I’m not sure a week was a long enough test. You also may need to increase dosage. Everyone responds differently and I suggest some kind of system for tracking the effectiveness. Typically if a kid is in school than you will not see the behavior and you will need to rely on the teachers assessment. 

Unfortunately the lethargy (zombie like) goes with the meds.

I look at it like they were bouncing off walls, now they are sedate. obviously something is wrong. But if the child was always calm and cautious this might be normal behavior. The difference is dramatic. My happy kid is now a zombie. Frankly the kids don’t like it either.

But in this society there is a certain amount of calm behavior that is required to fit in. The stories I hear and see about kids that were not able to control themselves and lost all of their friends and were the “weird kid”. The loss of self esteem and depression that is caused by this may be much worse in the end.

Only you can determine what is right for your children. With a good therapist and psychiatrist and of course reading forums like this you can inform yourself, weigh your options and determine the best way to move forward.

You may be concerned that being on the meds will cause permanent damage but there is no evidence for that so don’t sweat it too much. I know how hard it can be.

I had dinner with someone last night who’s son was finally diagnosed in 9th grade and been on concerta since then. He is now 23, graduated from college, in a serious relationship. His mom was worried that he was on meds too long and convinced him to stop. After 4 months he lost friends took a break from his girlfriend and realized that without the meds was just too obnoxious. He met with a new psychiatrist, is back on meds, living with his girlfriend got his friends back and is happy with the results.

Sometimes the results are worth the sacrifice of being free with meds but sometimes it’s worse.

There will be a time when your child will decide that they do not like the meds. Experiment then, not using meds as you are now with using meds because either way there are consequences to weigh.

You will get through this as many of us have. Don’t be afraid, we are always here to help. JMHO

Good Luck
Augie
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My 11 year old son has been on Biohentin for 2 years. He has never been groggy. Loss of apitite and a fear of spiders that wasn’t there before. Now he eats well but still isn’t fond of spiders. The meds should not make your child a space cadet they should make his focus normal.

Thanks guys; I figure that, if the meds make her lethargic after a long-enough trial, then they are not right for her. How long do you think is long enough to know?  She is 43 lbs, almost 9 years old and very small for her age.  She is sobbing right now because I “made” her loose a computer game.

I’m not sure a week is a long enough trial either. My son takes 20mg of FocalinXR.  when we first started it he was a bit overly emotional, irritable and slightly “melancholy”. These side effects all dissipated in the following weeks though as his body adjusted to the medication and increases were made. He doesn’t have any of those side effects now. My doctor did say we should notify her if he seemed “zombie-like”, but I never would have classified the temporary changes I saw in him that way.

Also, though I did see side effects when we started the stimulant at a low dose, I didn’t see an improvement in his focus until he was on a substantially higher dose. (15mg… We started at 5mg) so, I do think it’s possible your child will need a higher dose for the focus to improve. I’d personally just try to hang in there a bit to be sure this medication won’t worn for her before you give up on it. When you find one that works, life is just so much easier. From everything I’ve read, most side effects are “transient” and go away over time. My son also had headaches and stomach aches in the beginning as well. Both of those also went away too.

Good luck!

It’s always a balance between what med and the dose. Lethargic kids are most likely on a dose too high or the wrong med. talk to your doc before stopping Or starting any med. good luck

I’m the original poster. This evening when the meds started to wear off we had our bubbly girl back.  She did seem very introspective and not interacting with her sister and her sister’s friend until the meds started to clear out.  Had one tantrum.  No way to judge if her “focus” was any better at all while at home.

When she took Concerta, the ped told us to stop if we saw any moodiness, which we did after a few days.  We were then referred to a psychiatrist, who was terrible, but have now found a behavioral pediatrician to see her next month.  Her main peds did not feel comfortable with the meds for her and wanted a more-expert opinion but was willing to try another trial with a different stimulant.  I guess this is all part of the balancing act.  It is made harder by dh who doesn’t really want her on meds at all.  He won’t “get it” unless/until we find one that helps her symptoms with minimal/no side effects.

I don’t agree that being “zombie-like” is just part of it. My 9 y/o son has been on meds for almost 4 years and he’s never been that way. He shows more focus and his hyper/compulsivness is lessened to a “normal” level. I think it’s all about finding the right med and dose. I agree with HV66’s comment. I am an ADD mom and it took me and my son both time to find what was right for us but when we did find it, we knew it!

My then 9yo son started out on 36 mg Concerta last year..I thought it was a high dose to start on but it did work right away!  His main side effects in the beginning were excessive talking ..a lower appetite and staying up later at night…after a couple of weeks they got much better ..his eating is still off…but just feed him early and late in the day.  On non school days he takes 27 mg..which seems to take the edge off his impulsiveness and he is able to eat more like normal.  Thats just my experience…every child is different.  18 mg may be to low of a dose though.  Hopefully witht he help of professionals you can find what works for her soon..because trial and error is no fun…but finally seeing your daughter thriving and feeling confident will be worth it!

DD is on day 3 of the Adderal XR and it seems that the lethargy has diminished, so hopefully she is heading in the right direction.  If things improve, perhaps the ped will increase the dose if we don’t see any improvement in attention- however, I have noticed that the incessant talking also seems to have lessened, too.  Hopefully her appetite will return since she doesn’t eat much to begin with- so I do hope that that is a transient side effect.