I have an eleven year old son who is mildly retarded, ADHD, ODD and epileptic. He has been on 36 mgs of Concerta for nearly a year now. The epilepsy is recent and he is on trileptal twice a day. I have had a huge problem getting him to sleep since he has been on the concerta. He wanders the house at night, he plays these long involved imaginative games sometimes reenacting an entire movie. If I fall asleep he's up playing nintendo, sometimes screaming at it. If I try to quiet him down or convince him to go to sleep he screams at me in this what's best described as an evil voice. I live in an apartment, we can't make too much noise; most of the time it doesn't make sense to fight with him over it. He's up almost always until 2 or 3 every morning, then up at 7 for school. I am beside myself and talking to his doctor all I get is oh wow. Does anyone else out there have a child on concerta and sleep problems? Sure like to hear from you.

Insomnia is a listed side effect of that medication, so there's a clue. Amphetamines are CNS stimulants, and have in the past, been known to cause psychosis personality changes, aggression. Also, epileptic meds are usually CNS depressants...logically, stimulants can't be good for this condition.

Ever read the PDF on Concerta and most other psychoactive, neurotoxic drugs? It will always state that the mechanism of action the drug has on ADD or ADHD is UNKNOWN. Yep, it's one big brain experiment...no way on earth to measure any chemical "imbalances" a child "might" have or be deficient in. The up-side is, the brain is so overstimulated that getting homework done and good grades are an easier task. The down-side is, the ill effects of a drug simular to speed on a growning body and mind can sometimes result in symptoms your son is having. And of course, getting off the drug is very hard as withdrawals may occur. Getting off should be extremely slow and supervised by an addiction specialist.

It's a shame doctors will not admit these drugs may actually be harmful or even admit they are neurotoxins; in other words, poison to the brain. Too many good intentioned parents trust so much in psychiatric theory today they don't realize the harm. They are usually too intent on helping any problems their child may have and are mis-lead by trusted "professionals".

So what's the solution? I noticed no change in his behaviour on concerta, the ODD is, I don't know basically I think he just hates my guts. At any rate when he started the sixth grade this year he started without concerta. His teacher said he was the worst child she had ever seen in her life. None of her other children behaved this way, he didn't act that way when he met her at orientation, yada yada yada. This is a special education teacher, you'd think that she had seen the same behaviour at one point or other in her life. She even had a male assistant principal physically restrain him. The next day I put him on concerta, she said he was much better. The principal even called and said how good he was. They need him on medication for behavior control and I get stuck with the kid who can't sleep and continually gets more and more rebellious as the night progresses.

Jennita,

Ever read the back of the bottle on not just psychotropic meds, but almost any medication ?
They all say "the exact mechanism is unknown".
Science is experimental.

Help,
Yes, but most conditions are exact in the fact that they are confirmable by physical symptoms, x-ray, blood test, etc. to have biological origin.

Behavioral problems are not provable to have a biological origin....no biological tests exist to confirm or deny. So I am only saying experimenting on the brain with neurotoxins because of biological connection "in theory only" can be a much more of a danger than, let's say, confirming someone has cancer with proper biological tests and then giving a course of chemotherapy. Obviously, no one would want chemotherapy without biological confirmation they even have cancer because it could be harmful. Why not give the human brain the same respect as the rest of the body?

JMO,

I don't even know your son so couldn't possibly have a solution. However, the sleep problem caused by meds surly contribute and/or make worse the foul moods and irratic behaviors!!! Good sleep is extremely important for children! Even adults can become devils when not properly rested.

As far as his previous behaviors, see psychotherapist might help get to the bottom of his feelings and why he acts like he does. Also, at his age, professional evaluation of his diet and health should help; a complete physical to rule out any disease/condition/defiency wouldn't hurt either. Any intake of herbs/drugs/chemicals also should be noted.

I sure hope it isn't because he "hates your guts" because that's not fair to you as I am sure you are a good mom and only want what's best for him.

I understand where you say give the brain the same respect; however, who said all psychotropic drugs are neurotoxic ? Of course a misdiagnosis is damaging and potentially fatal, but when a tumor is clearly 'seen' on an MRI or PET scan it's time to take action and get the tumor out if not benign or consequence causing. The same is for AD/HD, it is shown on PET, and SPECT scans to an 'agreeable' accuracy and not treating it correctly is 'disrespecting your body.'

AD/HD is just like any other genetic disorder, on the terms that it's clearly seen down the family tree, unfulfilled dreams, reckless impulsives, including destructive, and potentially fatal behaviors. Researchers are able to biologically narrow down with some accuracy certain genes responsible for the disorder, along with specific brain areas responsible. Researchers have even been able to see a clear relationship between 'the addiction gene' and AD/HD. Hence, the reason substance abuse and AD/HD go hand-in-hand. In the near future there will probably be a 'classic' biological test which will make a diagnosis more accurate in a traditional sense.

What I still don't understand is how people who don't have the disorder can quickly claim and degrade any scientific advancement due to a bad experience they 'probably' have encountered throughout their life.

Well, my nephew was diagnoised and put on Adderall with no such scan!! And I know they will sometimes do scans "after the fact", where drugs have already been, so one wonders if the visible damage is from drugs instead of disorder. Also, my nephews' parents never had or do have ADD.

Psychoactive drugs work because they are neurotoxins, and neurotoxins effect the brain by taking over certain functions to create artifical feelings. The ever-popular alcohol is a toxin yet is quite a "feel good" drug as I have been told; I never liked the taste so I never drank enough to really know this personally.

I don't really care to debate this with you further, because the point is basically this: the original poster here has a child who is having adverse drug effects. Obviously, her doctor isn't much help. Maybe she can get some info here and go do some searching herself on the internet for some alternatives, perhaps. But it's always good to present the other side of the issue, even if it's not the popular one right now. My view is the unpopular one, but I'm not alone so this view will continue as long as docs prescribe kids drugs to control behaviors, there will always be this debate.

JMO- Hi. We did not have much luck with Concerta. When my son switched back to regular, plain old Ritalin life got alot better.

Also, our Psychiatrist has mentioned that SOME kids need just a bit of Ritalin to help their brain focus on falling asleep. We don't have that problem here, just telling you what I heard.

Good luck, and don't get discouraged. It must be hard to stay positive when you can't even get a good nights sleep. Ugh. take care

I am an adult in my mid-30s with ADD had been on Concerta for 18 months. It helped me to concentrate on work, read and focus but gave me bad tension headaches and made me irritable. I am looking to have the new Strattera prescribed to combat my focus problems without the hyper and tense side effects I experienced.