A Hello and Plea for Help
Welcome!
I'm just curious -- are you seeing a specialist in ADHD or in gastroenterology?
The fact that your son is staying up so late may be an indication that the Adderall dose is too high. You should definitely ask your son's doctor.
I honestly don't know anything about Adderall and bowel side effects. That is certainly something to ask the prescribing physcian. I do know that stimulants can increase anxiety. ADHD and anxiety frequently go hand-in-hand (my 12-year-old son has both). I'm wondering if your son's accidents have anything to do with an increase in anxiety. Does he have any co-existing anxiety? Just a thought because I really haven't come across this particular problem in all my ADHD research over the years.
Hope you get some answers soon.
Hello all 
I've been reading here for a few weeks, this is my first post however. I could really use some advice/input, as I'm just about at my wits end. Please forgive me if I've posted in the wrong section. My problem is partially medication related, but not completely, so I wasn't sure where to put it.
My son, who is 6, was diagnosed with ADHD a little over a year ago. Ritalin was the first drug prescribed, but my son didn't react well to it, he became extremely emotional. We then tried Concerta, which seemed to work at first, but it didn't take long to realize that it really wasn't helping as much as I felt it should. However, he was in kindergarten and his teacher was relatively no help and her classroom was continuous chaos. Under those circumstances I didn't put a great deal of emphasis on behavior modification, it was pointless as there was no one to provide him with the reinforcement he needed at school.
His teacher this is year is quite different. She is very supportive and understanding of his ADHD and really does try to work with him. Again, the Concerta was not working, so his medication was changed to Adderall XR, 20 mg. He didn't react well to this either, he said it made him feel really sleepy at school, his stomach hurt and he was more emotional. We backed the dosage down to 5 mg, which didn't seem to help much and eventually ended up at 15 mg, which seems to be just right for him. He's been on 15 mg for about a month and on the positive side, it has helped him so much. He is able to concentrate on his schoolwork and the quality of his work has improved significantly. Now for the problem. Most nights, at least 5 out of 7, he has a great deal of difficulty getting to sleep. Sometimes it is well after midnight before he finally falls asleep. Weird thing is that when he wakes at 6:00 to get ready for school, he is in a great mood and acts as though he got plenty of sleep. But the problem that is really causing me the most concern is his bowel problems. I know this is going to sound odd, but it's almost as if he no longer can tell when he has to have a bowel movement, or doesn't realize it in time. Over the past few weeks, he has had a couple of accidents in his pants at school and a few times while here at home. He says he just didn't make it to the bathroom in time. I read that one of the possible side effects of the med is constipation or diarehhea, but it said nothing about a lack of warning. Has anyone ever heard of this? Is it likely that the problem is the medication or could it be something else...and if something else...what? Honestly, I don't have a great deal of faith in his pediatrician, I'm not sure she would have an answer for me. I have an appointment with a specialist in November and of course will discuss this with them at that time, but in the meantime any help I can get here would be greatly appreciated!
Sorry the post is so long, but wanted to provide enough information to make sense :)
Honestly there are times I almost don't make it in time when I have diahreaha. That could just be it. How long has he been on the new dosage the side effects usually wane and sometimes go away completely. My son never had that problem with adderall xr but he did and sometimes still does have sleep issues. We tried to give him a dose of benadryl (per physicians advise) to get him down but that did not help and eventually we went to melatonin 1 mg and it seemed to help. That was in the summer and now that school has started I rarely have to fight him to bed so we don't do it anymore. We OKd the melatonin with his doc so if you want to try that be sure to ask the doc first. Some say it is OK and others are skeptical but I figure I give my kid stimulants for the day so to help him with a natural substance to help him sleep is not as bad. But those are just my thoughts.One of the ways I can tell my son needs a higher dose on his meds is that he wets his pants. He can't seem to pay enough attention to the urge to go and ends up having an accident. Doesn't sound like your prob, but I thought I'd mention it. When it comes to sleeping, it helps if there is no TV after dinner. We also have a cd player in his room and have cd's with names like "bedtime for beethoven." If my son is still having probs sleeping, I'll take his comforter and put it in the dryer for about 10 min. Then I cover him up with it and put another light comforter on top to keep in the heat. He lays still because he doesn't want to let the heat out, and that's something in itself. He usually is asleep in 20 min. I don't do this every night because then it would become routine and I don't think it would work as well. I figured this one out after my son threw up on his comforter. I washed it and dried it and he had just laid down on the couch to watch tv. I tossed it over him and he smiled real big and snuggled down on the couch. One of the reasons I do this is because he loves it so much and tells me what a good mom I am and how much he loves me.
Everybody needs that kind of feedback. Good luck, Shandi, I hope you find the answers you need.Thank you all for the responses! I'll try to answer some of the questions.
With regards to the bowel problems, if he had the side effect of diarehhea, I would understand him not making it in time. But typically it is more solid, making me think it's not so much diarehhea. Sorry if too much info there LOL!
We've also tried Benadryl and Melatonin, neither helped with getting him to sleep. I really don't want to use any type of sedative, I guess I'm hoping there is another alternative.
The specialist he will be seeing in November is an ADHD specialist from the children's hospital, psychiatric unit. We've had the appointment for about 2 months, and it can't get here quick enough! He was originally diagnosed by his pediatrician and psychological evaluations have confirmed the diagnosis. He also has a pervasive developmental delay of fine motor skills for which he is receiving occupational therapy.
Anxiety is something that my husband and I have thought about. No one has ever mentioned anxiety to us before and he really hasn't exhibited anxiety symptoms in the past. Do you think it's possible that the new medication could actually create or exacerbate symptoms?
My son is a wonderful kid! We consider ourselves very lucky that ADHD is the only problem we have with him. I know that many disorders are comorbid with ADHD, thankfully he doesn't have any of them. He is considerate, caring, well behaved (for an ADHD kid LOL) and is very intellegent. I guess it's probably normal for all of us to constantly question ourselves, I just want to do everything I can to help him and hope I'm doing the right things. Ooops...my insecurities are leaking out 
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