Is my son having ADHD medicine withdrawl

Hello!  My son is 12 years old and has been on ADHD medicine since he was in first grade, age 6.  He has been on every med out there except Ritlan.  He has also been on anti-depresent medicine with Addrell the past three years.  The Addrell seems to make him have a very short fuse and angry all the time.  It got to where we didn't know what we were treating so we took him cold turkey off all medicine two weeks ago.  Since he has been off the medicine he has been so happy.  He seems more socialble, doesn't throw a fit easily that last 30 minutes to an hour, sleeps, eats and seems more relaxed in general.  However, he does drive you crazy with his inattention, hyperactivity and doesn't seem to focus long on what he is doing.  He is also sleeping all the time.  He seems very happy and up, all most like he is high on drugs.  Does anyone know what could be going on?  He doesn't cry or seem depressed, but he does seem overly happy and excited.

Except for the sleeping part, which I couldn't even guess at, it sounds exactly like mania. That's how kids get when manic----they almost seem like they are high without the drugs.

Antidepressant withdrawal can be nasty, but usually results in physical symptoms and moodswings, not giddiness. I'd re-evaluate his diagnosis if this were my child (actually it was once my child and we DID re-evaluate!). Take care :)

It sounds like he is acting like a child that has a some what mild case of ADHD, that isn't on any meds.

Why was he in the first grade at age 8? That is a lot of medication for such a little guy to be taking in IMO... doesn't mean what I think is right though! What symptoms did he display before he was put on meds?

We found something similar when we stopped meds on our 11 year old son.  He is generally happier and getting along better with others than he has been.  Other than that, the issues are basically the same - inattention, implusivity.  I don't think your son is having any type of withdrawl symptoms, I think that, in some cases, the stimulants increase the level of upset that our kids have at the end of the day as they wear off.  I know that my son couldn't handle Ritalin at all because of the peaks and valleys.  Concerta worked much better for him, but he had a much harder time controlling himself at the end of the day.

Thanks for everyone's help! Sorry for the typo...he was 6 when he started first grade!  Guess I have a little ADD in me too!