Adderall and rage | ADHD Information

Wow, I'm very happy for you and your son. It's great to hear something good.  So many people don't realize that their child's rage is an effect of a drug and it is treated with another drug.

My gut instinct on the biofeedback is that it is temporary at best and saying that it is a permanent retraining of the brain is a crock. It is a step in the right direction in being in tune with yourself though. As far as I know it is not harmful which is good.

No my son is not on antidepressants anymore. The biofeedback requires around 15 treatments on average and after that no further treatments are required. It is a retraining of the brain and once it has been retrained it stays that way...it doesn't revert back. We have completed 6 sessions so I will know more in a couple more months. He goes once a week for treatments..IMac38947.4648726852My son 6 and has been on Adderall for about a year now and he has fits of rage as well.  If something goes wrong, he clenches his fists and tightens his whole body and screams with veins popping out of his head, throws things, might gently hit his sister or dad (cuz dad bugs him) The Dr. did not think this was from meds but just from ADHD.  He did have temper tantrums before meds but not this bad or often.  He is just now able to swallow pills and I am thinking of switching. I am afraid he may have rage with any stim.  
I now have completely taken my son off all meds and he is happier, eating better, sleeping better. He has been in a program at childrens hospital where he is being assessed by every type of doctor possible. They have confirmed the ADHD diagnosis and do not see any signs of mood disorders since the meds have been stopped. They confirmed that stims can lead to rages in some children. We are continuing with the biofeedback and we have seen some positives from that so we are hopeful we are on the right track. I don't think we will be going back to stimulants. The hospital program is teaching us daily how to deal with him behaviorally and it is working great. I feel we now have our son back and although not perfect things are way better for our family. We still have to determine if he can function in school well enough without any meds. The doctor has mentioned that Risperdal may help but we are not going to add any more meds until we determine if the biofeedback is successful enough...they say it can take up to 20 treatments. If you have this option available to you, I highly recommend it.

I have a son that is five, he was diagnosed with ADHD about a month ago.  He started on 10mg of Adderall XR, we had to reduce this to 5mg of Adderall XR.  He had terrible rage problems.  He is still having the same problems, at times he is very bad.  I contacted my dr. and he said that outside of changing the medication the only thing else to do was to quit giving him the medication.  My son cannot swallow a tablet, so I have to give him Adderall XR so that I can open the capsule for him to take the medication.  If he quits completely his hyperactivity is bad. I really do not know what to do also.  Maybe some other med would help, but I really don't know what to think.

Bridgette, has your son tried any other meds besides Adderall XR?  There are other stimulants that come in capsules that can be opened.  Both Focalin XR and Ritalin LA can be.  In addition, regular Ritalin comes in liquid form (methylin).  So you do have options if you don't like the side effects of Adderall XR.

If all those meds are causing rage reactions, I'd seriously urge you to have your son re-evaluated by a board-certified child psychiatrist who has experience treating kids with mood disorders.  I think you're looking at something beyond ADHD, and stimulants are just making things worse. 

     

My son has tried all of the stimulants and stratterra. He is also on an antidepressant. I don't think the dose is too high...we have tried a lower dose but with no success. He is now trying psychoneurophysiology (like biofeedback). I will let you know if we have any success with that.

csullivan, both stimulants and antidepressants can cause manic episodes (rage) even in kids who do not have bipolar disorder but it is far worse in kids who have a predisposition to bipolar.  These are bad side effects of the meds.  It is wise to get a second opinion from a board-certified child psychiatrist who has experience treating kids with bipolar. 

 

My son did not do well with adderall xr.  We are now on Focalin xr and so far so good.  The problems with the adderall came up about a month or two after we started.  He has been on focalin for almost one and a half months.

I will have to contact my doctor on those meds.  I was looking on the internet researching the ones that you have given me, hopefully one of them might work for him.  I hate to see such a sweet little guy have to deal with issues of the medication that he is taking.  Usually he is a pretty good and loveable little boy.  I am allergic to most medications, so maybe he is also.  I appreciate all of your responses.  Thanks.

IMac, you are absolutely right, which is why I responded the way I did.

The suggestion of adding Paxil is absolutely ridiculous.  Kids with mood disorders frequently have manic reactions to both stimulants and antidepressants.  Furthermore, why would you want to medicate a side effect with a heavy-duty med?  Doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

 

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It does not surprise me that your son is having problems with rage on adderall. Like others have said, the dose is probably too high.  I was taking/abusing adderall up to 300mg a day and had very bad issues with rage. Obviously your son is not abusing his medication but the consequences do sound dose-related.  It could just be the adderall. I for one found it to be a nasty and highly addictive drug; however, this is totally not true for other people.  So, it may be the dose and it may be the drug, or both.  I would probably try another drug. Straterra worked well for my impulsivness and losing my stuff.  In an overall way, it helps with my focus but not my math skills.  There are other options out there: therapy, herbal etc.      

Put him on Paxil, I doubt he'd still have those rage issues. Sounds like there is too much adderall in his system. Time to DOSE DOWN. not up.

 I have been taking 10mg of adderall xr lately, Well today I had a huge workload and I slept like crap last night due to a sick child, soooo, i had a 30 mg xr left, and I used it. All my work got done, but I am in a rage right now. as if my posts don't tell you that.

 So I am not going to do the 30 ever again, and I am going to stay at 10 for now.
bugzappers38749.8974189815Take him off it.  This is a harmful side effect and I don't think it goes away with time like we were told.
My son didn't get violent but the evil look in his eyes was very unsettling.  The mood swings were bizarre and not normal.  He was not our son.
I personally think Adderal is a dangerous drug for a child.  My son had every side effect on the list and he was on the lowest dose.  he had headaches that resulted in vomiting.  I would rather deal with the ADD then all of that.

I have heard this several times from other posters on this board.  I would definitely talk to your son's doc about this.  You should consider switching meds.  Has he tried anything else yet?

Are you working with a good child psychiatrist who can also evaluate your son for mood disorders?  His behavior does seem extreme and may point in the direction of a mood disorder.

 

Yes...my son has tried different meds...ritalin, concerta, dexadrine, risperdal, imipramine, strattera....some have worked for a while and then just stop working but all have had similar rage episodes! The problem with taking him off is that he is completely unable to function at school or at home. Not sure where to go from here...the doc has suggested hospitalizing him and taking him off all meds and reassessing...4 weeks in the hospital. I am not sure what we'll do.Has anyone experienced rage issues when coming off Adderall. My 9 year old son has had terrible rages when his meds are wearing off. He has been throwing things, breaking things, hurting the dog, swearing...recently he took a knife to our walls. Is this normal? He is on 20mg of Adderall xr and it works reasonalby well but once it wears off all hell breaks loose. Any advice would be appreciated.