Glen- Thanks for sharing your experience. My son's Dr didn't say anything about dropping the meds on certain days. But I have read of quite a few who do that to keep the doseage low. I need to get him into a psych who knows more and can tweak his meds so it works just right. I am curious though, once you go off for the weekend, and get back on it monday- do you have all the bad side effects again and touchiness?
We all slept in today and I really don't want to give him his meds this late, as he will never go to sleep so we are going to skip today and tread lightly. Hopefully we all survive!
damiana -
I actually find myself more alert and happy once monday comes! I do find that I need 4 to 7 days to really get back the full effect though.
hopefully you and your family get through the day fine too.
what you describe is almost exactly the reaction my son had to concerta the first few days he was on it.
he was up untill 3:30 in the morning talking non stop the first night. then i thhink he was just so tired after that that i couldnt get a good idea of what was going on for him. He seemed more obsessive and even more strong willed than he normally is. i called the pediatrician and he insisted that it was to early to judge, and to give it more time.
we did, and very soon i started to see some big positive changes.
his aggression towards his sister changed to enoyment, and he came home from school having completed his classwork for the first time ever. this has continued for two weeks. i began to see his sense of humor return and his mood seemed to be more stable.
now i notice that at the end of the day he ometimes has a crash where he fixes on something and obsessesuntill he crys.
oddly enough i just talked to the pediatrician last week to see if i could switch him to aderal , because i had heard good things about it from someone else whos son has the same side effects i described on concerta;exessive clingyness, eternal tears. i have been rethinking switching, because the benifits for him have been so big, and now that the mood swings seem to coincide with the drug wearing off at the end of the day i have decided to talk to him about it durring a more lucid time and see if we can come up with a way to handle his feelings durring those times. he is six. im not sure we have the right drug. but he has only been on it a month. im going to give it a try.
i was so worried ,like you those first few days.
i cant say if its normal. but it happened to us too. good luck.
they say it takes awhile to find just the right one, so im going to make sure i give this one a fair chance first before i move on.
Thanks for the responses! he is 5 yrs old and yes he is seeing a pediatrician. I have consulted a psychiatrist though and I have a BS in psychology and have worked with ADHD kids in the past. I completely agree with the ADHD diagnosis. I do intend to get him in to a child psychiatrist when I can (very long waiting to get in!) I really don't see anything that would indicate bipolar. I am glad to know that the reaction isn't normal though. I kind of just thought that maybe the dose was too high for him or something.
What is a 'normal' reaction for the first week on Adderal? Or any stimulant for that matter?
oh- and he has calmed down, no more crying since this morning- he has just been staying very very busy making beaded necklaces. It IS odd to see him focusing on something so well for so long! Maybe it will keep getting better.
Maybe dose is too high, and lack of sleep.Thanks again for all the info.
Our evening went well. He is in bed and I think he may even be asleep. I talked to the dr and she agreed that my sons reaction was extreme, but since he is doing so much better now she said to use my own discression tomorrow whether I want to give him a dose in the morning or discontinue it- and to call her either way and let her know how things are going.
I will try to update on how he is doing!
Could be a manic reaction to Adderrall. Is it possible he has early onset bipolar? I agree with taking him to a psychiatrist. On the other hand, Adderrall is one of the most coveted street drugs abused, and gives kids a big high (my daughter used to abuse drugs and Adderrall was a big favorite of her and her druggie buddies--at /pill). You could try another stim, but, if he has a similiar reaction, you best take a look at early onset bipolar. Bipolar kids react like that to stimulants and antidepressants. Good luck.That drug was a nightmare for us, too.damiana - even us ADULTS with ADHD tend to get "touchy" during the initial period on adderall/dexedrine. I too got that way - found a "itchy trigger" I had not felt since childhood. Very on edge - for about 2 to 4 weeks. Then it calmed down and so did I! So much so that many find me "Zen" - calm almost to the point of being in meditation. I find it very peaceful mostly.
The sleep change - that also calms down. I believe if I recall correctly it was about a month then I slept fantastic! Now I find sleep changes only if I take my meds too late in the day. I use the XR of dexedrine and I try to take it as soon as I get up if I can. The later in the day the more likely the sleep alteration.
Sounds like you may have found the right med quickly. I'm so glad! It will change in intensity and potency - but typically if you drop it on the weekends and about a week for every 2 months' use he shouldn't ever have to increase it by much. I am a year into my meds and only gone from 10 to 20mg - with the occasional 30mg allowed for "intense" days.
Good luck to you all!
How old is your child? What kind of doctor diagnosed him with ADHD?
You definitely need to run these side effects by the doctor. His reaction is NOT normal. Whenever a stimulant does not work the way it is intended, it is generally one of three issues: first, the med is the wrong one; second, the dose is not right; and third, the diagnosis is not right. If you are not seeing a child psychiatrist for medication management, I would strongly encourage you to find one. They know far more about psychopharmacology than pediatricians. Good luck!
Finally got the diagnosis of ADHD from the dr last week and started him on Adderal XR- 10mg yesterday. I knew the side effects but I had NO idea how extreme they could be. Usually he is happy, easy going, and social. Yesterday I started the meds and it has been awful. We went to a kids Xmas party- he always plays and gets along with everyone fine. Instead he cried, and cried, and cried He would become completely fixated on a toy he couldn't have and couldn't let it go- cried until someone finally got it for him. Then we came home and he asked me something, I did not respond quickly enough and it made him cry again. And he again became fixated with a toy- talks about it nonstop and just won't let it drop! I don't know how to describe it really but it is just weird- not like him at all.
Then he goes to bed last night at the usual time- 8:30- but he was up and wandering all night. I think he MAY have slept for 2 hours total. I gave him his dose again this morning and again, he is fixated on something and is crying. It is so overwhelming. I am trying to be nice to him because I know it is all from the meds but he just wont stop! ack!
So- are these side effects normal? Will he sleep better? At this point I am scared to send him to school tomorrow because he is WAY too emotional and I think they would probably call me to come take him home because he just wont be able to cope. When should this start getting better?
This sounds like one you'd better call the dr about. Good luck.