Has anyone notice meds not working after a few weeks?

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My 10 yo Aspie has been on meds for AS for over 2 years now. We started out w/Adderall - this had the best result academically, but had him so extremely anxious that he pulled a bald spot on the top of his head. We then went on to Concerta, Straterra, Metedate and now Focolin. And with each medication, we'd always see this great, dramatic improvement on the meds (no matter what it was) for about 2-4 weeks. Then, gradually, he'd begin to go back to the way he is w/out meds - unable to focus, inattentive, inable to retain info, etc. So the doctor would try increasing the dosage, and again, we'd see improvement for a few weeks, but then regression again. Only to move on to a new med to start the same process over again.

We get so excited in the beginning when we see such progress - thinking we've finally found something that will help him - and then such dissappointment when he starts to regress and struggle again. I don't want to spend my son's childhood hopping from one med to the next just to maintain average academics.

Has anyon else noticed this kind of pattern with meds? (regardless of brand)

we've had the same issues too...we put son on seroquel at a low dose, and the low dose worked for about 4 weeks~ then it was back to not sleeping...we upped the dose again, now he's sleeping but still has somewhat flat affect & depressive mood. we've just started him on wellbutrin in addition to his current med cocktail of prozac & seroquel ~ so far he reports feeling happier...hope this trend continues. when son was on paxil, we noticed the same sort of thing happeninng ( meds not working after 2-4 weeks)...we increased the paxil, but unfortunately it also increased his agression.

i know it might sound nutty, but did the dr ever mention trying to keep him on adderall, and add another med for the anxiety ?

Actually, no he didn't. That's something I hadn't thought about...

ster, when your son was on Paxil, did you notice any change in his sleep pattern? I'm supposed to up Sam's dose this weekend, but I've already noticed that he's getting up earlier (and perkier) in the mornings. It used to be a battle to drag him out of bed, but this past week he's been like a jack-in-the-box--he pops right up as soon as he hears someone else moving about the house. Also, I'm still keeping an eye out for increased agression. Can you remember any other changes you saw in your son while on Paxil?

the only consistency we saw with paxil was the increased agression & lack of sleep....it seemed like he could get away with less and less sleep