6 Yr Old Starting Concerta

Our son has been on Concerta about five years now. At first, you'll likely see a decline in appetite. It can be shocking, but stick with it. It gets better over time. Also, you can feed your child a lot in the mornings and evenings, when the medication isn't active.

We haven't seen any other side effects from Concerta. It's been by far the best match for our son. I love Concerta! It's given our son a normal life.

My best advice, though, is that if you don't like anything about the medication once you start it, realize you don't have to stick with it. I call our son's psychiatric nurse all the time with questions and we stay in touch with his psychiatrist about how things are going. Be the same way. If you aren't sure if something is normal, call. If you're not happy with Concerta, stop it.

Good luck! I hope Concerta proves to be a good match for your son, too.

Concerta is the only thing that works for my son. Your boy will most likely not be hungry, so don't freak out when he doesn't want to eat anything.

It's not a drug that needs to "build up" in his system, so if it's a good match for your son, you should see results really quickly. You'll also be able to tell when it "wears off". Docs usually start off at a low dose, and adjust it up if needed. Keep in touch with his teacher, let her know he's started the med and ask for daily updates to let you know how it's working at school.

If Riley J. sees this, she seems to know a lot about ADHD and the meds.
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My 9 year old daughter has been on Concerta for over a year now and it has greatly helped her concentration and focus at school and at home. Like the other mom's said about the appetite, or lack there of. We know it works best because if we forget to give it to her, she can not focus on anything.

I am commenting so I can "bookmark" your question. We are still evalutaing our oldest (age 8), but are pretty sure he has ADHD. Good luck to you!

We tried it but didn't have any luck but I know it works for alot of kids. It made my son more aggressive and another side effect was a lack of appetite. It helps if you give him a big breakfast before giving him his morning pill. Good luck...