ok. dd is 9 in less than a month... taking adderal xr 10mg. we increased it from 5mg on sunday, so its been 5 whole days.

im surposed to call the doc tommorow with an update, but im not really sure what the update is lol!

the tic she had with wiggling her fingers, seems to be a little less... but now she she stands and thinks she does this odd thing with her legs. overall its no biggie.. i just know its there.

the attention seems to be great. she can sit and watch tv wthout getting up and the same with doing her school.

i think the impulsiveness is still there. she was playing with her older dd and got mad and wacked her one.. and then she was playing with me nd wailed me on the back. i sked her why she did both and she said i dont know im so sorry.

were giving her melatonin and shes still not falling asleep before 11:30 at best.

her appetitie seems to be dimenshing at all times.

shes more crabby then norm, but its not to much of a problem. and if she doesnt like something, she will try to be defiant. but neither are uncontrollable, just that i know there there and werent so much before.

she is acting her age finally! nd can play in the room with her sister without screaming and yelling and there being a brawl.

** so should we continue on at this does do u think? change the meds? its working, but im not sure if it is well enough? although dh says, be thankful for what we got! lol! 

also the doc had said if we changed meds it would be to focalin xr... my dd REFUSES to try to swallow the tic tac idea... i mean she FREAKED! and had what looked like a panic attack... so that means concerta is out.

thoughts? i would love to hear any! thanks!

Before Concerta we tried Focalin and it worked great but the only problem we had that it only lasted about 8 hours and the Concerta is 12 hours.  We use to open the Focalin up and put in pudding.  Each medicine reacts differently with every person.  I think with girls having ADHD we also have to deal with them being highly emotional.  Sometimes my dd is so crabby and moody.  I can see when she is older maybe needing some kind of depression medicine too but for right now things are good.

yeah the adderal seems to be lasting about 10 hours roughly maybe 9.5-11 it varies i think.

we opedn the adderal capsule and put it in one of the danactive yogurt drinks and has no problem with that.

im just not sure if this med is right? although.. im not convinced its wrong either lol!

My son was extremely irritable with adderall xr, we didn't last but a couple of days. He also looked "high" - dialated pupils!!  My husband was all over this side effect, it really bothered him since our son was only 6!

The irritability came to a hault when he was showing it in the classroom and getting in the children's faces, so to speak!

He melted down in the pediatricians office when we went in for a physical on the same day and the ped. pulled him right off that med!!

I wonder if like us, concerta would be better. We added tenex to his meds over 5 years ago and he is still going strong with the mix!! No irritability and the rebound doesn't even show up!!

I know you are struggling with the thoughts of swallowing a pill. We had NOT choice, my son needed meds and to learn to swallow, which he did!!

I hope this helps with any decisions!!

im ok with her swallowing the pill... but when we attempt to ask her to, she litterally hs a panic attack.

i am going to try again today though and see.

so i guess i will give the doc this update and then request we be reffered to a psychologist. i think maybe the tenex os what she may need. and the pedia is certainly not going to give us that.

My son also had irritability/emotional problems on Adderall (worse on the fast acting type than on XR).  BUT the fact that you are seeing at least some positive results is a good thing!  Even if Adderall isn't the med for her it seems that stimulants are working for her on some level.  You just have to find the right one and dosage.  Do you think she would freak out if you put a pill in a small piece of a peach or pudding?

Just make sure you keep track of all of her behaviors during this time of trying to get the meds right.  My son was so inconsistant with his side effects and behavior during this time that I started keeping a journal.  It helped us (and the doc) try to figure out the patterns in order to adjust the meds.  For instance, I never realized that at almost exactly 3 hrs after his first pill he would start getting emotional.  It didn't occur to me because it wasn't at the same time everyday becaue he didn't necessarily take his first pill at the same time everyday.  BUT it was 3 hours after he took the first pill of the day like clockwork...a journal helped us see that. 

I hope it continues to get better for you and your dd!  Keep us updated!  

hum... yeah ive been keeping a daily journal... which is good  :)

i put a call into the doc and she was off today, so i left a messge for her to contact me monday.  im going to asking her for the referall to the psych.  and see what she says. dd's prescript right now only goes till sept 1. because of the 30day med thing, so im not sure if we can get her in to one that fast .

i also noticed she started to get more hyper today at 7:30

OH MY GOSH! lol!

we decided today that we were going to be home all day, so that we wouldnt give dd her meds to let her have a break.

we she was driving us freakin batty! and then my parents call at 3pm and ask if we want to meet the for dinner. im pondering this, but we havent seen them in a few weeks and figured ok fine. GEEZ LOUISE! mental note to never not give the girl her meds! i swear shes a basket case! and to make it all worse her sister has a bad headache and has wanted to lay down all day and just relax, and dd insists on bugging the peanuts out of her! i have just sent dd to her room where she is screaming and banging the wall cause shes bored and pissed! GAAH! what time is bedtime? lol!

does anyone else not give there kids a break on the meds? or is this important to do?

I NEVER give my son a break from the meds-he needs them too badly!!!!  The way I look at it is taking him off of the meds for one or two days gives him absolutely no benefit and it puts him into a horrible spiral- close to what you are describing.  I know that some people take a med holiday so their child can eat regularly for a few days and that may be a valid reason IF their child is mild.  If the child is severe (like mine) then I feel it's unfair to him to withhold the medication that he needs so desperately.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's an individual decision but please don't feel guilty if you decide to never give her another break.  I think she'll actually thank you for it!  I look at it like any other necessary medicine.  You wouldn't skip her insulin if she were diabetic...

oh ok! phew! i questioned it this am, but thought, well maybe. on the lighter side, i can see the difference in the meds like um better than i could before lol!

the doc should be calling tommorow for the update hopefully so i'll kup then  :)

ok. i FINALLy got to speak with the pedia. who agreed , she needs to be seen by a psychiatrist.

so after spending all day on the phone... i finally found one. the appt is sept 2. the only problem is ... we have new health insurance starting sept 1... so i just pray that its in place and not screwed up so we can get in! the psch happens to be in there other office that week, so we have to drive over an hour to get there, but no biggie. dd's adderal runs out on sept 3. so we need it!

on the down side.. appetite is worse and she was up last night till 2 am! GAAH!

Can you call her pediatrician? I don't like the idea of her being on a medication that is not in her best interest.

Our pediatrician is who stopped the adderall xr due to the side effects and how it was affecting our son negatively. We let him go without meds since they were NOT helping and made an appointment with a psychopharmacologist who started a new med regime. This is when concerta and tenex were both introduced at the same time to our son. We monitored the meds and increased his dose as needed and low and behold we got where we needed to be for him. Still on the same meds, just a higher dose.

sure i can call her anytime...

but i dont think i want to stop the adderall without something else in place.... we went med free on sunday and it was a NIGHTMARE! she was worse then her usual self! so although the adderal isnt perfect, its at least taking down the hyperactivity to a decent level. her crabbyness/anger isnt out of control (at least yet) ... and the sleep and eating... well those are the 2 that are worst on it, but she doesnt seem tired on sleeping on 6 or 7 hours lol!

I didnt read all this post or its threads  but i thought i would share some thoughts.

do the meds match  the IEP ?

MEANING  are the meds meant  only for focus at school.

i see sometimes parents medicate  for after school behavior.

thats between the parent and the doctor.

im saying this as a 40 year old unmedicated ADDer .

A NTer (normal thinker) learns to cope with things in life.

ADDer do to. when people take meds for thinking disorders  its common for the personaliy cues  to be off jut a little .

i mean  off meds  i feel upset when someone yells at me.

on meds i might feel just as upset sooner even before yelling starts.

so

it takes time to adjust to meds . most adults see a therapist during med changes  just help find an emotional  center and how to cecognize when to use coping skills .  matching the emotional cues with coping skills.

--------

so im suggesing a med journal.

keeping track of  meds ,adjustments.  tics, mood.behaviors. and of course   baseline behavior.and whatever else you might think is worhy of noting.

overtime this is helpful  especially when approaching adulthood  .  when  self medicating is so tempting. 

its helpful in the shortrun and longrun  to have a med journal  especially during med changes and adjustments.  

oh gosh! i may have a  madderall kid on my hands!

geez she has been PISSED all day long. i have no clue where this is coming from. she has been really defiant... refused to do school (homeschooled) .. refused to eat lunch, whined, refused to brush her hair, refused to wear her retainer... and the bedroom door has slammed like 6 times today!  oddly she seems to be getting better now that the med is or has been wearing off for the last few hours. geez!

i hope this insurance issue gets workd out for the psych appt on the 3rd!