Vyvanse | ADHD Information
I've never been on Vyvanse. I don't think this will help you but I am the same way almost all day. I just might starting bitting you soon... LOL... It might just be a normal thing to happen to pre-teens... I know what he means by " like when I have a headache but I dont have a headache" this just means there is nothing wrong but he is depressed... I am the same way... So hang in there. There has been reports that strettera is bad but I think you should try it...Hello I am new to this forum and was wondering who here uses Vyvanse for their children and what you think of it and any side effects you are seeing. My son, Ryan is 10 years old and has been on Adderall, Adderall xr, provigil and now vyvanse. We took him off the Adderall xr as he was very moody and irritable to the point of just breaking down when he came off of it. The provigil, while not marketed for ADHD , worked very well for a year and a half. No side effects, slept well, ate ok. But it has basically stopped working which my MD said happens. Ryan does very well in school( all Bs and one A) this past marking period but his teachers say he has very inconsistent days. Some times very focused , sometimes totally unfocused. We would like to see more consistency in his day.The are afraid though as the work gets harder , if he cant focus, he will not be able to keep up. He has in class support and needs LOTS of redirection .
He has always been a happy child but the last month or so is talking back MUCH more. Not sure if this is the ADHD or PRE TEEN COMING OU!
Ok so we started the Vyvanse on Saturday. 30mg to start. After about 45 minutes he got VERY VERY QUIET.Almost too quiet!!! He looked sad and I questions him on how he felt and he said* like when I have a headache but I dont have a headache*..Not sure what he meant but I think he meant he felt *not great*. He seemed very *blah*..After about an hour he perked up and went about his day. Its hard to tell focus at home , as he was playing, etc. He did seem to not need a 100 reminders to do something when I asked him. He ate pretty well. Meds wore off about 4, which was really only 6 hours or so and when they wore off, they wore off QUICK and he was very hyper and LOUD!..He ate a HUGE dinner and slept fine. Next day , pretty much the same. Today is his first day at school and am waiting on a report for the teacher.
The only real problem I see so far is the *blahness* or *blankness* he exhibted the first hour or so. Has anyone seen this and does it go away as he adjusts to the meds? I dont want a zombie or his personality squashed.
Thanks for any info available and this board looks very informative!
Jackie
Jacks,
I don't have a child on vyvanse, but I personally started taking it about 2 mos ago. It's hard for our children to explain what they are physically feeling in a way that we as adults con relate. So let me tell you my experience with the "headachy" feeling, I feel a tension in my neck and shoulders and sometimes it even feels like it's in my face. This happened in the beginning and when I increased my dosage but after a few days they seemed to stop. I find if I spend too much time doing one thing like sitting, focusing at the computer I notice it more. If I get up and move around, do small chores that it will help.
I hope this helps you to maybe understand what he is experiencing.
I'm glad to hear that the meds seem to be working out so well for him.
I personally have chosen to discontinue using vyvanse because of the anxiety that seem to come along with the meds. Although I must say there were periods of generalized focus that sometimes became a kind of "hyper" focus. But the anxiety and the frustration that accompanied the increase in focus was not a very good combination for me. One particular incident occurred that really didn't warrant the peaked level of anxiety I felt physically and emotionally. It took a few hours for these feelings to subside. At the time I was with my husband but he was unaware of what I was going through, though I really wanted to holler, cus, and stomp my feet to try to release this frustration! I only mention my experience so that if you notice a similar occurence in your son it won't be a surprise to you. For me it is just more than I'm willing to subject myself to so I have discussed going back to using Strattera and possibly increasing the dosage and splitting the dosage to twice daily rather than taking it all at one time.
I now wish I had never tried the other because it's been a physical and emotional roller coaster for the last 2 mos. I'm an adult I can't imagine what it must be like for a child to deal with these ups and downs and not be able to relate what they are feeling to adults. Sometimes I don't understand what I am feeling myself..
Well its been almost 2 weeks since my son started the vyvanse. He is on 30 mg and the blankness that he was experiencing seems to have gone away. He takes it very early in the morning and it lasts till about 6 to 7 pm. Appetite seems the same as with the provigil. He eats a huge breakfast, very little lunch( I pack mostly snacky type stuff as he cant deal with a sandwich and two drinks, he says he is more thirsty with this new med). He is sleeping fine, if anything he goes to be easier on the vyvanse. I think his mind is not as hyper at night with this med.
He attends an afterschool program til 6 and most days doesnt manage to finish his homework there. He usually gets 3 assignements per night. HE has been finishing all his homework and also reading for 20 minutes at night for his reading program. He is more pleasant in the afternoon when he comes home and the teachers report for this week said Ryan had an AWESOME week.
Am keeping my fingers crossed that this keeps up. So far so good!
i would give it a couple of weeks. sorry about the lying, my daughter has never been dx with odd, but can be extremely stubborn with a most things. i think the rewards are great, we use rewards and punishment. try to figure out what she really likes and what she really can't live without. with my daughter she can't stand not riding the bus, or when i clean her room without her (go figure). so if i need to i don't let her ride the bus (it is a prevlidege that she needs to earn). Or gasp, i organize her books or toys. for rewards i try to make then geared towards her or family orriented. going out to dinner or ice cream, spending a day at the park with a special friend.
personally give me a hyper non focused kid anyday, it the emotional time bomb that is the worst. let me know how it goes.
[QUOTE=evryoung]I'm glad to hear that the meds seem to be working out so well for him.
I personally have chosen to discontinue using vyvanse because of the anxiety that seem to come along with the meds. Although I must say there were periods of generalized focus that sometimes became a kind of "hyper" focus. But the anxiety and the frustration that accompanied the increase in focus was not a very good combination for me. One particular incident occurred that really didn't warrant the peaked level of anxiety I felt physically and emotionally. It took a few hours for these feelings to subside. At the time I was with my husband but he was unaware of what I was going through, though I really wanted to holler, cus, and stomp my feet to try to release this frustration! I only mention my experience so that if you notice a similar occurence in your son it won't be a surprise to you. For me it is just more than I'm willing to subject myself to so I have discussed going back to using Strattera and possibly increasing the dosage and splitting the dosage to twice daily rather than taking it all at one time.
I now wish I had never tried the other because it's been a physical and emotional roller coaster for the last 2 mos. I'm an adult I can't imagine what it must be like for a child to deal with these ups and downs and not be able to relate what they are feeling to adults. Sometimes I don't understand what I am feeling myself..
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He does get frustrated at times and seems a bit over the edge but I have been giving him a little more leeway with outbursts and let him go off to his room or another room in the house to pull himself together. I am hoping that this goes away as he adjusts better to the meds. It is not often and it is not every day.
I did hear that there were no clincal trials for adults with this med, just children so maybe the side effects for adults are more severe?
Thanks for taking the time to answer me!
Well let me tell you I was up til 1am last night feeding my brain with message boards. And I ran acroos one that hit me. These people were talking about how there child was the worse in the morning , and that was my daughter to the tee. The mornings were AWEFUL! So I took some advice form most of the people to wake her up about 45 min befroe her regular time and give her her vitamin(thats what we call it "Vitamin F for vitamin Focus") and I tried it this morning and WOW, OMG!!!! It was a miracle, our morning went argument free, she was happy and talkative with her sister(never happens). I was amazed at what a simple change like that could make a difference. Because the morning routine is a guideline for the rest of your day I think. Her having a bad morning put me ion a bad mood all day. So thats that. One change down. Thanks for the talk.My daughter who is 8 has had ADD for about 2 years now. She started on Adderall XR and we just recently changed to Vyanse a week and a half ago. We changed because we thought she had out-grown the other. The DR. said the Vyvanse had great clinical trials and less side effects. Well, she seems to be very emotional, confrontational and well just weird. I don't see this all day but just sometimes. I am thinking I just need to give it some time. I am not sure however if I should give it to her on the weekends or not. Does this make it worse? I would assume it would as with any med. if you stop taking it and then start up again. She does have a little OCD as well as ODD. I am getting a little scared though. I read so many things about suicidal thoughts and things like that. I know everyone is different, but she is so young. She seems to have a normal social life most of the time though. She has many friends and her teacher says she is well liked in the school. Any thoughts?over the holiday weekend i thought i would give my daughter (6yo) a smaller dose. i opened it and just let a tiny bit out. what could it hurt? it's not like she needs to focus that much at home. She did fine, but monday it seemed like she was hit by a ton of bricks. yesterday and today were fine, but that first day at the full dose, didn't do her any favors with sleep. my daughter too is a bit on the ocd side of things and i have noticed that it is more pronounced, however i have also noticed that she is less negative about herself, esp at homework time. she'll say things like "this is easy, or look what i did." where before she was really more negative about her abilities or would say that no one likes her. i haven't noticed any depression or suicidal thoughts. we are about 3.5 weeks into it, and so far so good.
I thought about giving her half a dose as well to see if it changes things, it can't hurt at this point, you are right. My daughter has a huge issue with lying as well, just stupid things, things that have no meaning, just to lie. That is the hard one. I just got a packet from her school counselor with some helpful tips in there as well. I need to work on my disipline skills. hopefully that will help as well. I refuse to spank my kids so I wasn't sure on what to do with her as she would really test my patience quite often. They say to walk away from the situaition for a couple of minutes and then come back and sit down with them and talk. This gives you a cool down time. She also needs rewarding constantly, that gets old when she shows no sign of caring anyways. I will just have to give this a couple of more weeks and see what happens, if no change I gues its back to the doc we go. There has to be something out there for her?Macadamianut,
I'm curious what meds if any you are using now. I'm still not sure that Vyvanse is the right one for me. I have used Strattera but rather than increase the dosage we decided to try Vyvanse.
Hi I am a 30 yr old woman who just stopped taking Vyvance after a month! I noticed it wonderfully help the ADD but the side effects were awful. I started getting very insecure and it made me confused, but evryoung is right if you get up and walk around .. maybe get outside with some fresh air he will feel better! Recommend you keep ur eyes out for depression or insecurities! Also, the medication caused my jaw to clench alot, that could be what he is talking about.. very tense. Good Luck...Evryoung,
I am currently on Adderall. I have asked the Dr to change me XR and he has also increased my dosage to 15mg. I seem to have less side effects then with the Vyvance. While I was on it, other then a few issues with being tired it seemed to be great. But, now I see after I stopped that it wasn't working well at all. It made me sleepy, and very out it. I also had an issue with my mouth. It wasn't a tic, but something was a little off there. I had also gotten a rash on my head. It went away immediatly after the switch. The medication is good for some, but I didn't like how OVER focused I was. To a obsessive point... if I wasn't on my computer I would have a little panic feeling. Good luck and I hope the med works for you!
Thanks for all your responses. I am still waiting to hear from his teacher on how he did during the school week. Its hard for me to tell , because he dosent get home till 6 pm from afterschool care and by them most of the meds have worn off. He says he still feels * tired* after he takes the medicine but he says its like *im very quiet* and he does say he can do his work. His appetite is bad in the afternoon(but it was with all the other meds too) but he is eating a HUGE dinner so that is good. Sleep is fine. I have had no problems, if anything he has gone to sleep earlier! Does thatmake sense?
He is only on 30mg so maybe that is why. The MD said if the side effects were minimal then to give it 2 weeks before we decide to change it, up the dosage or stay the same.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving so he will be with me all day and I will observe more.
Jackie
my 6 yo dd started vyvanse on November 11. before she was taking focalin xr, but it wasn't lasting very long and her afternoons were a nightmare at school. At frist on the vyvanse i too noticed that she was very quiet and lifeless. the first week was kinda hard, she was getting very little sleep, by day three my husband was saying we have to take her off. he doesn't understand that she needs time to adjust. we are on week two, and she is doing great.
since she started she has been coming home with great daily reports from her teacher. she still needs to work on her study habits and following directions, (she forgets long strings of directions.) i was afraid that she was a zombie, but yesterday she had her thanksgiving feast and i noticed that she was very happy, ate well, listened great and was smiling a lot, on the play ground she was playing with her friends and seemed to be in a great mood. just like she is off the meds but more in control.
also today was my day to aide in the class. she was pretty good. (She does not like it when i aids in her class, so i think the thought of me there put her in a bad mood ) but she did her work and when the teacher said that she had to color more on her turkey, she didn't put up a stink. (normally she might argue with the teacher)
On a side note i have been giving it to her between 5 and 5:30 to help with the sleep issues. she goes to bed around 8:45 is is asleep before 10 with no melatonin. But i make sure i get her up at 7. even on the weekends. also the first week she would clear her throat alot, so i am constantly giving her drinks, juice, sprite, gatorade anything to keep her hydrated. and although she is eating well, i still give her a big late snack (apples, grilled chicken) to keep her weight up. she is a skinny bean and can't lose any weight.
last thing, she gets dressed on the first or second time i request it in the morning. Which is amazing, i nolonger sound like a broken record. we do her homework in the morning, and that is also not taking nearly as long as it did on the focalin xr. now she even has time to play or watch a show (No more mean mommy
.)
i hope it works well for you, there are not a lot of parents out there that are posting about vyvanse and kids. i would be interested to know how it is working for you, and what side effects you are noticing.
[QUOTE=Az kristen]my 6 yo dd started vyvanse on November 11. before she was taking focalin xr, but it wasn't lasting very long and her afternoons were a nightmare at school. At frist on the vyvanse i too noticed that she was very quiet and lifeless. the first week was kinda hard, she was getting very little sleep, by day three my husband was saying we have to take her off. he doesn't understand that she needs time to adjust. we are on week two, and she is doing great.
since she started she has been coming home with great daily reports from her teacher. she still needs to work on her study habits and following directions, (she forgets long strings of directions.) i was afraid that she was a zombie, but yesterday she had her thanksgiving feast and i noticed that she was very happy, ate well, listened great and was smiling a lot, on the play ground she was playing with her friends and seemed to be in a great mood. just like she is off the meds but more in control.
also today was my day to aide in the class. she was pretty good. (She does not like it when i aids in her class, so i think the thought of me there put her in a bad mood ) but she did her work and when the teacher said that she had to color more on her turkey, she didn't put up a stink. (normally she might argue with the teacher)
On a side note i have been giving it to her between 5 and 5:30 to help with the sleep issues. she goes to bed around 8:45 is is asleep before 10 with no melatonin. But i make sure i get her up at 7. even on the weekends. also the first week she would clear her throat alot, so i am constantly giving her drinks, juice, sprite, gatorade anything to keep her hydrated. and although she is eating well, i still give her a big late snack (apples, grilled chicken) to keep her weight up. she is a skinny bean and can't lose any weight.
last thing, she gets dressed on the first or second time i request it in the morning. Which is amazing, i nolonger sound like a broken record. we do her homework in the morning, and that is also not taking nearly as long as it did on the focalin xr. now she even has time to play or watch a show (No more mean mommy.)
i hope it works well for you, there are not a lot of parents out there that are posting about vyvanse and kids. i would be interested to know how it is working for you, and what side effects you are noticing.
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I did notice that he is very thirsty and has been requesting alot of drinks. But other than the tiredness and *quietness*, he seems ok. Thanks so so much for posting so much info for me to process. I am hoping this will be a good med choice for him.
Will keep you posted!
[QUOTE=mistlee]My daughter who is 8 has had ADD for about 2 years now. She started on Adderall XR and we just recently changed to Vyanse a week and a half ago. We changed because we thought she had out-grown the other. The DR. said the Vyvanse had great clinical trials and less side effects. Well, she seems to be very emotional, confrontational and well just weird. I don't see this all day but just sometimes. I am thinking I just need to give it some time. I am not sure however if I should give it to her on the weekends or not. Does this make it worse? I would assume it would as with any med. if you stop taking it and then start up again. She does have a little OCD as well as ODD. I am getting a little scared though. I read so many things about suicidal thoughts and things like that. I know everyone is different, but she is so young. She seems to have a normal social life most of the time though. She has many friends and her teacher says she is well liked in the school. Any thoughts?[/QUOTE]
I personally DO not stop meds on weekends or holidays or summer. I work in the pharmacy field and every pharmacist I have ever spoken too says that body has to keep *readjusting* if you take the child off the meds. I also feel that my son DOES need to focus and curb impulses all the time, not just at school. I work a 40 hour week and am a single mom . I have my son every other weekend and that is our family time. I want our family time to be enjoyable and productive . This is JMO as I know some parents who give their kids medicine breaks becuase that is what works for them. My *ex* sometimes FORGETS to give our son his meds and my poor son comes home from his dads a mess. Not good!
Confrontational and weird happen at our house sometimes too. Not eveyday as I posted above but once in a while. Hopefully this will subside for both of us!!
[QUOTE=mistlee]Well let me tell you I was up til 1am last night feeding my brain with message boards. And I ran acroos one that hit me. These people were talking about how there child was the worse in the morning , and that was my daughter to the tee. The mornings were AWEFUL! So I took some advice form most of the people to wake her up about 45 min befroe her regular time and give her her vitamin(thats what we call it "Vitamin F for vitamin Focus") and I tried it this morning and WOW, OMG!!!! It was a miracle, our morning went argument free, she was happy and talkative with her sister(never happens). I was amazed at what a simple change like that could make a difference. Because the morning routine is a guideline for the rest of your day I think. Her having a bad morning put me ion a bad mood all day. So thats that. One change down. Thanks for the talk.[/QUOTE]
My Neice is also ADHD and her parents use to have to do this. They woke her up at 5 am and gave her her meds and then she went back to sleep for an hour! I have not had to do this, as my son wakes up pretty well. He is a bit slow but not nasty or argumentive. That comes in the later afternoon!!
SOO glad you found something that works!!!
[QUOTE=mistlee]Ok I needed to get some feedback on that thank you. I will take your advice and see how it goes keeping her on it consistently. I think I read these things too much because there are so many differnt views and you get sooooo confused!!! [/QUOTE]
Also my MD said the side effects with vyvanse usually subside as they body adjusts to the meds. In the beginning, my son would become almost robot like for an hour or so. NOw that is completely gone. I think if i would have taken him on and off during off school times, it would have lasted longer!
Not sure about your school system but from Oct to Dec our schools have TONS of time off!!