Concerta and weight loss - ADD / ADHD Message Board

LeannaMKillian · 04-11-2002, 06:47 AM

My son is in his second month of being on 18 mg once daily of Concerta. It has changed our lives (for the better) although he has had drastic weight loss. I don't know what to do as his dr. said not to worry until he has lost 10lbs... he started at 51 lbs and now he is at 45. I don't want to wait until he gets to 41lbs. He already looks like a bag of bones and doesn't want to eat. Any suggestions? I don't want to pull him off his meds, but then his weight is really frightening me. Any suggestions would be helpful -- this is all new to me. <smile>
Thanks, Leanna

mlgable · 04-11-2002, 07:10 AM

I will try to offer some suggestions. Be sure he is taking a good multivitamin supplement. Have him eat a good breakfast before he takes his meds at a time when his appitite should be pretty good. How about making milkshakes for him if he likes those. Those can have all kinds of nutritious ingredients in them or just be plain but contain a good number of calories and kids tend to like those even if they are not real hungry since it is something they can sip on. Keep a supply of his favorite foods in the house to try to encourage him to eat. Does he like things like yogart? Those sometimes might be appealing enough that he would eat them as they are smaller plus some of the new ones you can just squeeze and eat. Plan your meals around high calorie nutritious foods at so that what he does eat has enough calories to sustain his weight. Remember part of the reason for the weight loss is the fact that he is not taking in enough calories to maintain his weight so you need to think terms just the opposite of a dieter. Instead of looking for low cal nutritious foods you will want to look for high cal nutritious foods. If your son is not eating good at lunch time at school try some of these things. Send a sack lunch but send things he really likes such as cottage cheese in a thermos or mini suasage snack sticks. If they have access to a microwave at lunch how about Lipton brand "cup a soup"? My son enjoyed taking that and making soup for lunch (until they took out the micro at his school). You can be creative with his sandwiches depending on his age by using cookies cutters to cut his sandwhich meat and bread into need shapes. If he likes things like "SpaghettiO's" then heat those in your micro and send them in a thermos along with a plastic diposable spoon. If all else fails you can also ask your doctor for a referral to a dietician for suggestions. I wish you luck as I have been down that familiar path before with my own son. Hopefully at least one of these suggestions will be of some help.

redd123 · 04-13-2002, 08:05 PM

My son has been on Concerta for 3 months and I have also noticed a huge difference in his appetite. I have taken him in for a weight check but he was fine. I make sure he has breakfast before he leaves for school and milk. I pack him a snack also. I also fix his lunch instead of him eating school lunch, that way I know he will have something he likes and hopefully will eat it. At supper he hardly eats anything. He just picks at it. However he makes up for it on the weekends. He only gets his medication on school days.

mw5252 · 04-17-2002, 08:41 AM

My son was on Adderall for about a year. He kept having bad headaches. We switched him to Concerta. He started losing weight and was not growing at all. We took him off completely about a month ago. Last week he started losing a drastic amount of weight. He had frequent urination and thirst. We took him in for a check up and he now has Type 1 Diabities. I'm trying to find out if Adderall or Concerta had anything to do with it.

Pills Pills Pills · 04-18-2002, 01:29 PM

My son is very tall and thin he is 10 he lost his appetite and lost weight...

1. Big Good Full Breakfast tell him to get good and full. not cereal everyday but eggs, grits toast, oatmeal, bacon you know the heavier foods. whole milk and or a good juice. follow it with a vitamin every day.

dont give the med until he has eaten his breakfast.

2. for lunch pack a small portion..of heavier foods. And say to him Son I know you wont be hungry but please eat half of what I give you and each day I ask tell me what you ate. he doesnt get into trouble. I simply say ah honey try harder tomorrow ...he agrees

I pack something like a small bag of chips half a sandwich of PB&J and a caprison juice and fruit or gummy fruit.. I also ask him if he wants something different like a corndog in his lunch.. sometimes if he picks it out and it sounds good to him at breakfast (when he is hungry) he will eat some of it at lunch.

3 make a normal dinner and give him smaller portions.. ask him to please for you eat so many bites even though he doesnt want it... he doesnt have to finish it. I simply want 2-3 bites out of everything. then I know I have done my part.. I also ask him if there is something he would like different with his food to make it more appealing ... and last night he said he wanted to put syrup on his mashed potatoes.. eeeew but hey .. i let him and he ate all of them...

He is not loosing weight any more... also .. I found milkshakes and cheesecake things he loves.. are heavy and filling ... he will eat them just because they are junk food... so sometimes if he is not eating too well I will drop a philly cheesecake bar into his lunch.. and if that is the only thing he eats, then whew.. at least he ate something.

Good luck to you.