Hey! I'm not sure how much I can help, but I'll give it a shot. My son just turned 7 and was diagnosed with adhd last fall. Initially, the doctor put him on Addrall XR, which I could open up and put in a spoon of ice cream or apple sauce, but it was like little beads, and my son gagged just about every time. It worked well in regards to school, so I stuck with it (but hated the come down period at the end of the day). Recently, we switched to Vyvanse controlled release, which lasts about 12 hours, but I've noticed it lasts about 14 in my son. It's a fine powder, so I pop open the capsules and mix it in with about 2 oz of juice or milk or even soda. It dissolves all the way and my son says he can't taste it. It works really well for him. Keeps him a little more mature acting, but he's still the same kid, which I love. It lasts through dinnertime and bathtime too. It's a little tough to get him in bed early, but the benefits so far have been amazing. :) I am just thinking maybe you can talk to the doctor about trying to find one of the meds that's more dissolveable. Might help. :) and if you're stuck with the bead kind, try seeing if maybe he'll be willing to pick out what he takes it in. I did that with my son. I'd let him pick out his own pint of ice cream or his own yogurt to take it in. It sorta helped since he felt a little more in control of it.

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My son is 10 and can't swallow a pill. Although I pulled apart his medicine so he could swallow "seeds" in yogurt, he never liked it and often gagged on it. I've recently started putting the "seeds" on a teaspoon of crunchy peanut butter and rolled it up in a bit of bread. Since he really likes peanut butter, the taste works for him and he says he can't taste the seeds because of the crunchy peanuts. It's still a bit of a stuggle but at least he's swallowing the majority of his medicine!

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Thanks for your replies. My son also calls the beads of medicine "seeds"! He won't eat crunchy peanut butter though - he doesn't like the texture. I've tried giving him the choice too, but he still won't finish. It's a relief to hear someone else has the same problem because the doctor seems surprised when I try to explain this to him. I will definitely ask him about the Vyvanse - something that lasts longer than 3 or 4 hours would be great.

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Try the patch Daytrana, goes on the hip under the underware. That is the next step here is Aus keeps having trouble swallowing. His allergies are bad at this time of the season. He takes Concerta lowest dose and somedays it is harder to swallow than others.

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Hi! I've taught a number of years in Special Ed classrooms that were designed for students with various severe behavioral issues that really affected their ability to function well in a regular classroom (other students safety was a prime consideration) . Many of them also had ADHD as one of their diagnoses.

Interestingly enough, the students that I taught all were in Grades 1 through 3 and it was a common complaint that we would hear from parents. "My child refuses to take their meds, says it tastes bad, spits it out......" We heard every excuse under the sun! One of the best was always given after we would call home to inquire if their child had been given medication on a particular day (behavior so out of hand just getting off the school bus and straight to attacking other students).

We would always take the wound up student aside and ask them how their morning had started out at home. Any problems/fights with siblings/parents? Did you have your medication? Invariably, we would get the truth from the student when they would proudly declare that they had refused to take their pill or had spit it out in Mom's face when she tried to give it to them.

Many of these kids already had meds at school for a lunch time dose so either the mom would request us to administer one of the pills right away so that the student's day could be put back on track. So we would happily oblige on the parent's instruction. Interestingly enough, not once did we get a refusal or a "I'm not going to take it!" from the kids. Meds administered, recorded, and the day was back on track for the student AND all the classmates having to deal with their peer.

As an ADHD adult (and teacher) and as the parent of an ADHD child, I've seen both sides of the school day for an unmedicated child when they're at home and after they've arrived at school. For some reason (maybe just to help us develop greater patience grins), the ADHD child knows how to push those buttons in the morning on each of us as parents. Once at school, they know the pill' button doesn't work with the teacher. They have it popped into their mouth and swallowed down before you can say "boo!"

Perhaps you can make arrangements at your school with the school nurse or administrators (however your school's manage meds) for the days where your child is in that "NO" mood. Believe it or not, we even used to discuss the 'whys' of the behavior with the kids to try and get them more on board with mom and dad at home.

They sure keep us busy, don't they? laughs

Calling home to verify the story, the mother's would often say "Oh! Did I forget again today?" or sometimes they would tell the truth and say that indeed, Little Johnny or Susie had absolutely refused to take their meds.

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