Adderall XR | ADHD Information

My son is taking Adderall XR 5Mg and is 7 yrs old.  We are also having the issues with him when the meds are wearing off.  He gets aggressive towards his sister(She is 6), temper tantrums, yelling at everyone to leave his alone.  I talked to his doc yesterday and she recommended a half dose of dexerdine.  She said this will take the edge off for him until close to bedtime.  My prob is I am not sure I want him on meds all the time.  He does not take meds on weekends and all he does is eat non stop!  He is sticking at the same weight for the past couple of months so he is eating what he should.

knm6413,

My son had the same reaction to Adderall.  We started off on the lowest dose and worked our way up.  The come down time was a nightmare.  He would cry for no reason, feel mad, stomp off, just plain miserable.  It wasn't worth it.  I took him off imediately and my son was back.  We tried Ritilin LA and we seen none of that behavior.  We stayed with Ritilin LA for over and year and it worked great.   What you will find out is that meds will need adjusting.  Meds can work great for awhile and then the effectiveness changes.  You will know when things need to be tweaked.  Good Luck, I hope everything works out for you!   Kristin

My 8 year old daughter has been on adderall xr for about four months.  At first, it worked great but the afternoons when the med is wearing off is a nightmare.  She screams, cries for no reason, throws things.  Do all adhd meds have this effect?  I am calling her dr. today to discuss.  She has been diagnosed with adhd w/o hyperactivity.  Could this be a sign that there might be a BP or ODD problem also or do these meds make everyone like this?  Has anyone had any good experiences with other meds?

HELP!!

Hi There - I am 35 yrs old & on Adderall Xr for close to 2 yrs. The best thing is to talk to doctor but also (if you can) get your daughter to do some sort of physical activity. I get irritable when the medication wears off later in day & find that taking a brisk walk or some activity that helps remove some of the medication side effects that commonly can happen toward the end of the day/when meds are wearing off. I have had times when I am irritable & having a racing heart at end of day & after 30mins of physical activity I feel much much better both mentally & physically. Good luck!

No personal advice on focalin but can tell you there are many in the child section using Focalin and having great success as it's being used as a more gentle ADHD med for them now.  Seems to be working - and not as many negative posts about it. 

Usually bad reactions to adderall are either allergic (rare) or too much or possibly misdiagnosed bipolar or other disorder where the active ingredient reacts badly.  Most times it's just too much too soon.  You didn't say how much but I know from experience that many inexperienced doctors start at the highest tolerable dose of an ADHD med then taper down - which is totally opposite to logic but many do this for some bizarre reason.  A pediactric psychiatrist is the route I'd take if focalin doesn't work for your child.  They can not only find a med that is working good but can add the benefit of changing habitual behavior so she won't have to repeat mistakes out of not knowing any different ways to cope.  Do check on it please.

 

knm6413, My daughter was recently diagnosed with ADHD, more inattentave than hyper and she has been on Focalin XR 10 mg for a few weeks now. She's doing GREAT, our experience with Focalin has been very positive. No side effects to speak of, she even gained half a pound (we are working with endocronology on growing issues) The Focalin XR is taken once a day in the morning and Daughter is getting about 10 hours of benifit from it and no need to visit nurse at lunch time like some other meds. Only draw back I have is that it is not covered by insurance. :(  but I am working on that. Good luck to you....

Thanks for the advice.  I talked with her pediatrician yesterday afternoon and he is switching her to Focalin.  He said that if the medicine is making her so ill in the afternoon then it's not the right medicine.  Has anyone had any experience with Focalin?Thank you.

Thanks just a mom.  I hope we have the same results you have.  Does your daughter have any problems with irritability in the afternoons as the medicine wears off?

Joe's Mom, Wondering how your sone is doing on Adderal XR?  I am going to up my son from 10 mg. to 20 mg tomorrow and see if I see a difference.  Wish me luck!!

My son (7) started on Focalin XR 5mg in December.  He did great on it for the first week, and his teacher reported real progress academically, etc.   The last two weeks ,though we are seeing increased irritability, and lots of "everyone is yelling at me" and "no one likes me".   I am trying to figure out what to do now.   I can't tell what is caused by the medicine, and what is the underlying ADHD issues showing through.

It has been a week now and so far so good. I see a big improvement with his focus and school work..one night he did several pages of homework without much fuss or even assistance...

I hope he keeps it up

we were also ritalin la and focalin...and he was a grouchy person...he seems pretty even with the adderal

Good luck tomorrow with the new dosage.

joemom38765.5446875

chris, that is our experience with focalin

we are no longer taking it

My 14 year old just started Adderall after a bad reaction to Concerta......
Does anyone report having any reactions or side effects like being able to focus but feeling like everyone around you is "foggy" (this is how my son described it to me today).  The doc started him out on 15 mg of the Adderall XR today.  Please help! I am new to this!
Thanks all!!

 Lisa

My 6 (almost 7) year old is currently on Adderall XR 15 mg.  We reported to our peditrician that he was experiencing severe mood swings in the evenings (angry, sad, irriatable) and she suggested giving him 2 seperate doses a day (10mg in the am and 5mg in the pm).  That was a nightmare because by 3 pm he was decompensating and experiencing problems in school.  We're in the process of researching different meds in an attempt to make a somewhat informed decision. The whole trail and error thing stinks.  

Hi carsonsmom!!!
I am Aric'smom! :)  Nice to meet you!  Thanks for your reply. I hate that it takes all these trial and errors to find what works.  I took the dose in half and he had a better day.  But who knows how long that will work! I like the split dose idea. Does your son have ADD with or without hyperactivity?  This is a heck of a disorder to watch your poor kids go through, isn't it!?  I hate it!  Let me know how things go for you!
take care,

lisa

My 12 yer old son just started on ADDERAL XR 10 mg a day.  It has been a week and I really haven't noticed any change.  The Dr. told me if I haven't noticed a change in another week to up his dosage to 20mg. a day.  That really scares me especially when I hear about how it could cause heart problems.   He was on Concerta for 6 months and I didn't like how his temper flared up so we are trying Adderal.  Yes this really does stink.  I feel really bad for him.  He struggles in school academically and is getting in a lot of trouble.  Has anyone else gone from Concerta to Adderal XR?  If so, can you tell me what your thoughts are.  I'm to the point, I don't know what to do.

Dear MomofMick,

That is exactly what we did!  My son started on Concerta and was just terrible (mood-wise) when he came off.  So my doc said to DOUBLE the dose so he was one over 30 mgs a day. That doubled the problems!!  So she switched him to Adderall XL. He tried 15 mg and he said he could focus but felt weird like people were "fake" around him. What ever that meant!  So I lowered the dose to 10mg and he said it was fine.  Now today he comes home and he said nothing.  So I have no idea what works and what doesn't. I know it is all trial and error. It feels like more error!!  This is such a frustrating disorder! 

We are now on our thrid day of Adderall XR..so far so good.