I've been a nurse for 14 years. I have two sons, both with ADHD and let me tell you that for those of you who are tearing out your hair and feeling helpless, there is help! Until I had my own children I thought no child should be on medication but then I realized that if my child had diabetes and needed insulin, then I would give insulin. My boys have ADHD and I treat them... Everyone has the right to not treat their child, I chose to treat them for their medical condition.

My oldest son began Kindergarten and within a month I was in the teacher's room because he could not sit still and would distract other children. He had trouble concentrating long enough to write letters and color. The pediatrician that both my children went to smiled when I took him in. "It's time isn't it?" . Dr. Mackey had always seen the signs although I just assumed they were overactive boys.

Jackson was started on Concerta 18mg. Literally within an hour he was concentrating on pictures and letters. He would spend hours sitting with me writing and coloring. It was a wonderful feeling and I can say with pride that Jackson (now in 3rd grade) reads at the 6th grade level.

My youngest son Jake was started on Concerta in kindergarten as well. He is in first grade and scored in the 95th percentile on his tests. He reads at the 3rd grade level and does multiplication and division.

Concerta helps my boys to concentrate without causing them to be drowsy or irritable. They are successful and very few people know they have ADHD.

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I used concerta for around a year. I started using it in the summer and was thrilled to have gained the ability to read! I could sit and accomplish my summer reading and be happy. I did have to stop taking concerta however. While I was on it I was not as calm and I was a lot more prone to freaking out. I easily stressed out. I also put a lot of physical stress on my body as a dancer. A combination of all these things probably is what caused me to start losing weight, something I couldn't really afford. I couldn't take a smaller dosage because I was on the 18 I guess. So, I had to say goodbye to my good friend concerta.

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My son often misses school because of headaches, has trouble sleeping and waking up, is only 16, but his cholesterol is extremely high since he was 14, and now he has high blood pressure. To me, it's difficult to just decide to take him off meds because it's almost impossible for me to go through the first couple of hours of being with him as he won't stop talking, and making abrupt movements and sounds. I may be too sensitive, but also other people at school reports how he can be very disruptive to others. For now, I am just helping him learn how to manage his cholesterol and blood pressure through a healthy diet and physical activity. I hope that helps.

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Hi, my stepson has just been diagnosed with ADHD. Myself and his teachers and I am sure others knew, but "dad" I think couldn't face the fact and didn't want to medicate so never pursued it. I persuaded him to take him in and wow! He started the medication the next morning and came home from school excited about his day. his iep teacher actually called us and couldn't stop talking about the drastic change in his behavior that day. Well, today is day two and he woke up this morning in his usual, let's call it, not so happy to be up attitude and I had to talk him into taking his pill. But seriously within 10 minutes he was smiling and talking to the other kids and ate breakfast and went to school in a very happy spirit. I hope this is how it is going to be as we have alot of struggles with our 5 kids blended into this household due alot to the child with adhd. But I do have a question, are mornings always going to remain this way or does it build up and this stops someday??

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We started Concerta a week ago after trouble with Strattera (side effects). It took a couple days to work, but it's doing pretty good now. We are experiencing some trouble getting to sleep at night and a hard time to wake up, but I'm hoping that will improve with time. We are doing the extended release for my 5 1/2 year old each morning at breakfast. She was much more emotional this past week, but that too seems to be improving. Her behavior is much more controlled, but it tends to wear off by early evening. I hope this helps.

Dawn

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I'm an adult, recently diagnosed with ADHD. I started treatment with Adderall, which worked GREAT except for the effect on my heart, which seemed as if it might explode in my chest. I stopped that right away, then tried Straterra, which just didn't do anything for me at all. Now I'm on Concerta... 18mg had a slight effect. Twice that had roughly the same. Now I'm taking 54mg, and am unsure of the results. I definitely feel calmer and more positive, and can feel the difference in the evening when the medicine wears off. But I still do not feel as focused as I did on the Adderall. I can snap myself back to attention better than I did with no meds, so I suspect that SOMETHING is happening... but I'm just not sure.

So now I'm wondering... do people take a higher dose than 54mg? Is it possible for Concerta to have no effect at all on someone?

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I'm so glad to have come across your thoughts on Concerta because I was struggling to find a way to describe my experience with the drug. I too started my adhd treatment with Adderall which worked really well for me. My dr thought that after 18mo. on that it might be wise to try another and see if it was better/worse etc. Given the health concerns associated with Adderall I figured it couldn't hurt and after some basic research I thought Concerta would be worth a try. I was surprised to have such an apathetic reaction to it. I still struggle for the right words, but I too felt like I was more easily frustrated and had far less patience. I did have some sleep disruptions but not a specific pattern to describe. I also had increased eye sensitivity, which I thought was really bizarre. Generally speaking I'm going to place this as a distant #2 to Adderall and mostly because, like you said, I wasn't sure if it was really doing anything! I've read it's the same drug as Ritalin just that the delivery method is different so I'll be crossing that off my list too!!

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Secondhand Daylight said: I'm an adult, recently diagnosed with ADHD. I started treatment with Adderall, which worked GREAT except for the effect on my heart, which seemed as if it might explode in my chest. I stopped that right away, then tried Straterra, which just didn't do anything for me at all. Now I'm on Concerta... 18mg had a slight effect. Twice that had roughly the same. Now I'm taking 54mg, and am unsure of the results. I definitely feel calmer and more positive, and can feel the difference in the evening when the medicine wears off. But I still do not feel as focused as I did on the Adderall. I can snap myself back to attention better than I did with no meds, so I suspect that SOMETHING is happening... but I'm just not sure.

So now I'm wondering... do people take a higher dose than 54mg? Is it possible for Concerta to have no effect at all on someone?

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I would recommand Concerta because it works very well with my children. I have an ADD teenager daughter and a ADD pre-teen son and both of them are taking Concerta and I have seen improvement in their life and behavior. What is good is the fact that Concerta is only once a day and works for 12 hours. My daughter is also taking Trazodone to help her sleeping at night and my son is also taking Risperidone to "harmonize" his behavior and life is now a lot more "normal" than before they started their medication.

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We started my 6 yr old on 18 mg of Concerta about a week ago. So far we have seen no to minimal change in him. He takes the time release pill at 6:30 in the morning and his teachers report that if we hadn't told them he was on something they never would have known. There was no difference in his behavior in the classroom. At home he has been slightly more agreeable in that I don't have to nag him quite as often. Also, we have been able to bring him around from tantrums a little more easy. He does seem to be prone to meltdowns around 5 or 6 in the evening, which we expected and are managing... but otherwise things seem to be like they were before the meds. Does it take time for this med to become effective?

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