped our ds - side effects for him were most noticeable when drug was wearing off. However there are other types of adhd meds whcih work in different ways.

www.adders.org/ has useful info.

Shocked that doctor didn't seem to take your concerns about your ds soiling seriously - can you ask your gp for referal direct to continence nurse or similar?

he's been seeing different paeds for the soiling/ wetting for four years now. thanks for the link though - will have a look. i might wait until the new term - not sure how the results might be skewed with christmas and holiday as a backdrop...

starlight - was discussing this with someone else today who managed to avert meds. might discuss with the school counsellor and see what she thinks. i need to keep her up to date anyway.

thanks both.