Daytrana and excessive talking | ADHD Information

This is my first post and I hope I'm doing this right...

My daughter (is 7 and in 1st grade) was diagnosed with ADHD last spring. Amy has problems w/ attention NOT hyperactivity (although she does fidget). This has been affecting social relationships (has a difficult time connecting with kids her own age) & schoolwork (can do the work, but has to be reminded of what to do & to keep on task). After many classroom modifications & other accomodations (her teacher is AWESOME), her ped. recommended Daytrana (our first med.). We started it yesterday in the 10 mg strength. We noticed no side-effects as listed in the insert (including the appetite loss which we were really concerned about since she is only 37 lbs. but loves to eat), however we DID notice that after about 6 hrs. on the patch she begins to talk...a lot. She doesn't stop. She goes on & on & on. It is almost sad as she is usually a pretty reserved kid, even at home. She says she feels great & we have noticed that she doesn't have the extreme moods like usual. I am hoping that the teacher sees some improvement in attention & perhaps the talkativeness will help in school as in school she barely talks at all. I understand that excessive talking can be a symptom of ADHD, but it wasn't one of hers. Has anyone else seen this effect from Daytrana or other stimulant? May this just be temporary (until she begins regular daily use of it for a few weeks)? Any info. would be appreciated.

Also, I'd like to thank all of those who posted info. re. Daytrana adhesive. I thought I must be a complete idiot that I couldn't peel of a sticker to put on my kid! (I have one of the recalled lots.)

Again, thank you.

It sounds like the Daytrana has "opened her up" as I call it. My DD is very reserved off meds, but very social and talkative on meds, it's a good thing IMO.I think it could be. I pray this is all for the best. Thanks for your reply.

My daughter has been on Daytrana for about a month. We have used many different meds the past several years, both stimulant and non stimulant. The one difference I've noticed with Daytrana is how long of an adjusmtent period it has been. Although she does not talk excessively (she does that anyway, actually talks less on patch), it has taken several weeks to sort of "settle down". So it may subside some after a few weeks. Hopefully she will settle somewher in the middle .

I agree about the helpfullness of the board as far as the adhesive. We also got a recalled batch our first box, so I knew what was going on when I couldn't get the backing off! I knew right away to call and get them replaced.

Thanks for the info. I'll keep the adjustment period in mind.

my son gets out of school at 330 and I have him pull it off when I pick him up. We also get the homework done ASAP.  It usually isn't anything too difficult and he is proud that he doesn't need anyone sitting with him to do it.

Still we do have nites that he seems more awake than others. I do see a difference when he comes home is sedatary vs outside exercising. I have been encouraging him to take some time outside to practice his soccer. Not only is he ready to eat but hes tired. Shower & Bed by 830pm.

I know those late nights! One night he wandered the halls of the house all night long. I have been letting him take a bath and I add some bath oils to the water that are to help you relax. I think he is more relaxed after a bath than a shower too! I start earlier with Steven. Its just the two of us after school until dad comes home around 630 so I try and have the bath & homework done by then. Then its a peaceful dinner and some reading for us. We start bed around 8She was asleep by 10:15 last night (I pulled the patch off at 3:30). Again, the teacher said she had a great day. I hope things continue to improve. Amy spends wants to spend every moment she can outside, so I'll encourage that. I begin the bedtime routine at 7:45, so I'm hoping she can be asleep by 9, eventually. Thanks so much for the suggestions.

Her first "school day" on Daytrana was yesterday. I warned her teacher about the talking, just in case she talked more than usual in school. Her teacher sent home a glowing report that Amy paid attention all day and did all her work with little to no assistance! The best part of her note said that Amy was very happy with herself! :) Is this too good to be true? (I also noticed that she talked less that afternoon as well as today after she got home.) However, I forgot to take the patch off yesterday and it was on 9.5 hrs. instead of 9. (Took it off at 4:30 instead of 4.) Well, she couldn't fall asleep until about midnight. Poor thing. I took the patch off after 8.5 hrs. today hoping it would help. However, I felt I had to have her do her homework RIGHT AFTER school so the med. would still be effective. Everything went smoothly for that, so hopefully she'll be able to sleep better tonight. Wish me luck! If we can work this sleeping thing out, this will be terrific. Thanks for all your input!

  

I started laughing to myself when I saw that your daughter continually chattered. I never thought of it as a side effect but my son does the same thing.

Hes HAPPY! and boy does he yack. When he is at home hes chatty but not enough to drive me nuts. He gets so involved with Perler beads that he is quiet as a mouse. Asked his Phd and he said it was a very comforting, soothing thing for him. Also he mentioned he try working with yarn and plastic canvas. He also found this to be calming for his ADHD kids.

works for me!

If you want to try to get her to sleep a little earlier, Melatonin might be an option for you. It is natural and bought over the counter. GNC even has cherry chewables and liquid. Puts my son out in 20-30 minutes.Hey Kim - 2 more things.

About the Ritalin chewable in the 2.5 mg dose: for some reason, some doctors and pharmacists don't seem to know about this but it exists - I have it.  It's a generic methylin, so if you want to go that route, don't let anyone tell you it's not available.  There is also a liquid.

About Daytrana:  If weight loss is an issue, you might be able to counter it by really loading your daughter up on calories when it's not in her system.  My son used to drink 2 ensure pluses a day (350 calories each) - one with breakfast (3 waffles) and one in the evening.  That was 700 quick (but expensive) calories.

  I also found that popcorn (or anything salty) and a milkshake is a good after school snack.  He'll drink the milkshake because the popcorn makes him thirsty.   I don't worry about lunch too much.  You just have to be vigilant.   I still make healthy meals.   When he started gaining weight, we cut out the Ensures. 
You can always ask for an Rx for a booster in the afternoon to get your daughter through homework.  Ritalin comes in a 2.5 and 5 mg. chewable tablet.  When my son took that, he was still hungry for dinner.

As for the Daytrana, did you try putting benadryl on the red areas?  When we do that, his hip is always fine the next morning.  And we never put it in exactly the same place.

We just gave up on the glue marks and they go away eventually.  I read that some parents have tried baby oil and olive oil.  The rubbing with those bothered my son too much.  I would be worried that the nail polish remover is another irritant on your daughter's skin.  That's strong stuff.

AT first the patch didn't bother his skin at all, then it did, and now the redness seems to go away by the next time we alternate hips.  One advantage of our failure to remove the glue is that we always know where we put it on him last .
my daughter talks excessively when her dose is too low, or she's getting that "nervousness" she gets from some stimulants. It's like they are literally just saying out loud every passing thought..........boy it mkaes me tired, I cant imagine the poor things head going like that constantly every minute . She doesnt seem to be doing that on the Strattera. We also didnt go crazy getting all the glue off, but we were lucky I guess as we did not have any skin reactions when using Daytrana, minimal redness that was completely gone the following morning.

Thanks so much for the suggestion re. Ritalin in the pm. We see the ped. on Wed. and I'll ask about that as well as the Benedryl. We alternated hips daily with the patch and put it in a different location each day. Her hips looked like a checkerboard. The ped. prescribed 2% hydrocortizone which didn't really help (I was using 1% OTC on her already). A pharmacist suggested the nail polish remover (I know there are medical-grade adhesive removers out there, but no one here had them in stock, so I'd have to order it). I also had success with the baby oil for removing the glue. Thanks SO much for all the suggestions. I LOVE THIS GROUP! :)

Kim

I just read your post and my 6 yr old son just started taking Vyvanse 30 mg today and he had the same side effect.  Talking...and talking...and talking.  For the first couple of hours it was quite entertaining and it was nice to see him HAPPY all day for a change.  BUT, the talking was an ALL DAY thing and even when he was by himself he was talking to himself.  I once asked him to be quiet to we could watch a family movie, but he couldn't seem to keep himself from speaking up.

So my question is, since it has been a while since you posted this, did the talking issue improve over time?  I'm worried that if he keeps this up it will only cause him more grief at school. 

Amy stopped the excessive talking after about 3 days. Actually she did WONDERFUL on Daytrana (10mg). Her schoolwork improved so much that she won the "MOST IMPROVED" award for the marking period. She was so proud of herself and her esteem and confidence soared! The downside was that in one month, she lost 3 lbs. (which doesn't sound like a lot, but she is 7 yrs. old was only 37 lbs. to begin with) and that the patches severely irritated her hips. Due to the latter side effect, the ped. switched her to 10mg Metadate (oral). After 1 wk., I can tell you it didn't cause the talking or insomnia, but it doesn't last as long as the Daytrana and since she's been on it, doing homework has been a nightmare. I forgot how bad things were before meds... I'm going to try and get her back on Daytrana and maybe have her off it on the weekends to give her skin a break. (By the way, I had the best luck removing the patches with nail polish remover.) I'm sorry to go on and on about the latest with us. I DO wish you and your son best of luck and here's hoping the talking subsides soon.

Kim--Mom to Amy, age 7 (ADHD) and Libby, age 4 (SPD, possible ADHD?)