My son year old son just started Vyvanse. At first he did well on it but by the afternoon he was talking a mile a minute and couldn't stop himself from saying more. He also could not sleep. He did however pay close attention to detail and listen when he was spoken too. He was just diagnosed with adhd and I am up for any suggestions that will help him conquer adhd. But my main concerns are if the above side effects are normal or should I be worried. He has only been on the med for one day. Help!!
It took 2 weeks or so to show the result of the Vyvanse. The talking alot midday may mean he needs a higher dose. What dose is he on now and how old is he?
my son has been on it 1 year and is doing well but it did take affect after about 2 weeks. I would call the doc with the jiberry information. He will probably tell you to wait a week or so.
The doc did say to give it a week and we will get together for any concerns I will have. I was just curious if others have had similar issues. My son is 7. He is on a 30mg dose. I don't know if I am doing the right thing medicating him. I am struggling with this alot. I ran out of things to do. I tried helping him in a lot of different ways with attention and hyperactivity issues. I refused to medicate last year but this year the school that we use for cyber school put him back into 1st grade LIT. and phonics because he failed testing for 2nd grade Lit and phonics. The whole reason he failed is he couldn't pay attention and sit still during testing. I know he knows that stuff but he couldn't show them. That is when I realized I couldn't do this on my own. It still doesn't change how guilty I feel for medicating him. Anyone struggle with this or is it just me being to protective of my child and to hard on myself?My 7 year old is also on it. He takes 50mg cause the 30 mg would not last long enough. He was very out of it the first couple months taking it but as he got used to the medicine it got better. I do not like giving it to him but that is the only way he can go to school. He is in a special class for kids with these kinds of problems now and is doing alot better. He was failing in the regular class because he didn't do the work. He gets more of the 1 on 1 when he doesn't get something or needs to be redirected. He still has his moments at night and in the morning at home though. I still can not understand whats wrong. Its like he is not himself when he is off the meds. He is out of control and he can not even explain why he is doing these things. When he is on the meds I can actually talk to him about it and he just tells me he can't stop and he doesn't know why. I just read something on vaccines linked to ADHD which I am reading up on now. I don't know if this was the cause but i can tell you that he was fine and then almost like a flip of the switch (I think he was 3 almost 4) he starting getting kicked out of daycares left and right and going wild at home. I still think something chemically happened. I am also looking into the GFCF diet now. Don't feel bad about the medicine. Not getting an education would be even worse.
What is a cyber school. Why doesn't he go to regular school?
My son did much better today on the medicine. Still a few issues but it looks like we are a step closer to our goal. My son is in Cyber Charter school because he needs 1 on 1 attention and our schools here are aweful. The school board okayed a several million dollar new school to be put up. They got it finished last year and there has been non stop issues with the school building itself. There was nothing wrong with the old school except the one wing needed to be brought up to code which would have only cost 30,000. So now we have a huge new school that we didn't need and not enough teachers to teach because of budget issues. Right now there is between 30 to 40 students in each class room. They need new books and supplies but again do to budget issues they can't get them. But my biggest issue with our public school is it has a bad habit of leaving kids behind. Taking short cuts with kids education needs. We also have alot of crime in our school even know we are just a small town. I wanted my children to have a chance to figure out who they wanted to be without any influence from other kids. I also have a problem with sending my child to a school were they must walk through a metal detector at the doors, be wand scanned by security gaurds, have a drug and gun sniffing dog walking the halls, and I refused to sign a form stating the school has the right to search my child, his/her possessions, and his/her locker whenever they felt like it.
I loved the idea of homeschooling my children but wasn't sure how to go about it, with testing and all that. I found Agora Cyber Charter School here in Pa and loved it. Cyber school is like homeschooling with some assistance. I was provided all the text books and supplies I would need to teach my children. My two oldest kids who are school age have a teacher they speak with on the computer or by phone if they have any questions that I can't answer. They mail in work assignments once a month for the school to see their progress. They have online classrooms were the kids get on once a week for group assignments. The school sets up testing places and times and you pick one and take your child there for state mandated testing. They also have school outings all over the state so you can pick one or two or none but it gives the child interaction. Every state has different cyber schools, all I did was google cyber charter schools in pa and got a list of cyber schools. i checked them all out till I found one I thought was best for my children. I love our cyber school. It is a great alternative to public schools, private schools, and traditional homeschooling. This way I can give my kids the 1 on 1 attention and make sure their needs are met. We also get to set up our day a way that fits each kid. Our school gives you from 12:01 am till 11:59 pm to get your 5 to 7 hrs (depending on the grade level) of schooling recorded on the online school page that each child gets. So for parents that work full or part time this is still an option to home cyber school. The best part is some of the classes are on the computer and are colorful or animated to help keep the childs attention while learning.
My 7 year old son is on vyvanse and has been for the last year. When we first started we also started the 30 mg and then went to the 50mg so it would last all day. We had to also combine the vyvanse with clonidine to help him sleep at night. He would take 1/2 pill every night at dinner and by his bed time he was begging me to go to bed. We stopped the clonidine in the summer since all the activity outside helped wear him out, but we have talked to his doctor about starting it up again in the fall. I love this med for my 7 year old...it has helped him excel in school, and it defiantly lets the true sweet outgoing boy shine! He still has his moments in school of talking too much to his friends….but we have way more good days than bad!
I attribute most of that to the vyvanse, we have had problems with him starting in pre k, he has had to get stitches twice before he was 6, and had to repeat Kindergarten b/c he could never sit down and get any work done. His 2nd time in Kindergarten is when I finally broke down and said….okay what medicines are available...this was after many different attempts of methods other than medication. I was just like you…I didn’t want to medicate…..that seemed like the answer for every child so I did try all other possibilities first. Then his pediatrician sat me down and said…” If I told you your son had diabetes would you give him insulin knowing it wouldn’t cure him of the disease but would help him live a normal life?” Of course I said YES!!! Then she said…”this is the same principal for ADHD medication. Since that day, I have never thought twice about medicating either 1 of my children, both of my sons have adhd. Hang in there and remember it is all baby steps in getting him “regulated”. I am still struggling to regulate his 9 year old brother, I know it is frustrating and scary because there is no “instant fix” …just yesterday I sat down and begged this group to help me…it helps to vent to people who are right there with you, or have been there! J
My DD started 7 days ago...we're having the exact same issue. It's crazy...she cna do homework but then two minutes later shes talking and blurting out noises and can't sit still.
We go back to Dr on Tues. She's on 30 too...I loved it the first day, but now it's missing.
Keep us posted!
We have been on vyvanse for 14 months and it has been very good for us. My son is currently taking 50 mg. He was on 30 mg and it was good for 3-4 months. We went up to 50 mg and had much better symptom control. During the summer we lowered the dose to 30mg because he was out and about burning off that extra energy. My son is depressed and takes lamictal as a mood stablizer. That has helped the depression and aggression caused by puberty. Puberty has a way of messing with the effectiveness of meds.
My son had been on Adderal XR and the appetite suppression was very bad, along with the insomnia. He eats better and sleeps better on the vyvanse. He is still skinny but growing like weed up. He will be 13 in a month, weighs 125 lbs and is now 5'6". He has grown a foot in the past year. So the vyvanse has not stunted his growth.
About the talktiveness, I have to agree it may e a sign of too low a dose. Keep track of his behaviour and give it about two weeks for his body to adjust. Is he eating? Sleeping? How are the social interactions? Watch for tics. How are his moods? Any agressive behaviour or bad dreams? Does the medication help with his symptoms and how? Ask the doctor for a list of things for you to be looking at. You will know it is the right dose when you have good symptom control and that depends on each child. Each child is different.
Now here is my advice for you. Relax and stop beating yourself up. Giving your child medication NOT A SIGN OF FAILURE. If your child had any other problem, a cold, vision problems, a broken bone--would you not seek out the proper medical treatment? This is a medical issue that needs the proper medical treatment. Things do improve and there is hope that he will learn coping mechanisms to help him live with little or no medication in the future. But right now, he and you need him to have some medication. Sometimes (and this may sound horrible to some) the medication benefits the whole family. Life becomes easier for everyone and your other children do not resent the ADHD child. The medication isn't just for academics, it helps them to have improved social interactions with their family and peers. You want to improve all aspects of your son's life, not just school.
I forgot to mention we homeschool and it has been wonderful for him. I took him out the public school system during 4th grade. He was beening picked on by some of the children in his class and he was bored. He could get a concept in the forst 10-15 minutes but would be forced to work on it for 60-90 minutes because that was the scheduled amount of time. It was pure torture for him.
I have seen him blossom in our homeschool program. We are doing Latin and geomerty in the 7th grade, he would not be getting that in a public school.
My son has been on the med for a week now. See great things happening. He is paying attention to detail, drawing amazing pictures, doing wonderful with his reading, and seems so much more happier. If I send him to bed with a book he has been able to put himself to sleep. Takes him a little while but it works. He has less of an appetite but he is still gaining weight slowly. Everyone in the house seems much calmer. It is going good so far and we have high hopes. He hasn't had bad dreams or tics. He has gotten alot of compliments from his scout leader of how well he has been behaving and that he is answering so many questions correctly, and even raising his hand and waiting to be called on. He has not had and major mood swings, aggressive behavior, or crying spells. He does cry a little more now but usually were he would get frustrated and mad he crys instead. Doc said that might change after the med has had more time. But things are going better. I realize now that I did the right thing by medicating. I am still struggling with the feelings that I could have helped him more, or if I would have tried harder he would have been alright. I know that I have no hand in the ADHD disease itself but it is hard for me as a mother to feel that maybe I could have done more for him. His ped says a lot of moms feel this way and in time we will see such improvement that we won't feel so guilty. I know I will get over these feelings. I am sure I am doing the right thing now and we are going to start looking forward together instead of behind.I am very happy that things are improving for you. Give it some more time and will continue to improve. The appetite may improve but it may not be a huge improvement. I do find my son does more night time eating after the meds wear off.
I see the appetite supression on vyvanse is much less than adderall XR for my son. I just went on 10 mg of Adderall XR and am experiencing the suppression. My son was taking 3 times this amount, 30 mg. I now I understand so many things about these meds.
There is tremendous guilt for us as parents, even more than a parent of a nonADHD child. (I don't use the term normal, because I consider my ADHD child as normal as my nonADHD child.) We keep running the "what if" senario in our minds. And many times this guilt is multiplied by very ignorant but well meaning people and their comments. There are so many times I would have loved to shout at some nasty comment, "Yes, I am aware of that behaviour, I live with him 24/7. No, he doesn't need his butt spanked to straighten him up.
Another good piece of advice is to become an expert on your son's condition, this advice is from my Primary Care doctor. Read, read, then read some more. Learn as much as you can about your son's condition. Ask questions of your doctor in regards to new treatments or different news stories about ADHD. It demonstrates your committment to your son's health and welfare. As my doctor said--become an expert on it, because a doctor can't be an expert on everything. Keep up to date. Learn the medical lingo so you understand what your doctor is saying. I found the doctors treat you differently when you can converse in their language. I expect and demand that I be treated as part of the treatment team for my son.
This is not a disease that can be cured. It is a lifelong condition that is managed, it does not go away. You learn skills to adapt yourself to society and the workplace, it is not easy. I am 52 and can tell you my life would have been much different had I received the treatment I needed as a child and teenager. That is another story for another thread. I am receiving treatment now and it has improved my life. I only wish I had done it sooner.
The reason I mention this is not a disease that can be cured is many parents have this misconception. It was one that doctors believed years ago. My mother was told in the 60s that this mainly affect boys, it was very rare for girls and that my brother would out grow it by the time he was a teenager.Hi,
My son did not do well on vyvanse because of tics. He is back to Ritalin LA and Straterra and doing okay. He does well in school for the most part.
Deciding to use medication is a difficult one. However, I don't like it when docs use the diabetes example because if you refuse to give insulin your child will die. A child will not die from ADHD. HOWEVER, they suffer socially and with learning and so many other issues that meds are the answer for some children. Since both of my children are on meds I see the real benefit. I just don't like comparing ADHD to life threatening disease. I like to compare ADHD to a child who needs eye glasses. A child who has visual problems can get accomodations that can help (larger type, more verbal instructions, sitting closer to the board). Or, they can wear eye glasses that make their life so much easier. They have poor vision just like an ADHD kid have poor attention.
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