7 year old son and Concerta

[friscomomoftwo]

Hello,
My 7 year old son was recently diagnosed with ADHD. He is not overly hyper, but his teacher told us that he can not complete tasks, can't follow directions, "spaces out", is very behind in reading / writing, etc.

He had a full evaulation for learning disorders and attention disorders. We found out he does not have a reading disorder, but does in fact have ADHD.

It was the end of the school year when we discovered all of this. His pediatrician started him on 18 mg of Concerta. After a week, his teacher noticed NO difference at all.

His dosage was increased to 36 mg, but by then there were only 2 days left of school and it was not enough time to see how the new dosage helped him in a classroom setting.

That being said, he is still on the 36 mg dosage. He is doing summer tutoring, but it is private. His tutor feels that he is focusing during their sessions. However, he is still super talkative.

Because he was never really hyper, it is so hard for me to tell if the Concerta is working. This all was a surprise to us when his teacher told us about his inattention in class.

My goal this summer was to get him on the right dosage and right medication so that by next school year he would be all set. We are still struggling with whether to have him repeat 1st like the teacher recommends or have him go on to 2nd.

I hear of so many parents saying that when their child started medication, the difference was dramatic. I just don't see that.

It is still such a struggle to try to get him to read with me or do tutoring homework. Is that just because he doesn't like to do school work, or is it that the Concerta is not working.

I guess I was just hoping that once we got him on the right medication, he would enjoy learning, his reading and writing would immediately improve, etc?

I fear that I won't really know if the Concerta is working until school starts back up. Then if his teacher feels he is still having trouble focusing, I will be at square one again, trying to find the correct medication.

Did you find you or your kids had a sudden and dramatic effect on Concerta or was it a more subtle and less noticable difference?

Thanks so much!

[sarahsweets]

Stimulants dont have to bulid on in your system to work, if positive benefite are felt soo I would consider switching to amphetamine.

[sky..-]

yeah but like "Ritalin" may also work.
For many concerta and ritalin is like a totally different drug.(even tough its the same, MPH).

[ginniebean]

Don't be in a rush, it can take a lot of time to find right med and right dosage. I'd not tell the teacher when dosages change, you need good information, and sometimes people see what they expect to see, rather than what is there, keeping the teacher blind will give you more accurate information.

It's more important that you find the right med and dosage than whether his teacher sees a difference right away.

Some get this miraculous experience, some don't. Rare, if ever to get full symptom coverage. Some symptoms improve dramatically while others don't.

Always be on the lookout for side effects.