any new meds advice? - ADD / ADHD Message Board

Theresa341 · 03-01-2002, 03:30 AM

Hi everyone. My daughter, now 7 yrs old, was diagnosed with adhd and a developmental delay at age 3. Oh, we have tried her on many meds with no luck- imiprimine, ritalin, clonodine and concerta. She was doing pretty good with adderall for a while, but for the past few months, we notice that while the adderall does calm her down a little, it also depresses her. She cries over every blessed thing and if you knew her, you would know she is not normally like that. She tried the new ritalin- concerta, but because it is time released, she can not take it because she doesn't know how to take a pill yet. I usually give her a pill in applesauce and she chews it. You can not chew something time released. Anyways, I phoned her pediatrician the other day because I feel so bad for my little girl. When she is not on meds, the kids don't want to play with her because she is hyper and they think it is probably "weird" but if I have her on meds, she is a "cry baby". She has an appt next Friday with the doctor to discuss a new med for her to try. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I might ask for? My daughter is not misbehaved at all, just cannot concentrate on any one thing for more than 2 minutes and her math suffers tremendously!!

mlgable · 03-01-2002, 07:30 AM

Have you tried some sessions with a pyschologist or psychiatrist that works well with ADD/ADHD problems in addition to using meds. I would think that this would be something to consider. As for meds there are tons of them out there such as wellbutrin and Resperidol in addition to the ones you mentioned. Has a combination of meds been tried? Sometimes you need a combination of drugs to work. Also you mentioned that concerta worked but she can't swallow a pill. At 7 she is old enough to learn to swallow small pills. Why not get her some M&M's to practice with. You can also continue to put the pill in sauce whole and let her swallow it all down at once. This works well for many people. I would assume with all the drugs tried that they did try adjusting the dosage to help get rid of unwanted side effects if it was a med that did work. As for the developmental delay..........I would assume she is receiving PT and OT services for that at the school. Hope some of this helps you.

Theresa341 · 03-04-2002, 05:39 PM

Hi..thanks for responding. Oh gosh, I have tried so many times to teach her to swallow a pill whole and she just cannot do it yet!!!! She does have an IEP in school- has since kindergarten. She does have speech and OT...however, she does not have PT. I do try to keep her involved in many extra curricular activities- cheerleading, iceskating, dancing, theater plays, and the list goes on. She is still hyper though and she has such a hard time concentrating.

mlgable · 03-04-2002, 11:13 PM

One other trick that might work for swallowing a pill is to put in her favorite pudding if it isn't a real big pill and let her swallow it right down with the pudding, applesauce or ice cream.