vyvanse?? help! what do we do now? | ADHD Information

my son has been on 30 mg of vyvanse since the begining of the school yr. it has helped him alot but now he is just so emotional. he cries almost every single day and he has the worst attitude and smart mouth i have seen. he doesnt smile very much anymore. he is also on tenex (gaunfacine) bc he had tics with this med and with concerta. so far we have tried concerta and he had pretty bad side effects from it and it didnt seem to work very well. then we tried adderall. i think it was only 5 or 10mgs?? and it didnt do anything at all. it couldve been 20 i really dont remember. we only used it for 2 days and it was like he didnt have any meds at all. then we went to vyvanse. when we added the tenex for tics and anxiety we reduced his dose to 20 mgs and that was def not enough. we tried it for a month to be fair and had to go back to 30 mgs. ever since we have wenyt back to the normal dose it seems like its not as good anymore. he started getting very angry the 1st week or so of going back to the 30 mgs. now he still gets angry and he cries alot. he cries over silly things like if he doesnt get his way or he cant do something. sometimes at night he will cry and he says he doesnt know why. im scared to switch him to somthing else bc im scared of the side effects or if it will work or make him feel bad and how will he do in school. i worry alot about how a new one will effect him. its very scary. i dont even know what med to try next. seems like vyvanse was supposed to be the best one out of all these others. feels like we are taking a step down. also since we have xmas break coming next week i was wondering if i should give him a med break. should i let him not have the vyvanse for 2 weeks so he gets a break. does this make them more anxious or scatter brained? i dont want him to feel like crap. will he have rebound for a few days while he is getting used to not being on it?? i noticed when i stopped concerta he was very hyper and crazy for about 3 days. worse than b4 meds. also do i continue to give him him tenex. or would i be able to cut the morning dose?? kinda scary since this messes with blood pressure. what are your experiences with some of the other meds?? i want something that he can take at home b4 he goes to school. i dont want to have to send meds to school for them to give him. also in school the teacher has to keep redirecting him and keep him on task. when he does his work he does awesome. he is very smart but he isnt focusing like he was b4. he is still completing his work though. right now he is totally diff from last yr when he wasnt on meds at all. he doesnt get phone calls every day or constantly get in trouble. i do see that the meds are working but i dont think its the right one. would u settle with him getting into some trouble since his work is done and he is doing good? are they ever 100% at school? i just chalked it up to him being a normal 7 yr old and the teacher expecting way too much from a 7 yr old boy. but i just wondered what u guys think? anothier thing is that i am having a baby in about 4 weeks. should we change meds now or give him a little break right now and change them during spring break if they still arent working as good? or do we change him next week and hope they work? im having a hard time figuring out what to do. please help. any suggestions??

thanks

kim

[QUOTE=rosalie68]

The child sounds depressed. Chemically and clinically depressed.

sometimes at night he will cry and he says he doesnt know why. im scared to switch him to somthing else bc im scared of the side effects or if it will work or make him feel bad and how will he do in school. i worry alot about how a new one will effect him. its very scary.

Have they tried strattera? It may alleviate the depression and you can worry about concentration later. Nothing's going to work if the poor little fella is crying all the time

i dont even know what med to try next. seems like vyvanse was supposed to be the best one out of all these others. feels like we are taking a step down.

Vyvanse doesn't have that great a reputation no matter what the pros are telling you. Too many folks around here are complaining about it. If it doesn't work for your child, it doesn't work. Nothing to feel bad about there. "New" isn't always "better".

also since we have xmas break coming next week i was wondering if i should give him a med break. should i let him not have the vyvanse for 2 weeks so he gets a break. does this make them more anxious or scatter brained? i dont want him to feel like crap. will he have rebound for a few days while he is getting used to not being on it?? i noticed when i stopped concerta he was very hyper and crazy for about 3 days. worse than b4 meds.

That would be normal. Why did you stop the concerta? Was it working?

also do i continue to give him him tenex. or would i be able to cut the morning dose?? kinda scary since this messes with blood pressure. what are your experiences with some of the other meds?? i want something that he can take at home b4 he goes to school. i dont want to have to send meds to school for them to give him. also in school the teacher has to keep redirecting him and keep him on task. when he does his work he does awesome. he is very smart but he isnt focusing like he was b4. he is still completing his work though. right now he is totally diff from last yr when he wasnt on meds at all. he doesnt get phone calls every day or constantly get in trouble.

Well something is working if he's doing better. None of the medications are miracle cures.

i do see that the meds are working but i dont think its the right one. would u settle with him getting into some trouble since his work is done and he is doing good?

Could be the right med, wrong dose. He may need more, or less, or need to have it split up.

are they ever 100% at school? i just chalked it up to him being a normal 7 yr old and the teacher expecting way too much from a 7 yr old boy. but i just wondered what u guys think? anothier thing is that i am having a baby in about 4 weeks.

Remember, HE'S having a baby too. It's a big change in his life too.

should we change meds now or give him a little break right now and change them during spring break if they still arent working as good?

If he's a little improved do you think it can wait until spring break in case changing meds makes it difficult?

or do we change him next week and hope they work? im having a hard time figuring out what to do. please help. any suggestions??

thanks

kim

[/QUOTE]

You've got a great deal going on. Do you want to tackle this on top of it right now? Christmas, new baby etc. If he's not getting in too much trouble could it wait a bit?

I also suggest you start a med diary. Just bullet points about when he took it and if he got better/worse for how long and such. This will give you an accurate description to give the doctor.

Also a small favour from those of us who are cognitively impaired. Could you break up your paragraphs in big posts?
Thanks!

yah i know we have alot going on thats why i really dont know what to do. sorry about the paragraphs im never good at figuring out when to start a new one lol. should i give him a break while he isnt in school?? he is hard to handle when he doesnt have meds but i wondered if maybe he would feel better if he got a break. i know for some kids it must make them more confused to not be on them after so long. he is 7 but he cant explian the difference to me yet about being on the meds and how they make him feel. he doesnt quite understand. i could prob wait to change his meds. i originally wanted to wait for summer time. i just hate to see him so emotional and crabby lately. he wasnt like this without meds. hes not really a cryer. i do think the crying is from this specific med. when i talk to him about how he feels he says he isnt sad. and when i ask why he is crying he doesnt know.

the concerta was giving him tics and it wore off really soon. maybe 4 or 5 hours. then he had terrible rebound. he couldnt settle down at night to go to sleep and would stay up late. then he started peeing the bed. he peed the bed every night. he wasnt ever hungry anymore. i was told the bed wetting wasnt a side effect of that med but when we stopped it he hasnt peed the bed since. he also hadnt peed the bed in yrs b4 concerta. so some how i think it was to blame for that. we took him off after about a month or so maybe longer. your right i need a journal. i think we stayed at 18mg for a month and then did the 27mg for a month and then took him off. we tried the adderall for a few days and never went up a dose. we just decided instead to try vyvanse. then we added the tenex .5 morning and 1mg at night. and here we are.

thank u for your advice i need to make a decision soon with winter break being next week and our baby coming soon.

kim

[QUOTE=rosalie68]

I'm not fond of that development because it sounds like the poor little guy is depressed. Have you asked the doc about this?

It's quite possible. One thing I learned about meds is that after the trials--it's rare for doctors to report to the drug company if a patient has claimed a side-effect. So, in reality, it might be a reasonably common side effect but if it wasn't seen in the clinical trials--it might not be showing up anywhere or it's showing up as "rare" or put under the wrong catagory..

Take SSRI's for example. Hallucinations are considered to be extremely rare. Yet every member of my family that ever tried one went into full-blown hallucinations. Two were told that their response was "suicidal ideation" which it was NOT--they were trying to kill the bugs/monsters they thought were crawling on/in them.

So, I suggest some side effects are more common than is being reported.

we took him off after about a month or so maybe longer. your right i need a journal. i think we stayed at 18mg for a month and then did the 27mg for a month and then took him off. we tried the adderall for a few days and never went up a dose. we just decided instead to try vyvanse. then we added the tenex .5 morning and 1mg at night. and here we are.

thank u for your advice i need to make a decision soon with winter break being next week and our baby coming soon.

kim

[/QUOTE]

I understand your confusion. You don't want to see the little fella so depressed but you don't want him to bounce off the walls, either.

I guess the question is, "If you took the med away right now--could everyone stand it if you didn't have a working medication until the break?"
hey Rosalie- I am sorry the Vyvanse didn't work out for you. We have moved on ourselves as the craziness that ensued here was too much. We haved moved on to Concerta and he is already getting bed wetting. Does it ever end?spamula:

You're the second person I've heard here with a child bedwetting on concerta. Apparently it's not an "official" side effect but I'm beginning to wonder...

spamula he started wetting the bed about 2 weeks after we started and it just got worse until it was every single night. its hard for them bc they are so much older. my son was really self conscious about it and at first he tried to hide it bc he felt so bad for doing it. the drs will tell u that it doesnt cause that but i beleive in my heart that it was the concerta. when we stopped it he maybe peed once or twce after that within the month but he hasnt done it since. i dont know where to go after vyvanse. it breaks my heart to put him on and off of diff things. i had noticed that your son was reacting in alot of the same ways as mine has on the vyvanse and i had checked to see what u switched your ds to, but we have already tried the concerta b4 vyvanse. i think alot of ppl are having the same probs as us. so long as my ds doesnt cry alot or seem angry im trying to hold of until summer to switch meds. he has been fine the last few days. no crying or yelling. im getting a journal to start keeping track of his meds and how he reacts to them. i am thinking he gets this way more at night when it is wearing off. he has winter break coming up and i am out of work for a few months as i am having a baby in jan so i can watch him more closely. i have decided i want to atleast wait until he gets adjusted to a new baby b4 i mess with his meds. but by any means if he starts going down hill i wont hesitate to take him off of them. good luck spamula i hope we both find something for our little boys. this is def going to be a long road!

kim