Adderall Moms Help???

This is a long thread and after reading the whole thing I have so many comments, I hope I can remember all of them. First off, Lylac, how scary that must have been for you! Glad everything was okay. Usually with any stiumulant type adhd med you can tell the difference right away. If you aren't seeing any changes it could mean one of three things. First off, that the dosage is too low. Second, it could mean that she is eating a food that neutralizes the med. My oldest was on Concerta for three years before I found out that you shouldn't give orange juice to a kid on Concerta because the citric acid washes the meds right out of the system! Check to see if orange juice or any other foods have any affect on the absorbtion of adderal. The third reason that you would not see any change in behavior with the adhd meds is because the child does nor have adhd. So, if diet adjustments and increases don't produce positive improvement you may want to look at the dx again. There is a liquid adderal now? Really? Cool. Not that we need it. Adderal wasn't a good match for any of my three adhd kids (made one lose his temper more than usual, made one have motor tics, and made the other cry all day), plus they can swallow horse pills! And finally, dadfor2, research has shown that adhd kids that do not get treatment for their adhd are much more likely to turn to drugs or alcohol (or both) as they get older to self-medicate.

There is another reason - it could be the wrong medication. Each of the meds for ADHD works in a different way. So even if a small dose of Adderall doesn't work, and increasing it doesn't help, and there are no food interactions ... then ADHD may still be the problem, and the person may just need a different med, like Concerta or dexedrine or Straterra.

Is it possible for L to get worse taking this med? She seems to be really nore hyper,,and her eatting is almost NOTHING. It's bordering on the point of SCARY. This is so unlike her. If this med is gonna make her stay this way..I prefer her UNmedicated. So far today she's ate only a bite of fish ,2fries, and about 2oz of jello. She's not even drinking much. Before she'd eat all day, and have a cup in her hand at all times. I'm gonna call her Neuro tomorrow. And I know it takes a while for this med to work..but still, I worry about her losing weight and just not being her healthy self.

Loss of appetite is a well-documented side effect of Adderall. Some people get it, some people don't. Of the people who get that side effect, some keep it as long as they're on the Adderall, and some lose that side effect after a week or two. If you truly believe she is more hyper ON the med than off, then call the doc and tell him. I expect he would want you change the med. Note: Seeing more hyperness when the med is wearing off or has worn off is called "rebound", and is fairly common and can be fixed while still keeping her on the med, so just pay attention to whether this extra hyperness is while the med is active in her system or whether its when the med is wearing off. But if the side effects would be tolerable if you *knew* they would only last a few days or weeks, then remember side effects often pass in that amount of time. Of course if the side effect is not tolerable even for a short amount of time, then absolutely call the doctor immediately. For instance, the eating thing: Some people on Adderall learn to eat most of their daily calories at breakfast, before the medicine has had time to take effect and blunt their appetite. Still others eat when its mealtime whether they are hungry or not. Others take med holidays with the intention of catching their weight up during those times. And of course, others change meds to find one without that side effect. One interesting note, if the person has bipolar disorder, many times the stimulant medications will make that person's bipolar disorder worse - either the cycling will become more rapid, or the mood in general will shift more toward the manic (ie: instead of depressed-to-manic, you might get manic-to-supermanic). Stimulant medications don't create bipolar disorder, of course, but they can make it more obvious. Going off the stimulant meds can return the person to their normal cycling. Since you mentioned her being more hyper now than before, you may want to consider that possiblity. Note: even if she does have bipolar, she might still have ADHD too. She just might need even more careful attention paid to her meds. People with both ADHD and bipolar disorder can sometimes still take stimulant meds, but some have to switch to the non-stimulant meds.

She isn't bipolar. She's not a breakfast person and it may be closer to lunch time before she asks for anything. So I know it's not any food/drink combating against the med. And she's definately more hyper, starting about 45 mins after she takes it. And it lasts all day into the night. The doc said not to give it to her at night cuz it could interfere with her sleeping. I just don't know..it hasn't even been a week yet. I just feel like this is WRONG for her. Maybe I'll find something else out from her doc tomorrow.

Then my vote, Lylac, is that you describe all this to the doc and straight-out ask for a trial of a different medication. Adderall just doesn't work well for everybody, your doc will be used to hearing that the real side effects outweigh the benefits of a particular med, and will probably willingly offer something else. He'll probably be very glad that you noticed these side effects on such a small dose, and mentioned them so early. Side effects sometimes go away, but if they don't and he raised the dose there's the possibility the effects would go up too. Like I said in my original post, I *used to be* an Adderall wife. Now my husband takes Concerta. Adderall worked, mostly, but Concerta was better for him. (It works the other way around for some people.) The doc recommended Concerta when I said that Adderall seemed fine, it just wasn't doing everything that I knew it could. That's even without side effects he was willing to prescribe something else. We only had to go through two meds to find the right one. I hope your journey is equally short.

Adderal was original developed as a diet drug and loss of appetite is a common side effect. ADHD meds, given to children who aren't ADD, will make them more hyper as they are basically speed. S is hyper and often unfocused, but NOT ADD and stimulant meds do make him worse. Call the doc and see about trying something else.

My son was a zombie his first few days on Adderall, but it went away in a week and he got back to normal it scared me and we almost quit, but it's working well for him now. Though now he is no longer on the XR and it seems to be fine (and cheaper) He did not do well on some of the other meds, concerta did nothing at all for him. One day my other son was extra hyper (he's always been hyper, but not add) I was shopping and my other son thought he would try giving him one of his pills. (this was recently so they were 12 and 14) and they did not tell me about this for a week. It made him much, much worse. When I got home the boys chose to go outside for the rest of the afternoon so I did not really notice, except that he did not eat his dinner. (and he is crazy about food!) So maybe she is not ADD, just hyper. That particular son of mine is also dyslexic and it looked like he could not concentrate when he was younger and first started school, because he was confused by not seeing what everyone else seemed to be seeing on the paper. So he would look for ways to avoid sitting at the desk doing that work, or anything that resembled it. Once he was getting help for dyslexia he was a different kid at school and even at home.

I've got a call into her Neuro..waiting to hear back. I havn't given her med to her...yet. She's ate all morning and she's in her room playing..not bouncing off the walls.

Sheesh! Didn't you say the doctor prescribed a low dose? I hope the doctor gets back to you soon and has a better idea. Good luck Lylac!

Yes it was a low dose 5 mg 1x daily. Her Neuro called me back and said that either she put her on too low of a dose..or it wasn't gonna work for her. She said we had two options:#1 increasing the dose..I said NO I'd be affraid she'd only get worse..Or trying something different.. I opted for this. So she's calling her in some Strattera 10mg at bedtime. I know some are thinking, why did she even give me options. Her Neuro always gives all of the options (that she's willing to try) and info about each one. Then gives me the choice... I like this better than a doctor saying "I'm putting your child on this"..without giving me any say or other options. So we'll see how this works.

Lylac, my daughter (A) is ADHD and Bipolar. we started her on low dose Medidate (?) and she would cry at the simplest things --- like her shoelaces came untied --- then her ped prescribed the Adderall RX ---- her crying was even worse. He then prescribed Strattera and a trip to see a psychiatrist that is when the Bipolar Disorder was diagnosed. She has been on the Strattera for a while now (probably time to up the dose) and doing pretty well. I do watch her eating and sometimes have to really encourage her to finish her meal (an amount I know she would normally eat). On the issue of swallowing pills -- we have the exact opposite with A. She can swallow her pills, capsules, just fine, but she will chew applesauce because she can't just swallow it.

Options are good. I always like hearing all the possibilities and having a chance to say how they'll affect other things. It's nice to hear you have a good doc. Straterra is one that takes time to build up in the system. The doc told you that, right? How long did he say it would take for her? Most are advised it can take 3-4 weeks, but individual ideosyncracies seem to make a difference. (Side effects can crop up before the med has a chance to take effect, so don't stop paying attention!)

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a condition that includes symptoms such as being restless and having trouble concentrating.Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can often be treated with medicines and talking therapies.Adderall works for ADHD see more details on this at premuimpharmacy.com

A good site online for Adderall online