I have a 4,5 year old son who was diagnosed with ADHD and we just started to use Vyvanse (30mg). His doctor told us that decrease in appetite is one of the side-effects of these kind of medicines. But from my understanding, it is not something that will be gone with the right medicine/right dose and his appetite will be effected as long as he is on medicine. I am very worried that he will have eating problems with the medicines. The reason that I am worried is that we always had problems with his eating. He only drinks milk, eats cereal, pasta, fries, apples, and that is all. No meat, no beans, no rice, or vegetables. And now it looks like that he will have more problems. So I was wondering if decrease in appetite is temporary with the medicine or something constant.wE ALSO HAD PROBLEMS WITH OUR 9 YEAR OLD SON WITH FOOD BEFORE WE EVEN STARTED MEDS. HE IS NOW ON VYVANSE AS WELL AND HE EATS A GOOD BREAKFAST CEREAL AND MILK. THEN HE GETS HIS MEDS, HE SNACKS DURING THE DAY AND WHEN IT WEARS OFF HE EATS A GREAT DINNER SAME 3 THINGS, BUT HE EATS THEM AND A BIG WHOLE MILK ICE CREAM SUNDAE FOR DESERT. SO IT NEVER REALLY WEARS OFF IMO. SOME PEOPLE DON'T HAVE THIS ISSUE AT ALL WITH STIMULANTS. EVERY KID IS DIFFERENT, BUT MOST ON STIMULANTS EAT AT DIFFERENT TIMES AND NOT AS MUCH. WE TRY TO GET THE MED IN EARLY SO HE WILL HAVE TIME AT NIGHT TO EAT.My daughter is 11 and also on vyvanse And she has alway had an appitite problem also. My doc says as long as she naintains her weight and don't lose weight he won't be worried. She does eat a good breakfast and dinner. A piece of ham for lunch During the school year I am not sure she does eat anything except for drinking her mild. My doc also recommended getting hersome ensure to drink and that way she can get the nutrients she is not getting when she doesn't eat. We do that every once in awhile cause she does gett tired of the taste of those. I also have now started maked her a mil shake before she goes to bed. Not sure if that is helping or not as we havn't been back to the doctor since I started that. But I feel like I am a prison gaurd sometime standing over her making sure she eats what I put on her plate. That is one of our biggest fights. As of last May she was 4 feet 9 inches and only weighted 61 pounds. My doctor has said if she does start to lose weight that he can put her on another pill and is given for allergies but will also help with eating problem because it increase their appitite. That is why I am trying the shake thing because I don't want her to go on another pil. But if it does evenually come to that I will. Good luck with your son and I hope I have offered some suggests that will work for you too. Melissa
Our DD is on Concerta and has a decreased appetitie. Our dr told us to make sure to get protien in her breakfast and not a lot of carbs. He said he has heard of parents giving their kids hot dogs, hamburgers, peanut butter sandwiches, or whatever esle they will eat to get that protien in. We do egg and cheese sandwiches for breakfast most mornings.
She snacks a lot during the day but small amounts at a time. But dinner is a totally different story. We don't have dinner until 7:30 or 8:00 at night (sometimes later) because that is when she is hungry and will eat the best. I used to be a stickler for dinner at 5:30 or 6 but I found she wasn't eating but was STARVING a couple hours later, so we changed dinner time.
We also give her a calorie filled bed time snack. Extra butter popcorn, sandwiches, ice cream, or whatever else she wants to eat. I wouldn't focus too much on WHAT he is eating right now but how many calories you can get into him. Let him eat what you can get him to eat.
Also, keep him active. The more active they are the more their appetites will increase. During baseball season Em will but down a 12" sub and chips easily and still be hungry an hour later. We have done a lot of swimmng this summer and her appetitie has really increased.
This summer alone she has grown 3 inches and gained 5 lbs.
Hope this helps a little.
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