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Home › Articles › Special Needs › ADD/ADHD Medications

ADD/ADHD Medications

Are They Affected by the Foods Kids Eat for Breakfast?

By Gwen Morrison

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"Because breakfast diets may change every day, an extended-release stimulant medication with a delivery system susceptible to alteration by food may result in clinically-relevant, day-to-day fluctuations in blood levels, which may affect the medication's desired improvement in symptoms of ADHD," says Cathy Gelotte, Ph.D., executive director of medical and regulatory product development at McNeil Consumer and Specialty Pharmaceuticals. "This study demonstrates the unique OROS delivery system of Concerta is largely unaffected by food and thereby provides a reliable and consistent daily therapeutic effect."

Essentially, for a parent, this means that you could be sending your child to school with the assumption that they are receiving the full benefits of the stimulant medication, when in fact what they eat in the morning may hinder the therapeutic effectiveness.

Parents should talk with their physicians about any concerns they may have about the medications they are giving their child and whether or not there are implications regarding diet and effectiveness of the drug.

A Parent's Story of Struggle
"My son has ADHD and was diagnosed in the third grade," says Jeanua Gilson of Gilbert, Ariz. "Merry-go-round is the best description of this early diagnosis. My son has been on every medication imaginable." Gilson's son had a lot of adverse side effects on his medications, including serious weight loss. "We tried Dexedrine, Adderall, Ritalin you name it," she says. "The stomachaches, heart palpitations were just not worth it. And then when the medication wore off, he got the 'afternoon nasties.' There was nothing you could do."

Gilson heard that Dr. Kohout was participating in the Concerta study and wasshocked by the results. "Children were gaining weight, focusing, eating, growing and developing with absolutely no side effects," says Gilson. "My son started on Concerta the summer before he was a freshman in high school. He is now going to be a sophomore. His weight went from 68 pounds to 105 pounds. He suddenly started developing and growing. He is a different child. He eats and eats. There are no more afternoon nasties. This medication titrates down so slowly that there is not a big drop. Simply stated, they just glide off of it."

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