Switching to Adderall | ADHD Information

YES...This is the BEST BEST BEST med that my son has taken and he has tried most of them...he is able to focus and complete all of his school work..he also is able to do his Home work when he comes home ....he is on the extended release...before this med my son was not able to complete his work and homwork was a battle

Jen why are you not doing the extended release?

 

My daughter's dr. switched her meds today from Ritalin 5mg 1x day to Adderall 5mg 2x per day (not the extended release).  Has anyone had much luck with Adderall?   I'm hoping it is a better fit for my daughter than Ritalin.  I'm definitely hopeful again  

 

 

I did have success with adderall(both the regular kind and long acting) It has been the best ADHD medication for him and he has also tried 3 other kinds. I hope that we can put him back on it sometime soon. On this medication my son's teacher at school had NO idea he was ADHD!! I hope it works well for your daughter as well.

My daughter has been taking the XR for about two years, and it has worked well for her.  She did have some bad headaches, and was very tired for the first few days that she took it.  She it has also decreased her appetite, so we give her vitamins, and supplement with Ensure when she is not eating properly.  Other than that, she tolerates it very well.

[QUOTE=vronnie]My son too has been on Adderal for 6 months now.  He was doing great until yesterday when he got in trouble and mentioned that he would "kill" himself so he would not be bad anymore.  This completely threw me off guard. 

Vronnie, if he seems depressed or says this often, then I highly recommend another evaluation both to see if his problem is actually ADHD (a NeuroPsych can test for ADHD and beyond) and if Adderrall is the right med for him. Although Adderrall works for some ADHD kids, it can be a very bad med too--depends on the child and the disorder. My son got mean and aggressive on Adderrall and my teenage daughter abused it. Statements of suicide ideation should be reported to the psychiatrist. I wouldn't be overly alarmed, but I'd call the doctor and run it by him.

Vronnie, I agree about the video games.  My kids have them, and I am quickly beginning to see that not much good comes of them.  We have limited them, but I think that we may just need to get rid of them altogether.  However, I would also contact the doctor about your son's statement, and his problems at school asap.  I'm sure that you already have.  I think that we should always take these type of statements very seriously.  It may be his way of asking for help.My 12-yr-old son started on Adderall XR when he was dx'd last year, and 2 days later it was taken off the market here in Canada.

He had bad side effects from every other med, and he tried quite a few. Thankfully they brought the Adderall back after studying it further for 6 months, and we've not looked back - it's been TOTALLY fabulous. The only side effects have been occasional getting to sleep (getting better now) and lack of appetite (I haven't been overly concerned, as his appetite had always been a bit too robust and he had a bit of baby fat to shed anyway). Interestingly, they only sell the XR here in Canada.

If I've learned one thing from these boards though, it's that what works well for one person doesn't mean it's the right fit for someone else. So you can get a thousand thumbs-up answers here, it still might not be the right choice for your child. But I'll cross my fingers for you that it's the ONE!

PB
[QUOTE=vronnie] I was advised that video games for a child with ADHD is the worst thing to let a child do.  I let him as a privelage play video games not realizing that most of them are violent.  Because of the med's and the games I have decided to cut out complete violence out of his life including watching the news durring supper time.  I know that it may be difficult to do, yet we will see how it works.  Does anyone have any other advise?  [/QUOTE]

Not really advice, but just wanted to share that one of side effects I noticed with one of the other meds we tried was quite odd (see previous post - can't remember which med it was tho).  My son does enjoy video games which we do limit, but on one of the meds he became extremely agitated because playing the video games were no longer enjoyable at all. He described it as like losing something special to him that he looked forward to, and he'd try to play and he'd just burst into tears cuz he was feeling so ripped off. I just found it interesting that the meds could alter his perception of the enjoyment of an activity like that, 180 degrees. Obviously that would NOT be the reason we would change meds, because losing the compulsion to play video games could certainly be considered a good thing. But it sure opens your eyes about how far-reaching the effects of these meds really are.

I think you may be on to something there for sure, but it may not have anything to do with violence, it could just be the overstimulation in general. Hope your doc can help on that one asap...
PB

joemom,

The dr said she wants to get a medication that works and a  dosage regulated for my daughter first, and then we will probably go to an extended release. 

My son too has been on Adderal for 6 months now.  He was doing great until yesterday when he got in trouble and mentioned that he would "kill" himself so he would not be bad anymore.  This completely threw me off guard.  I too am very confused.  He can not be without the med's or things get out of control at school.  Yet, my son's mental health is more important to me.  I was advised that video games for a child with ADHD is the worst thing to let a child do.  I let him as a privelage play video games not realizing that most of them are violent.  Because of the med's and the games I have decided to cut out complete violence out of his life including watching the news durring supper time.  I know that it may be difficult to do, yet we will see how it works.  Does anyone have any other advise?  Good luck Jen's mom...I hope this one works for you like it did for us....

To Jensmom:  My 11 years old son had been on adderall 15 mg for 4 years and just switched to 30 mg adderall xr about 8 months ago for convenience on only having to take one pill a day.  I has been a wonder drug for us.  He goes through periods of different ticks they never seem to last that long.  Ritalin just wouldn't do the trick for him.

 

To vronnie:  My son also had an episode where he too was talking of killing himself.  I didn't wait at all, I called his dr immediately.  The first thing she did was to stop all his medication for a 2 week period to get all the meds out of his system.  He had just been put on an asthma inhaler with steriods and she determined that was causing a drug interaction and depression.  Has you son recently been put on any other medication for some other health issue?  Either way, I would contact his dr immediately.   Good luck.