My son was diagnoised three years ago with Adhd. He as always been on Adderall XR. It immediately made a radical difference. He is very implusive.
He is now taking 30mg of Adderall XR. He HAS to take it everyday, at the same time. If he is even an hour late, he is emotional, angry, argues and literally bouncing off the walls. Once he takes it, 30 mins later...he is back to his "normal" self. here is no way we can take a drug holiday...even for one day, although we would have loved to take the summer off.
We have a Drs appt in the next couple of weeks and would love to switch him due to this withdrawal without it.
Does anyone have any experience with Adderall and such side effects as this?
All comments and suggestions are appreciated!
I see your issue in a different manner, right or wrong. I really do not see what you are describing to be a side effect, but more an example of how much help the medication is. I think that would be the case with any of the ADHD meds that work for him.
You say that when he is taking the medication that within 30 minutes he is back to his "normal" self. But if he is an hour late he "he is emotional, angry, argues and literally bouncing off the walls" To me this says that the medication is working very well.. His regular" self would actually be the emotional, angry, arguing... child. - THE ADHD Child non-controlled. To me its sounds like the medication is controlling is ADHD symptoms and when he does not take it, the symptoms return and the ADHD takes over. Any ADHD person that takes any type of a drug holiday or weekend off, is open to the consequences of untreated ADHD, which can be very dangerous even (almost especially) during the summer and weekends because there is so much more unsupervised free time to "explore". I have heard several tragic stories of ADHD children taking drug holidays during the summer or weekend and having serious and deadly accidents as a result of their impulsivity. Just a thought.
Thank you for the replys...maybe I am not understanding everything (which is quite possible) or not explaining very well.
Before meds (age 10), he did not behave or act this way. Yes, he was impulsive. This did show in his behavior, school work and soccer. However, he was not an emotional child. Crying at the drop of a hat...not him.
Last summer, we took him off meds for 11 weeks. The first 10 days were horrible. Very implusive, angry, crying, fighting, could not sit still, etc.. But then after the first 10 days, he reminded me of his pre-medication days. Implusive but reasonable, no tears, lots of energy but could self control to a large degree. Yes, meds do make a difference. He and I both know it and he sees and feels the difference. And believe it or not, does not fight me about it. Most days, he takes without me even asking. But I am struggling with is this the right medication for him? There is no question that it works, but if he does not take it....he is way over the top.
I am too the point that I am nervous about him going to sleepovers or out of town soccer trips without one of us. If he forgets to take or takes it later on in the day....no one would invite him back. Yes...it is that complete change in personality.
I will definately talk with his Dr. But I am a firm believer that those who have been there...understand better than a Dr who does not have an ADHD child.
I agree that it's probably not withdrawal, but just him being himself. The medication would be out of his system at the end of every day. Withdrawal really doesn't happen with ADHD meds, because they leave the system so rapidly. I can tell you though, just from my own experience, that I am pretty irritable when I'm off meds. It's not withdrawal, but being "myself" is irritating. I wasn't diagnosed until age 30, so it's not even a matter of not knowing how to deal with myself non medicated. What it is, is that now that I have started medication, I know what calm is. I know what it's like to not fidget. I know what it's like now to not have my mind going 1000 miles an hour with constant thoughts. I know "normal", I guess you could say. To then have to go back to being restless, fidgety, having my mind go non stop, being foggy, being scattered, it is sooooo dang irritating. It feels like my body is on over load even though it's really just me being me.
I would definitely talk to his doctor, because we aren't doctors here, and maybe a different medication would work better. Or maybe a combination of something like Strattera and his current med would help, so that he has 24 hour coverage from Strattera, but the benefit of the stimulant. Hard to say, but definitely share your concerns with his doctor.
Good luck!
We tried Adderall XR on my 9 year old son for about 4 months. IT was horrible. He was depressed and had major anxiety. We've never had that before. He pulled all his eyelashes out...just aweful.
We just started the DAytrana patch and love it. Side affects were a bit intense for the first week, but it's great now.
Mollysgirl