concerta ????

[earnhardt1]

ok my nephew is gettin put on concerta on thursday he is 2 1/2 does anyone think this is to young to medicate a child besides me?

[ElleGee]

2 and a half is waaaaayyyyyyy too young. I think they are mistaking terrible twos for something that is possibly not there..


My son is 10 and just started taking it.. And he needs it .lol

[ahippiechic]

It seems very young to me also.

[earnhardt1]

i am begging his mom not to do this but they arent listening......
he has a neurological exam on wednesday and they are checkin for autism but i dont see the concerta being the answer... i sotn see him being a baby anymore if they do this i see him being a zombie

[ElleGee]

I have a nephew w/ autism... They didn't put him on any meds before diagnosing him.

One has to wonder what the hell is going thru the parents minds on putting their baby on meds so young

Earnhardt, do you think he is autistic?

[Njean31]

yes, i think it's too young and way overused. all the add adhd meds are! it's getting a lil ridiculous in my opinion. wonder what kind of people this generation of kids are going to be.......medicating their growing brains starting so young and for so long.

[earnhardt1]

I have a nephew w/ autism... They didn't put him on any meds before diagnosing him.

One has to wonder what the hell is going thru the parents minds on putting their baby on meds so young

Earnhardt, do you think he is autistic?

i know he doesnt talk and he throws terrible fits where he will slam his head off the floor and the wall and they are saying this is becasue he is autistic. he says mommy and he calls my son boo ( his nick name)

[ElleGee]

My nephew is 8 now.. It took him 4 years just to start talking.. Eventually , with schooling, he should become a mid functioning autistic..

Although he never banged his head on the wall , he does throw terrible fits but what kid doesn't

Sensitivity to loud noise is another one he has..

However with all the stuff my nephew has done he has NEVER been medicated..

Are they using the meds to calm him down until they get a dx?

*He's 2.. temper tantrums are normal...

[earnhardt1]

he gets the neurological exam on Wednesday and they are giving him meds on thursday... i know he is very hyper but he is 2 and i think he is a normal 2 yr old except for the fits he throws

[PrincessArky]

I hope they get good news on the tests and dont put him on meds

[catdance]

Michelle..E-mail me..your E-mail hates me..LOL..

[ladybugva]

I had (and some times still do) a HORRIBLE temper. When i was 2 I used to bang my head on the floor, kick stuff... One as an adult I threw a frozen waffle at some one. LOL But never any thing heavier.

I am not add/adhd (well maybe just a little but not much) I did talk by that age. BUT I do have a hyper almost 4 yr old that doesn't talk nearly as well or as much as he should but I wouldn't consider putting him on any thing at this point b/c 1)he is young 2) he is a boy 3) he is JUST like his older brother.

I hope they get some more opinions before they make the decision to start putting him on meds so young.

[Jolie Rouge]

Concerta is an excellent product when used appropriately. I can not imagine it being "appropriate" for a 2 1/2 year old. We had a in our day School that the parents were concerned about autism ... they ended up putting tubes in both ears and most of the issues were resolved ( tantrums, balance, inattention, lack of speech ... ) Most 2 year old throw tantrums out of frustration ... and meds are not the solution to that.

[buttrfli]

I can't imagine any competent doctor medicating a 2 1/2 year old child like that.

[JewRican]

If a doctor is really prescribing this then they are a straight up quack! Meds like that are strongly not recommended before age 5. He sounds like my 3.5 year old. His tantrums and head banging are just frustration at not being able to communicate verbally. My son is also very high energy but the last thing I would do is medicate him this young. My daughter who is 9.5 takes Concerta but this is her first year on it. She needed it and we've noticed a big difference in her behaviour at school and her grades for the better.

[ElleGee]

My daughter who is 9.5 takes Concerta but this is her first year on it. She needed it and we've noticed a big difference in her behaviour at school and her grades for the better.

I noticed a big difference in my son's school work and behaviour too *nod

[Bliss]

It's insane to medicate a small child or any child for that matter. IMHO Children are children they tend to be hyper & act like children. I have no idea why anyyone would want to place their small child on dangerous drugs that have more side effects than what the drug is used for, in the long run it only causes more problems..Let kids be kids, geez.

The USA is so freaking pill happy it's not even funny. There's a damn pill for everything - before to long everyone will be walking around like zombies because they can't function with everyday life

[earnhardt1]

i am so afraid for him he is a sweet boy and im afraid this is going to ruin him

[JewRican]

It's insane to medicate a small child or any child for that matter. IMHO Children are children they tend to be hyper & act like children. I have no idea why anyyone would want to place their small child on dangerous drugs that have more side effects than what the drug is used for, in the long run it only causes more problems..Let kids be kids, geez.

The USA is so freaking pill happy it's not even funny. There's a damn pill for everything - before to long everyone will be walking around like zombies because they can't function with everyday life

My daughter truly needed to be medicated. She was the class distraction, never able to sit still, be quiet or have friends. Her grades started slipping due to her classroom behaviour and at home I wanted to wring her neck at times. Since starting 18 mgs, the lowest dose, her progress reports have shown marked improvement and best of all she has friends! :happy The school stuff made me happy but her having friends outside of family made me ecstatic. She is much happier now too. After her first month she was given the option to stop taking the pills but she noticed a difference in herself so she choose to stay on them. She will get a break from them over the summer though.

[Kelsey1224]

While I don't know enough about the situation to say whether it is right or wrong, it does seem young for a child to be medicated.

However...not all children throw terrible fits. My children didn't. Two of my grandchildren never did. My youngest grandson does bang his head occasionally...but I would hardly call it a 'fit'. We just laugh and he stops.

I guess it would all depend on just how severe these fits are and if he is in real danger of hurting himself.

[Anig2u]

I don't believe that your nephew should be put on meds at this point. Some children do need medication though at some point but not at that age.

My nephew from very early on, wouldn't talk to anyone even family, or associate with any of his classmates or other children at school. There was something not quite right. He acted out at home and would cry and whine about every little thing. He would only wear certain types of clothing and shoes..he had it in his head what they should look like and be and if my sister could not find them in a store he would have a fit and would refuse to get anything other. There were many other issues. My sister took him for counseling a year ago at the age of 11 and got him on the "right" medication and he is like a changed kid. He talks to all his relatives and laughs and plays with his cousins and has made lots of friends at school. He can now go shopping and get clothes & shoes they actually have in the stores. Some "kids" need counsling and medication to function normally. It's sad that we missed a lot of years with my nephew. He plays the guitar and drums, goes skiing, and snowboarding..totally different than what he once was. He is deffinately not a walking zombie as some people referr to others on medication. I do believe that too many kids and adults are being prescribed medication as a fast fix though.

[Bliss]

My daughter truly needed to be medicated. She was the class distraction, never able to sit still, be quiet or have friends. Her grades started slipping due to her classroom behaviour and at home I wanted to wring her neck at times. Since starting 18 mgs, the lowest dose, her progress reports have shown marked improvement and best of all she has friends! :happy The school stuff made me happy but her having friends outside of family made me ecstatic. She is much happier now too. After her first month she was given the option to stop taking the pills but she noticed a difference in herself so she choose to stay on them. She will get a break from them over the summer though.


I understand if they really need medication. A lot of parents place their children on meds simply because they are hyper and they don't want to deal with a hyper child.

[earnhardt1]

i think the tube in his ear thing is what he needs for one in the last year he has had 5 ear infections and he acts like he cant hear us.... he is always messing with his ears.....
well fingers crossed pray for the lil man he is on his way to the clininc for his neurological exam... i am so worried about him.... then tommorow they are going to medicate him i am jsut so upset.

[RNB16]

Ear issues can cause a child to act the way he is, have you suggested this to her? Tubes in my oldest ears made a huge difference that was immediatly noticeable (his were at 1 and 3yrs). However my oldest is also on ADHD meds and has been since a few months before he turned 6 (he is now almost 10) and there was a huge difference after those as well. My son is by no means a zombie no where even close to it, I stilll have all I can do to keep up with him. 2 1/2 seems very very young to start meds. I'll keep my fingers crossed that his exam goes well.

[earnhardt1]

thanks RNB i just hate to see the lil man be medicated for something not needed

[RNB16]

I hear ya there. We agonized over the descion to medicate our son but for us it was the right choice but there's no way I would have done it at that young of an age. I would strongly urge her to get him into and Ear Nose and Throat Doc to get an opinion there, sometimes insurance won't even require a refferal for that. My son still has days where the pressure in his ears build up and I can tell by how he is acting, those days for him he hears like he is underwater.

[earnhardt1]

daylen is a great kid but doesnt listen at all to anyone.... but he isnt wat i would call add or adhd

[RNB16]

Well if it's listening and he's had 5 ear infections in the past year it definatly sounds like an ear issue to me. I hope you can convince her to have him seen by an ENT. I just went through that with a friend of mine her son had a lot of ear infections and his Doc wouldn't do anything about it. As soon as I got her convinced to demand he be seen by an ENT he was scheduled 2 weeks later for tubes, the infections were causing hearing loss and making him miserable. Now he is as happy as can be. Keep me posted on what you find out about him!

[PrincessArky]

i think the tube in his ear thing is what he needs for one in the last year he has had 5 ear infections and he acts like he cant hear us.... he is always messing with his ears.....
well fingers crossed pray for the lil man he is on his way to the clininc for his neurological exam... i am so worried about him.... then tommorow they are going to medicate him i am jsut so upset.

so his dr doesnt see the point in putting tubes in yet??? so he ignores an obvious problem yet wants to see if he can find something more serious with this kid.........sorry sounds like they need a better dr. My oldest had ear problems as did my last and tubes will help many problems no doubt. My oldest of course had to go on meds when he was a bit over 7 because the diet thing wasn't working anymore to control his behavior and boy that was a hard choice but I just cant see putting a 2 1/2 yr old on meds unless the parents just don't want to deal with him......which is terribly sad :(

[earnhardt1]

well jsut got off the phone with the mom and she said they are rescheduling the neurological exam until he is 3 but she ignores the ear info i shared with her.... she said oh well they will figure it out when he takes the test when he is 3 and they are going to medicate him tommorow...... i cant see putting a baby on meds that are recomended for ages 5 and up......
my poor buddy i really hope this doesnt mess him up

[PrincessArky]

well jsut got off the phone with the mom and she said they are rescheduling the neurological exam until he is 3 but she ignores the ear info i shared with her.... she said oh well they will figure it out when he takes the test when he is 3 and they are going to medicate him tommorow...... i cant see putting a baby on meds that are recomended for ages 5 and up......
my poor buddy i really hope this doesnt mess him up

oh this isnt the news I wanted to hear :( sorry but sounds like she isnt a very good mom.......a good mom always puts her kids first and sounds more like she just wants the kid medicated so she can deal with him :(

Does she know that putting off doing something about his ears can do permanant damage to his hearing???

[ElleGee]

ugh

[earnhardt1]

oh this isnt the news I wanted to hear :( sorry but sounds like she isnt a very good mom.......a good mom always puts her kids first and sounds more like she just wants the kid medicated so she can deal with him :(

Does she know that putting off doing something about his ears can do permanant damage to his hearing???

i am so worried about my poor little buddy this is the lil guy i had all last summer.. he isnt my real nephew but he is the closest thing ill have to one and it is breakin my heart right now the drs are giving him a low does of the concerta tommorow....

[MistyWolf]

Way too young if you ask me.

[earnhardt1]

ill update after i see him friday!!!!! he will be here all weekend

[DrGrin]

Any doctor that would put a child that age on that type of medication needs to have their license to practice medicine taken away. What an idiot!

[PrincessArky]

Any doctor that would put a child that age on that type of medication needs to have their license to practice medicine taken away. What an idiot!

ditto

[Beso]

ditto

I agree to young.

[Bliss]

well jsut got off the phone with the mom and she said they are rescheduling the neurological exam until he is 3 but she ignores the ear info i shared with her.... she said oh well they will figure it out when he takes the test when he is 3 and they are going to medicate him tommorow...... i cant see putting a baby on meds that are recomended for ages 5 and up......
my poor buddy i really hope this doesnt mess him up


I don't understand how "they" are going to medicate him without a diagnosis. It doesn't make a whole hell of a lot of sense.

The mother needs to take her child to a different ped. to have his ears checked out before he loses his hearing. Which he probably has by now since he's not "listening" to anyone.

[buttrfli]

I am sorry, but none of this makes any sense.

Its not even supposed to be prescribed to children under 6. I can't imagine that the doctor who writes or the pharmacist who fills the prescription are willing to risk their license and do something so neglient.

[earnhardt1]

i am so hoping they tell her no tommorow at the pharmacy or something tommorow...........

[RNB16]

While I do not agree with a child this young recieving this medication it is not illegal to prescribe it to a child that young. 5 and older is the "recommended" age. Neither the Pharmacist or Doc will get in "trouble" for giving it to him. Many drugs are given for other things than what they are recommended for. It is up to the parent to research anything a Doctor suggests to you to give your children and obviously she's not doing that.

[Bliss]

i am so hoping they tell her no tommorow at the pharmacy or something tommorow...........

It doesn't work like that. As long as the parent has a prescription for the child the pharmacist must fill it, unless the prescription was forged. They cannot decline filling a prescription as long as it's valid written by a doctor. A real doctor, not one who plays one on TV or online...lol.

[earnhardt1]

well i hope the dr says no or something

[suprtruckr]

if the dr writes the scrip it's not required for the parent to turn it in to the pharmacist or if they do they can tell the pharmacy to put it on hold and do not fill it at this time

[earnhardt1]

she is excited about it saying it will calm him down

[PrincessArky]

she is excited about it saying it will calm him down

spoken like a mom who just wants things HER way so sad she and a dr are allowed to do this

[Bliss]

if the dr writes the scrip it's not required for the parent to turn it in to the pharmacist or if they do they can tell the pharmacy to put it on hold and do not fill it at this time


True... Why even bother with a pharmacy. I've had many scrips written out and I trashed them after I read the side effects. One dumb doctor gave me a script for high blood pressure, I have low blood pressure. If I would have filled it and taken it, it would have killed me.


-------------------------------

Anyway, The parent who is all for drugging the 2 yr old up cause she doesn't want to deal with him being hyper, doesn't need to be a mother.

[tracey74]

sounds like my nephew for years I told my sister to have his hearing checked by a ENT because he still to this day cannot speak correctly and he will be 12. she had the nerve to say he hears me he just doesnt want to. he acted up, threw fits,was really hyper at home but when he was here or anytime he is we have no problem with him(she let him do what he wanted when he was smaller and didnt punish him unless he got on her nerves) anyway she had him put on an ADHD med a few years ago so she could deal with him. the boy doesnt need it. if she was more of a parent and learned how to deal with it then he wouldnt need to be on a ADHD med. his dad also has no problem with him and doesnt give him his medicine when with him. if the child is having frequent ear infections then that needs to be looked at it will only get worse my cousin was like this also my mom told my aunt to get his hearing checked(this was over 30 yrs ago) and when she finally listened it was too late he now had to wear a hearing aid in both ears. if a kid cant hear they cant speak well and they cant verbalize their wants and needs so they have to resort to getting attention other ways whether it be yelling,banging their head on a floor ,wall,etc maybe the mother also could get him a speech therapist after having his ears checked instead of medicating him for something he may not have to me thats child abuse and shouldnt be allowed to go on.

[earnhardt1]

what pisses me off is why his pediatrician will mediated him for add/adhd but not check his ears... dumb quack drs....... i kept him all summer last year and he never did that stuff here... she isnt very patient with him but tries to be.... he knows i think that he cant get away with stuff with me and his uncle.....
on sunday he bit my son so hard my son was bleeding and my sons friend was also bitten on sunday by him but the other boy he actually took a piece of meat out of his arm.... i told her to break the habit fast...... i put him in time out and he didnt bite anymore till monday..... now i will have him 2morrow while she is at work and i bet he is an angel for me and as soon as she gets home he will get in trouble..... lol i love this lil dude so much like he was my own when he got hurt last summer it killed me...... i had turned around to get a drink while he was jumping on the trampolne and he jumped out the doorway and broke his arm i blamed myself and still do....

[PrincessArky]

what pisses me off is why his pediatrician will mediated him for add/adhd but not check his ears... dumb quack drs....... i kept him all summer last year and he never did that stuff here... she isnt very patient with him but tries to be.... he knows i think that he cant get away with stuff with me and his uncle.....
on sunday he bit my son so hard my son was bleeding and my sons friend was also bitten on sunday by him but the other boy he actually took a piece of meat out of his arm.... i told her to break the habit fast...... i put him in time out and he didnt bite anymore till monday..... now i will have him 2morrow while she is at work and i bet he is an angel for me and as soon as she gets home he will get in trouble..... lol i love this lil dude so much like he was my own when he got hurt last summer it killed me...... i had turned around to get a drink while he was jumping on the trampolne and he jumped out the doorway and broke his arm i blamed myself and still do....

girl DO NOT blame yourself.........kids get hurt all the time.....I see it this way.... from the sounds of it you are the ONE person that truly loves this boy and he is very lucky to have you :)

[ElleGee]

girl DO NOT blame yourself.........kids get hurt all the time.....I see it this way.... from the sounds of it you are the ONE person that truly loves this boy and he is very lucky to have you :)

Exactly

[missymommy]

I wonder why he picked concerta when they have other meds that are safer for kids. I also wonder if they have a dose low enough to give a child so small. I worry because as an adult I was given to high a dose of concerta for many months and I believe that was the cause of the mental problems I had. My life became a nightmare. Once I stopped taking the medication my problems went away. I was given twice the recommended highest dose. I didn't start taking that high, it did go up over several months.

I am not saying that concerta isn't a good medication if used correctly, but from personal experience I know what can happen if the doctor ordering it doesn't prescribe it right. My doctor also took concerta and he really, really pushed it on me.

Here are signs of overdose....

Concerns About Concerta - Overdose

Courtesy of the FDA
Signs and symptoms of acute Concerta (methylphenidate) overdose, resulting principally from overstimulation of the CNS and from excessive sympathomimetic effects, may include the following: vomiting, agitation, tremors, hyperreflexia, muscle twitching, convulsions (may be followed by coma), euphoria, confusion, hallucinations, delirium, sweating, flushing, headache, hyperpyrexia, tachycardia, palpitations, cardiac arrhythmias, hypertension, mydriasis, and dryness of mucous membranes.

[earnhardt1]

well i will know here in about 30 minutes what they did.........

[ElleGee]

my 10 year old is on the lowest dose (18mg). I cannot imagine a 2 and a half year old on a dose that my 10 yr old is on.. and I see how it affects him..

[earnhardt1]

WOOHOOOOOOO............................ the other dr was there and told her no way in hell would she do it they told her call a specialist that can do it instead of them...... and that is going to take atleast 3 mths to get in so hopefully by tehn he will get his ears checked

yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i am so happy

[ElleGee]

awesome!

[Jolie Rouge]

FYI : http://www.bigbigforums.com/news-information/580664-heart-exam-ekg-recommended-before-children-get-adhd-drugs.html#post95862436