Adderall will (if it is the right med for her) help her to focus and stay on task at school. ADD is really ADHD, primarily inattentive type. My son is the same. No real hyperactivity, just cannot stay focused and on task for school work.
Side effects that are common, but not always happen to every child, are:
appetite loss- can be helped by giving the med after a good, high calorie breakfast, and allowing the child to eat in the late evening after the med has worn off, some parents do not give the meds on the weekends or holidays to offset the appetite suppression on the medicated days, but check with your doctor first. There are also meds to stimulate appetite if need be. There have been many discussions on eating issues on this board, you can do a search and find many ideas/solutions to this problem. Also, many children seem to escape the issue altogether.
sleep disturbances- this can be helped with melatonin, an over the counter supplement that can be given an hour or so before bedtime to help to make the child drowsy enough to go to sleep. There are also stronger drugs that are commonly given along with the stimulants if need be to help sleep, but many have great success with just melatonin, again ask your doctor if this becomes a problem.
Always remember that finding the right medication and dosage can sometimes be a roller coaster ride. The first prescribed is not always the one that is the right fit for the child. There are many types of stimulants out there, and if this one does not agree with your child, there are many more to be tried. Don't give up, and ask any questions that you may have here.
Welcome to the boards!!!
My son takes adderall xr ( this is the long acting form) and has very few of the side effects (mild if any). He is quite thin but he does eat all his meal and the doctor said not to worry because he is on the normal growth curve. His sleep is fine now but at first he needed a warm milk to help calm him down ( this was not really a big deal). Every once in a while he will get grumpy but I honestly don't think this is any worse than a child NOT on ADHD meds.....finding the right medicine can be tricky. It took us a year and a half before we found the best one for my son with the fewest side effects.
Good luck
Welcome CecyliasMom,
As far as the terminology... The designation of ADD is somewhat older. The terminology of this group of disorders has evolved over time and will continue to do so as the knowledge base is increased. The current terminology is that the disorder is ADHD with one of 3 subtypes: primarily hyperactive/impulsive, primarily inattentive (also called ADD) and combind.
You will find lots of help here through this journey.
Hello, my son takes adderall xr and we had to play with the dosage over a 6mo period to get it right. He didn't experience any side effects long term. He is also extremely thin but still in the normal range however the appetite supression was a little disconcerting. He eats one 1/2 pb&j at snack time at school and the other 1/2 at lunch time and that's it during the day. He takes his medicine after breakfast about 7am and it wears off by 5pm so he usually will eat dinner. He's also a very picky eater and we're having issues with that as well. He can become very easily frustrated in the evening and is prone to meltdowns if he's off schedule. I have discovered that routine is almost as important as the medicine! And I've learned a lot from a friend of mine who has an adhd child about behavior modification. I'm new to the board as well and I've been looking at all the postings relating to handling behaviors...it's what I've been trying and it works wonders! Good luck, here's hoping you get lucky with the meds and it will work for your daughter.
JJETT
son Ethan 7 adhd inattentive type
Adderall is the strongest first line med currently available for ADHD. There is a saying "that if adderall doesn't focus you nothing will", however the dosage may have to be tweaked or it may not be the right med at all. I would be curious as to why your Psych Rx'd it before trying something milder? Also why he/she did not explain the side effects etc to you at that time?
I am assuming it is the Adderall XR that was rx'd?
What are the potential side effects of ADDERALL XR?
As with any medication, it's important to know the potential side effects of ADDERALL XR. It's also essential to understand other safety information, including who should not take the medication and why.
ADDERALL XR was generally well tolerated in clinical studies.3,5,6 The most common side effects in studies included: children—decreased appetite, difficulty falling asleep, stomachache, and emotional lability; adolescents—loss of appetite, difficulty falling asleep, stomachache, and weight loss; adults—dry mouth, loss of appetite, difficulty falling asleep, headache, and weight loss. Side effects may diminish over time after beginning treatment.
Full prescribing info here..
http://www.adderallxr.com/assets/pdf/prescribing_information .pdf
Haley4
there is regular ritalin (short acting), time release ritalin in various forms....ritalin SR, ritalin LA, concerta, focalin short acting and focalin XR, metadate and metadate CD, dexedrine, and dexedrine spansules, and the daytrana patch...I am sure that I missed a few...I am going to look for a med chart that I have seen posted and paste a link here....hang on
Here is a medication chart. I am not sure that daytrana or ritalin LA are on it as they are the newer ones and the chart may be older...
http://www.myadhd.com/treatment_tools/medicationchart.html
If Adderall is the strongest first line med, then what meds are considered milder? My son had problems with the Adderall even when taking the lowest dose. He only has trouble staying focused at school-not hyper at all. Thanks for any reply about this!Excellent chart. It has answered many questions I had about other meds.
Thanks a lot.
No problem...I got it from one of vickie's posts.....we should be thanking her!