Metadate CD??

[Christiansmom]

Hi there! After meeting with our pediatrician for the first time since our 5-year-old son was diagnosed with ADHD a month ago, the doctor has put him on Metadate CD (20mgs). I start his first dose tomorrow. Has anyone else had experience with this particular medication? What side effects did your child encounter and how long did they last... a week, two weeks, longer? Was the change in schoolwork noticeable rather quickly? How did your child come down from the medication? As I said, we are new to this and even though we are hopeful that it will help him, we are still concerned about the overall effects this could have on our little boy. We are just curious to hear first-hand experience from others who are familiar with this form of medication. Thank you...

[eaccae]

DS (8) started off at the age of 5 on ritalin 5mg (am & pm) and was on that for 2.5 years with great success. It was time for a medication increase so our doctor had us try the metadate CD. He is currently on 20 mg and it is working really well. The biggest side effects that you would probably notice are appetite suppression and difficulty sleeping. For us - DS doesn't eat alot during the day but he eats like a madman when he comes home - from walking in the door to right before bedtime. And for DS - he had major problems falling asleep since an infant - never slept so this problem existed for us long before medication. I did notice with DS - that if he doesn't eat a lot for breakfast - the medication does seem to wear off more quickly. Also - with ritalin there is a rebound - when the ritalin wears off - there is about a half hour of intense moodiness, etc. With the metadate CD it is so much better - so you might notice a little bit - but it should be much smoother. The major thing to look for is lethargy - if DS seems zoned out or too lethargic then the dosage is too high. He should be calmer but still himself - there should still be some energy in him. The teacher will hopefully be able to give you some insight as to how it is working at school. Good luck. And if you have any questions - please post them!!

[Dad2Brooke]

Brooke had the appetite suppression as well. She's never had any difficulty sleeping no matter what the medicine.

The Metadate CD worked for her fairly quickly and did an OK job, but it also caused her to be jittery, moody and have tics, so we felt the side effects were worse than the good it was doing. So we stopped using it. She was on it for only a couple of months.

She was 6 at the time.

[AustinsMom]

We used Metadate for about a year, about age 7. I would ditto the appetite suppression, and the difficulty with sleeping. Also had some problems with what I would call early tic behaviors after awhile. But did definitely see improved attention and improved impulse control. We eventually switched to Strattera because of the side effects. But the improvement was immediate. Good luck; hope tomorrow is a good day for you.

[Christiansmom]

Hi again- thank you so much for the "heads up." It really helped me know what to look for. Christian did really well today... the appetite suppression was minimal but we did have some intense moodiness around lunchtime. I go to school with him everyday until we are able to start his Speech/ Language therapy and special education services, so I was able to be with him the entire school day. Overall I was pleased with how the medication helped him stay focused. He worked alone without interruption for 45 minutes!!!! The record before today was 10 minutes- so it was a vast improvement!! Thanks again so much to those of you who responded... I am so grateful you are here!!

[Christiansmom]

Hi- I do have a follow-up question in reference to the Metadate CD. We are in our second week of using it and have already discovered that med breaks are too difficult on his system. We have decided to give it to him every day. As parents, I am sure you worry about the possibility of weight loss that can sometimes occur with the use of this particular medication. Are there ways to make sure my child is getting enough to prevent him from getting too thin? My friends keep telling me to try a form of Ensure for children. Has anyone else used this? What to other ways can I help him keep some meat on his bones- he is a rather skinny child already.

Also, how intense are your child's mood swings? When my son gets upset he can sometimes become very aggressive, but mostly tries to hurt himself. This does not happen everyday and could be a result of still getting adjusted to the medication. Does this anger go away anytime soon? When do you know it may be time to switch to another medication? Thank you...

[eaccae]

Sorry it took me so long to answer your questions. There are a few people on this website that use ensure. So if your son will drink it I think that's great! Does your son eat at all at night? I don't know if I can help you at all with the weight gain - as DS eats non stop when he gets home from school. Although - he has a super high metabolism - so he can eat until ten at night and he's still a skinny kid. (But he would be even without meds). Maybe for your own satisfaction you make a game with the scale (so that he doesn't know your doing it) and weigh him once a month just to see for yourself if he is losing weight?

As for the agression - was this happening before the meds? It is not uncommon for the morning to be hell - as I have learned on this board. Some parents here have found that if they wake their child up early to take their meds and then let them go back to sleep it helps. DS isn't very aggressive - but I do remember back when he was 5 we had a lot of problems with him trying to hurt himself - but this was mostly before the meds. He told us a couple of times that he was going to kill himself while holding a soup can - apparently he was going to smash in his head. But again, this was all before the meds and I think a lot of it had to do with the way he was feeling - a huge sense of failure and lack of self-confidence during his nightmare kindergarten time. It, for us, got sooooo much better. If this is still continuing - and especially if this is new behavior or more aggravated behavior since introducing the medication - I would definitely talk to your doctor. I hope this helps.

[Christiansmom]

Elizabeth-
Thank you for your response!! Christian most likely would not drink the Ensure. I have looked into it but I figure he won't touch it because he does not care for milkshakes. He is a very picky eater- always has been. After talking with his teacher, I am going to start bringing hot pasta meals (like mac and cheese, chicken pasta, etc...) and rice for him to eat at school. His teacher is willing to sit with him each day to be sure he gets enough to eat during the lunch period. He had a healthy appetite before he started the meds, but now that he is on them, he is never really hungry. Like your child, mine has a high metabolic rate. I may just have to start making even higher calorie meals here at home to make sure his weight stays within a healthy limit- there goes my diet!!!


As far as the aggression goes, he has always had a tendency to have tantrums when he hasn't gotten his way and often banged his head on the floor as a baby. I would say the aggression has not really changed since the meds started and he has never threatened to hurt anyone else or seriously hurt himself. I mentioned this to the doctor before he put Christian on the medication so he knows about it. I am still hoping this is a part of getting adjusted to the medication and once he levels out, it will phase out. If it continues, I certainly will be contacting his pediatrician again.

Thanks again!! Beth

[NativeLI]

Once you get used to your son being on medication, you may want to consider trying Strattera in addition to the stimulant. My son is on a stimulant (ritalin la) and has trouble sleeping and being moody, aggressive, tantrums, etc. However, we have now added strattera in the afternoon, and it helps tremendously with him sleeping at night and not having the mood swings. I'm even contemplating taking him off the stimulants all together, since he is now 8 1/2 and the hyperactivity has come down slightly. I'm going to try just the strattera on the christmas break and see how we do.

[Madison]

Hi,

The only meds we tried was the Metatdate CD and the first month it seemed to really help in school work and attention in class but LACK of appetite. The second month she wasn't doing as well on school material and attention and the 3rd month it was like she wasn't taking much of anything and we wanted to improve her grades in school. She got TOO THIN!! By the 3rd month I couldn't get her to eat much of ANYTHING!! She seemed withdrawn and then the rebounds at home after school....WOW...there wasn't a gym big enough for her! It was like I was getting calls about her school papers before the meds and then calls from teacher on her papers DURING meds. Then doctor said "Oh, we might have to put her on meds to pick up her eatting habits because she was LOSING weight." That was IT for me!! I took her OFF THE MEDS and the first WEEK she spent EATTING! She gained 5lbs in one week and another 5lbs the second week and she's at average weight. I had to settle it in my mind that to put her on meds to bring home passing school papers is the WRONG thing for all of us! She's good as gold at home so I don't have any behavioral problems but with each passing year with age that gets better and better. I think 5yrs is VERY young to start meds like that but that's just my option. She tried them in 1st grade. She is now in 2nd grade. We have our ups and downs and a parent does their BEST to help a child anyway they can but for us MEDS will NEVER be a option again. I had a evaluation done and she tested normal range for her grade and year. They are in the process to give her special ed with extra help in reading and spelling. That's about all that can be done. We just except school isn't going to be easy and tell her " Do the BEST you can and don't worry about the rest." Take care...Madison