As an adult taking Adderall daily, my experience taking med breaks has changed over time. At first, it was easy to stop cold turkey and the side effects were rather simple and longlived--I'd be twice as impatient and cranky, and I'd get sleepy. But really no big problem and I would take a break over a weekend or over a week when I felt like it and the time seemed right.
Now, after a year, things are different. Taking a med break causes a STRONG sleepiness response...I might as well write off the day after I stop to napping all day or feeling like I should be napping. The impatience flare up isn't as bad though. Even if I try tapering down from my usual 40 mg per day to nothing over a couple-three days, I still get wicked sleepy a day or two after I stop completely.
While everyone's reaction to these meds is different, I think the lesson here is that every individual's response will change over time--- medication breaks may trigger little or no side effects in a person now, but may trigger strong side effects later, or vice versa.
We have had mixed results with the breaks.
In the beginning my daughter saw such an improvement in herself she refused to go without the medication.
Then on a weekend she decided to give it a try. If my husband and I ever doubted the effects of the medication that weekend convinced us that the meds made life 1000% more bearable.
More recently she seems OK without the meds on a weekend.
The ONLY benefit I see is that off the meds she sleeps A LOT. Like her body is catching up ... and all that sleep alone improves her personality.
I am still concerned though as to the effect the med break has on her body and how the medication works. Do the breaks cause any type of resistance to the meds?
I am finding the posts very informative as it has only been a few months since my daughter started takings meds ... and we have a LOT to learn.
Diane V-That is a good idea to get the 2 prescriptions. I can't believe I've never thought of that, since the dose is always in increments of 5 mg. We went from 10 mg to 15 mg to 20 mg from Oct. 06 till school was out. I was disappointed that we had to increase it. It's frustrating to keep increasing. I have wondered if that was a sign to switch to something else. As far as meds break, my daughter is eating so much better the last week or so w/out meds. Another benefit would be maybe to help lower build-up to tolerance? Is that right?
momluv2teach
My pediatrician suggests breaks as optional. We have only recently been successful leaving off the Adderall XR, because of using the marble system. My dd gets many benefits from meds, not the least of which is mood stabilizing. She is 9 going on 16 and can really be hard to deal with without meds.
With my little kids at school, many times I could tell when they first walked in the resource room if they had their meds or not. Their parents seem divided on breaking from meds on weekends and summer. Just for the record, as a teacher, I love ADHD kids! They are fascinating to me.
Oh well, I guess everyone is so different it really depends on the child. Some kids can manage just fine off meds when not in school. Others, their ADHD symptoms just interfere with their life too much in other aspects, abilty to behave, impulsiveness, social situations. Some parents just want their kids to eat more and will do med breask to try to gain weight. I used to give my daughter 15 mg of Adderall XR on school days and either 5 or 10 on weekends. I always filled 2 prescriptions 10mg adn 5mg and would give her the smaller dose when not in school to try to gain weight. Most psychiatrists do not suggest med breaks because the ups and downs of stopping and starting meds can be hard on the body and can affect the effectiveness of the treatment. The reasons to take a break are things like for weight gain or to get a new baseline on the unmedicated state (my kids' doc does this annually).we never really took med breaks either. How old a child are we talking? Does she have a lot fo side effects?
My daughter has been on meds for a few months and life at home has improved a gazillion (if that is a real number) percent.
Yet her neurologist is encouraging us to take medication breaks when possible ... weekends, vacations, summer break, et al.
Why do folks take medication breaks? What is the benefit? and what if anything are the risks?
We are having such good luck with the meds I don't want to do anything to screw it up!!
Any advice would be helpful.