medication

Cylert has fallen out of favor because of the potential for liver damage— kids need to have liver function tests periodically to make sure it is not damaging their liver. Adderall lasts longer than Ritalin, but probably not as long as Concerta. Ritalin and Dexedrine come in sustained-release forms as well, and there is a new one called Metadate (w/ same ingredient as Ritalin) that is supposed to be longer lasting. Your doctor should be able to get information on all of these. Also, if you need once a day dosing so that the school won’t know, you could just have them document behaviors twice per day— morning and afternoon and compare the two. Have you tried putting the pill in a spoonful of applesauce or pudding? This sometimes helps, though I hear those Concerta pills are enormous!

A new 12 hour version of adderall has just been made available also.

Andrea

Tammy -

Our child started taking Ritalin at age 11. He has never been able to take pills and it was a real problem at first, even with the small 5 mg pills. Like Rover suggested, we finally found that applesauce worked. Once he found he could use that, he found he liked to take it with yogurt also.

Then we switched to Concerta. New hurdle to get over. I talked to the pediatrician about it and he gave us a specially designed plastic glass that has a sort of ribbed area up one wall of the cup. It was a sample he got from a salesman. You set the pill on top of the ribs and the water flows through the ribs and sweeps the pill into the back of the child’s throat. Worked like a charm. (Gotta keep that water off the Concerta though or it will stick to the cup.) I’ll try to post its name after I get home tonight. Maybe your pediatrician has heard about it, or maybe your pharmacist can get it.

After using the special cup several months, my son is now comfortable taking the meds with just a regular glass of water.

Please post this info, my daughter also doesn’t take pills, however we have crushed her adderall (now up to 30 mg each morning) and added less than a teaspoon of cherry juice to it each morning for years. We know that crushing it probably effects it a bit, and if she doesn’t drink every last drop (often) she doesn’t get a full dose.

Glad for reminder about new 12 hour adderall, will check in with doc about it. But we gotta be able to crush it.

The Concerta pills aren’t that big, they are actually smaller than a contac decongestant. Crushing pills isn’t a good thing because the person gets a concentrated dose all at once. This is a concern with any medication that is in a sustained form whether it is for an adult or a child. Concerta has a coating combined with meds that is continuously released all day long to crush it would defeat the purpose and again give them a super concentrated dose at once. My kids have put their pills inside sugar babies before and set it way back in their mouth when they have had problems with taking pills. Now days it isn’t a problem. Some children have hypoactive gag reflexes which may be interferring with swallowing of the pills.

wow what a neat idea! Can you get the company that makes this cup?

Mt son tried Cylert several years ago when he couln’t continue on Ritalin. He had poor response to it, but I haven’t heard too much about it in 5 years.

Here’s the info about the plastic pill glass:

The PillTaker(tm)
Quanterron, Inc.
Minneapolis, MN 55337

Thanks Aj….

We like Metadate. My daughter was on adderall for several years, off and on because it gave her an immediate and long lasting headache until she was used to it. Getting her to the strength she needed to be took a really long time. And I just won’t medicate every weekend or the summer. So adderall never really worked.
Then we tried 2 concerta and that turned her into someone who was not my child! Metadate seems to help enough, but doesn’t make her bounce off the walls coming down. I did see a marked improvement with the Concerta, but she was so nuts at the end, even on one pill, I couldn’t stomach her using it. It also dramatically affected her ability to sleep, and she was still awake and talking a mile a minute at 11:30 PM. As soon as we put her on Metadate, she yawned and went to sleep promptly at nine oclock.

wow Audrey tell me more about Metadate. I have never heard of it. Is it a stimulant?
BTW Carly they have actually taken Cylert off the market. Causing liver damage in children. My oldest was on it for 1 month,he lost 7 pounds. My youngest is getting really good effect from Concerta. 54 mg capsule. While my oldest was having a good effect with dexedrine,he isn’t any more. It’s all a chance and a risk. No side effects should be tolerated. A headache like you describe is very unusual. No kid should have to go through this.It’s like your at the mercy of the Doctor. Proving to him that this isn’t the right med either. Know what i mean? I think it’s important to have a doctor you really connect with.Finally found one. Went through a lot of them first. And don’t forget of course the pediatrician you have to go through to get the referal too! I call this a royal pain,and very unfair.

Just wanted to say thanks for all the reply’s. I never did get my son to take the concerta-but found out that adderall xr came out with a capsule and that you can take apart and put in a little applesauce and it is also a once a day dosing!! We will give this a try!! Thanks again.

Tammy

My son has terrible rebound and sometimes can’t sleep. Methdate is new isn’t it?
Carly

Metadate itself is new, but it is still methylphenidate. Ritalin is methylphenidate, and Concerta is methylphenidate.

They are just different delivery mechanisms. Concerta and Metadate use different time release technologies made by different manufacturers.

Metadate is described as bi-phasic release. Concerta is supposed to be controlled-rate release (supposed to provide a smoother delivery over a 12 hour period).

Interim reports came back and whether it’s the Metadate working or not…we have an A in Social Studies!! Still a C in math, but her Language Arts grade went from a C to a B. I was worried Metadate wasn’t doing enough, because my daughter wasn’t hyper and wasn’t as ‘switched on’ as she was on Concerta. But the grades seem to indicate it is working.

Good NEWS!!! :-)