Help! Effects from stopping yrs of Addera | ADHD Information
My son is now 15 and he stopped taking Adderall about 3 weeks ago. He has taken Adderall for 5 years, with very little breaks.
First week was terrible. Rage, mood swings, uncontrollable.
Second week, he slept all the time. Exhausted. No motivation.
Third week, no motivation, energy level a little better. Almost seems depressed. He dosen't even know how he feels.
What has been your experience? How long until he feels somewhat normal again? He is really struggling. It is like he is having to learn some things all over again.
Like how to feed his body for energy...the pill always gave him the energy.
Motivate himself....with all that energy, he was motivated.
I really some advice and how to help him thu this time. I don't want him to think he has to take a pill to have energy, feel motivated or happy. Right now, it does seem like that is the case.
Thanks for your help!
It always amazes me that most doctors will say that there is no withdrawal with stopping stimulant medication. Personally, with my 8 y/o son, I found that not to be true. So I can empathize with both you and your son for the frustration he is going through.
It seems to me that you should contact your son's prescribing doctor if you haven't done so. If you have contacted him then you need to have him see your son asap. You should also reassure your son that you will get help for him and that you believe most of his feelings are withdrawal from his meds.
Please keep us up to date.
Randy
When one takes effective ADHD medication they feel in control of their life and choices. Once the medication is removed, they go from feeling in control to feeling totally out of control which ultimately will bring about depression. At age 15, hormones play a role as well which exacerbates the problem. The medication itself flushes out of the system not to long after it wears off as it is not a blood level medication so there is no chemical dependacy when taken as prescribed. The reason medication is sought out to begin with is because the child doesnt feel normal so effective treatment affords the child to opportunity to bring out their personal best and have quality of life. The pill didnt give him energy. The medication allowed him to focus so therfore, make better choices so it was feeling beter about himself that gave him energy and motivation. People feel happy when they dont have limitations that prevent them from seeing their full potential in life and with untreated ADHD, thats the case because life without effective treatment is a constant struggle.
If your child will no longer be taking ADHD medication, I suggest that you get counseling for him . The teenage years are the most difficult years and removing the medication at this point in life can be quite challenging and internally distruptive. Counseling may help your child cope with the struggles that go along with having untreated ADHD because otherwise depression can indeed set in and an entire host of other problems. Good luck.
Sorry that your son is having such trouble. My ped always said that if we were going to stop a medication that it would be a process of lessening the dosage before stopping it completely. I don't have a lot of experience with this, and my kids are young still, but is he involved in stuff this summer? Can he get into doing some physical activites? I've read (and experienced 1st hand) that exercise helps focus the mind and the affects can last a while. I'd also say to make sure he's getting a very balance diet right now. I wish I had more suggestions...and I also agree that therapy might be important now.beach4me, may I ask why after the years of adderall are you stopping his meds?
Will he try a new med or are you all just trying for him to manage his adhd himself?
I have always felt that my son, 11, will need meds his entire life. He is just too successful with them.
I didn't know if puberty or sports, etc, were the reason why.
I hope I am not being nosey!
beach4me wrote:
At soccer practice, it is like he is running in slow motion.
It takes so much mental energy to concentrate off medication that its mentally and physically exhausting. This is seen many times in school with the child's inability to write legibly (CALLED DYSGRAPHIA) because off medication it takes so much mental energy to concentrate on the lesson that listening and writing legibly at the same time are near impossible. Also, at some point during puberty the hyperactivity you used to see tones down for many children. Also, lack of motivation can be a sign of being depressed. ADHD medication does not speed the child up even though its a stimulant as the delivery system is totally different with this type of medication but what it does do is clear the fog. Off the medication things become all foggy again. As an example, imagine your driving a car and the windows fog but your cant clear the fog away. You would indeed become all disoriented and wouldnt be able to continue driving as you couldnt see a thing or if you continued you would do so with no direction and would eventually crash. Sorry I don't have a better example but its been a long day
I guess I am a little confused. First my son is ADHD. He plays soccer and practices intensly for approx. 7 hours a week. He plays 12 mths out of the year, so this is a normal amount of exercise for the past 3 years.
So, if the meds are out of his system quickly, then why has he had no energy and barely been able to move off the couch? He is ADHD. Hyper, running, talking non stop, implusive.....I am not seeing any of this. At soccer practice, it is like he is running in slow motion.
[QUOTE=ilovemyboys]Luvmykids02, you took the words right out of my mouth...Very well said.[/QUOTE]
Thanks ilovemyboys
stopping suddenly esp. if on a high dose of a stimulant. Even though the
meds leave the body quickly it can take some time for the body to adjust.
Last summer it took my dd about 6 weeks of no meds to get back to her
premedicine behavior. It was hard so I feel for you and your son. Hopefully
he will feel better soon! For my dd it was gradual.
Its about the feeling of being in control to feeling totally out of control which might bring about extreme hyperactivity initially but there is no physical withdrawral. Thats my point. Parents that are new to this might get the impression that there needs to be a weaning process and there isnt. One can do that if they feel their child will adjust better but its not harmful not to. Since dosing is very individual, what might be a high dose for one patient may be low for another so coming off the results are the same. Bottom line is that the child now has to adjust to not having the focus and concentration they had on meds. Again, at age 15, its a rough ride, especially because hormones are raging and peer pressure is really intense as well so counseling may prove to be very beneficial because as a teen, once the realization hits that life has become a real struggle again, depression can very well set in.
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