Baseline Echo Before Concerta?

Our pediatrician has suggested Concerta for our child with ADHD. We have tried everything other than meds and we are ready to make this move. There have been very rare cases of sudden death due to arrythmia and cardiomyopathy. These seemed to be in kids with existing heart problems. The Pediatrician will do a baseline exam and take a family hx and see her monthly to monitor to make sure there are no problems. I suggested an echocardiogram to ensure that there are no structural abnormalities of the heart and her response was that this was not necessary nor is it recomended by the ACP.  Does that make sense? it seems like she would want to do everthing she can to be sure there are no pre-existing heart problems and I would think that what you can find on echo is different from what you're going to find on physical examination.

[gemstone89]

hey
dont be too worried about everything. Yes there is concern with heart conditions, but like you said, sudden death occurs on rare occasions. Ive used concerta for myself many of times before, and its not that bad. Just make sure you get her heart checked regulary to make sure everything is ok. And also, this is something i tend to do. I like to call them 'drug holidays', by that I mean I only take them when I need too. If im just at home all day, then there is no need for me to take one so I dont. She does not have to take 1 tablet EVERY day .
I hope everything works ok for u, cheers

[Mommy3Girls]

Dont worry too much. It is good to be concerned as a parent and completely healthy and normal. It took me a year and a half to put my daughter on anything for her ADHD, and finally she was so far behind her class in school I decided to go ahead and take that step. Among the fighting with her father to even get her on something (we are divorced but have joint legal custody, so he gets a say so in everything like that) I was worried about side effects and heart conditions. THe doc did the family history and they check my daughters heart rate and blood pressure often, just to be sure everything is okay. The Concerta seems to work very well. Just make sure you are asking questions about the dosage and such. There is an 18 MG they normally start them off with the first week to get their body used to having the drug in them (depending on weight of course) then they will bump it to 27mg or usually 36. We have my daughters both on 36 now. My youngest,7 years old, was on 27 during the summer because there wasnt enough to stimulate her and keep her active. After school started it went back up to 36 because the 27mg was not doing well enough for her in school. Just make sure you ask lots of questions and get the answers you deserve. Concerta seems to me to be a good start.