I Have already posted on here about my 6yr.old son he is now 7 and been on ritalin LA for 8 months now.I hate when people say don't give your 5,6,7 yr.old medication their to little. But I think as parents we know them better then anyone else does and we know when they need a little help controlling themselves.Belieive me giving my son meds was the last thing I wanted to do. This medication helps him get through school and have good evenings at home. I have no complaints. He eats, he sleeps, and he isn't a zomby like the other medication vyvanse made him. He gets a good 7-8hrs out of it and slowly comes down in the evening. he's on 30mg and thats what seems to work for him. Published: November 11, 2008 ::

My daughter was 5 when diagnosed with ADHD. She started on Ritalin LA as her first medication attempt a few months later when school started. She did good on it for a while. We got up to 30mg daily but instead of the 6-8hrs promised, she usually got a good 5 usable hours prior to coming down. She was arguementative about homework at night unless it was done right after school (which we started doing w/my mom). She developed a very loud, annoying and very disruptive verbal tic. (Think throat clearing loud enough to hurt your ears within 3 feet of her). So we are switching to Strattera to try it and we'll see. The Ritalin was pretty good though, she complained of stomach pain sometimes and I think that was the medicine. But overall, no weight loss (just smaller gains than prior on the growth chart but it remained consistant) normal growth rate, appetite was less so for lunch but good the rest of the day. She did SO much better in school and her ability to concentrate when it was working was great. An overall good improvement, but the tic thing was an overwhelming side effect that was detrimental to school and social situations. I think the tic was brought out from stress, but, am not sure. I'm hoping she will do good on the Strattera, but it bothers me there is no other way to treat this that doesn't involve potentially mood altering drugs..... Published: March 12, 2008 ::

My daughter has been taking this medication for about 6 weeks. The difference in her school performance is amazing. She can stay on task much better and her socialization has improved greatly. The only side effect so far is she gets very emotional in the late afternoon(crying/whinning), but this seems to be improving somewhat. We are pleased with this medication as our first ADHD med. Published: November 20, 2007 ::

I began taking this medicine when I was about 17(20 now) and I would be very careful giving this medicine to younger children. It alters your personality as well as helping you focus and stay on track with your activities. It does not substitute for a good work ethic or diligence however, those skills must be trained not drugged. This medicine does give an extreme drop off after approximately 6 hours after the dosage and is rather rough on one mentally. Almost as if you were watching one channel of tv and suddenly someone else grabs the remote and switches channels without your control. I felt I needed to post because I read of so many VERY young children being given this powerful drug and I believe that discipline must first be attempted before jumping into giving your 5 year old drugs. Published: October 01, 2008 ::

My 6yr.old son has been on this medication for a week now and seems to be doing ok. a lot better than he did on vyvanse. the only side effect I see is that at lunch time he does not eat. so far so good. no depression no insomnia no crying.(all with which we had with vyvanse). Published: March 23, 2008 ::

This medication has made a tremendous difference in my life. I was diagnosed at 45 years old with ADHD and wonder how much better my life could have been if I'd been diagnosed as a child! Published: October 20, 2007 ::

I have ADD without the hyperactivity for 20 years and ritalin has been the only medicine thats worked but the 24 hour pill has moe extreme side effects. Published: June 27, 2008 ::

This medication has worked very well! I am 36 years old and I have finally been able to keep the same job(going on 5 years) I used to get 2 or 3 speeding tickets a month. I have not received a single one since I started taking ritalin 5 years ago! Published: June 06, 2008 ::