My daughter is 7 and on concerta (has been for 10 months).  She has responded very well to the meds in terms of improved classroom concentration and focus.  Her teacher comments she still has difficulty “occasionally” with self control, staying on task, and independent work.  Overall though, she is much improved.  Her eating has been the biggest side effect.  She has been diagnosed “failure to thrive” since she is no longer eating enough to maintain or gain weight.  She was put on a medicine to increase her appetite, and although it worked wonders, it made her extremely moody.  It is such a cycle. One pill to help something, then another to fix the side effect.  No easy decisions.  I too am an educator and find it frustrating.  Our daughter also gets art therapy and we work with a psychologist to help with her anger management and overall organizational and social skills.  Give it some time, but all meds are not equal, and our local childrens hospital seems to love focalin…...good luck!

Please make sure you feel you are able to be partners in care with your prescribing doctor (for some it is their pediatrician, others use a child psychiatrist, etc).  Do not wait until the next appointment to bring your concerns to his/her attention.  When the medicine works correctly, your child should be “herself”, only able to control more impulses or concentrate, etc. 

My DD has been on Vyvance and Concerta.  With both, the positive effects were almost immediate (within an hour) and noticeable to her (she was a young 10 at diagnosis) and to me and dad.  She was able to filter out distractions in order to read and study.  Our DD has social issues related to ADD and those are much more controlled with her meds. 

The negative effects make her less hungry at lunch, and we created a routine to help with sleeping.  Our doc told us to watch for changes in personality, particularly anxiety, mood changes, and agitation.  The agitation appeared with the Vyvance, so we changed to Concerta.  We are quick to watch for any changes in behavior or lessening in effect and immediately take concerns to the doc.  He is very supportive of this and has never questioned our desire to talk about the treatment plan.  We always get in quickly.

We have been very fortunate that we have only had these minor issues compared to other stories I have heard on the site.  However, we understand that all meds are trial and error.  You know your child best and know the signs to look for.

I do recommend looking at all meds your DD may be on and all other possible influences on behavior.  As it turns out, my DD had also been on Singular for Allergies for years, and that was having secondary side effects of anxiety as she got older.

Best of luck looking for the right solutions for your family.

Hello…My daughter is 7 also…She has Impulsive ADD…We just started Meds for her about a mpnth ago…She currently takes Focalin XR 10mg…It seems to be working well with her all the way around…Heres what I have learned (thru experience and from the Dr.) since she has been taking the Meds…When giving these types of Meds u MUST make sure u feed them something heavy in the morning prior to taking it…Next u should make the sure the dosage he has her on is not to high because that could cause a negative affect…My daughters Dr. started her off at the lowest dosage (5mg) to see how she responded to it first and to see if it made a difference as far as school is concerned…Now he is gradually increasing to see what dosage seems to work best for her….Its working out well so far…The Dr. did tell me that one of the side effects from these kind of Meds is A DECREASE IN APPETITE…so if your daughters dosage is too high it can cause more of a decrease than normal…If I were you I would contact her Dr. and let him know ASAPher negative response to this Med…Tell him you would like to start her off at the lowest dose and do a gradual increase to see what works for her (not only at home but also in school)...I hope my info is helpful…Wishing u the best of luck.

My daughter tried Concerta but it made her very emotional and depressed, i took her off of it after a week. I may not have given it enough time but I just couldn’t stand seeing her like that. She is now on Adderal.

Ny daughter has impulsive type ADHD and we did notice a big weght loss when she took concerta and adderal.  We tried to feed her a lot in the morning before the meds. and she seemed to be hungry at night after the meds wore off.  Unfortunately, she developed tics (severe eye blinking and coughing tics that lasted for hours)  from the stimulant drugs and now is starting Stattera - we are keeping our fingers crossed that this drug will work. 

I would welcome any connection to anyone with a girl with impulsive ADHD