Hey Mrsmom....want to give you {{hugs}} too cause I know how hard this is for you. This has been my experience so far:
When he was first diagnosed he was on Concerta which if I recall it did affect him right away but still took a couple of days to fully work. He was on that end of 2nd grade and beginning if 3rd. It started working less and upped his dose. He did not do well...sleeping issues and crying incidents (not at all a cryer normally). So then the ped put him on adderral. He had a great year BUT there would be zoned out moments, not all the time but definitely noticeable. Jack sounds a lot like your ds. Very popular, very funny sense of humor, ect. Another symptom on the adderal was lack of appetite which was not good cause he's already the skinniest and smallest (and youngest) in his class. Sooooo, we weren't happy with our ped and found a Dr at Childrens Memorial dt Chicago. He's specialized in childrens ADHD for many many yrs, even written a couple of books. We decided to take Jack off meds for the summer have him gain some weight and start the new school year on no meds. He did gain weight over the summer which was great! We started school and that week we had his new teacher evaluate him and of course it was the same result. So now the ped has him on Focalin extended release....had to up the dose maybe 2 months into it. We are happy with this medicine so far. Not spaced out at all, just calmer but definitely still has his personality. I think his appetite is slightly affected but not like the old meds. He also doesn't take it over weekends, holidays, ect but I'm going to talk to the dr about having some available over the summer for specific days as needed.
Pm me if you have ques/or just need to talk! Good luck with the meeting tonight.
When he was first diagnosed he was on Concerta which if I recall it did affect him right away but still took a couple of days to fully work. He was on that end of 2nd grade and beginning if 3rd. It started working less and upped his dose. He did not do well...sleeping issues and crying incidents (not at all a cryer normally). So then the ped put him on adderral. He had a great year BUT there would be zoned out moments, not all the time but definitely noticeable. Jack sounds a lot like your ds. Very popular, very funny sense of humor, ect. Another symptom on the adderal was lack of appetite which was not good cause he's already the skinniest and smallest (and youngest) in his class. Sooooo, we weren't happy with our ped and found a Dr at Childrens Memorial dt Chicago. He's specialized in childrens ADHD for many many yrs, even written a couple of books. We decided to take Jack off meds for the summer have him gain some weight and start the new school year on no meds. He did gain weight over the summer which was great! We started school and that week we had his new teacher evaluate him and of course it was the same result. So now the ped has him on Focalin extended release....had to up the dose maybe 2 months into it. We are happy with this medicine so far. Not spaced out at all, just calmer but definitely still has his personality. I think his appetite is slightly affected but not like the old meds. He also doesn't take it over weekends, holidays, ect but I'm going to talk to the dr about having some available over the summer for specific days as needed.
Pm me if you have ques/or just need to talk! Good luck with the meeting tonight.
