heart issues while on medicine? | ADHD Information

Hi everyone...

I was wondering if anyone else experienced any heart issues while their child was taking the medicine and how did you handle it?

My daughter developed a borderline qt interval while on Vyvanse. Her doctors don't think it's anything to be concerned about. It went away when she stopped the medicine. They are recommending I put her back on the Vyvanse again for the new school year and they do another echo cardiogram after she has been on the medicine again for three weeks to see it comes back. I am scared of permanent damage but the cardiologist is telling me this is something I shouldn't be worried about. I don't want to over react as I know she does get so much benefits from the medicine but I don't want to take a chance with messing up her heart. As the doctor said, a child doesn't die from ADHD. Right now her heart went back to normal. Her doctor basically said that all ADHD medicines can cause this with her and they want to be positive that it was the medicine that caused the last problem. In my eye's there is no doubt. She had an EKG done in Dec. while on the medicine and the qt interval was discovered. She had another EKG this summer while off the medicine and her heart beat returned to normal. They are telling me we still can't be positive that it was the medicine that caused it so they want to try it again. Her doctor is a developmental pediatrician from Children's and her cardiologist is also from Children's Hospital. They are telling me they are 100% certain there would be no risk to put her back on the medicine, let her begin school and do another EKG. From my reading on the internet, there is a chance that she could throw a blood clot from have a long qt interval and die.    There is a chance that her heart may not go back to normal. Yet they are the professionals and they are recommending I do this. Am I over reacting?   How would you handle this situation if you were in my shoes?   Let me say that my daughter is in a very small private school. Public school is not an option for us because the school system is very unsafe where we live.   She is going into 4th grade.     

Has anyone else traveled down this road of having a problem while on the medicine and the doctors telling you not to worry? AMom2Two40386.2608333333My son had a racing heart when he was on his original dose of 30 mg of
Vyvanse. That side effect along with extreme sleeplessness and lack of
appetite lead us to drop the dosage to 20 mgs. Vyvanse was his second
medication and it worked great, so instead of giving him a new
medication we opted to adjust the dose. As soon as we lowered the
dosage his heart issue stopped. He has had no lingering effects. The
dosage works almost as well as 30 mgs - definitely better than no meds,
and he's learning to control himself at a faster rate than he was when he
had the higher dose. So it's totally working out great.

If your doctors are saying everything has reversed itself and you have
tests to back them up, I would go with what they say. As far as reading
junk online - well, you can sit in an airplane for 6 hours and get a blood
clot, it's possible but extremely unlikely. Don't let horror stories keep you
from getting the best care for your child.

I understand being scared about the medication. I suggest you follow her
doctors' advice but monitor it closely and have her take the lowest dose
possible that helps her.

I also want to point out that it's absolutely necessary that you have open
communication with her doctors. It sounds like you don't trust her
doctors. It could just be because you are rightfully cautious, but if it's
more than that, if they aren't listening to your concerns or are dismissing
them out of hand, I'd get a new doctor.