:o Andrews prescription was prepared by our own GP for the first time, previously the Paed had dealt with it.
The prescription was made out for Ritalin. When I went to collect it the pharmacist said it was only available in 10mg. Andrew is on 5mg twice a day. Cut them in half. :( Easier said than done,fragments scattering all over the place!
Anyway, we noticed that it wasn't calming him in the same way that the previous meds had. Although the ingredients are the same it is noticeable that the Ritalin did not work as well for Andrew. WE contacted the GP who issued a prescription for Equsym and :D Andrew is fine again.

:o My son started on ritalin small dose and we had to break them to and it isnt always an even break so 1 half could be more mg's than the other.i found with my son he was to up and down on ritalin it worked for a while then we had to change the 2 doses into 3 to try to even it out. The like your son Andrew my son Connor tried equasm ( spelt wrong ) It worked well for a while. Now my son is on a different tablet its a slow release ritalin, How ever many mg's each child needs they only take one dose in the morning and the tablet release slowly throughout the day this seems much better as his own personality shine through still which is nice, as i'm sure your'll understand. Another advantage is he doesnt have to take his med in school so their can be no mistakes in school, and his friends don't realise he is on med unless he feels the need to tell them himself, which he deals with easier. But obviously all children are different. Funny enough my mum has just posted some info to me on this new tablet which has just come out, i know on GMTV they were talking about it recently hope its an interesting read. Glad to hear you feel at ease with Andrews new med it does make a big difference around School, home and the child theirself. Bon

:D Bon
When you have read up on this new med can you let us know all about it.
Thanks

Hi, my son Johnathon is on Concerta XL which is the slow release version of methylphenidate. He got this because he had a quite bad come-down from the ritalin and the school refused to give him his midday dose. Concerta XL should last for up to 12 hours but we've found in reality it doesn't last anywhere near as long, probably from 8am until about 4-5pm.

Equasym XL is the new tab you might have heard about. It's also slow release but should only last about 6 hours. This is because some children need a top up dose of methylphenidate to get them through to bedtime and the Concerta lasted too long.

At the moment I only know one parent who has been offered this tab and only as part of a trial programme.

Hope this helps.

Duncan.

Maddad and family. The new drug is called Strattera (atomoxetine HCI) theirs is full page on it in the Daily Mail dated june 15th 2004. I t might be helpful if you look it up on the net. The local clinic i go to are looking into it at the moment. I do know someone who is taking it but he has a few more probs than only ADHD and things are going well, but as you know its each child to their own. But it is worth find out more about it its says it works for 24 hours as it acts on a different part of the brain to improve the transmission of noradrenaline and dopamine. It also goes on to say that continuous releif from ADHD issomething we have not seen before, and may allow children and their families the opportunity to live a more normal life. Its a one dose a day med. the young lad in the newspaper article done Strarrara trials three years ago. His parents say the change in him is remarkable. Life alround seems to have improved for him and his family which is nice to hear. Hope you are able to find some info on Straterra too and maybe you could let me know what you think. Thank you Bon

hi my son is 5years old and was diagonsed about 2 week ago with adhd the doctor started him on 5mg of equasym twice a day but there was no change in his behaviour so it was increased to 7.5mg starting today, however the only change i would say ive noticed is that he is so emotional, crying over the smallest thing like watching a film and a sad part comes on(which is so unlike him) or not being able to pull his quilt up. Im not sure though if this is due to the tablets or if he is just tired. Did anybody else find this with their children im not sure what is normal behaviour(if there is normal) or whether its due to the tablets. ;)

Hi mad mum

Welcome to the forum.

Hopefully someone will be able to offer some advice on this. Our son was 10 when he started on meds. He was already quite emotional but the meds don't seem to have made any difference to him.

Can anybody else offer any comment please. :D

:rolleyes: Hi mad mum, I wouldnt class this as gospal but i do agree there was a time when my son showed emotion when on med. Its difficult when you have a child with different behaviours, then when on med they also experiance different emotion. If you dont feel happy with his behaviour when on med and you are concerned give your gp a call who treats your child for the adhd, im am sure they will be only to willing to help and advise. When my son was on ritalin, my friends used to say i dont like him like that he looks and acts like hes been coshed. To me it was heaven after some hectic few years but i also listened. Now my son is on concerta Xl slow release ritalin over a 12 hour period. Its helps him alot and his own personality still shines through. Sometimes i now get i cant believe he has adhd. But thats with a lot of hard work from friends, family, But on a bad day it would shock the life out of them. As occassionally his impulsivness can come pushing through and then we have trouble for a little while its taken a long time to get where we are today with him but its been worth it for all our sakes now its just sorting the schools out. good luck Bon

HELP

had a son on Concerta XL for years, great help for him (and me) he's now 17 and off medication studing at uni and doing well. have a 7 year old daughter with learning disabilties, speech and language disorder, aspergers syndrome and now ADHD. Started on equasym 8 months ago, helps behaviour and attention but concerned about side effects, no weight gain since starting (poor appitite prior to equasym), now ticing verbal and physical. Becoming verbally aggressive and threating me with physical harm.I can decide if the equasym is helping or harming the holistic situation any ideas and suggestions. I tried without medication and life was hell for all involved. :( Brenda

Hi Brenda :rolleyes:
Welcome to the forum. As you have probably seen our son is prescribed Equasym. He is only on 5mg twice a day so we are quite fortunate in that the chances of side effects are lower with it only being a small dose. His appetite was reasonably good prior to equasym, but now he seems to be trying to eat us out of house and home !!!! So we don't have a problem there. We also seem to be fortunate in that his really bad tempers are becoming fewer. Hopefully he is now maturing and is able to control his own feelings.