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Post by Mayleng on Mar 24, 2004 10:40:47 GMT -5
I know alot of you know that you should not give OJ and other citrus juices with their stimulant medications - adderall, concerta, ritalin and other stimulants meds.
I just want to reiterate this for the new parents who are new to medications. It seems doctors and pharmacists are not informing the parents about this.
Citrus Juice reduces absorption of the meds, and thus makes the medication less effective. If you are finding that your child is not getting any benefit from being on stimulants, make sure you did not giving OJ or mixed juice (check the ingredients) with the meds in the morning.
You can give them the Juices an hour or more after the meds. I normally give my kids water with their meds or milk, they take juices in the afternoon. As you can tell I am extra cautious.
I don't know if this effects SSRIs and other meds. Always ask the pharmacists to check for you, to be sure.
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Post by NativeLI on Mar 25, 2004 9:09:06 GMT -5
My son has been on stims for about 18 mos., and I have never heard this before. My doctor, pharmacist, or any literature I've read has never informed me of this. My son routinely takes his stims with juice.
I will stop tomorrow and see if I notice any improvement in the effectiveness.
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Post by Mayleng on Mar 25, 2004 20:14:13 GMT -5
My son has been on stims for about 18 mos., and I have never heard this before. My doctor, pharmacist, or any literature I've read has never informed me of this. My son routinely takes his stims with juice. I will stop tomorrow and see if I notice any improvement in the effectiveness. I asked the pharmacist and he confirmed that Adderall should not be take with any citrus juice etc. when my son first started on adderall. Here is a link to a site that has that info: www.medformation.com/ac/mm_qd.nsf/qd/dnx1100.htmLook under the heading foods and drugs to avoid. I think it goes for other stimulants too.
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Post by NativeLI on Mar 25, 2004 21:16:21 GMT -5
I looked up concerta, and it doesn't have the same warning as it does for Adderall. In fact, under Concerta (or any of the Ritalin based meds) it suggests that you take it with water, milk or juice. I didn't notice any citrus exception.
It does seem pretty specific for Adderall tho. Thanks for the heads up.
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Post by Mayleng on Mar 26, 2004 8:31:43 GMT -5
I looked up concerta, and it doesn't have the same warning as it does for Adderall. In fact, under Concerta (or any of the Ritalin based meds) it suggests that you take it with water, milk or juice. I didn't notice any citrus exception. It does seem pretty specific for Adderall tho. Thanks for the heads up. ONe of our members and I can't remember who, posted a link to a site that mentions that concerta works best when taken with 8 oz of water. It helps with the delivery of the meds - needs water to help expand the sponge which pushes out the medication. I would still stay away from OJ if you can, as it does interfere with the absorption of meds when taken together. When they say can be taken with juice, there are other types of juices ie apple juice etc that aren't citrus type juices.
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Post by angel on Mar 26, 2004 14:23:58 GMT -5
Hi,
My dr. also advised against oj. But, he also said to not give it with any vitamin C. There are alot of things that contain high amounts of vitamin C that you have to look at.
angel
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Post by jwm on Mar 26, 2004 21:32:22 GMT -5
I never heard of this!! Thank you for this information!! My son is taking concerta. I do remember reading a post about taking 8 oz. of water with it. I never knew about the citrus and oj. I will pass this vital information on to others. This site is so helpful. I really appreciate all the advice and knowledge everyone is so eager to share.
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Post by Brenda on Mar 27, 2004 9:11:15 GMT -5
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Post by Mayleng on Mar 27, 2004 10:02:58 GMT -5
Thanks Brenda for posting the link.
What a great team we have here.
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Post by RobbysMom on Mar 27, 2004 15:53:28 GMT -5
I was also never warned about citrus juices and Concerta and this is the first I've heard about Vitamin C. What about multi-vitamins? I've told the Dr that my guy takes his morning Flinstones or Scooby Doo vitamin and she says that isn't a problem. Now I'm wondering if his lack of success on Concerta is because of his o.j. intake and vitamins!
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Post by jwm on Mar 27, 2004 16:07:17 GMT -5
Good question, I didnt even think about that! My son takes his concerta and vitamins every morning. This I am very curious about.
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Post by Mayleng on Mar 27, 2004 16:56:56 GMT -5
The thing I would do is to give it at a different time from the meds. Give the vitamins at dinner instead of breakfast.
Tell us if you see the meds being more effective if you do make the change.
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Post by jwm on Mar 28, 2004 17:12:48 GMT -5
As of tomorrow 3/29 we will try giving the medication with water (8 oz.) and the vitamins in the evening. I will keep you posted. Should be very interesting to see if there is a difference.
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Post by angel on Mar 29, 2004 9:00:24 GMT -5
Let us know.
That is what my dr. suggested. He said to give her the vitamins before bed.
It is great to have this team!!
angel
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Post by jwm on Apr 10, 2004 19:55:51 GMT -5
Well the results are in... My son has been taking his concerta with water since 3/29/04. So far things are great. He said the medicine is working "quicker". He is 9. He said he feels good. He likes taking his vitamin at night too. He got his report card and it was excellent. I spoke with his teacher and she said he tries extremely hard and doesnt give up. What a difference from last year, before dx and medication. I will update next week after conference with all his teachers. Have a great weekend.
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Post by RobbysMom on May 6, 2004 15:01:00 GMT -5
My son is going back on Concerta tomorrow and I'm taking in all this helpful information to see if it will help in successful results!
One quick question about the juices --- should I have him stay away from juice drinks that contain any ascorbic and/or citrus acid?
He's usually quite good about just drinking chocolate milk in the mornings, but he does like his juices too and I'd like to have an option, if possible. I just spent some time at the grocery store reading the juice labels and I can't seem to find anything that fits the bill! (I did find a juice drink that had ascorbic acid as one of the last ingredients, so I'm thinking it's one of the lesser ingredients.)
TEXTjwm TEXT-- are you still seeing good results since you changed how/when you gave the meds and vitamins?
Thanks for all the advice!
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Post by willoweezie on May 6, 2004 15:29:28 GMT -5
Oh this just reminded me... when I got my daughter's script for metadate cd (a ritalin-type med) it said on the bottle to take it with a full glass of water. I remembered reading that here, as well. Now that I think about it she chews her focalin (same type of med, short acting) tablets (can't swallow) but doesn't usually drink any appreciable amount of water with them, just a little to clear the tablet out of her mouth. I haven't been as impressed with the focalin as I would like to be maybe taking them with a glass of water would help. Can't hurt in any case, I guess, plus it gets more water into her
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Post by dixiepeep on May 12, 2004 13:02:11 GMT -5
I had no idea about this. thanks for letting me know
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Post by doth523 on Aug 11, 2004 13:55:33 GMT -5
I know that this seems like a dead discussion but I wanted to add a few things about citrus juices. My dd has Epilepsy and takes Tegretol. Not only is she not to drink OJ but any citrus fruits as well. She is to wait several hours after taking her meds. So if in AM she takes her first dose but by lunch time if she wants she can have a grapefruit. Mainly the acid in citrus juices and citrus products cause meds to break down too quickly and their effectiveness is diminshed. This is true for most extended release meds. This is not always true for all meds but since learning this anytime I get a new med I ask the pharmacist or my doctor. Sometimes we have to be proactive as patients and ask questions.
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Post by whootiewho on Aug 15, 2004 12:18:46 GMT -5
I learned about citrus and vitamin c about 8 months after my son had started taking concerta, we now take our vitamin at night also allergy meds like zyrtec have a reverse effect on some stimulants, our allergy specialist suggested to also take these at night and since they can cause drowsiness it occurs at just the right time
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Post by RobbysMom on Sept 10, 2004 12:39:49 GMT -5
Hi everyone! I'm just curious if those of you who have given up citrus drinks with Concerta have had more positive results with the med than when your child was drinking o.j. in the morning? We're going on our 4th month of Concerta with no citrus in the morning, but the past 2 weeks R has woken up several times (around 7am) craving juice. I've been giving him 4-8 oz of juice (not o.j.) and I don't think it has affected his medications. He doesn't take his meds until 8am so that may have something to do with it too. Just hoping to get some updated feedback on this!
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Post by Mayleng on Nov 16, 2004 8:24:28 GMT -5
A member on the schwab site posted this, which might be of interest to those who don't know.
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Post by Brenda on Feb 22, 2005 8:04:18 GMT -5
Mayleng,do you know if Strattera can be taken with orange juice or after eating an orange?Steph is trying Strattera again and it seems to be working better this time around.Maybe because she is older and in first grade and it's easier to tell whether it's working because she has more work than she did in K.Just wondering about the juice....
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Post by Mayleng on Feb 22, 2005 9:28:18 GMT -5
I don't think OJ affects Strattera 's absorption like it does with the stims. Strattera is metabolized through the liver. Glad to hear the strattera is working better for Steph this time.
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Post by snorkeler on Mar 24, 2005 23:55:30 GMT -5
Pretty funny that now 4 weeks or so after DS starting Concerta I read this.
No our pharm nor Doc said anything about OJ or high fat foods, But we noticed all the things mentioned here.
Dont take Oj with Concerta it lessen the absorption and yesterday (No school day for us) we had a huge breakfast with sausage, eggs,toast , gaterade, and he was emotional and seemed like he had a buzz. He said he was "daydreaming" I truly hope he was not hallucinating. What a thing for a child to go through.
Sometimes he experiences heart palpitations within 5 minutes of taking meds. But It goes away just as quickly. He does take plenty of water though.
Just my "two cents" worth.
Okinaswim
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Post by mellowed on Sept 17, 2005 19:25:43 GMT -5
Mine drinks a full glass every morning!!!! Oh my and takes 2 Vitamin C pills as well.
I knew Grapefruit Juice was a NO NO, but not OJ. It has been about 8 years that mine has been on Ritalin - both regular and SR - so I guess we might be okay. I'm still going to read the link you posted.
Thank you
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Post by momika on Jan 24, 2006 16:36:51 GMT -5
so is it OK to drink OJ for lunch when Concerta is taken in the morning? What about something like Sunny D?
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Post by Mayleng on Jan 24, 2006 16:39:22 GMT -5
It is OK to take OJ or Vitamin C, anything with Citric Acid (even other juices contains citric acid) 1 hour BEFORE OR AFTER you take the pills. Lunch is definitely OK if the pills were taken in the morning.
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Post by G on Jan 24, 2006 19:17:09 GMT -5
I think i am probobly just dense when it comes down to understanding this. I guess I just don't really understand the time release and how it works. My dd is on metadate cd, I do not give her citrus or her vitamins in the morning any longer. But if it is t ime release, why would lunch not affect it. Is it because the meds have already left her stomach and are in her blood stream? Does it only affect the absorption initially? Dense today, nat
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Post by Mayleng on Jan 24, 2006 19:36:54 GMT -5
I have always wondered why they say one hour before and one hour after. I know it affects the initial absorption. But like you I have wondered if it affects the extended release meds if taken when the "booster" beads are metabolized. I don't know what to tell you but I do let my son take Juices at lunch (not necesarily OJ but he likes the Juice boxes for lunch).
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