ADHD medication thread

[Waitingforsleep]

I wondered if I could start a thread on ADHD medication?
I did post about Medikinet and it's all moved on since then I have new questions and updates that others may fine useful?
I will put the info in tomorrow but in brief-
Started Medikinet - was ok but then after 2 weeks dd seemed really explosive and angry a lot and it got worse so we had to take her off
Started on Elvanse but that was an odd one as it had an affect for 2 days (was a bit too
Much the first day as dd slept only for one hour and was so focussed she re arranged her whole bedroom the whole night) then didn't seem any difference so we have been told dd is probably one of the few who cannot tolerate stimulants so now going into strattera which we will try next week..

Anyone else share their stories as it's all so complicated!

[drspouse]

Are those both methylphenidate?
We're thinking of doing an 8 hr tablet in the morning then a short acting one after school.

[Medee]

That was my understanding, especially as they got older, you could have a slow release one for the day then top up for the afternoon/ evening with a shorter acting one.

[SleepyPaws]

Our DS use to take a slow release in the morning and a short acting in the afternoon. We tend to find that the slow release ones never last as long as they could which is why we had the top up.

[drspouse]

Waiting on a call back from the consultant...

[Starlight456]

Yes same but different name . I have been told there is a 12 hour tablet he could take instead

[switchofmymind]

Hi, looking for some reassurance really. We start concerta lx today for DS1(10). I'm really anxious, he has gym today and I've read about the very small risk of heart issues, should he still go?

Feeling quite low, school have now confirmed he is not going to be allowed to attend the residential trip this year, haven't told him yet.

[drspouse]

The heart risks are tiny I believe.
Can they not wait and see if his behaviour improves before making a final decision? That seems unfair if he's been difficult due to his disability.

[switchofmymind]

They are tiny 0.01% I believe, I just worry.

I would like them to wait but they won't, his behaviour is all adhd linked, I also offered to stay locally so if he's difficult I could take him home, stay locally with him and he can do the days, volunteer to go with them as a helper and take responsibility for him (I am in education so have all relevant checks), but they won't. The main issue is when he is very upset/angry he won't come in from the playground until he's calm. He has never left school grounds.

[Medee]

that's exclusion!

[drspouse]

That was my thought too.
If there is no practical way to adjust for him (e.g. they are going to a very crowded place, he has ASD or agoraphobia and cannot cope at all with crowded places even with a helper) then that would be different.
But if he's behaved badly up to now with no medication and a diagnosed disability but they aren't willing to see if they can a) make adjustments on the trip or b) improve his behaviour with the medication, that is discriminating against him for something that is a direct result of his disability.

[drspouse]

I saw your post switch and that is awful for you.

I picked up DS after a club yesterday and he had a horrendous meltdown, this happened a couple of times before when he was on a school day dose only, we thought we could give him his after school dose when we got home but it seems not. School were very kind to me but a bit shocked (as I've said elsewhere, they seem to be bothered now THEY can see it, where we were just expected to cope before). We have asked them to give him a dose at 3.
I sound very stoic but in fact I feel really broken. He was aggressive to me again after we got home (though also clearly upset and quite affectionate and we did a couple of nice things together) and again this morning and I shouted at him this morning.

[switchofmymind]

Sorry to hear that drspouse it's so hard isn't it.

We've had a reasonable week. He seems about 30% calmer. Although yesterday was awful, is it normal to have just really bad days out the blue even on meds?

[Medee]

Hugs to everyone having a tough week.

[drspouse]

She's a year older and will have matured, and a lot of behaviours are habits - looks like she's broken some of them. We're crossing our fingers we get the same.
How's her attention?

[drspouse]

DS also finds it hard to play games that involve sitting still but he's younger and quite severe so it sounds like that's a red flag for your DD.

[Smorgs]

An update from us:
DS (6) started medication at the end of January. He started on 10mg of Equasym a day. I could see a difference at home but school didn't notice much improvement.
So we changed to 10mg of Equasym plus a morning dose of 5mg Ritalin (it only comes in 10mg tablet so I had to cut them in half). This worked much better at school but there was a noticeable effect on his appetite and he did start to get a bit emotional (tearful, frustrated) when the Ritalin wore off. Although that is his usual character to some extent so hard to pin it on the medication completely.
So he is now on 20mg of Equasym. This seems to be having the best effect at school but he can have days of very little appetite, even in the evenings. He's only 18.5kg so he can't really afford to lose much weight. He is weighed and measured regularly by the GP. Also, there have been four or five nights when he has found it really hard to fall asleep and is awake until 10.30-11pm (he usually falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow at 8pm). As far as I am aware they don't give melatonin to children here (we are outside of the UK).

So I just wondered if anyone else has tried a different formulation of longer-acting methylphenidate that doesn't have as much effect on appetite? A friend said her child was on Medikinet and hadn't suffered the same loss of appetite that he had on Ritalin. Have others found the same?

[drspouse]

Medikinet and Ritalin are the same drug.
We are seeing some more improvements on a higher dose, still short acting, but a slight loss of appetite. If he loses any weight we are thinking we'll go over to full fat everything.

[Smorgs]

I see drspouse I didn't realise that. Some medications aren't available where we are so I'll have to see what the Dr recommends. I think we are going to have to lower the dose back to 15mg though, 20mg is having too much effect on sleep and appetite and he is losing a bit of weight.
15mg was having a good enough effect, I was just worried about him coming off the morning 5mg ritalin dose at school and having some rebound effects.
Does anyone know of a long-lasting medication that comes in a 15mg dose?

[Smorgs]

Saw the doctor yesterday and we have a prescription for medikinet. It is a longer lasting formulation, which is what I was looking for. Different to Equasym in that it is released into body's system roughly 50% in the morning and 50% in the afternoon (Equasym is 30% morning and 70% afternoon).

[drspouse]

When you say "afternoon", I think you mean slow release - it's part immediate and part slow release.
Good luck with the new meds though!

[BGD2012]

We started my son on 10mg of Medikinet on Saturday. It is also the slow release.

[Smorgs]

drspouse yes, exactly that. Hopefully it will mean fewer side effects in the late afternoon/evening - he is regularly not going to sleep until 10.30 and hardly eating anything for dinner.