My daughter Mia struggles with the usual signs of ADHD, a disorder which, even since she started taking medication, has significantly improved. She has been on 20 mgs of Metadate consistently, but I have been noticing that it wears off by around 4:00 p.m. or so. By the time she goes to work on some homework or reading, or, currently, head to her Karate class, her ability to focus and concentrate..... all of the things that ADHD kids do, is in the toilet. So, recently, I decided to double her dosage to 40 mgs per day. The change is again noteworthy.
Would you all tell your husbands that you have started doubling the dosage? I know my husband. I know he is resistant to educating himself of what he disagrees with, even if it would be in someone's best interests. I don't like withholding information from him, but I feel like there are some things that I just know better about. This is one of them.
I have told my husband that I have twice doubled her dosage of her medication. He and I talked, and I will indeed speak with my daughter's pediatrician before continuing on any sort of dosage change from this point forth.
So that you all know, I was looking for feedback and advice. I was not looking for, nor did I expect the kind of vicious response I got from some of you. Those particular individuals make it sound like I don't care for my daughter and would knowingly and uncaringly do her harm. To those individuals, without responding with words I don't want to use here, I will just leave well enough alone.
doubling the dosage isn't a good idea w/o a dr. You need to talk to her dr and see if he wants to perscribe her something for the afternoon. That's what we did for my daughter, she is now on a low dose (10 mg) of a short acting rx (focalin) twice a day. And many short actings have a generic so they are also less expensive. I have never heard of the medicine you are talkign about though.
Oh my god, you should NOT be doubling this medication without a doctors ORDERS. Those are serious medications. You need to call your Dr.
You are a mother, not a physician. Please stop acting like one. Tell you your husband and tell your Dr. You run the potential of seriously over-medicating your own child, without a doctors knowledge. Please stop this. You can't play Dr. with your child's body, that is incredibly dangerous. YOU need to educate yourself on what you're doing, and stop doing it!! You are NOT doing what's in your daughter's best interest. Have you thought that maybe your husband doesn't do that, because HE is thinking of his daughters best interests???
You don't know better. You are NOT a Dr. You have NO medical authority to do what you are doing. STOP IT.
I don't think the moms were out of line at all. You have no business DOUBLING your daughter's medication without discussing this with her doctor. It doesn't sound like you are making a good decision and do not know more than your husband. Parents make these decisions together.
i'd be more interested in knowing if your doctor has allowed you the latitude to make such a change in her dosage... i feel that you are definitely in the wrong in regards to your husband, that is HIS child too, and he deserves to have just as much input as you - how would you feel if he suddenly decided to NOT give her the meds and not tell you? if you truly feel that you are right, and he is wrong, schedule a consult(without your daughter) with the prescribing physician to educate your husband on the risk/benefit analysis of the meds. but witholding this type of information can only lead to bad things... good luck :)
It is really important that you talk to her doctor BEFORE increasing the dosage of that kind of medication. Also, DOUBLING is probably not the best first step. How about 25mg or 30mg before you go to 40mg? Also, increasing the dosage doesn't JUST make it last longer... It makes her have way more drug in her system ALL DAY. Her doctor may suggest a short acting drug to be given at 3pm to get her through homework/karate etc., rather than having her over medicated all day long.
My son also has ADHD and takes Adderall XR. We (his pediatrician and I) recently increased his dosage from 10mg to 15mg. It is likely that he will go to 20mg to manage school and after school activities, but making more than a 5mg jump at one time is COUNTER to recommendations of the drug manufacturer! Please remember that these medications can impact blood pressure and heart rate, it is important for your doctor to monitor increases so that your precious girl stays HEALTHY!
Anyway, to answer your actual question: No, I would not TELL my husband I started doubling the dosage... I would TALK to him before I did it! I know you think you know better about about her ADHD and medication, but you obviously don't know enough to be doing this on your own. Call your pediatrician TODAY and get your daughter in to have her dosage reevaluated. Take your husband with you.
Best of luck.
T.
Doubling the dose will not increase the length of effectiveness. I am wondering why your doctor agreed to the increase based on when it wore off. Did you tell them the reason?
My daughter is on Adderall extended and it wears off at 2 because of how early she takes it in the morning. So she takes short dose at 1:30 that gets her through the rest of the day.
Over medicating is just as bad as under medicating.
Anyway, yes you should tell him and anyone that is in contact with the child. They may see something that you don't. You need to know what is going on to pass that information on to the doctor to properly dose the child. You can sort through what information is useful or not, but you need the information.
Woah! wait, back up the bus, you changed her meds, not your doctor!! No wonder your husband has no faith in your ability to make these decisions!! If you had cleared that with your doctor he would have told you all you were doing is sedating her during the time it is effective! Lord.....
This is from a website about this particular medication ... if you are doing this change on your own I would strongly advise against... and my son works with Adhd non medicated - meds made him easier to work with for about a week ... then it stopped ... we just took him off all together. Oh and you should ALWAYS tell your signifigant other the EXACT doses of medications in your child's body at all times. This is not an area where lies are acceptable.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000606/
"Methylphenidate can be habit-forming. Do not take a larger dose, take it more often, take it for a longer time, or take it in a different way than prescribed by your doctor. If you take too much methylphenidate, you may find that the medication no longer controls your symptoms, you may feel a need to take large amounts of the medication, and you may experience unusual changes in your behavior. Tell your doctor if you drink or have ever drunk large amounts of alcohol, use or have ever used street drugs, or have overused prescription medications."
My doctor.. Has my dd on focalin 20 mg extended release.. Then as needed a short acting pill for homework ect of 10 mg at night. Ask dr. About that.
These are DRUGS and you are playing with fire. You need to get the okay to increase your child's dosage from a doctor.
I would defiantly tell him and her dr if you haven't yet! those are not meds you want to mess with, they can have very serious side effects! my son also has ADHD as well as bipolar, and i would never think of increasing his dose without the dr suggesting it first. Thats why we have her to tell us when something doesn't work and he needs more. so PLEASE tell the dr
*I want to say sorry if my answer upset you..I have a ADHD/bipolar child and trust me there have been PLENTY of times where I wanted to slip him an extra pill to calm him down! I totally understand where you are coming from but like I said the dr should make that call
I would tell my husband dosage amounts for our children. What if something happened to you, he would need to take over the responsibility of giving her the meds. It sounds like you're the one that deals with the brunt of her behavior after the meds wear off... Just explain that to him. AND, any doctor would give your daughter something to help her through her homework.
There were a couple very harsh responses that were mean! I know people are concerned, but say THAT instead of ripping this lady a new one, sheesh!
