Thank you for posing this question, SpiderMom. I too have a son with ADHD and am scared to death of making the decision to get him vaccinated. I've been thinking about for the last few days.

My biggest question is "have they tested the H1N1 vaccine on 10 year old boys taking Concerta?" The answer is "not likely". Therefore, they have no idea how the vaccination will affect 10 year old boys taking Concerta. This scares me.

I, myself, have never gotten the seasonal flu vaccine. I am a healthy person and have never really had the seasonal flu. Same thing with my son. He is perfectly healthy. He gets the odd cold but has not had the seasonal flu in a very long time.

I realize the seasonal flu and H1N1 flu are completely different. My initial thoughts were to not get the vaccine and just suffer through the H1N1 flu if I (or my son) get it.

However, I am scared to death now because of a news story out of Ontario yesterday. A 13 year old boy was at a hockey tournament last weekend and complained to his parents of a sore throat. He finished the tournament but on the way home developed a fever. They took him to a doctor who said he was fine and had a cold. Then next day the boy complained of body aches, collapsed in his fathers arms and died. Healthy boy (or so far the news is not reporting that the boy had any pre-existing health conditions)....how does this happen?

So, I am with you, SpiderMom..........I have no idea what to do.

I was told by my pediatrician that if the regular Flu mist was okay then the H1N1 was similar. My daughter is on Methylin and I have opted to have the H1N1 for her. Her school is offering it free so it was a good option for us. I hope this helps.

I wish we could GET the H1N1 vaccine for our kids. Our peds office is out of the flu shots so they haven't even gotten that yet. Our son has already had H1N1 this year and did o.k. with it; fever/cold symptoms for 5 days. He doesn't have asthma or any other conditions besides ADHD though. I have seen some kids get really sick and need to be put on ventilators because of H1N1 so I am Pro-vaccine!! It's a very personal choice..

I just decided today that I'm going to opt out of the vaccination, even though it is free at our school as well. There is no history on this vaccination with regards to interraction with Concerta or any other type of daily adhd meds that I can find - anywhere. Our pediatrian and psychiatrist did not answer my inquiries personally, rather they had their nurses call me back. "As far as he knows" there is no interaction was the response of the the psych office that dispenses the medication. What kind of answer is that?! My pediatrian, who has not been very supportive over the past 7 years trying to figure out what was happening with my son, was no better help. I will not put my son at risk for some horrible interaction when there is no history on this vaccination. When I was sick with the flu last week, the doctor didn't even want me to come in... its a virus and as long as you are diligent with washing hands, staying home if with fever, and sanitizing, it will run it's course is what I was told. Too big a risk in my book. Good luck with your decision

We have an 8 year old with ADD & ODD. He was vaccinated via injection for the H1N1 before starting on Vyvanse. He is doing fine.

My son was vaccinated on Monday. It hadn't even occured to me that there could be an issue. I read through all of the literature they provided at the clinic and there was nothing about reactions with medications of any sort. He seems to be fine so far. He is on Concerta. I will post again if anything develops.

First of all,I realize I'm not a parent...not even an adult actually but I have cousins with ADHD and ADD so I was looking in this support group for self education purposes. I just wanted to say though, that for those of you still deciding if you want to get your children vaccinated against H1N1 you should know it's really not as bad as the media makes it out to be.
The major difference between H1N1 and the seasonal flu is that H1N1 is more contagious. Many people are being told that they have H1N1 when in fact they don't. The only way to actually know for sure if you have this virus is to have a blood test done but most pediatricians are giving the diagnosis of H1N1 if you come in with certain symptoms that could be H1N1. They're doing this because they don't want to go out of their way to have people tested.
I guess what I'm saying is if your children have never had the seasonal flu or that flu shot they really don't need the H1N1 vaccine either. However,if the seasonal flu has been an issue for you in the past then your child's more likely to contract H1N1.
Just remember H1N1's really no more serious then the seasonal flu,just more contagious. And I realize that everywhere we go these days we see hand sanitizer but that won't help protect anybody from either of the flu's as both are virus' and the hand sanitizer will only kill bacteria. So hand sanitizer ends up doing more harm then good when used unnecessarily as it kills good bacteria as well.

Anyway I hope this makes your decision at least slightly easier or more informed. Best of luck!