Son just started Vyvanse--HELP! | ADHD Information

First of all, try not to worry and if he's like this you can stop the med!
there is no need to give it to him if he's having a bad reaction. Of course
you should get in touch with your doc immediately, but if your not
comfortable with his response you should stop. It's out of the system in
the 8- to 12 hrs so there is not a need to wean from all i understand.

The short acting pills are supposed to be 4 hours long. Some people, my
son included, metabolize it quickly and it starts to wear off around 3
hours or less. After playing around with dosage and timing for several
weeks, what's currently working for my son is: on school days, 5mg at
7am then again 3 hrs later at 10 am and then 2.5 mg at 1 pm. We have
found that giving him the next dose at the 3 hr mark helps to keep him
from dipping down. The short acting pills can be more intense because
it's like a one shot deal, instead of meds being in the system over many
hours like the extended release versions. The down side of this for him
was that when the med was out of his system at 4 hrs, the bottom sort of
dropped out. He would get irritable, anxious and a little sad. After
experimenting with the timing we found that the 3 hr mark was perfect
for him because the second dose started to kick in when the first was
wearing off, so he stayed "even". Everyone is different, so of course dose
and timing could vary for your son. It's just the kind of thing you have to
watch closely, and play around with until you get the best results with
minimal side effects. When he's not in school, and the demands to focus
and control impulses are not as intense, he does fine with 5 mg, and then
just another 2.5 and 2.5. During the week if he has a therapy, or sport
after school, we'll sometimes give him a full 5mg. A pro to the short
acting pill is that you have much more control as to how and when you
give it. It's also very helpful because my son has a terrible appetite, and
with the extended pills it was 10x worse. With short pills I know it's out of
his system by dinnertime and his appetite is back. The down side is it's
not very conveinet having to give pills every few hours, but at the end of
the day it's a small downside compared to the upside. The initial issues
were stomach ache, which is very common and went away after a week or
so. His appetite was not great the first month or so, but got better. And I
could always count on it being normal during the many windows with no
meds in his system. The biggest thing was the up and down, until we
figured out timing and dosage. There is still a small issue of him being a
little disconnected about an hour after the first dose, but it's become very
minimal. Especially now, when compared to what he was like on Vyvanse
and XR, it's *nothing*! Mostly this med has changed things DRAMATICALY
for the better with him, especially in the school setting. He needs it to
function successfully, and this little bit of medication has been doing the
trick!

Have short acting pills ever come up with your doc, or did they go right to
these extended meds? Have a conversation with him as soon as you can,
and don't feel you need to keep giving him anything that's effecting him
so negativley. One of the first things our doc told us when we started was,
if you don't like what you see, then stop the med. Good Luck!mommatrying--

Thank you.  Today continues to be pretty rotten.  He is no longer on the couch whimpering but is wandering around in a fog--no smiles, no playing.  I am in tears.  Ugh.

Can you tell me about the short-acting meds?  How long is short?  And what issues did you have with Focalin initially?  Yes, I think my son would benefit from half doses of these meds--I am extremely sensitive to medicine, so I assume my son could be the same way.  I would be perfectly happy with something that acted more short range.  I just don't feel like he needs 10-12 hours of the meds. 

I just feel so lost and worried. 
Hi there--

My 6 year old son was recently diagnosed with ADHD.  He did 19 days of Concerta 18mg, but we discontinued it.  He certainly wasn't hyper on it--I swear, he was borderline depressed--didn't want to do anything, didn't even want to leave the house, play with friends etc.  He was moody and irritable and flat and never smiled.  I was so thankful at night when it wore off and I got to see my boy again.  So, we went back to the doctor and he gave us Vyvanse.  Today was his first day.  He woke up happy and sweet; I gave him the Vyvanse, and I could tell the moment it kicked in.  He got a weird look on his face and said I feel tingly.  Then he said he felt shaky.  A little bit later he said he feels scared.  Now, he is sitting on the couch--doesn't want to play, or play Wii (his favorite), or read with me (another favorite).  He is just lying there whimpering almost crying.

Has anyone experienced this?  I don't know if I can handle this.  The medications right now are only scaring me.  I know they are a god-send for so many, but how do the children and parents get through this? 

Any advice would be most appreciated...

Hi!

My son tried Vyvanse for a short time, and we did not have a good
experience either. The initial , and lowest, dose of 20 mg was waaay too
high. He got quiet, sad, was very upsetting to see. That's reaction is what
the doc says means the dose is too high. He's also 6 yrs old. We tried
splitting the capsule for awhile to create a 10 mg pill. Initially we thought
that was the answer, but it was never consistently the right dose, the
ADHD symptoms were not *really* under control, and he got aggressive at
times- which not one of his issues normally. We also had angry rebound
issues, and lack of control over ADHD symptoms, on Focalin XR. Those
were quick detours away from regular short acting Focalin which was the
first med we tried. We went back to that , and he's doing great. The issues
we had with it, which caused us to experiment with other meds, have gone
away almost entirely. Some kids do better on the short acting meds,so
perhaps that's the issue with your son too? Also, my son does very well on
very low doses of theses meds- he's just sensitive to them and gets full
benefits without needing too much. Perhaps this is true of your son as
well? Talk to your doc about these possible solutions and hang in there! I
know EXACTLY how you feel, and felt the same watching my son suffer
through bad med experinences and was overjoyed when he "came back"
from them. We did ultimately find the right thing after not too long
though... Hope this helps!Great info on the short actings--nice to know that there are other options.  My son fell asleep in the car for about thirty minutes around 5:15pm (that hasn't happened in about 4 years!), woke up at 5:40 and finally smiled at 5:43pm--I think he was as relieved as we were.  I will not be giving it to him tomorrow--really the change in him was just too dramatic and frightening.  I will call his doctor first thing Monday and see where we go from here.

To be honest, I am feeling a little burned by the medications and a little fearful.  He has dropped close to three pounds in three weeks, and the side effects thus far certainly do not outweigh the benefits.  I feel like I need a direct line to the MD for all the questions I have!!!

 

that happened to my son too on the Vyvanse! Was so wiped out, that he
fell asleep in the middle of the day! I'm glad your not giving it tomorrow. I
hope your doc guides you well. My feeling is that if you survived the
negative effects of jumping right into the extended release versions, then
giving the short acting pills a try will be a breeze. If you see anything
negative it will be over very quickly. The weight loss/ loss of appetite is
also much less an issue on the shorter pills. Don't get me wrong, there are
almost always kinks to work. BUT there is a big difference between riding
out smaller, basic side effects, and watching them suffer like it sounds
like we both did on the Vyvanse. Don't beat yourself up over it though. If
your child needs medication, unfortunately trial and error is the only way
of knowing whats going to work with these stimulants. Just chalk it up to
an example of one that doesn't work for him right now, put it in your
medication journal, and move on.

There was one other side effect my son had initially that concerned me,
but it went away, and in the big picture it wasn't bad. He would touch his
face lightly as if he had an itch. Wasn't out of control, but in the beginning
I was freaked because it was clearly related to the med. Knowing what I
know now, it was nothing AND it went away over time anyway. But just a
heads up that there are little things that do come up with almost all of
them. The important thing is what you said- weighing in the positive with
the negative. Also, watch closely, take notes, and following your motherly
instinct of course too!