So, today is my sons first day on a full dose (20mg) of Vyvanse and he has
been a terror. He's yelling, hitting, emotional and more defiant that usual.
He's been sent to his room multiple times, but still continues the defiance. I
don't know if its normal for kids to react this way in the beginning to the
medication or if this is the wrong med for us. This is his first try on ADHD
meds. He's 5 years old, he's already been suspended from Kindergarden for
3 days due to not being to control himself (hitting). I really just don't know
how much more of this I can handle. Please tell me it gets better. hey there....my 7 yr old is on vyvanse and though he is older than your guy, we don't usually see what you are describing when he is on the medication. when it wears off in the afternoon, however, we do suspect he is having a bit of a rebound effect as a result of the vyvanse because his tantrums are quite stellar! my boy weighed a little over 60lbs when he started the Vyvanse...if your son is smaller, wonder if he might be on a bit too much? or maybe this isn't his med. we spent the entire summer trying to find something that would work and we finally settled on Vyvanse about a week before school started.
what our psych told us what that we would know pretty much immediately with a stimulant drug if it was working. we would see a measurable difference in our child and if his symptoms became more pronounced then it was probably not the right drug. AND i pretty much haunted our kid's psych until we got it right, asking questions, etc., so don't feel like you can't call and ask or stop the med if you feel like it isn't working.
Good luck...the med thing seems so much like a crap shoot until you find the magic pill that's going to work for your child. in the meantime, ask questions and go with your gut. Hang in there!!
kristee
It does get better!!!! Hang in there! 
Trying to find the right meds can be a VERY difficult time! I agree "kristeewoo". You should be able to call the prescribing doctor as often as you like about these reactions and symptoms so adjustments can be made immediately if necessary.
I'm curious, was the hitting/defiance etc. steady throughout the day or did it get bad when the medication was wearing off? If it happens as the medication is wearing off then it's "rebound" and the medication timing, dose, or the type itself needs to be adjusted. My son had horrible rebound when he tried Adderall. It was supposed to last 6 hours but he burned through it in 3 and started rebound! The long acting version of Adderall was much better but we still switched to Ritalin and it has worked for my son very well as long as we supplement it with Tenex. It took us between 5-6 months to get it right.
It may be wise to keep him out of school for a little while until you can get him stable on his medication. He will thank you for it (if he could!) and the school probably will too! I know when you're in the middle of this that it seems like it will never get better so I'm gonna tell you again. IT DOES GET BETTER!
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