Adderall XR & crying! Help! | ADHD Information

Okay so I made a post earlier about my 9 year old son starting on Adderall XR 10 mg this morning. He seemed to be doing ok. But I noticed that he started to look spaced out. His pupils looked dilated and he would just stare. Almost as if he was blank... Or a robot.. He did have much better attention span, the hyperactivity was gone, Almost too gone though.... I mean a normal non adhd child should move around some right? He pretty much sat in one spot and played with some paper and stickers for 6 hours without having any real emotion on his face. He would ask questions and thats all. Wouldn't add anything to a conversation. Just blank.

At around 6 hours after having the medicine he started getting very emotional. I said something that made him upset (I called him cute) and he didn't like for me to call him cute and he CRYED and tears streamed down his face, he was SOOOO irritated and crying, and out of it. I had to hold him and rock him. He just layed in my lap starring at the ceiling a blank stare, with tears running down his cheeks. When the crying/emotional feelings left they came right back a little while later. He started crying AGAIN!

YES he could concentrate. YES he could remain still in his seat. YES the hyperactivity was gone YES he seemed more on task HOWEVER here is the bad effects

He acted as if he was a robot. A finely tuned robot. Acted as though he had no emotion. Would not add any emotion to conversations. Did not have ANY hyperactive play. Seemed almost sleepy/quiet/depressed/blank. Had horrible crying/emotional meltdowns. Face looks very spaced out. Had blank stares.

I have to say that I had the best acting, most proper little robot child today ever. He had about 3-5 times that he showed emotion and cryed, other then that he acted like a peice of furniture that ask's questions in a mono tone voice.

I HATE it! He will NOT be taking this stuff tomorrow. I may flush it down the toilet tonight. Noway will I give that to him again.

have any of you noticed similar side effects with adderal xr or any other meds? What should we do now? I don't really even want to medicate but the school is pretty much forcing me to, I just don't know where to turn. Any info will be great.

thank you so much

peacefulpisces39389.7401736111Sounds like the wrong med or too high of a dose. (If you're going to get rid of it, please throw out the whole bottle instead of flushing it -- dissolved meds in the water system are not a good thing).

My 8-year-old son is on 10 mg. of Ritalin in the morning + 15 mg. Daytrana patch. He does not get weepy at all, just crabby at the end of the day when it all wears off. When the dose is too high he does get "flat". I sometimes see this in the middle of the day when the tail end of the Ritalin meets the upswing in the Daytrana, but it wears off in about an hour. I have also seen it on hot days when the Datrana works too quickly.

The thing about medications is it's trial and error. My son is very sensitive to every mg. of methylphenidate (Ritalin/Daytrana/etc.) and has had a couple of adverse reactions to different medications. Some people react poorly to Adderall and fine to Ritalin or Strattera and/or Tenex. You are trying to fine tune brain chemicals, which is just not easy to do. To me, it's worth the waiting and trying, but being flat, boring and depressed is overshooting the goal of the medication. The goal is to be just "on" enough to get positive feedback, not irritate other kids, do well in school, be a good friend and role model for siblings, and do something other than playing video games and watching TV.

I'm an adult and I have the same problem myself. I gtt very blank on my adderall when I first started. It seems as I stayed on it though, I felt more emotions come through, but for the most part it lets you choose the emtions you want to feel. Sometimes I have to ask myself why I feel a certain way because typically I don't have much emotion. Example, I was really moody and pissed for some reason and I couldn't figure out why. Then I realized I had been in court for 8 hrs and I should be pissed off.
My point is your son is too young to understand what he's feeling. My honest opinion, he has never liked it when you called him cute and it all came out at once. And I bet you won't call him cute anymore. I suggest sticking with it, and make sure you ask him how he feels when he's on it and off it. Look at his grades in school, ask him if the kids at school are nicer or meaner to him, etc... little things that matter. Remember, its not about you its about him. Everyone likes me when I'm off my meds too , because I make an ass of myself, Id rather be well respected. As corny as that is, its typically the case. Sorry I ran on just tryin to help out.

for my son (7 at the time) we started a 5mg pill broken in half. 2.5 mg. hardly anything. he was good on that then it started not working so we increased to 5mg and that worked for another 5-6 months and now we upped it to 10 mg.

as their body adjusts and grow we have to increase is what I heard. Well he stopped eating so we decreased back down to 5mg and he is doing worse in school. so we are back up to 10 mg.

I may be prying a bit with this, my apologizes - I'm not trying to parent your kids. Anyway, I'm a 20 year old male who started taking Adderall when I was 18 and I have to say I am very grateful my parents refused to put me on meds, even though it was suggested consistently by teachers and doctors my whole life. Yes, I was only an OKAY student who could've been at the top of his class on meds; yes, I got into trouble and talked way too much even though I'm a good natured kid at heart - essentially I was a great candidate for adhd meds since I began school.

Why I'm grateful I wasn't put on meds is I had time to figure out who I was. These meds undoubtedly alter the way you see the world and contemplate your actions.

Without a doubt the medication helps; it helps ALOT. I excel significantly further in almost everything I do (except for "playing" and having pointless fun). My suggestion is just to resist putting them on meds for as long as possible (hopefully until your child can understand what these drugs are), take drug holidays every chance you have, and do your best to explain to your kids what the drugs might do to them. Make sure they know the meds don't make them "better" or "fix" them - they just help kids like him or her do some things they need to do.

This is the wrong med if you are still having problems. Call your doctor and explain. These are not normal responses they are side effects of the medication. I would not give him anymore until you call the doctor.

I'm adult I had the same problem with Adderall XR. Peacefulpisces have you talk with your doctor about switching your son to the new ADHD meds called Vyvanse? I have been on it and i hadn't no crying spells or depression problem with it yet. My doctor keeping me on Vyvanse 50 mg a day.. I just have to take one pill in the morning time.

Gigi

I have heard of this problem with that med. It is a stong one yet some peoplr take it with no problem. I would call the doctor and get something more mild like Focalin, Ritalin family (many available) try that. and make sure you start at lowest dose and move up from there . We just needed the lowest dose od Focalimxr to get through school and homework. We did have a small rebound.

I just started taking Aderall too. and the first day my pupils were big and my heart was racing and I was scared. After the first hour, I took a nap. I felt Up and Down with energy the whole 2 days I took it. And now that I stopped I feel depressed. He probobly doesn't know what to feel, doesn't feel like himself and knows that that feeling is a constant reminder that he is different. Maybe you can reassure him that people with ADD do have "Super Powers" and most Intelligent/ Succesful people have it. It is a gift.

You could also try fishoil, that is my next option.

My son had the same reaction but on 15 mg. They switched him back to 10 mg.

When he was on 15mg he was in tears and seemed depressed. I hated seeing my baby like that. I felt so helpless.

Adderal didn't work for us either, though many people love it. The smallest dose of any medication available is 2.5 mg. of regular Ritalin. It comes in a chewable tablet. We use it on occasion in addition to or instead of the Daytrana patch. Unlike the XR, it releases all at once.

There are a ton of medications out there. Each person who takes them metabolizes them differently. They all take a little getting used to so it's not a great idea to jump around too quickly.

I think Adderal comes in a 5mg. dose. You can try that maybe.

The first time my son tried medication he got kind of spacey and then took a 2 hour nap! But we kept tweaking it and still are. Nobody wants their kid to be a zomby- that's not the point of medication. Once you get to the right meds and the right dose,your son's life will be easier.
Okay so I made a post earlier about my 9 year old son starting on Adderall XR 10 mg this morning. He seemed to be doing ok. But I noticed that he started to look spaced out. His pupils looked dilated and he would just stare. Almost as if he was blank... Or a robot.. He did have much better attention span, the hyperactivity was gone, Almost too gone though.... I mean a normal non adhd child should move around some right? He pretty much sat in one spot and played with some paper and stickers for 6 hours without having any real emotion on his face. He would ask questions and thats all. Wouldn't add anything to a conversation. Just blank.

YES he could concentrate. YES he could remain still in his seat. YES the hyperactivity was gone YES he seemed more on task HOWEVER here is the bad effects

I HATE it! He will NOT be taking this stuff tomorrow. I may flush it down the toilet tonight. Noway will I give that to him again.

thank you so much

One thing is you have to give any of these at least a month to work. I have noticed some seriousness in my daughter too. Asking questiongs like she was a 12 yr old when she is only going on 8. Why is that bad, I don't see it to be bad. My daughter takes Straterra and only that. I will not have two med's in her. If I can't figure out one or they can't , then she don't need med's. I don't like to hear that these kids are on 2 o 3 med's a day. My daughter had a bad day, the kids were all irratable in class today, all of them. Allot of them making faces and goofing off. M girl, started the 25mg's of straterra today, which is suppose to be the target dosage for her. (Hopefully). She seemed irrated each time they have up'd the dosgae. Which is what I understand you have to do. She has made a 70% turn around since day 9, which is today but today was the 3rd dosage in 9 days. So we'll see. Dont' loose hope, give it time.

YES he could concentrate. YES he could remain still in his seat. YES the hyperactivity was gone YES he seemed more on task HOWEVER here is the bad effects

I HATE it! He will NOT be taking this stuff tomorrow. I may flush it down the toilet tonight. Noway will I give that to him again.

Remembe this can be a roller coster on med's. Trying to find out which is right one for your little one's. Just don't let the Dr.'s try med after med, like 5 or 6 differnt ones, I don't agree with that. It takes more than med's to help our kids.

There are techniquest at home with med's that work wonders.

thank you so much

[QUOTE=peacefulpisces]

YES he could concentrate. YES he could remain still in his seat. YES the hyperactivity was gone YES he seemed more on task HOWEVER here is the bad effects

I HATE it! He will NOT be taking this stuff tomorrow. I may flush it down the toilet tonight. Noway will I give that to him again.

thank you so much

[/QUOTE]

I hope I don't sound condensending, I'm here for you!!!!!!!!!