Still searching for the right medication | ADHD Information

My daughter has tried Adderall XR 10 mg, which did absolutely nothing for her.  So the doctor switched her to Vyvanse 30 mg, which was very minimally helpful for my daughter.  So now we have increased her to Vyvanse 50 mg, and she seems to be improving some, but not like we expected.  I have a son who is also ADHD (but not as severe as my daughter), and he tried Vyvanse but it made him a total zombie so we switched him.  After the Adderall didn't do her any good, we figured the Vyvanse might be her "right" medication, but now I'm skeptical.

The Vyvanse helps, but she is still very uncontrollable and violent and still can't seem to stay on task.  It takes her FOREVER to do anything, if she does it at all.  It must be doing her some good, because the two times we forgot her meds, we got a call from the teacher reporting that she wasn't doing any work and was just sitting at her desk singing, but refusing to work.  But at home and on weekends, I honestly can't tell much improvement.

Maybe I'm trying to compare her experience to my son's too much.  Because Daytrana has been his "dream" medication and is working absolutely great for him and I'm expecting the same miraculous results with my daughter.  Her case is more severe than his, by a long shot lately.  My son's recent report card showed an "E" in conduct (which is excellent) and his grades are improving.  But my daughter's recent report card showed lower grades and more missing work and now a missing library book.

I guess I'm just having trouble coping with all this.  I just want so badly for my efforts to help my daughter, but I feel like it's all for nothing.  I even purchased a book that the school recommended from their Love and Logic courses called "Meeting the Challenge".  But I've tried some of the "techniques" in the book, and I just end up more frustrated.  She constantly lies, makes up stories to get her siblings in trouble, her older sister and her can't speak without screaming at eachother, and if you tell her "no" to anything her whole world comes undone.  You can tell her something, and she will reply with a comment completely off the wall and not related to what you were saying to her.

For now I guess we will keep doing what we're doing and hope for improvement.

It sounds like the vyvanse is not working for her. 10mg of adderall XR is a very low dose and I would definitely try a higher dose before giving up on it. You could also try another class of stimulants, something in the ritalin family like concerta or daytrana or even focalin XR. Keep trying until you find the right thing for her!

P.S. Neither of my kids did well on vyvanse.

I believe Vyvanse is causing some of the violent tempers.   It is for Will.

I'm sorry that I don't have any answers.  Will does well in school and we continue to give it to him because we have yet to find anything that would get him thru the day...

 

I did suggest to the doc at our visit last week that we try her on Daytrana, since it has helped my son so much, but the doc felt that we should increase the Vyvanse first before giving up on it completely.  Our doc seems to like the Vyvanse and claims that many of her patients have had success with it, but I don't think it's "the one" for us.  My son was a zombie on it and had horrible rebound when it wore off in the evening and numerous other side effects.  My daughter has NO side effects from it whatsoever (Adderall XR gave her chest pains/indigestion), but it doesn't seem to be helping her symptoms much either.  So I guess we will stick it out for the next month then go back and hopefully get the Daytrana or Concerta.  My daughter has even asked me if she can have a patch like her brother, so we will see what plays out then I guess.  But I'm willing to bet that a 10 mg patch won't be enough for her either.  LOL

Thanks for the replies.  These message boards have been awesome at helping me cope with my children's issues.  You guys are great!