concerta and anxiety

[bncsmommy]

Hello my 4 yr old was on adderrall at first but had severe headaches so the dr put him on concerta 36 mg last month the other day he saw a spider and just flipped for the past 3 days he is constantly looking around for spiders it got so bad that he wouldnt wear any clothes because he swore he heard crawling sounds and that bugs were in his clothes. We just moved and now we are about 2 hours from his dr. we have a meadows psychiatric center right down the road so i called them and they told me to bring him in. they thought lowering the dose might work so now he is on 27 mg. Things seem to be getting better but thats after having to buy him an Off wristband (the ones that keep away bugs) and convinced him that if he wore it then they would go away. I was just wondering if anyone else has heard of this type of reaction?

[Chadwick]

Yes, I think this suggests his dose is too high. I would go down to 18mg for a while if I were you . . .

Also, I don't know how you tried Adderall with him. Did you start with a high dose, or did you titrate up slowly, very slowly? I hear with gradual escalation that side-effects are minimized.

[bncsmommy]

he was started on 5 mg of adderall and it slowly got worked up to 15 mg but when he was switched to concerta he wasnt started slowly the dr. just put him on 36 mg which he said would be about the equivalent of the 15 mg of adderall. He was still having problems with the 27 mg and since his dr said it wouldnt ever hurt him if he missed a dose i didnt give him any yesterday and surprise! no problems except his hyperness and his aggressiveness came back. I seriously think he needs to be on a non stimulant i guess we will see on wednesday

[Chadwick]

Well you haven't tried 18mg yet. Maybe his other symptoms will disappear at that dosage? Also consider his age. He's very young. If he were older, he could probably handle the medication better, because he'd know how to control (and harness) its effects. In the end if you determine stimulant therapy isn't right for him presently, you may want to revist the decision when he's older.

[OlDadd]

36 mg sounds awfully high for a 4-year-old.

[Scattered]

Trying a lower dose first sounds like a good idea. There is a small window of what works and what's too much. When I went too high, my anxiety kicked in, but when I was at the right dose, my anxiety was greatly reduced compared to non medicated state.

Scattered

[CyVaquero]

I'm a 34-year-old 220 pound male, just DX'd. The Dr. is starting me out on 30mg of Concerta to see how that works. (he wants to me try Stratera but needs to try a couple others before my insurance will cover it.) Now I'm no expert but yes, it seems like 36mg would be a bit much for a 4-year-old.

[Gregster]

The effective dosage will depend very much on the child. The issue with spiders might be exacerbated by Concerta, or it could just be a fear of spiders, as expressed by a 4 year old - I've never liked spiders myself! Concerta itself wouldn't cause the irrational fear.