Parents who medicated 4 - 5 year old with ADHD..

sdg · #1 October 17th, 2011, 01:01 PM

What medication did you start with ? One Dr. suggested Dexedrine since it is approved for children 3 and older.. Another Dr. suggested low dose ritalin. We are just at the point of getting diagnosis' and hearing dr. suggestions.. Thanks so much!

lovemyboysandabbey2 · #2 October 18th, 2011, 02:59 PM

I honestly can't remember..

my kids have been on it for so long and it was so long ago.

AlexKatieAiden Mommy · #3 October 18th, 2011, 06:37 PM

So sorry but I don't have any experience with a child that young. But I was put on meds at 9 and ritalin worked wonders for me. It could be a place to start.

missy123 · #4 October 19th, 2011, 04:42 PM

My sons started with 2.5 mg of adderall. My youngest is still on it to this day.

LindseyE117 · #5 October 19th, 2011, 05:27 PM

I am not familiar with either of those meds. Sorry.

They put my son on Vyvane, and although it did seem to help at first, he lost his appetite and lost over 10 lbs in one month. I guess that is a common side effect with that med. He is on Strattera now. It does not do as good of a job, but it does take the edge off.

jenninator · #6 October 19th, 2011, 06:10 PM

My daughter, age 5 started taking Focalin XR about 3 months ago. It has helped her alot and I haven't seen any negative side effects. The dr was considering concerta or focalin - but she cannot swallow pills no matter how hard we try. The focalin can be opened up and sprinkled in a spoonful of applesauce. Good luck!

missy123 · #7 October 20th, 2011, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jenninator

My daughter, age 5 started taking Focalin XR about 3 months ago. It has helped her alot and I haven't seen any negative side effects. The dr was considering concerta or focalin - but she cannot swallow pills no matter how hard we try. The focalin can be opened up and sprinkled in a spoonful of applesauce. Good luck!

You brought up a really good point. A lot of our little ones can't swallow pills at first so the medicines need to be limited to those that can be opened up and put in applesauce. Great point you brought up!

who_it_is · #8 October 20th, 2011, 03:19 PM

My DS, now 9, was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 4.5. We started him on a low dose of ritalin. Because it was a low dose and something that he took more than once a day, it was easy to adjust the dosage to get to a point where we could see that it was helping without us having to worry about him being over medicated. You can half the tablets, so you can really dial in the dosage. Once we found a good dosage, we switched to something a little longer lasting. Ritalin pills are pretty tiny, and my DS always managed to just be able to swallow them - I would just give him a drink from a straw and that seemed to help them go down. I think you can also crush ritalin into applesauce or something like that.

sdg · #9 December 1st, 2011, 08:55 AM

Thank you so much for all your responses. The Dr. started him on Focalin XR 5mg. This is his 2nd week. So far, no bad side effects. We notice him slightly calmer and slightly more focused. Still a little implusive behaviors.. Dr. wants to try 10mg to see if we see more results.

jenninator · #10 December 4th, 2011, 08:37 PM

I hope it continues to go well!

Zycie · #11 January 12th, 2012, 04:09 PM

We started my 5 year old on Daytrana. It's a type of Ritalin but it's in a patch that you stick to them. It works very well for us and allows flexibility in scheduling and the option of medication free days. Plus, now that he's in school, I put it on at home and it lasts all day without having to dose at school.

Jillmaica · #12 February 15th, 2012, 01:08 PM

my 5.5yo son was just diagnosed a couple weeks ago and I was inquiring about the patch to his ped and she said it's not recommended for anyone under 6 and our insurance wouldn't cover it. :-( She prescribed 10mg Ritalin LA 24hr. capsule that we will have to sprinkle in applesauce every morning.