concerta and food?

Marguerite

Active Member
Often they will eat if they're reminded to. It's important to keep the diet balanced. We also have a junk-free larder, as much as possible.

A tip I got from a friend of mine whose daughter has muscular dystrophy and when diagnosed at 3, she would often be too tired to eat - she would not make her stay at the table but would make her meals portable and easy to chew (maybe not as necessary for a healthy kid - easy to chew, I mean). She would also keep putting food beside her, whatever she was doing. She also disguised a lot of healthy food into small patties, so meat and vegetables would be mixed together into a product not unlike chicken nuggets, but home-made and healthy.

I saw an episode of Oprah and she had a guest on it who has just published a cookbook on how to hide vegetables in the most amazing places. She was the wife of some celebrity, can't remember who... I want the book, though.

I just looked it up - it was Jessica Seinfeld and here is a link:
http://www.oprah.com/community/thread/82...xuOay0?tstart=0

She spends one day a week cooking vegetables and pureeing them to store in bags in the freezer. She then uses the pureed vegetables in a number of different recipes. And I remember a favourite cake from the cake shop near where I used to work, it was the gourmet delicacy - Walnut & Zucchini cake. Absolute heaven. easy child used to ask for one every birthday. So sneaking vegetables into otherwise 'naughty' food can be a way to get kids to eat well without realising it.

My friend found out what her daughter liked, and cooked to that. With Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) kids you need to keep challenging the taste and getting them to TRY new foods (I introduced difficult child 3 to halva last week; he loves it!).

And the biggest thing she did, to keep her daughter's calories up - she bought a hot air popcorn maker, and made bucketload after bucketload of popcorn, with lots of butter and salt. She also kept open house for the neighbourhood kids (and fed them as well) so her house was always full of kids, eating. In all this she kept an eye on her daughter and when surrounded by other kids snacking, the little girl would snack as well.

She must have done something right because that little girl has just grown up and left home to go to university.

We're about to make the switch from a privately-compounded sustained release dexamphetamine, to Concerta (only just available in Australia) so it will be interesting to see what difference it makes to us. difficult child 3 is like a scarecrow. He eats a lot, though. He's just had three lamb chops for dinner then a big bowl of ice cream. I think he burns up all those calories with his nervous energy.

Marg
 
K

Kjs

Guest
My son started Concerta about 6 weeks ago. I must remind him to eat or he will not. I also find myself buying special things he likes to make it more tempting.

He has an eating issue to begin with. He believes he is fat, and would often just not eat for up to 3 days at a time. He is NOT fat, he is almost 13 and weighs 90 pounds.

If I did NOT remind him, he would not eat. I also just will make a snack I know he likes and put it out. If I ask him if he wants it he will say no. So I do not ask. I just make it and put it out. He does eat. Even if it is not as much as he would of a while back, it is more than if I did not make the snack.

good luck.

(have you noticed a difference with concerta?)
 

Janna

New Member
Yeah, Jared is on 18 mg., has been for about 6 months. He has to eat before he takes the pill in the A.M., lunch appetite is not very great, but after supper it seems to come back. So, we just eat a little later in the evenings, and I save his snacks for later, too, because he does get hungry around 7 PM.

I think the Concerta just wears off at different times for different kids because of the time release.
 

LittleDudesMom

Well-Known Member
We do (did) kinda the same thing as Janna. My difficult child is on adderall now and it does not appear to affect this appetite as much as the concerta.

But, I make sure he eats a good breakfast before the medication kicks in. Sometimes he even gets a homemade milkshake. Lunch is very "iffy". Sometimes he eats, sometimes he doesn't. We eat a little later than we used to and he has a "healthy snack" rule after 7. He gets sliced apple, pretzels, yogart, stuff like that.

You could also consider giving him a medication break on the weekend.

Sharon
 
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