We are starting Adderal tomorrow | ADHD Information

Good Morning- Well yesterday was Kyle's first day on adderall.... we are not sure if we saw much difference.  He took it at about 8:00 and between 9-10:00 at school he was laying on the floor and not doing exactly what he was supposed to during circle time.  Mid day 10:30 - 2:30 it sounds like he did a bit better and was focused on his assignments.  He did hit his sister (not hard, but of course she tattled) on the playground during lunch - so apparently was still not keeping his hands to himself.  He seemed pretty much his usual self after school.  The only really unusual event was he was tired by 7:30 and wanted to go to bed.  His appetite seemed normal last night.

So - in a nutshell, I am not sure it did much.  I guess we will try for a few more days to see.  From what I understand though - this is not a medication that needs to build up in the system and should work immediately - like aspirin for a headache.  Am I wrong?

Hi All,

Yesterday was a least a normal day.  Can't say that there was much improvement --but, after the aggressive craziness on Metadate it was a relief to be back to normal.  I too expected to maybe see improvement in his behavior right away.  But, didn't see it.  We home school and I found DS to be maybe even a little bit more hyper during his hour of school.  I am thinking of moving his school to later in the morning.  His issue was never school (he blasts through it quickly) but, rather he is unable to keep his hands off his sister, name calling, quick temper when he and I are not one on one with each other.  Not crazy about him being up at 5:15 this am.  Curious too - does this have to build up in his system because if we are looking for an obvious positive improvement --we didn't get it.    But today is another day!

good luck all! My 9.5yo/94lb son is on 5mg of Adderall XR 1x a day. It's working wonderfully!

My 6.5yo/44lb son is on 30mg of Vyvanse and it's working VERY well for him and better yet, NO SIDE EFFECTS!
Well it sounds as if it isn't making him any worse and that's a good sign!

Adderal is immediately effective but behaviour is both chemical and environmental. He's "conditioned" in certain ways due to how people have responded to his behaviour plus he hasn't had time to adjust his responses to them.

Keep us posted


Good points John. For some people a med is like "seeing for the first time". Others--the effect is more subtle

Strattera just made me sick as a dog for a while. It was a slow change that didn't occur until weeks after the final ramp up. Imagine getting 4 hours of your day back because the morning depression is gone. No nightmares after years of them. Really sleeping. No, I had no miracle concentration and didn't stop fidgeting but I felt better and wasn't so frustrated all the time.

This is why med diaries are SO important. It's not whether the child or yourself has changed today--it's whether or not in the greater scheme of things, the quality of life has improved vs. side effects.

Ever had to go to a physical therapist for help in getting rid of some pain or ache or other physical issue?  I have.  Remember what the PT told you about how long it would take, doing the prescribed exercises or practices they recommended, before you could expect to be feeling back to normal?  I was told "It took several years for you to get to this point, so expect it will take 6 months to a year or more before you're back to normal."  While it ain't the same thing, changing how the brain works (which meds can do pretty effectively pretty quickly) doesn't equate to changing the person whose brain is being medicated.  That'll take some time...

Last thing in the world you want to do to your young'n is to start out on too high a dose of this kindof med!  This is only my opinion based soley on my own experience being exposed to adderall (and any stimulant stronger than nicotine) as an adult.  When I started Adderall,  I too was eager to ramp it up, which I did with doctor's permission during the first month.  But the "break-in" period brings a host of subtle and not-so-subtle changes ...in emotion, in alertness, in focus and concentration...even after sticking with the same dose for weeks or months.  If you see changes in your child's outward behavior in the first couple-three days, try to imagine what the little one is experiencing on the inside!  I remember thinking how amazed I was at the rollercoaster effect I experienced getting used to Adderall--which, being an adult who's been exposed at some time in the past the effects of caffeine, nicotine, and alchohol, I still found the effects of Adderall be unsettling at times.  And I knew exactly what was going on--an advantage kids don't have!  The "start up" experience also made me think about how much more difficult this must be (trailing meds) with a youngster who's body is pure and has never been subjected to stuff that alters how the brain works!

So my advice is, cool your jets!!  As eager as you are to find out whether Adderall (or any other med) is going to be the panacea you're hoping and praying for, don't rush it!!  Let a couple weeks pass on that initial dose, even if you see no outward results--there could be a lot going on "inside" as the child  experiences and acclimates to subtle changes in ability to focus (which, believe it or not, can be very unsettling to someone who's not used to staying focussed for long!).  Ultimately, the "outcome" you're seeking is a child who is at ease with themselves and others and able to confidently display adequate self control when the setting or environment requires it.  You won't get that from a child who's experiencing the jagged emotional and physical side effects of a psychotropic med administered too quickly in too high a dose. 

However you and your doctors decide to go, please keep us informed of your progress! 

 

HI Kim

We are starting Adderall today also.  Absolutely nervous about it too.  My DS is 5 1/2 and 55 lbs.  We have 10mg 1x /day of the Adderall XR.  Good luck today!

Good luck gang

Keep us posted!

I am a little nervous about this.... whether there will be noticeable side effects or whether it will even help! Kyle is 6.5 years old and weighs about 48 pounds.... so we will be starting him on 5 mg. 1x/day.  I am curious what people's experience has been with this med....

 

i myself just started my son on the same pills and same dosage on saturday, i am looking forward to reading about others input on this as i still have so much to learn the most noticeable thing we noticed in my son was he was SO talkative, more than normal. But his talking was actually normal talking not just hyper talking and skipping from topic to topic, if that makes any sense. He was telling me about everything and kept going and talking and talking (it was actually getting annoying  but I felt good to listen because I was proud of him from the day). One time I did have to tell him to pause while I left the room to go get something and he got sad and mad at me, he was very emotional and locked me out of his room and a few minute later was ready to talk about it, I was so proud to talk to him though to help him understand and he was ncalm to listen to me.

He has been eating normal, and no noticeable sleep differences, but it's only day 2. We gave it to him the first time Saturday morning. He had Hockey practice Saturday afternoon and usually his coach is yelling at him to pay attention, because he's looking over at where the video games are in the ice rink. And he also just skates and not really follows directions on the specific drill they are working on. So my husband said that it was a 100% positive difference compared to normal. I was SO proud, that means that he used self control to get him self back into the practice.

tomorrow is school, not sure what to expect, I'm very nervous!
I'm curious to hear how things are going with your son kim1 after the months.

we are starting my 6 yr old son/51lb on Adderal XR tomorrow, 5mg.

I'm a bit worried, but who wouldn't be, I hear the aggression getting worse and we don't need that at all. What we do need is focusing in school to do work so not to be distracted to get in trouble from troublesome behavior.

He has hockey practice tomorrow and usually doesn't follow all the rules. I'm  not expecting to see drastic changes in the first day, I know his body will need time to adjust to the changes and I know his behavior and that aspect will need months if not years of adjusting after his mind can get on track. so I'm expecting a big roller coaster but I'll keep notes and a med log to review back to.

I totally agree with John's comments, your mind is not a simple thing, the way we think and do things will need to time to adjust and meds will not cure that for everyone, living life and getting used to the effects will help over time. I know with kids they will not understand all that may be happening and they react differently. Thanks for you comments JOHN

eedy39864.4534375Hi psbml5-  How much adderral was your son taking?  Kyle is on 5 mgs. daily.  Last week his teacher saw some improvement, but this week has been so-so based on written feedback from school (he had a sub one of the 3 days though... so harder to tell)... and we personally saw no change over the weekend on meds and am wondering if we should up to 10 mgs.

HI Kim,

Max was on 10 mg of Adderall XR.  Honestly, there was only one day --Sunday where he behaved unusually calm...Thank GOD it was during the Christmas Pagent.  He was a perfect angel.  Hope you have better results than we did.  What a challenge --right?

Blessings from Michigan,

Sandy

 

7 days on Adderall and my DS is off meds today.  Unfortunately, both Metadate CD and Adderall XR made my son aggressive (hitting, name calling, throwing things) and just plan mean.  There wasn't a corresponding positive that we could see at all.  Today was one of those magical days --when you doubt the diagnosis and wonder what all the craziness was about.  Probably won't last, but we have a Drs. appt next Tuesday.  They are working on the insurance company to get approval for vyvanse.  Keeping up the med journal - today NO Hitting, No name calling and none of the over the top crying.  It was such a relief after the last two weeks of meds.  Good luck all.

Thanks John - your comments were very helpful.  This past weekend was our first chance to really see him on the meds when they are supposed to be working the best (8-12 hour timeframe)..... we didn't see much and yesterday was not a great day period.  We had an ice/snow storm hit our area and had to cancel dinner plans for last night, which were to celebrate Kyle's transplant anniversary with the grandparents.  It was way too dangerous for them to drive the 20 miles to have dinner with us and Kyle just would not understand that and threw a terrible temper tantrum (best way to describe it).  I kept trying to explain and reason with him, but he was just so mad - hid under the couch/bed a few times during all this, threw a pillow at the wall (almost knocking a picture down), yelled a few times etc.  It was terrible.  At the beginning of this all I told him if he could turn his attitude around (get himself under control), that we could still go to dinner without the grandparents (since it was closer for us), but if not - we would not go either.  He continued to act out, so lost the dinner option all together.  Later that evening I tried to explain the inappropriateness of his behaviour and that it earned him nothing in the end.  I just don't think he gets it.  I have explained to him over and over that 2 years olds crawl under beds, not 6 year olds.  I have explained that all the other kids in his class stay in their seats/don't talk when they are not supposed to etc. and he just doesn't get it.  Will the adderall help him get it over time then?  I know we have only been on the med for 5 days as of yesterday, but am not sure if this is working much so far.

I just hate all of this and sometimes just want to run away from it all!   Of course, I won't do that.

my son was on adderrall XR just up until yesterday. he had been on15mg.
We had seen a ped Neurologist and she switched him to Concerta 18mg, because of the aggression issues, he was more aggressive and emotional, which I know are normal side effects, but they were causing major problems to him at school and he wasn't himself, It was like he had no emotion at times, he would just stare and ignore when he was int trouble, he was very violent-more than normal.
so we think it wsa from the Adderall.

Today school was not the best, but not the worst. he was talkative and disruptive as the teacher said in the daily note. He was very spacey as in just staring today at home, and not making eye contact when we talked by staring over my shoulder or elsewhere with big unblinking eyes.

I am very interested in seeing how this will work for him as he had improvements with the adderrall in school work and homework. He actually finished him math tests and papers. so I hope that he doesn't loose any of that focusing with Concerta.

_wish us luck!