5 YR OLD NEW TO ADDERALL | ADHD Information
I took my son to 2 different grocery stores, which are placeswhere he is all over the isles and skips/hops down isles....but it
was different this time. He actually stayed with me and wanted
to help pick out groceries. I am so pleased. I notice a lot of
children are on 5mg, but I think his doctor put him on 10mg
because of his ht and weight....(46 in and 58 lbs)...what I am
most pleased about is that he is still himself...he is still the
strong willed, strong minded, comedian child he always was. It
is amazing. By the way, this message board is very good for
me. It is helping me accept this situation and become
comfortable with it. Thank you!my son is 5 and is on ritalin 5mg twice a day.at school he is alot better than he was before the meds but he too is very emotional,he will cry about nothing.i don't see how the dr. could lower his dose since he is only on 5 mg.but the plus is he eats so good when the meds wear off,he actually gained a lb. in a month.
[QUOTE=trixiecat] We don't see a whole lot of difference in him. He is able to sit at school for circle time, etc., but when he is in a restaurant, party, etc. situations that he is not used to doing on a regular basis, he can't sit and won't listen. He actually though has been sitting and playing with toys which he never did before. I am hoping that his doctor will increase the meds to 10 mg to see what happens. When he first started out on the 5 mg he was overfocused and overemotional for about 3 days and then it seemed as if the medication settled into his body and now isn't doing much. [/QUOTE]
You might want to hold off on raising the dose. How do you not see a "whole lot of difference" you said he is well behaved in school and can sit and play with his toys at home. Sounds like a big difference and that the medication is working great for him.
As for the restaurant, party, etc....
I definately notice my symptoms getting worse in places with a lot of people or activity like a store, or restaurant and I'm an adult now. The more exited or active the people around me are the more worked up I seem to get. Anyone can get overstimulated in that situation but I've found that the problem with ADDers is that while others can get worked up or over excited they can also calm down just as quickly. I can't do that my reaction just keeps growing. I can't shut it off and it's amazingly hard to even try to just stop it at that level. So while my parents or peers are ready to get back to shopping I'm still overreacting to the situation.
Since he can handle school which can also be a very active environment maybe he just needs more practice at places like restaurants. That way it isn't so exciting and or such a big deal to him like it is now. Over time we learn to cope better and he's shown that he can learn to cope in school even with all the other kids running around. With time and practice he'll be able to use that school behavior in other places.
My son will be 5 in 2 weeks. He has been on Adderall XR for a month now (5 mg). We don't see a whole lot of difference in him. He is able to sit at school for circle time, etc., but when he is in a restaurant, party, etc. situations that he is not used to doing on a regular basis, he can't sit and won't listen. He actually though has been sitting and playing with toys which he never did before. I am hoping that his doctor will increase the meds to 10 mg to see what happens. When he first started out on the 5 mg he was overfocused and overemotional for about 3 days and then it seemed as if the medication settled into his body and now isn't doing much.
It is so confusing because we feel like we have his life and future in our hands and want to do the right thing, but not overuse the drugs.
Sandy
My son has only been on it for 2 days and I already see the
difference. That seems so weird to me. He is 4years old and is
in Pre-K at the school where I am a teacher. He was not
adjusting, so I finally took him to the doctor. Adderall worked
teh first day. He has never had a "good" day at school until the
first day on Adderall. He does seem a little more emotional,
which is different then the hyper boy I'm used to. I am going to
wait a few more days and observe effects and then I will call his
doctor with an update. I hope this medication continues to work
well for you. Oh, my son is on 10 mg of Adderall XR. My son who is also 5 is also on Adderall. He was doing better but was very emotional when he was taking the 15mg. You will need to talk to your Dr to have him increase the dosage. My Dr told me that one of the side effects of being underdosed is that the child is very emotional. My son is now on Adderall XR 20mg and it is like night and day difference.
We found tht our son became emotional as the meds would wear off, around 2:30-3:00, this is called a rebound. Let your Dr know about it, the dose maybe to high, or he just needs to get use to it.
Unless you mean you are crying, then yes we all have at one time or another.