Need help w/son and Adderall | ADHD Information

I am SOOO glad I just stumbled across this board!! For the past several weeks my almost 16 yr old son has been on me to quit his adderall xr as he's been seeing all kinds of negative stuff in the news.  My husband and I don't like him or his brother on meds any more than he does, but when we've tried to let him stop taking the adderall, his grades go way down and he ends up in the office at school on a regular basis!  He's saying now "but isn't my health more important than grades?!?" and really getting angry about us making him take it. 

I need some suggestions here....what are any of you trying w/teenage boys as far as supplements?  I think he'd take something "natural" , as apposed to something that might potentially harm him.  Thanks so much!

Shonnie

momof2teenagers38799.3589467593.IMac38947.462349537Or can his doctor talk to him about the risks/benefits?  (After all, there are risks to taking even a Tylenol.)  I do think teenagers need to be a part of the medication decision making process because after all you can't literally force it down their throats.  So I think if you approach this in a way that says to your son, "Let's make this decision together thoughtfully.  Who can we go to to get the best information?" that might work to everyone's benefit.  Good luck!Well, he has the same concerns that myself and his dad have had all along.  He's so hard headed that even his doctor won't be able to talk to him.

What did your son hear in the news exactly? If the information is credible, then he should look into the facts. If the information is not credible, and he stops meds because of that information, then he is hurting himself.

One of the topics in the news lately has been links between Adderall and deaths in adolescents. If that is what your son is referring to, then he might be interested in the following:

[quote]The FDA issued the below Public Health Advisory on February 9, 2005. Please note the following cited by this advisory:

- When one considers the rate of sudden death in pediatric patients treated with Adderall products based on the approximately 30 million prescriptions written between 1999 and 2003 (the period of time in which these deaths occurred), it does not appear that the number of deaths reported is greater than the number of sudden deaths that would be expected to occur in this population without treatment.

"For this reason, the FDA has not decided to take any further regulatory action at this time."

Below is the complete FDA advisory as published on http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/advisory/adderall.htm [/quote]

Maxdad38799.4178240741We had this discussion at my son's last appointment. My son's doc mentioned the same facts as Maxdad and added about statistics of untreated ADHD.I have seen many family members fall into depression and/or self medicate with much more harmful results than adhd meds. If safe alternatives work, that is great! If they don't, help is still needed. JMHO does your son drive? I saw a study about teenagers with ADHD who take Adderall and those who don't....guess which group gets into more accidents....I think this is probably a greater health problemThank you for all your suggestions and opinions.  Yes, he is just starting to drive...that's a scary thought alone!!  Never the less w/ADHD added to it!  His father and he talked yesterday and he told my son he'd let him try taking his Adderall on Mon, Wed, and Fri.  I'm not sure if that's the thing to do, but it seemed to passify my son for now.

I'll be the lone dissenter here. He's old enough, let him stop taking it. He'll live.

As far as what I do that is natural for my son. He exercises every morning. I'm not saying that repalces adderall but it I do feel it helps keep neurotransmitters in check with the added benefit of being a strong healthy kid.

I don't trust the FDA for a second these days, totally incompetent.

For the record I don't have any connections or really know anything about Scientology other than I know they are against psych meds and something about aliens. I've just had an interest in pharmacology since nursing school and have come to my own conclusions based on what is known about the mechanism of action of the drugs.  You can understand quite a bit by looking into just that.

Best of luck. :)

AMEN NurseMOM!

Your son actually sounds responsible and level-headed to me. Adderrall is greatly abused by teens. Unfortunately, my daughter abused it as a teenager (crushed it with a pillcrusher and snorted it alone and with other drugs). She didn't even take it for ADHD--she just abused it. I'd feel safe and relieved that my son wasn't happy about taking medication. It's better than selling it. Yes, a lot of ADHD teens sell their scripts or abuse it. Fortunately, my daugher quit using drugs, but claims she had withdrawals from the Adderrall, which was her fav drug to abuse. Beyond when he lives with you, and only if he'll agree to comply, the reality is, we, as parents, can't force our grown children to take medication. I'm sure your son is frustrating you, but, hey, it could be worse. After all, he's a teen. He knows it all OlderMom38802.7046296296