ADHD medication and addiction concerns | ADHD Information

Hello.  My 8-year-old son has recently been prescribed Vyvanse 30mg.  It has been a trying time getting my ex-wife to agree to have our son become medicated to treat his diagnosed mild ADHD symptoms.  One of her main concerns is her belief in children who take medication for ADHD become much more likely to have addictive tendancies such as, drugs or alcohol,when they become older.

I have looked for information on studies on increased chances of having addictive behaviors from tkaing these stimulants, but I can only find decriptions of immediate side effects from taking the medication.  Nothing about long term lasting effects.  Does anybody have any sources or insight on this topic?
I appreciate both of your responses.  We are just starting this journey and, like you said, it is scarry not knowing what these meds will do to him or what he will be like as an adult without them.  What types of improvements did you see with your children after taking the meds?  How long before you can really see a difference?  Our son has been on Vyvance 30mg for two weeks now.  He had the initial sleep problems and lack of appetite.  We notice that his problem with focus, concentration, and over activity seems to appear when he is around distractions such as kids in class.  It seems to me from readin that this is probably common.  When he works with us one on one he does great.  He watches movies and plays video games on his own with no issues.  He plays in his room by himself with no issues.  However, when he is in class or at soccer practice, etc.  he is bouncing around and talkative.  Very energetic. 

He isn't in those types of situations much over the summer so is there other ways to see if there are changes in behavior.

I agree with Gatorsmom.  From what I have read in many different places, taking the ADHD meds doesn't result in those kids eventually becoming addicts - it is the ADHD people thaT don't get treatment that sometimes end up with addiction problems because they self medicate with drugs and alcohol (and caffeine).  I understand this now as I took my 12 year old DS off of his meds for the summer (first time off meds since he started 7 years ago) and he complains off and on about how he feels - he feels really hyper and he DOES NOT like the feeling.  He also recognizes that he can't control some of his feelings.  If someone feels that way all of the time and is getting in trouble a lot and discovers that alcohol or some other drug makes them feel more in control/better then they may start to self medicate.  I only took my son off of meds to get a feel for where he is and he will go back on his meds soon.  Also, my brother has ADD and was never diagnosed as a kid.  He is VERY intelligent but eventually quit school becasue of his attention issues, etc.  Fortunatley he eventually got himself together and found a career that works for him with his ADD.  He self medicates with caffeine.

The meds are scary when you are faced with them the first time (and for me anytime DS changes meds).  I certainly don't like having to put my kid on meds BUT they have made a huge difference for him and I am thankful that we have these medications available to us.

Good luck!

My son has hyperactivity issues everywhere - home, school, church, out at a restaurant or shopping, etc.  It was easy to tell when his meds were working correctly because he was calm, focused and in control of himself.

My son started on Concerta - and when he did he had sleep issues and loss of appetite issues.  He dropped 7 pounds the first month.  When he started on the Vyvanse, his sleeping and eating actually improved.  I think it is because he had already been on stimulant meds so his body was used to it.

The Vyvanse has been much smoother for us than the Concerta was.  I saw some improvement the first day, and what I would call total improvement by day 4.  I would think whatever benefits your son is going to have from the Vyvanse you would be seeing now since he has been on it for 2 weeks.

My son is in a summer program through the school district, so he goes to "school" 4 days out of the week during the summer.  It isn't like school, they take field trips and do crafts and fun stuff, but it keeps him in the routine of getting up every morning and heading out to school.  So, I was able to judge the difference on the meds in that environment right away.  And it was drastically improved.

My son does better one on one - and especially with adults than he does with other kids.  So I can relate to what you are saying about your son.  Hopefully you will be able to judge how he is relating over the summer.  Maybe take him someplace where there are lots of other kids and activity going on and see how he does there?  A park?  Swimming pool?  See if you notice a difference in his focus and control level in a circumstance like that and see if it is better.

Hope this helps!

My son is also on vyvance he is 10 and skinney but we just raised to 50mg. He is much calmer now and so far we love this med for him no rebound, he gets to keep his great personality and it is helping to control his symptoms. I wish you luck and that you will have sucess.

I also agree that untreated ADHD can be worse for addiction . Vyvance is made to not be as addicting as some of the others. it is not a street drug like Adderal.

but if Adderal worked I would say go for it.

spamula39655.2892824074Untreated ADHD put your son at a higher risk for addiction problems.

From personal experience, the lack of impulse control has gotten me into more trouble with alcohol than I like to admit.  I started to avoid alcohol because I could not be sure that I could  stop at one glass of wine. It would taste so good, so I would have another, then a little more and next thing I know it was gone. Sort like chocolate chip cookies that you pick up each time you walk by, the next thing you know they are gone.

I recently sought out treatment for myself and I wonder why I didn't do it sooner. I have an internal calmness that allows me to start and complete projects. I have even started the mudane things like major house cleaning. I am able to sit with friends and enjoy conversation without having to have my hands busy. I actually sit down for more that 2-3 minutes. I sit down and do 2-3 sudoku puzzles and enjoy that. Before I was driven to do 20-30 while watching TV. I have even been able to open a bottle of wine and have one glass. But the best thing has been the happiness, I feel so good. The constant fear/worrying/ aniexty is gone. I had not realized how much that controlled my life and my moods. Any big project would trigger nightmares about things that could go wrong. I also came to the realization that I had these emotions all my life but never knew how to describe them because I never knew any other way of being. I have even developed a sense of time and have been on time to appointments and not started some project because I knew I didn't have the time to do it right in the time I had. I always felt like I was going at different speed than the rest of the world.

Imagine two gears should interlock and turn. In my case, my gear was going too fast and the other gear was going too slow so we would only lock together intermittenly. 

I apologize for the length of this post. I thought if you/she understood some of the things your son is or may feel that his mother might be more receptive to getting him treatment. And treatment isn't just meds, but some counseling to help him learn self control and social skills. Think of this like any other medical condition, you have to learn how to manage it. Sometimes you can do it without meds and sometimes you can't.

I will look for information about addication and ADHD.

Oi!  My post was deleted!  Oh well, I pm'd the info as well.  Hope you got it!  If anyone else wants to read the article I posted regarding unmedicated ADHD'ers having a higher risk of addiction just PM me.Do they not allow links to be posted?

Here is gatorsmom original post:

I posted a response to you, but sometimes posts with links in them get deleted as spam.  So, I thought I would private message you with my post just in case it gets deleted for some reason. I have copied it below....

Actually, the research suggests that people who have ADHD and never seek treatment are the ones that are at risk for addiction.  Because they don't get the needed medications for their condition - they "self medicate" with drugs or alcohol.  Here is an article from a reputable source stating the same...

www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/1868.html

Read the posts at the bottom of the article page too.  They are from people who have experienced it first hand.