Adderrall Appetite and Losing Weight | ADHD Information

maybe he should be on another med  that means change med. Adderall also is for weight loss.

My son is on adderall and does not have much of an appetite.  He has lost two pounds and is borderline underweight.  He has been on it for two years.  The medication is working great for ADHD, just not sure how to get him to put on the pounds. 

Anyone have any suggestions?  Psych, suggests lowering amount.  However, he needs the does he is on.

jobige87.... explore other posts on this board...there are a slew of others that have raised the same kinds of questions on how to maintain or gain weight while taking these meds and there's litterally hundreds of moms (and dads!) offering up what has worked for their children.You can't really escape weight loss on adderall. It's a stimulant. And the higher the dose the more weight you'll loose. I was 140 when I started and a year later I am now 120. I have eaten a lot too. But if you notice, you'll never see a fat person who regularly takes adderall. I've heard that vyvase helps with the appetite thing, so you may want to switch that. Or try a non stimulant medication. 

When my son (9) first started FocalinXr he didn't have much appetite for the first few months.  He eventually started eating again but went nearly a year without gaining any.

I found it helpful to give him a big high calorie (but healthful) breakfast before I gave him the meds.  You can also try Carnaton Instant Breakfast or a protein shake along with his breakfast.  We also pushed dinner time back an hour until his meds had worn off.  Didn't really make for a peaceful meal, but he ate.

The thing that really did the trick though, was the start of football season.  He's an active kid, but 3 hour practices (lots of running laps, push ups, etc.) 4-5 nights a week made him really hungry.  I don't think I ever saw him eat as much food as he did that 1st week.  He put on 5 lbs. during the season and has been holding his own since.

You could also try skipping days on the weekend (if possible) to see if he'd eat more.  Sometimes when school's closed I'll either skip it, or wait and give it after lunch so he'll eat a big lunch.  Of course then he'll not eat much dinner but I take that opportunity to make something he doesn't like and wouldn't eat anyway.

 

After 4 years of being on adderall, I have gained alot of weight. (I do have an ED and gained alot of this weight from being in a intensive out patient program and binging/overeating on top of my food plan...instead of being underweight, I am now overweight and this is while I am on adderall...) I don't get the reduced appetite anylonger. Bummer. I am thinking my body has built up a tolerance. However my concentration and focus is still good.

There are many good threads about weight loss and eating . We switched to vyvanse last August, my son is doing much better on it. He is continuing to eat and gain weight at a normal rate. When he was on adderal he worn the same size pants for almost two years. The weight gain was very slow. He is 12 and started puberty. I would say he has gain 8-10 pounds since last August and grown 1-2 inches.

I made sure that I always had food available for him and I pushed calorie dense foods for him. A lot of the time he ate more snack like meals instead a regular full type meal. He would eat peanut butter and pretzals or peanuts or fruit. He tends to eat well in the morning before meds and in the evening after meds have worn off. Dinner at our house is at 7:00 pm because that is when he is hungry.

My son was always skinny to the point where his ribs showed but it was all muscle so he always weighed more than he looked. In kindergarten they did BMIs on all the children. I got a letter from the school starting my child was in danger of becoming obese because his BMI was very high. This also happen when he was 2. His weight for his age was in the 120 percentile. The doctor told me not to worry since he appeared to be of normal weight, it was all muscle and no fat.