I'd say if your young one is old enough to swallow whole capsules then the XR versions of meds may be good. The regular dose pills tend to make those big "jumps" of highs and lows, several times per day for some. The XR only gets a rise, steadily falling during the day. Can be good to avoid the shock of the ups and the crashes.
Just a thought. Only problem is you have to take them whole where the regular doses can be crushed for young ones.
For me, Xrs did not float my boat. they maybe worked 1/4 of the way IR versions do. But What gets me is a friend of mine doc wont give him IR versions but 60 xrs. Well because hes an addict (opiates) and feels hell abuse em. Well , My point is whats the deal, if he just crushed the pellets and snorted them, well its not like Adderall Xr is caffiene and IR is like Meth. COme on, it may hit you a bit faster or what not but I dont agree , if the doctor is afraid of someone abusing meds, and wont give the patient IR versions but Xrs, just dont give him Adderall. But that person may respond great , and this actually is happening to a friend who does not repond well at all to Xr but Ir he does and why he responded to Ir without his doctor knowing is if a person has a script of Xr adderall and feels he will benifit from IRs, Im very very quite positive he will get his hands on a few IRs ( this is opinonal, not trying to put thoughts in anyones head ) but now what doest he do, Yes get a new p-doc, but should he say well doctor, Xr versions do not help me, and i have tried Irs , didnt abuse them, which he didnt, and would most likely benifit him. Moresoe by his doc sayiing this pumping him up , and telling him NO IR but XR, I feel gives someone incentive to just go find someone with a script of Irs and do them , reguardless of abuse or not.
Again my point is some doctors, maybe be to hesitant with addiction so either be black or white, and not give adderall at all to any addict so the patient doesnt spend money and time , etc!!! This happened to me with other meds for 5 yrs!
I can see giving XRs to an addict - though I'd probably go the talk therapy and strattera if I was he. The XRs are the ones of choice there because some of the little pellets are long term - and won't react to the snorter in time to be of use, while some will. This makes it not so great as a nose candy I guess. They could just as easily overdose on them orally so I'd be very nervous about an MD giving them out. Very tricky problem.
Personally speaking, I find the XR spansules the way for me. I don't forget the next dose, and I get pretty consistent feeling all day long. Some maybe have trouble if their digestion's not up to it - I don't know. I just know that for 6 or so hours I have trouble-free peace of mind. To each their preference! Vive la difference!
From my experience with Adderall with my son taking it. (he's 9) he had bad side effects, i mean it was scarey, acted weird, moody, looked pale all the time, never ate. So the Dr. switched him to strattera, and he's fine today. But now he's currently seeing a Neuro Dr. and he said that strattera was bad too, so now i'm confused......I've had a good experience with both Adderall and Adderall XR for the past few years. It has helped me a lot and I don't seem to suffer from any side effects. Taking the med with sugar should not affect the medication; however, ascorbic acid interferes with the absorption, so it should be avoided.