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Post by Seansmom on Mar 18, 2004 10:03:13 GMT -5
What is the highest dose of concerta that anyone's child has been on? My 8 year old on has been on the maximum dose(108mg) for over a year and is now breaking thru. He has tried straterra, adderal, ritalin & many others, with none working as well as the concerta. We can't clinicly go any higher. He is also on neurotin for OCD and risperdal. Any suggestiond on what;s next to do. We hace added the vitamins, fish oils and other supplements already, along with diet control and lots of exercise. I feel like we have exhausted all possibilites and I'm afraid for for him. Any thoughts would be helpful. Seansmom
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Post by AnneM on Mar 18, 2004 12:36:17 GMT -5
Hi Seansmom and Welcome! .. Its good to see you here... you are certainly in the right place! ;
Can you tell us what is Sean's diagnosis? You mention adhd and ocd ... & what is the risperdal being used to help?
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Post by Seansmom on Mar 18, 2004 13:21:58 GMT -5
Thank-you for replying! Sean is our adopted 8 year old son, who is diagnosd with fetal alcohol syndrome, OCD.severe ADHD & ODD. The risperdal is for aggressiveness. Hope this sheds some light. When the meds are just right, he is the easiet child to get along with, when they are not,it is very difficult, if not impossible to communicate with him at all. It's like he is just"not home". BArb
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Post by AnneM on Mar 18, 2004 13:55:55 GMT -5
Hi again Seansmom ... I know exactly what you mean by "getting the meds just right" and oh what a"tweaking" process that is! ... My 15 year old son is also on Concerta ... we tried 3 x a day ritalin but that was a disaster with the rebounds ... Concerta suits much better.
THere are several members here whose children are on risperdal so I hope they will see this ...
When your child's meds are right and you are seeing the easiest child to get along with never forget that it is at these times you are seeing your REAL son...
I personally have found that a "mixture" of meds and natural alternatives has worked best ... there is a lot of really good information on the natural alternatives section which can definitely be used in conjunction with meds ...
Please keep us posted with your way forward.... We are right there with you... Anne
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Post by mom2tj on Mar 18, 2004 14:04:15 GMT -5
What is the highest dose of concerta my sons been on? well he is on 56mg/day 7dasy a week he is 8yo too very small.... this is the hightes dose available here in Canada ....I didnt know they made any higher our pharmacist gave me a hard time with this dose he called the Dr. to double check the prescription he thought that DS is way to small for such a high dose, he was being cautious and I can apreciate that...... DS is doing very well on it I am amased of the difference in him  |
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Post by Dad2Brooke on Mar 18, 2004 22:43:34 GMT -5
Seansmom, My daughter, Brooke has been on all of the stims at one time or another. She is currently on Strattera (40mg), Concerta (18mg), and Guanfacine (1mg 8am/pm).
She has never been on a really high dose of Concerta, but I think for her metabolism/body chemistry, Concerta is the best stim she has tried.
When she was on Concerta by itself, it didn't quite do the job. We went to Strattera and it did well, but still lacked something. The two combined provides the best results we have ever seen with Brooke.
When you say Sean is breaking thru, do you mean he is doing really well or that the effectiveness of the Concerta going down?
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Post by Amsmom on Mar 19, 2004 7:48:34 GMT -5
Dear Seansmom,
I know this is so hard for you. My son (age 8) is dx bipolar/ADHD and takes Risperdal, Depakote and Elavil. What behaviors are you seeing that are not being helped with the meds? My son takes the Risperdal for aggression also. He takes .5 mg AM and .5 mg PM. What dose is Sean on? Depakote helps stabilize my son's mood, although he still has rapid cycling (frequent mood swings). My son is not able to take stimulants as they increase the negative behaviors. The Elavil is for depression and sleep. Do you have a good child psychiatrist or neurologist who can give you support and suggestions?
Please let us know how you and Sean are doing. We are here for you.
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Post by Seansmom on Mar 19, 2004 8:57:57 GMT -5
Thank you so much to all who replied. This always seems so lonely, it is very reassuring to know that there are other people out there, who actually understand the challenge of all this. Sean is also very small, in the 5th percentile for his age. The concerta was at at 2 54mg tablets a day, which is terribly high, but his EKG, heart rate and blood work were normal. By breaking thru, I mean that his impulsiveness, hyperactivity and agressiveness all seem to get more frequent. It sounds terrible to say, but he can act like a little leprecheun, jumping from couch to couch, making weird noises, mimicking anyone in the room, and generally just causing trouble. In school, in music class,he ran under the sink and covered his ears,because he said the song they were singing was going to make him barf! He can get very in your face aggressive, and will need to be restrained also. Again, whrn the meds are right, he is as easy to parent as out 16 year old daughter. Barb
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Post by Amsmom on Mar 21, 2004 20:33:43 GMT -5
Seansmom,
This is just a guess, but is it possible that Sean is unable to take the stimulants like my son? How long was he doing well on Concerta before this behavior started? My son had strange behaviors and tics on stims. I totally understand how difficult this is for you. It took 3 yrs of trying dozens of meds before my son got on an effective combination of meds. There are still problems with his moods and behaviors even with the current meds.
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Post by Jorgy on Mar 21, 2004 22:04:00 GMT -5
Hi guys, My just turned 8 yr old son is on Concerta 72mg and Wellbutrin 100 mg. He also was having problems with break throughs. He is not usually a behavior problem just very impulsive and inattentive. We have just started using natural suppliments as well as the meds and it is working well. Come summer we plan to ween off meds if everything stays as positive as it is now. Good luck, Sue
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Post by finnmom on Mar 23, 2004 11:07:49 GMT -5
Hi I didnt think about answering this, because my ds has such a low dosage of conserta, only 18mg. This is how they prescripe it here. we started on dec. and in the end of jan. there was a discussion of the dosage, doc thought 36mg is too much  and told me that we might have to add ritalin on next fall.... Well see. Doc´s are very carefull prescriping med´s at all in here, although they admit that for some med´s are an "answer from god". My ds has also a weekly OT going on, it´s working great. Marja |
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