Hello, i am not sure if i am putting this in the right spot but let me know if its wrong. I have an 8 yr old son who has just started taking Ritinal today. Its the long lasting one so its just one tablet a day, well at the moment it is half a tablet then 3 quarters then a whole one. I was so determined not to put him on tablets as i was scared of losing who my little boy is. But after discussing this with my husband we decided to give the 6 week trial a go. I am still worried about giving it to him. Can anyone tell me what they have experienced in the first few days after giving the medications....side effects, how quickly it slows them down, what to look out for etc. I just realy want to talk to some parents who are going through the same thing. Its easy for a doctor to say all this stuff but hearing from people that have actually been there would help.

Thanks.

I totally understand your feeling right now. My boy is on Concerta since last september. We were not really sure about the benefit of the medication. After 3 days, and I do not want to scare you at all, he was so emotive, crying for nothing, that we were about to abandon the medication. We finally decided to keep up with the med and see if things would clear out after a couple of days. It took a week before his mood stabilize, we adjust his dosage 2 or 3 times in the next following month.

Now I am glad we made that decision. And we really didn't loose what our boy was at the moment, we actually discover who he really is. He is calm now, almost always smiling, he read a lot of books, there is no more complaint about problems with his friends at school. He started looking our eyes when speaking to us, something we rarely saw before. This has change our lives.

I wish things go well for you and your boy. My understanding is that not everybody react the same ways to the medication. Do not hesitate to talk to the doctor if you are worried about a side effect.

Keep posting here, I will come back to see how things are going.