Taking a medication break

[HIU8]

DS has been having pretty bad rebound from the focalin xr he has been on since August. DP, just today, decided to change him to Concerta (same drug family, different drug make-up). It is supposed to ease off a little better than the focalin and the appetite suppression issues are not supposed to be as bad. We are going to start the Concerta on Monday and take a 3 day med break to gauge DS without the meds. Trial and error abounds here. I hope we can find something that helps DS without overwhelming ill effects. When not on the meds DS eats like a teenage boy (he is 7). I mean he eats both me and DH under the table (he has been off the meds once before about a month ago). I hated seeing him go from the hearty eating to pretty much nothing. Luckily he gained weight and grew since our last DP appt (but he drinks boost as a suppliment once a day).

Anyone had any issues with generic Concerta vs. name brand?

[chays]

I, personally, think the brand was better. The doc hasn't seen any difference so he thinks that DS just coincidentally needed a higher dose. He was OK on 18 brand, but 18 generic wasn't so good so we increased. We are now trying strattera. Good luck!

[crl]

No experience with either drug, but want to wish you luck!

Catherine

[MichelleRC]

No personal experience here, but a 9 year old girl at the school I work had terrible rebound effects from the generic but is doing wonderfully on Concerta.

DS1 is having moderate success from a Coke in the afternoon doctored up with 1/2 tsp of Behavior Balance DMG (thanks to whoever recommended this--Gena I think!!)

[MamaKath]

Wondering how it is going/went? We have been doing weekends with no meds and some are better than others. We are back to focalin xr after a really bad reaction to concerta (not generic) last year. Concerta's increments are static- you can not cut them, the coating is integral to the release of the meds. If it seems too high, call dr and get a prescription for the increment below right away. We could not hit the proper dosing it seemed due to this. Thinking of you!