Question if you or your child takes ADHD meds...

[journeymom]

Heart Test Recommendations

The American Heart Association recommends electrocardiograms for children using Ritalin and the like. (The article doesn't say so but I imagine it wouldn't be a bad idea for adults to get an ecg done as well.)

The AHA says ADHD appears to be more common in children with heart conditions. That's amazing. I did not know that.

A couple of years ago I tried Ritalin for a few days in an attempt to treat my attention deficiencies, but stopped because it made me feel like I was jacked up on caffein. I really didn't like it.

So, if you or your child takes or has taken Ritalin or similar medicine, what has been your experience with side effects? Racing heart?

Do you know if you or your child has a heart condition?

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Cross posting in other threads, as well.

[doulamomvicki]

Actually, I do have experience with this. DS has left ventricular hypertrophy secondary to arrhythmia (atrial fibrillation) I am going to preface my response by saying we held out for years before trying meds - including diets, supplements, therapies all helped but not enough. When I started homeschooling ds (he was 11yrs at the time) I began to see how his ADD was effecting his ability to make and keep friends. That was really what made me consider any meds. I definately did not want to use any stimulants because of their effect on the heart so we tried Staterra. It has been a GOD SEND! I really can't say we have had any bad experiences on it. He feels so much better on it. I still do the Feingold diet for him, supplements (esp fish oil) and therapies. All these plus the medication has certainly helped him do better socially and academically.

[journeymom]

Thank you for sharing!

That's very interesting. So did your son's doc say anything about adhd being more common with people with heart conditions? I'm still amazed by that little factoid.

Strattera is not stimulating? Off to look it up.....

I'd love to have that experience I've read about many times: "I took such-and-such and I could focus for the first time in my life!"

13 y.o. dd has an appointment with her doc tomorrow to discuss her attention/focus issues.

[enkmom]

My daughter was thoroughly screened before we started medication (5 years after her diagnosis), and thankfully she has no heart problems. We chose medication for the same reasons doulamomvicki did - her ADD was seriously limiting her ability to make or keep friends and she was miserable.

You may have been on the wrong dosage of Ritalin. Medicating is a long process, and we tried several doses and several medications before we found the right balance. My daughter has used Adderall, Adderall XR and Concerta, all with success. Now that she is in college and needs shorter bursts of focus, she takes 2 or 3 small doses of Ritalin each day - enough to get her through her classes and a dedicated study time in the evening. She reports no bad side effects, and Ritalin is in fact the first medication she has used that did not cause a scary drop in her weight.

My dh and dd both have ADD, and I am thankful that they do not have heart problems. I was really amazed at the connection.

[doulamomvicki]

Journeymom
I haven't heard that but now that I think about it it seems many of the kids we know who also have cardiac dx's have ADD/ADHD also.

How did your DD's doctor's appt go?

[journeymom]

Her appointment went predictably. I like her doctor. He's up to date and approachable and respects me. He's reasonably cautious. After I described what dd has been experiencing that concerns me (and he asked her to confirm and amend anything) he talked about the pros and cons of taking medication. He mentioned that some doctors would simply write up a prescription right then, but he's does not do that kind of thing. He gave us questionnaires to fill out, one each for dd, me and one of her teachers. He'll score them and get back to us.

I admit part of me really hopes her scores on this poll will clearly show there is something that can be fixed! One fear is that her "problems" will be too minor to treat professionally. Of course I don't want my child to be seriously troubled, but the fact is her focus is poor, she's very easily distracted, her organization skills are really lousy and it seriously affecting her life and making her miserable. And I have been experiencing these same things my entire life and I certainly haven't mastered them. So while I can completely sympathize and commiserate with her, I am unequipped to help her figure out how to fix them.

The other thing that concerns me is that her problems pretty much only affect her, not anyone else (aside from making her dad and me feel horrible for her). She's still a happy, outgoing, sociable girl. She was alarmed by some of the criteria on the poll. Does she bully people, has she used a weapon, has she been physically cruel to animals, mugged anyone, run away from home, stolen anything, set fire with the intent to cause harm, forced anyone into sex?? For heaven's sake, no! I hope this doesn't mean she doesn't qualify for help! It's like being too rich for student aid, too poor to pay for college.

I told her how in years past sweet natured but spacey girls who didn't necessarily cause problems for others got completely overlooked by the medical/therapy community in favor of noisy, twitchy, wiggling boys. Squeaky wheel and all that. ADHD versus ADD. Well, I'm going to try my darnedest to keep that from happening.

Sorry for getting off topic, sort of. I just realized I haven't talked to anyone about yesterday's appointment.

[Justamum]

My daughter has been on Concerta for several years now and we haven't noticed any major side effects. I rely heavily on her to tell me how she is feeling in regards to needing to adjust her meds. Thanks for sharing!

[mamabeca]

You mean not being able to focus for more than 4 minutes, not having the ability to get or stay organized, poor time mamagement and planning skills isn't NORMAL?

So if I have this, my dh has this, and I see this in my dd, I can say something? Do soemthing? Woah... that's big.

[gabysmom617]

For a couple months up until I found out I was pregnant, I used Concerta because my ADD is having a major effect on my abilty to get stable in my life.

I did notice a "racing' slightly trembling thing going on with me on Concerta. I have taken Straterra in the past as well, and that doesn't cause the same thing as the concerta does for me. I feel I did my best when I was on Wellbutrin SR in the past(but for some reason, when they switched me over to Wellbutrin XL, the newer one, it didn't seem to work as well...)

I just wanted to say I agree with the fact that finding the correct medication for AD/HD is a process, there are SEVERAL different medications out there (if you want to go that route) and if one isn't working, that doesn't necessarily mean that none of them will. I mean, I have read that for a handful of people for whom NONE of the ad/hd specific medications seemed to be working, for them, a med that may have been meant to treat a different type of psychological problem can end up being the most effective one to treat their AD/HD with the fewest side effects. So their are a LOT of options besides just Ritalin.

[BedHead]

Ds took Ritalin for years. He doesn't have a heart condition, but they did monitor his heart.

[journeymom]

Thanks, thanks, thanks for all the responses and thoughts.

You mean not being able to focus for more than 4 minutes, not having the ability to get or stay organized, poor time mamagement and planning skills isn't NORMAL?

So if I have this, my dh has this, and I see this in my dd, I can say something? Do soemthing? Woah... that's big.

Sometimes I get very angry because it seems like her ability to focus and keep up wouldn't even be an issue for my otherwise fantastic daughter if it weren't for the demands of the schooling process. I wouldn't be contemplating medicating her. I like to think that there is some sort of life style that suits her brain (and mine) better. But we haven't lived in a laid back hunter-gatherer society for several thousand years now. :

However, this is the society we live in and I don't want to and don't feel capable of just unplugging from society and create our own life. Dh would never go for it anyway. So I'm grateful that medications have developed in the past 30 years that can help dd improve the skills necessary to get along in this society.

[ilm2]

I did not know this and am surprised b/c i've been studying a lot about ADD.
My kids have CHDs and so far one is dx'd ADD the other will likely be dx'd ADHD when he goes in later this month.

My 12 yo dd just went on Concerta and it's making her crazy. The dr said she needed to take it for 2 more weeks but it's not helping at all.

[journeymom]

Ilm2, is your daughter taking the smallest dose possible?

I'm bummed that the adhd meds I've tried had that adverse reaction and I'd like to try them again, at the lowest dose possible, or even half a pill if necessary.

[KarenEMT]

DS is on Concerta. We too have tried all kinds of supplements, counseling, diet since he was 7-1/2 and he is 13 now. He was on stimulant meds which worked well from age 8-1/2 to age 12, then he wanted to try without them, so he tried Strattera. That did not work at all for him.

At age 13 when he went back on stimulant (Concerta), the doc recommended an EKG before starting the med. It was 100% fine. He is going to have yearly EKGs while on the med, because he is also a competitive cyclist and obviously that puts quite a bit of strain on his heart. However, he has noticed nothing heart-related such as palpitations or anything like that while on the Concerta. He cannot focus well enough to race in a pack without taking his medications...

My son feels so much better about himself when on meds at this time

[KarenEMT]

Here is the FAQ from Strattera:
http://www.strattera.com/1_9_faqs/1_9_faqs.jsp

It works differently from the stimulant meds and thus you have to trial it for awhile (like you would an antidepressant med) to build up the level to see if it works. We did this over the summer while there were no school issues, KWIM?

[journeymom]

Update: we filled out the questionnaires, the doctor scored them and dd lands squarely in the adhd category, minus the hyperactive, mainly inattentive. I requested an ekg and she had one done. Now that we're in the last week of school (WOO HOO!) she started Concerta on Saturday. So far so good. She thinks she's feeling the effects now. No insomnia or what not, but she has mild abdominal pain that comes and goes, and that is one of the listed side effects.

I really hope this helps her.

[harrietsmama]

I have been rx'd ritalin, to roller coastery for me, the concerta did nothing, I really liked adderall, but stimulants are a nono for bipolar and the new doc took me off it. Now I take strattera which is not astimulant and it doesn't give me a 'rush' or a 'come down' It really helps me focus and it keeps the music and self conversations in my head to a minimum.

[journeymom]

Originally Posted by harrietsmama

I have been rx'd ritalin, to roller coastery for me, the concerta did nothing, I really liked adderall, but stimulants are a nono for bipolar and the new doc took me off it. Now I take strattera which is not astimulant and it doesn't give me a 'rush' or a 'come down' It really helps me focus and it keeps the music and self conversations in my head to a minimum.

Very interesting.

I made it clear to dd that she should let me know if she gets shaky or get a racing heart. She was fine until yesterday. She called from school and said all of a sudden she got really shaky and had a racing heart. It was an hour before school let out and she was fine with staying there.

For months I've been giving her a half-sized can of diet Pepsi in her lunches because she was falling asleep in class after lunch (and yes, she was getting enough sleep). So I'm concerned that the combination of Concerta and caffeine are just too much.

I experience the same debilitating sleepiness, and frankly, I've read other adhd-ers describe the same thing. Well, Concerta is used to treat narcolepsy.

I tried ritalin and it made me feel horrible. I now know that I have bipolar two and I know I can't take any more stimulants. Though I do take Wellbutrin which seems to be fine.

We'll see how dd does today. I'll definitly keep Strattera in mind.

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Heather, the Strattera web site says common side effects are nausea and tiredness. Did you experience this when you first started it, and has it gone away? It never scease to amaze me that medicines designed to improve focus would make you tired.

[harrietsmama]

Originally Posted by journeymom

Very interesting.

Heather, the Strattera web site says common side effects are nausea and tiredness. Did you experience this when you first started it, and has it gone away? It never scease to amaze me that medicines designed to improve focus would make you tired.

Well, I got it rx'd while I was inpatient and I was still very emotional when I got home. I did have some nausea for 2-3 days at first, but it went away quickly. It is one that takes awhile to really get in your system and function - at least for me. I do not get tired on it during the day, but I take 40 in am and 40 at about 3. I am very tired at night when it's time to go to bed. FYI, I also take Trileptal 600 2x a day and 1 mg ativan 3x and 50 mg Elavil at night. The only problem I have with sleep is that I have a hard time staying alseep, which the elavil helps very well.

Hope that helps a little!

[rhubarbarin]

I was diagnosed with ADD at age 9, went on Ritalin for a few months, came off it, then was tested again and told I didn't have ADD several years later. I have a good attention span, unfortunately I can only seem to use it for things I am interested in, and then I can't unfocus it. I am pretty spacy though, but only because I am usually thinking hard about something more interesting than what I am doing.

Ritalin made me much less active than usual (I ran and played non-stop as a kid). While I was on it I stopped playing imaginative games (normally that was all I did), sat around and stared into space a lot, and only wanted to watch tv. I remember feeling tired, out of it and a little high (similar to how I felt while using marijuana 10 years later).

It also supressed my appetite almost to non-existance.. that's the main reason my parents took me off. It also had absolutely no effect on my school performance (which had always been poor, since I was never interested in anything we did in school and made no effort to participate).

Anyway it was a bust for me! But so were all the anti-depressents I tried years later. I just don't have a good track record with meds, but I understand that they help some people immensely, and if your child is having problems I think you should give them a try.