Meds for ADHD | Imamother

amother

Wed, Mar 30 2011, 11:59 am

My brother is on Adderall XR, and the difference in his behavior from before he started the meds is like night and day. He used to be off the walls - anger issues, getting up and leaving the school building during class, etc etc. Now he can focus, his emotional control is much better, and his social skills have greatly improved.

As far as side effects, it did cause him to lose a lot of weight in the beginning because of lack of appetite (but he was quite overweight to begin with, so the weight loss was kind of an added bonus!), and I think he has/had problems with insomnia. I don't know if he had any other side effects, though.

The important thing is that your child is monitored closely when taking meds. Sometimes doses have to be changed to increase effectiveness or reduce the severity of side effects, or a different medication should be tried if the first isn't effective. Also, about 30% of people don't respond to meds - just something to keep in mind.

Are you considering behavioral therapy for your child as well? Research shows that behavioral interventions combined with medication is usually more effective than either one on its own.

HTH, and hatzlacha!

BrachaC

Wed, Mar 30 2011, 12:05 pm

My 8 year old daughter was on Focalin XR for a year. The teachers felt like there was a difference and I guess she did learn to read- but not well. We asked the pediatrician if we cold try something different (mostly due to the copay on the Focalin being very high) and we switched her to Adderall XR. The difference was amazing to us. She was able to pick up a book and actually read it for a sustained period of time! She does have a much smaller appetite, and she does struggle with insomnia. I give her melatonin on the nights when she really cannot fall asleep, and we try to be mindful about getting her to eat before she takes her meds, and we don't medicate on Shabbos so she has one day where she can eat...I do not have the possible outcome of her getting very hungry as her meds wear off...that would be much rougher.

amother

Wed, Mar 30 2011, 12:11 pm

My DS is on Daytrana - which is a patch since he can not or will not take medicine. I actually found out about it on imamother when I had this question a while ago. It works wonders and 1 of the upsides to a patch as opposed to medicine is that it dispenses all day so you don't have that time of day that the meds stop and the kid goes bonkers. We are very happy with it. My son is happier, doing much better in school, has more friends and is much more self confident.

Downside - super expensive. My son gets itchy in that spot - it turns red while he wears it and scratches it a bit. When the patch comes off it's ok within a 1/2 an hour so he's ok with it. It's supposed to make kids less hungry and have weight loss but I didn't see that yet - he actually is quite scrawny and eats a ton. Height is a concern - but I think on all ADD meds so we go in every 3 months to measure him. Also it affects his sleeping - he always had a hard time falling asleep but on the meds it's worse. Also with the patch you sometimes forget to take it off at the right time and if he keeps it on too late it's harder for him to fall asleep.

I'm sure there is more so if you want to know more about Daytrana let me know.

I just wanted to add that we medicate for focusing issues not hyper or anger issues. Although I believe Daytrana is for both since I was told they don't really differentiate between ADD and ADHD anymore.

Good Luck in your decision.

amother

Wed, Mar 30 2011, 12:58 pm

I heard good things about Vyvanse but my son's psychiatrist said that because it has an extended release, it is more appropriate for older kids - it would not "shut off" early enough for him to go to sleep at his 8:30 bedtime. He now takes Focalin, and while I don't see a dramatic improvement, his teachers mention his lack of attention a bit less frequently.

amother

Wed, Mar 30 2011, 3:32 pm

Can only speak from my adult experience and what my husband remembers from taking it as a child

Ritalin (DH took as a child, I took as an adult): Grinding teeth, drooling, feeling agitated
Strattera: I got suicidal thoughts on it. YES. It can happen. I wasn't feeling depressed, but suddenly wanted to know what it would be like to drop in front of the C train. I'm not joking. I don't recommend the drug at all. If you have to try it, MONITOR YOUR CHILD LIKE A HAWK.
Adderrall regular: wears off faster, caused teeth grinding
Adderrall XR: longer-lasting, but made me very anxious on an already-anxious person and a little paranoid
Vyvance: So far, the best of the bunch but as Atali or someone else said, it is VERY long lasting so you need a downer, so I feel like Judy Garland some days having to take uppers and downers.

An important thing to remember is that at least once a week, he needs to take a medication holiday. You build up a resistance to this stuff. So he should be off of it at least one day a week.

amother

Wed, Mar 30 2011, 4:20 pm

Atali wrote:

I recommend Vyvanse. It is expensive but it works great!

I second the recommendation for Vyvanse.

As for the high cost, you can sign up for a program that is headed by the company that owns and makes Vyvanse. It's easy to sign up and to get accepted. It basically allows you to get Vyvanse for free for a year. When the year is over, you can reapply and do it again. You would just have to ask the doctor to sign some forms, and you will get a card in the mail. The card you get is what you will use to fill the prescription. It would not go through your insurance.

From my personal experience, Vyvanse has very little side effects. There may be some in the beginning, but they are very easy to manage. It's a delayed release, so one pill in the morning, and you're good for the day. The only side effects that I still have sometimes is dry mouth, a loss of appetite for a couple hours, and sweating more than usual. I'm still happy with it, and I've been on it since 2008.

mha3484

Wed, Mar 30 2011, 5:20 pm

I am the poster child for stimulant medication. I have probably taken all of them. I have found adderall to be the most effective with the fewest side effects. I took the XR in the morning and a regular pill as needed at night to help with homework. I had a horrific experience with stratera in which I almost failed out of college.

I am a big believer in meds when accompanied by a variety of services such as OT, PT, speech and therapy. I found as a child I needed speech to work on speed and social work for social skills. As an adult, financial counseling is key as impulsive people can run through money like water. At risk behavior like drinking is also a concern. Also please don't let anyone convince you to only take it on school days. Consistency is so important. Please feel free to PM me if you want to talk to someone who has done this before.

amother

Wed, Mar 30 2011, 7:10 pm

My son who is 5 and half is on Vyvanse for almost a year, and it works wonders. The only side effect is he is still very messy,loss of appetite, hard time falling asleep.
With my other son the doctors thought he has ADD and tried him on many diffrent medication, they all did not work and that when they diagnosed him as bipolar and put him on Ambilify and Intuniv.

amother

Wed, Mar 30 2011, 9:52 pm

Adderall XR is what works for my DS. But it's good to know that anxiety is sometimes a side effect, because sometimes he can get anxious. I thought it was the ADD, because sometimes his brain can fixate on something and be hard for him to get past it. Never occurred to me that it might have something to do with the medication. But it's a minor once-in-a-while kind of thing, and meantime, the adderall works wonders.

He is also on guanfacine/clonidine to help with the impulsivity.

Coke Slurpee

Thu, Mar 31 2011, 1:30 am

We started my son on Ritalin- that didn't work

Then adderall and then adderall xr- which worked great except it made him extremely anxious. Now he is on stratera - his anxiety is gone and his focusing and impulsivity is not the same, as when he was on adderall xr, but he is on a low dose. We will see how it goes.

I do not give my son any days off meds. I do not find that he has built a resistance to the meds. My feeling is I put my son on med. to help him - focus, to curb his impulsivity which in turn helps him feel good about himself and boosts his self esteem. Even one day off medication and he can't control himself and all he hears from us is no- and even if we don't react that way - he feels lousy because he realizes that he is doing wrong things and knows he can't control it.

amother

Thu, Mar 31 2011, 11:14 pm

I took generic Ritalin and Focalin for several months and they worked well until I began having trouble with anxiety, higher than normal heart rate and blood pressure (confirmed during a routine doctor's visit), and mania. This was actually what confirmed for me that I'm bipolar; most people don't have a problem with mania on those drugs unless they're bipolar.

I stopped taking them. I'm not suicidal anymore but I can't concentrate, either. I'm probably going to try Adderall.

amother

Fri, Apr 01 2011, 9:51 am

amother wrote:

OP here. thanks everyone for the responses: what is guanfacine/clonidine? because the impulsivity is the hardest part for him. being distracted is not really his issue. he is impulsive and has a lot of energy but can sit for reading, homework, school etc.

amother

Sun, Apr 03 2011, 1:46 am

I followed the Feingold Diet with my son with great success for 2 years. It was night & day. I could tell within an hour if he had "cheated" on the diet.

I have had the school install velcro underneath his desk so that he has something tactile to play with and OT bands on the legs of the chairs (so he doesn't walk around the class as much).

His teenage years brought about much difficulty in school. It turned out that he was buying soda out of the vending machine to "fit in" with what the other kids were doing. It was wreaking havoc with his education, not to mention his home life.

I spoke with the pediatrician and we decided to put him on Concerta. It has made a positive difference. Although, not enough of a difference. I am considering new medication.

I have not given up on the Feingold Diet.

amother

Sun, Apr 03 2011, 8:29 pm

amother wrote:

Do ADHD kids also have moodiness? I'm the OP and my child was so crabby this morning I can't help but wonder if maybe he has something else going on too. do any of the meds for ADHD also help with a positive mood?

Amother of above quote here. Guanfacine and its nighttime partner, clonidine, are commonly used off-label to treat ADHD and some other conditions. They are originally for lowering blood pressure, but work really well to just calm the kid down and give him time to think about what he is doing. It makes a WORLD of difference for DS and for us when he is taking it. You can ask a psychiatrist about them.

About crabbiness -- yes, I found the meds definitely made a difference. I remember DS at age 8 having a rough morning, and coming to me sobbing, reaching for his medicine, because he knew it would help him function better, and that would make him less stressed out and prone to meltdown.

The major issue we had in planning treatment was dealing with end-of-the-day rebound when the adderall wore off. The clonidine helped significantly with that horrible time.