Been away a while but may switch meds

[LaTonya]

Hello. I have been away for quite a while. Things have been hectic with my son. Not sure if you remember me but my then 6yr old daughter was loosing alot of weight fast. She is now 7 and went from a size 7/8 pants to a size 4t. She was switched from concerta to Ritalyn LA. Well now the ritalyn LA has now stopped working. The dr does not want to increase the dose cause of wieght issues. So she did mention Strattera but I just read on their site that it can cause loss of appitite also??? I dont understand that when it is a non stimulant. I am running out of options with her. She has been on Ritalyn, Ritalyn LA, Concerta. I am scared that all meds will fail and she will end up being so impulsive she will get hurt.

My 4 yr old has now started to loose weight as well. He is on Concerta also. He will drink the pediasure where my daughter wont. So I am not too worried about him. Right now it is hard to handle my daughter. She is soo off. She is soo hyper and impulsive it is unreal. This is soo hard to deal with. We just learned my son has Cerebral palsy to add to his Epilepsy and Asthma and Adhd. I am getting soo worn down. My daughter does not go to sleep till at least 12midnight cause she is soo hyped up.

[Dad2Brooke]

LaTonya, I am sorry to hear of all those difficulties for your children. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

Brooke had problems with her weight while on stims, but not since she started Strattera. If the others have stopped working, then I would give it a try. But be advised that Starttera takes about 6 weeks at target dosage to work at maximum efficiency. Seems to me that summer would be a good time to get through that six weeks.

Brooke has done much better on the Strattera and it does help her impulsivity and calm her down. But we did reintroduce a smaller dose of Concerta to help her focus in school.

Also, Strattera doesn't seem to cause the problems with falling asleep at night.

Good luck and welcome back. I sure hope things get better for your family.

[finnmom]

LaTonya
Iám so sorry to hear about your struggle with your kid´s health-issue´s, there seem´s to be always something else doesn´t it Wellcome back, I do remember seing you around a while ago.

I´ve read about strattera around here and it seem´s to be better on weight-issue´s than stim´s, I would give it a try if you´ve worn out other choice´s, I hope it´ll work for your dd That might also help with the falling a sleep, have you tried melatonin or other option´s

This is hard, you must to remember to take good care of yourself too, otherwice you´ll not handle this. Take some time for yourself, pamber yourself so you´ll be able to take care of the other´s. I´ll be thinking about you and your family

[AnneM]

{{{LaTonya}}} ... Welcome back. Like Dad2Brooke and Finnmom I am also sorry to read about the problems you are having ... and I know the weight issue can be a very real one particularly with the stims. I have also heard and read that strattera is much better than the stims as far as the loss of appetite is concerned.

Lots and Lots of Good Luck to you and your two little ones ... Please keep us posted with your way forward...