Meds making ds WORSE? Help! | ADHD Information
Hi. My son was recently diagnosed with ADHD. He's only 4.5 yo. By the time you've admitted there's a problem and gotten help, I think most of us are pretty desperate. We were hopeful to try medication. He started last week on Adderall 5 mg. The first day he was up and down but the rest of the week we really didn't notice any difference in his hyperactivity. He could focus a BIT more but it's the hyperactivity we were hoping to help. He did have the side effect, however, of not being hungry. Saturday, we upped it to 10 mg. Well, this weekend was HELL. He seemed MORE hyper, oppositional, etc. He could NOT sit down all day. He didn't want to eat a thing either. I was nervous to send him to school today. If his teacher notices the same thing, I am going to stop the Adderall and ask for another kind of medication? Please tell me this is normal and that we'll find something that helps. We are at our wits end and our poor little guy is out of control!!Stop the med IMMEDIATELY and call the doctor. My son was on adderall xr and it made him horrible. He yelled, got in faces, cried all at the same time. His eyes even looked dialated like he was high.
The doctor witnessed it and stopped it immediatley. My son couldn't handle that type of med.
We use concerta and have for the past 6 years. I recommend it. Those who seem to have success with concerta all have had trouble with adderall xr and vice versa.
Stop it now, if you haven't given it to him, and call the doctor. Again, I recommend concerta.
I did call the doctor this a.m. and left her a message to call me ASAP. It IS
the Adderall XR. I am definitely going to stop. THanks for your advice. I'm
glad you found something that works. I hope we get there!
Hi there, I am at work and logged on.
I know exactly what you are going through. The poor guy. I actually broke down and cried when the teacher told me what was going on. We happened to have a doctor's appointment and the ped. was shocked!! My son couldn't control it and started melting down. He was still 6 at the time.
My ped. referred us to a psychopharmacologist who specializes in all these meds for both children and adults. We have been seeing him ever since. My son will be 12 in June.
Hang in there, there is success with all this!!
I am right with you.... confused as heck with the meds!! My son started on Adderall.... was great for several months, had to increase dosage to 2x a day, and boy was that a mistake.... it was like there was a demon inside him that came out when we did that, so the pediatrician said take him off.
Switched to Ritalin..... been on that for about 2 months now but I am starting to see the exact same pattern as before!! He does awesome for a little bit, then seems to go go backwards, if not get worse!!
I just hope we get the right meds and treatment really soon before he gets hurt physically or mentally! 
Oh... that looks bad!! I meant before he hurts himself!! I would NEVER hurt any of my children!! He has had some incidents at school where he could've hurt himself and they have had to call me because they were afraid he would hurt himself. Climbing on bookshelves, picking up teachers desks with his legs while he was hiding under them, etc....
Just wanted to make myself clear.......... I am afraid he will hurt himself or others!! Not that I would hurt him!!! 
I will! Thank you very much!
Hey GZM,
How is your son doing?? Any better??
It seems that us Concerta users have seen the demon that Aderral can bring out . It was horrific here. Now 3 months later, not different enough but doing much much better. we also tried Vyvanse an Aderral derivitive and it was terrible.three months later on the Concerta and he is like a different person.We are still doing good on Concerta as well. It has only been a few weeks, and we may have to increase the dosage, but I am crossing my fingers that this works!Glad that concerta is working, and I totally understand the possible increase. We increased for 6 months until we finally leveled off. But when we did, he stayed there for over 2 years.
Post us when you need us!!
If you are looking for Vyvanse, It is in the same family as Aderral and might have same side effects. We were on Vyvanse and it was horrible. Now with Concerta and the right dose he is doing betterWe decided Adderaal XR was not for us after 2 months. The first time he used it was like night and aday really, he was a totally new kid able to focus, able to talk to us with meaningful words and able to hustle in his hockey practice, and able to complete the full math test.two months later we realized that the agression was not normal and the anger issues were not worth it and it cuased more problems at school with him. We stopped it and today was our first day on Concerta 18 mg.
School was not the best today and not the worst. Lots of talking and disruptive behaviors. I'm glad to hear others had the same prob with Adderall and Concerta liek us. Also does Concerta seem to last you through out the day? with adderall my son was loosing his mind and common sense by 6PM, I had to rush to get him in bed by 7:30 before I lost my mind :) he was so sillly and goofy that he couldnt do anything. he would stand at the sink to brush his teeth thinking he was so funny not burshing... I had to hold his hand to walk him through every step of getting ready for bed.
So when do you usually notice Concerta wearing off? Have you noticed any sleep upsetting patterns? any agression? what about homework after school is there still focusing going on? Thanks for your input all!
Hi All, haven't been on this board for a while. An update for my ds...
We were on Adderall and besides the fact he was a LOON when it wore off, he was getting this terrible rash. It lasted for a few weeks so it only seemed to make sense it was the new medicine. We stopped the Adderall and tried Ritalin. This seemed to work for him and he didn't rebound so much. Suddenly, my dd broke out in the same rash so it was a virus (Fifth Disease it was it was) after all and not the medication. But I'm glad it happened because it made us try something new. I'm not sure if Ritalin is THE ONE. He takes 20 mg of the LA type and it seems to wear off after only 5 hours. We have then tried a short acting dose of 5 mg but it does absolutely nothing. But he can't fall asleep and the melatonin is not working anymore so I'm not quite sure what to do.
The funny thing is, my son now understands the difference between when he's on medication and when he's not. He actually ASKS for it now or says,' MOM, make sure I have my medication." It breaks my heart! But it just confirms that we're doing the right thing. I'd still like to try Vyvanse. I don't know why but I just want to try them all before we stop. I'm not sure Ritalin is it. He can now swallow a capsule so I think that will give us more options. Anyways, that's where we are right now. Still trying to figure out meds and dose. Is this what I'll be doing forever now? Are we constantly adjusting and questioning what they're taking? Do you ever find a comfort level and stay there for awhile? I hope so!!
eedy, my son has been on concerta for over 4 years. We first tried the adderall xr, but he became agressive, angry, psychotic - his eyes were dialated as if he was high- the whole experience was horrible.
We found, AT FIRST, our son lost weight, because he was still growing in height and weight, but wasn't eating as much so he got taller and looked thin. He actually gained pounds when he went to the doctors for his physical, it just didn't keep up with his height growth. We also had the trouble sleeping at first (this is what made us leave concerta and try adderall) but he eventually got over that and we have NO sleep problems.
What we did with the eating, is let him eat whenever he wanted to. He was up late, so we let him eat late. He would then fall asleep.
My son was wearing Slims this first year.
A year later for his physical, he looked fine. He grew, gained pounds, and looked healthy. Doctor said his body adjusted to the meds!!
I hope it works for your son, we also use guanfacine to help keep my son relaxed. He has anxiety as well as adhd, he internalizes it so he doesn't show it to others outside the house.
Both concerta and guanfacine(or called tenex) work best for my son. He is turning 12 the end of June and we began meds before his 7th birthday.
Best wishes!!
GZM,
We took 6 months to level off at the right dosage once we found the right med. It is important to keep him at the right dose. Once we got there, we stayed for over 3 years.
My son is now at 90 mgs, for two years, and will be having another increase maybe before fall, I can see changes in things, plus puberty is occuring (he is going on 12)
For 6 months I called the doctor and drove or he mailed the next mg prescription, but it sure was worth it!!