My son is ten years old. He was been taking Focalin XR, 10mg, 3 times a day for over 2 years now. His weight and height have continued to increase with each visit to his doctor. The only adverse reaction he has had is his decrease in apetite. This is only the case within 1 - 2 hours of taking the medication. We have learned to time his doses just right so the apetite loss doesn't affect him too much. I have an ADHD and LD blog and invite you to read it @ www.adhdguide.blogspot.com.

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I have what you will call a testimony. We relocated our entire family a year ago. Due to a new job, we went without insurance so could not continue my African American son on Concerta for ADD. He had been on medication for 3 1/2 years. Several different types until we found the right one and dose. In the short time spam of 6 months, my son gained 30 pounds and grew 3 inches. I really didn't pay much attention until I began sending out school photos to relatives at Christmas.

As we know the medication affects their appetite so he began eating us out of house and home. I have to focus on reaching him by other means but I am happy that I have my son back.

For a note: We have enrolled him in a program entitled Learning RX and give him Omega 3 vitamins. We have received measurable outcomes. We are pleased!

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My son had taken Adderall XR for about a year and a half. He has never tried Focalin, nor was it mentioned by his Doctor. During this time, he had headaches, stomaches, and lack of appetite. I could swear that he did not grow for that entire year. He is now on Metadate, and has started growing again. I can tell, because hispants are getting shorter.

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The medical research says stimulant meds for ADHD children might reduce adult height by about an inch at most -- a small price to pay for success in school and life. ADHD kids often seem to be slow developers in all ways, including height. My son grew so slowly, I was very concerned, but when he reached puberty he shot up like a weed. I know of two other cases where boys on Ritalin were perceived as growing too slowly at age 12, but grew up to be well over 6 feet tall. Parents should not be concerned about children on meds growing slowly.

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I just wanted to mention that my son has a friend whom we have known for 10 years. I'm pretty sure he has inattentive ADHD as is his mom, but he has never been officially diagnosed and is not on any medication. He has always been one of the smallest in his class and for his age. He continued to stay short and slight throughout middle school and the beginning of high school. He could have easily passed for a child much younger because of his small size. Just this past year, he finally grew several inches and filled out. Now he looks more like a typical kid his age. His older brother had his growth spurt during his junior year of high school.

Since many times children with ADHD are developmentally a few years behind their peers in maturity and behavior, it might be possible that their growth rate is behind also. It makes sense to me and my son's friend who likely has ADD, had a growth delay and he wasn't on any type of medication. Elaine

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My ADHD daughter was on Ritalin and then Adderall for over 11 years. Years ago, we were told by her child psychiatrist at Mass General that she MIGHT lose some height growth rate while she was on the medication but that she'd probably even out at the end of her growth overall, with maybe a loss of an inch or two, tops. Her height estimate at age 2 was a whopping 6 feet, or 6'1". Mercifully, she topped out at 5' 81/2 ". Did the Ritalin "stunt" her growth? We don't think so, her father may be 6'3" and I am 5'9", but we think someone overestimated her height.

Bottom line: The loss of an inch or two in height is better than going through the hell that life can be for having ADHD without treatment.

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my son has been taking some form of Adderall or Aderrall XR since he was 6. He just turned 14 in November. Our doctor always told us that his growth may be a little behind his peers due to the medication. He has been one of the smallest in his class for quite a few years, but we were relieved that he has grown over 5 inches in the last 7 months and has gained 10 pounds since last year. Hope this helps.

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My son is 11 and has taken Strattera, Daytrana & now Vyvanse. All of them decrease his appetite alot enough that he notices. He has been falling off the growth charts according to his Dr since taking these meds (even though they say t is not the meds?). I can tell the difference in his focus and improvement in school, but really worry about his growth, he is small for his age & only weighs 55lbs. He has had to go thru stem testing with thoughts of possible hormone shots due to his lack of growing. Seeing others going thru the same questions/concerns is again got me wondering what the answer may be??

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My son is 12 years old and has been on meds for ADHD for a little over 4 years. We experimented with a few different kinds and finally settled on a combination of Straterra and Focalin. this seems to work well for him. Initially he lost approximately 10 ponds , which concerned me alot ! he can be a fussy eater so I learned to pick my battles, he goes through periods where he cannot seem to get enough food and other times when he just has very little appetite. Overall he eats healthy and I keep a supply nutrition drinks on hand for when he is in his fussy moods ( Equate makes a great one comparable to boost) He seems to being doing fine in regards to height and weight. Breakfast seems to be the biggest challenge so I just keep an eye on what he is eating throughout the day and if he is making up the calories then I do not worry. Hope this has helped to alleviate some concerns.

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My daughter (age 9) also has growth issues and we put her on focalin. At the end of the day, when it was wearing off, she became manic. Keep your eyes open for similar behavior. We took her off the medication within a few weeks.

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