Our 7 year old is diagnosed ADHD and Duyslexia. We have tried Concerta and Adderal…..both which hyped her up even more and kept her from going to sleep at night. What’s next? Anyone else had these same experiences?
Thanks for any input! Jan
what about zoloft?
This has worked for one of my students who is ADD she had the same problems with ritalin it didn’t help her at all but Zoloft has really made a difference for her.
Re: what next?
My daughter was on Ritalin and then Adderall last year. She doesn’t sleep enough anyway and when on these two drugs she slept even less. Unfortunately the pediatrician recommended seeing a psychiatrist. The problem is that the psychiatrist cannot make up his mind whether or not my daughter is ADD. He has suggested trying Concerta because he’s had many patients who it worked well for. He still hasn’t prescribed it, however.
The 3rd grade teacher was sure my daughter was ADD and that she has learning problems with spelling and writing. It’s a long story, but the school would only qualify her under ED for supposed depression, but there are some spelling, writing and organizational goals in her IEP. They wouldn’t qualify her for occupational therapy because they said she was in the average range after testing her for that.
Her 4th grade teacher says she’s “doing fine.” I spoke with another parent of an ADHD child tonight and the teacher is telling her the same thing. I’m concerned about next year when she’ll have to do much, much more writing. Well, I’m kind of getting off topic.
I think that the AD(H)D medications react differently on each child. I guess that’s one reason why it can be hard to find an effective one. I know it’s the same for depression since I’ve been on many different antidepressants and I’m still not sure I’ve found the best combination. That’s another story!
Anyway, good luck to you. I believe that there are also some other medications for AD(H)D that your doctor may not have tried, although I’m no expert for sure!
Margo
My daughter was diagnosed in the 4th grade. She was put on Ritalin and it worked very well. However, when she entered the 7th grade, the psychiatrist recommended we switch her to Adderal. It was an absolute nightmare for her! She didn’t sleep or eat for almost 4 days. We immediately stopped giving it to her. The psychiatrist put her back on Ritalin and the Ritalin is still working beautifully for her (15 mg. 2 times a day - unless we are going out or she has plans, then we will give her the 3rd dose). She is now in the 8th grade and has been an honor roll student for the last 2 years :).
Adderal was only recommended because the psychiatrist THOUGHT maybe she didn’t want to have to go to the nurse’s office during the day at the Middle School. It didn’t bother her to make that trip - she has never worried about what her peers thought or said about her taking meds. It does bother some children though.
Adderal does work for some but obviously, not ours. Take Care and Good Luck!