Ritalin

With the many kids we have had coffee was never suggested as an alternative to ritalin. Can I be nosy and ask which prescription they put R on? One of our placements came to us on Adderall which worked great for him whereas another was having major weight loss from same. Changing him to Concerta solved the problem ... so if dr has prescribed a certain form and he starts losing weight - ask for a change - when you start children on this - especially at age 4 alot of it is trial and error until you find what works. What about the new version - Straterra (not sure I spelled that right) ... don't have any personal experience with same but have heard may comment on it being better.

The Dr. put R on plain ritalin, 2.5mg at breakfast and 2.5mg at lunch. This is half og the 5mg tablet. Coffee, R has tried coffee today. We're going to give coffee a few weeks before we try ritalin. I'm really hoping that coffee will work. I found some research out there, treating ADHD with diet coke. The study it seemed like it worked for some children and didn't work for others. So I asked the doctor about it and he said it was based on the caffine in the diet coka and that we could use regular coke or even coffee. We chose coffee because R doesn't like soda at all. I'll post on monday and let you know how the coffee did over the weekend, which will be the true test. -LeenaB

My father and step mother are raising three children from my step sister who are all very ADHD and they have been using the coffe therapy on weekends and breaks from school and have found that they "think" it works.... I was on ritalin in the late 60-early 70's when there was a big boom in this area and everyone was considered hyper.... For me it had the other effect with weight gain issue....after several months I became a big ball of lazy and could hardly walk home from school before I colapsed... I ended up with a pre-teen weight gain problem and finally in the 7th grade I was freed from the drugs that made me feel like a zombie... They say that if a child is in fact ADHD then the medication should calm them down....that they should not have the 'same' affects that the average person who usues anphetimines has... Which is where the coffee therory comes from... It is assumed that if a real ADHD person is calmed by stimulants then ALL stimulants should have the same affect.... It is an interesting idea and I think that if I were faced with medicating an ADHD child or trying some coffee I would try the coffee for sure.... I have considered trying it on the baby as I really think he is ADHD but we cannot get that evaluated until he is 4-7 years old.... I did try some coffee with Makala in hope that we might be able to calm her down some....and for her it did not work but, no one is under the impression that her issues are about ADHD she is anxious and the most recent doctor feels she may be bi-polar so the stimulants will not calm her down. We just started a new medication yesterday that is supposed to help her with the anxiety and if she responds to this medication then the doctor is sure we are dealing with more of a mental health issue.... GOSH in the last week two hospitals, intreatment for four days, about five shrinks, one attachment therapists and a host of social workers have all come up with something completely different and all feel the other guy was wrong! My personal plan today is to try what I think will help..... If coffee will take the edge off I am all in favor. As a real and proven ADHD person...I can say that as an adult I do depend on caffine...and I use it daily for focus... I found Vivrian when I was 18 and in college and personally pay great credit to it... I was able to focus and study and when other regular peers tried it they were wired up and had a different affect and they reported the opposit effect of not being able to focus...Most of them used it in order to stay up late and cram... For me in the morning the first thing that matters is my cup of coffee and it is not because I need to get awake or lifted up--it is because until I have it.....my mind is all over the place and I don't know where to start.... once the coffee is down I can actually figure out what my day is going to be about.... I have found that in a day I use about 300 milligrams of caffine with about 200 in the early morning and another little bit right before I cook dinner... I think that coffe is a great chioice to try and if you see an effect then that is all that matters.... If not I think that for some children the medication is a blessing... I wish that I had taken it earlier then I did as a child.... my early grade school years were very socially painful and I suspect that if I had been a clamer child I would have suffered less then....The problems I think for me and weight gain came after puberty and I believe the dosages I recieved were higher then they are using today... After my age group there was a big back lash on ritilian and for a long time it was not used very much... One can hope that the whole treatment issues are being better monitored and managed then it was 40 years ago.

My 12 yo bio-son has been diagnosed with ADHD. For years he would say coffee made him calmer instead of wilder. I think it's interesting that he was able to recognize that. It seems to have the opposite effect on his brother, who is definately not ADHD. We have been given a prescription for Concerta for the upcoming school year, but I can't decide if we will fill it. He was on Ritalin last year and it worked wonders at first, then things seemed to return to the way they were. They wanted to up the dose, but I hate medicating him if we don't have to. Thanks for your post....I think I might try coffee before school for a while and see how things go. I know his ADD mom couldn't get through a day without it;)