I'm confused about adhd medicine?

Question

My 7 year old son has been diagnosed with adhd and has been taking 5mg methylphenidate in the morning to help him with school for the last week. His teacher says it's helped him focus. Along comes the weekend and i get to see what effect it does, and i actually seen him become more restless , angrier and more aggressive. The next day also had the med,and his so calm ,not picking fights, no fidgeting and looks so peacefull. I'm so confused! Then today he became angry and restless again. Should i stop medication until he goes back to school from the Easter break ? Is it normal for this medication to react in different ways from day to day ?. I know i should be asking doctor this, but just want some answers now . He was just diagnosed last week , and the psychiatrist made me feel like everything will be ok and treatable. His usually not an angry kid, but angry on meds. Should i give the med more time to work since it's only been one week ? Will this side effect go eventually? Lol

Answer 1

Mood swings is a well known side effect of methylphenidate.

Some doctors recommend a "drug holiday" at weekends and school holidays but you should definitely get the approval of your own doctor before doing this.

The drug is better known by the brand name Ritalin. There is loads of info on the net about it.

Answer 2

Ritalin starts working about 20 minutes after he takes the pill and then will last several hours.  After that, he will withdraw from the medicine.  For me, that was about 30 minutes of being a little worse in the ADHD department.  The next day, it starts all over again.  There is no build-up of this medication so what happens this first week should be what you see every other week.  There is also no need to slowly withdraw this med either as that happens every night and the next day is like he never took it.

My problem with Ritalin was that in my body, it was an inconsistent medicine and I couldn't count on it working 100% of the time or lasting as long as the last pill was and sometimes working at all.

Here are some variables that you might be running into:

1.  There could be some anxiety in taking this medication and that should go away.  Even at middle age, I don't count day 1 on any medicine because I stress myself.

2.  Diet is often recommended as a non-medicated way to help the mildly ADHD.  That tells me that you always have to take food into consideration when evaluating why did this pill work better today than yesterday.  I call this the external environment that we have to write down too.  Things like caffeine, sugar, vitamins, TV in the AM (my kids are worse that day) or video games and amount of sleep.  These effect the medicine in a round about way.  This is why it might seem like the pill takes weeks to work when it is you taking weeks to work with the pill.

3.  Could be the wrong stimulant...dexedrine made my grumpy, Adderall a little and Ritalin lifted my mood but your mileage may vary.  Many don't find the right med right away.

4.  Some claimed with Ritalin that there was a difference between generic and name-brand.  My results were inconclusive.

5.  I want to single out sleep again because these meds, if taken too late may interfere with sleep and without enough rest, the next day you get all the side effects of Ritalin but non of the desired primary affects.

Good Luck and this isn't that far out there as you might think.

Answer 3

I also have a 7 year old son who has ADHD and even though he has was diagnosed almost 2 years ago, this year we went through something similar to you because we decided that we weren't happy with the meds he was taking, so basically we started from scratch.  First off, hang in there.  Many times it takes a month or even 6 weeks for new medicine side effects to level off.  Its a big adjustment to their bodies.  In the first weeks of one medicine we tried, my son developed a tic (eye blinking), but that minimized over time.  On another, he was angry.  Again, it leveled off.

5 mgs once a day is a really low dose, which is a great way to start.  

If the anger continues after a month, you may want to talk with your doctor about switching medications.  We had my son on Methylphenidate and it made him "flat"... kind of took the joy out of him.  Switched to Vyvannse and it was much better.   Even different medicines in the same "class" can have different affects.  Just be patient and know that it can take months before the medicine piece has been worked out.

Answer 4

Ritalin does not stay in your system.  After about 12 hours there is very little medication left in a child's body.....Is it possible he didnt take his medication on those days.  I understand the "drug holiday' idea but consider this....isnt it better for your child to be on the drug that allows him or her to enjoy life and not be in trouble.  Remember children only want to please...they dont want you to be mad at them.  If you have questions, talk to your doctor about them or get a second opinion.  Personally, my child being treated for ADHD did not have ADHD but had other issues that werent discovered until years later.  I took her off the ritalin shortly after she started it.  Utlimately you are this child's mother.  You are the person who knows this child, who lives with this child not your doctor.  Good luck =)

Answer 5

We have expirenced that with our son too. He is also on Ritlin and a host of others. It takes about 2-3 weeks for the medicine to get into his body and work effectively. It is best not to go off of it, if he just started taking it. If you are concerned speak to his doctor. Ask about  other ADHD medications.

Answer 6

Talk to your Doctor about the drug CONCERTA, My doctor doesn't like the effects from the other meds. Concerta is safe, My son has never been angry or fidgety. His teacher tells me he is one of the best students and raises his hand to answer a questions and doesn't see any difference in his social skills, just focuses more. At first he lost his appetite for a few days, but he is back to being himself minus the anger and being fidgety. By the way... My SIL had her son on it for only 4 months... and still continues to do well in school. He was put on it during high school, For that 4 months , it must have trained his brain to learn to focus, He doesn't take it anymore and does very well in school. Strange, isn't it... how some can take it for little while just to train the brain?

Answer 7

My son is 6 and has been on adhd medicine since he was 3.  We have changed his medicine around a few times.  There are 3 medications that are safe and you can take them off of it on weekends and it won't hurt them.  when a child is first diagnosed it could take a few months to get the medication right.  And each medicine works differently for each child.  Ask your doctor about Adderall, Concerta, and Focalin.  The Adderall made my son angry like you are describing.  Just ask about a different medicine.  Don't worry it is ok to change their medicine.  Once you find the right one you will know.