"my 6.5 year old son has been taking this medicine for over a year.  a few months after taking it, we switched him to ritalin but the ritalin made his behavior crazy.  i don&#039;t have much to complain about this medicine.  any adhd medication is going to make your child zombie-like.  my son takes 10mg xr in the morning and i can literally see the switch in his personality in about 10 minutes.  he is supposed to take 5mg non extended release after school, however, i hardly give that to him anymore.  i sometimes break the 5mg pill in half and just have him take 2.5mg to focus on his homework, if i see him struggling.  we just had his medication reduced to 5mg in the morning, 2.5 after lunch and 2.5 later in the afternoon - waiting to see how this works out."