Adderall ? *updated*

monj76

 My son was switched from Ritalin to Adderall for his ADHD. He is 6 and a half. We switched because he was not eating, and we dont want to give him more than one dose a day. Is there anyone that has had a positive, or negative experience with this drug? Can you please tell me about it? TYIA.

bmstee03

I was on it when I was younger. I had a better experience with the Adderall xr. It is an extended release so there is only one dose. I had no problems with it. Adderrall is an appetite suppressant. So if you are looking for something that will make him eat more this may not be the drug for him. I just never felt the need to eat when I was on it and would frequently go extended periods without eating. It was to the point where I would have to try to remember the last time I had something to eat. For me it wasn't bad because I was a little chunky anyway. lol

monj76

 Thank you bmstee03, I am going to ask his dr about the xr. I do make sure to feed him as much as I can while he is not medicated. He has a hearty breakfast, but at school he doesnt eat. I pack him lunches, and they come home uneaten. He eats the cafeteria food, but that food sucks nutritionally. I try to feed him as much as he will eat after school as well.

 Thanks for all of the advice, keep it coming please. Even if this thread is days old, I will check on it.

sweetie0228

My DS is on the XR and eats but not a lot and can "forget" to eat.  We have him drink his special Chocolate Milk w/ dinner every night.  It's carnation instant breakfast but at least it's protiens and vitamins.  he also like s hard boiled eggs so I try to keep them around so he can have that as a quick snack.

Also it's not a med that has to build up and remain in his system so I take him off it over the weekends, breaks and summer.  He eats like it's going out of style.  I'm not looking forward to what it will be like when he's a little older, he's 11 now.

shopgirl78

I have a client that went from Ritalin to Adderall 10mg.   On Ritalin, he was also thin and a very picky eater.  On Adderall, he gain a significant amount of weight (2 pull up sizes; he is incontinent @ age 8) and over a year's time his mom was able to triple the list of items he was willing to eat.  Now, she is having to get him to exercise a little more. 

monj76

-auntie-:

Hmmm. Odd choice.

Adderall has a different active ingredient than Ritalin. It's a longer acting formulation of Dexedrine which was developed initially as an appetite supressant. Concerta is a closer fit to Ritalin in that it's a time released version of the same active ingredient. This matters because some people become emotionally labile on one stimulant and not the other. DS is able to take Adderall XR and does pretty well with it; he was a basket case on Ritalin. My mother was on Ritalin for years and was a snake on it.

How big a deal is the eating? Is he losing weight? Not growing? Can you get a big breakfast in and then a healthy bedtime snack when it wears off? Can you skip meds on the weekend without social repercussions? How about summers? How big an eater was he before the meds? Could he just be not much of an eater?

Another option would be to look into an alternative approach. Straterra is a non-stimulant medication for ADHD. It doesn't work as well for some and has a fairly high incidence of gastric side effects, but some like it. Off label use of an antihypertensive is another option- Tenex (Intuiv) and Catapres are two usually used for this. They don't work as well as stimulants either, but there's no weight loss associated and they're very inexpensive.

ETA: DS has done wonderfully on AdderallXR. He takes a hefty dose but is 17. He would say the meds help him be who he is on the inside instead of some jerk. Life changing here.

 Hunter is a skinny kid already, but no, he hasn't lost weight, he has gained normally and is just above the 50% for both hight and weight.I try to feed him hearty foods, and have done some research on foods that may help ease the ADHD symptoms. I also don't medicate when he isn't at school, but if he asks to take it, I let him.

monj76

Update: 

 Hunter is doing great so far on this new medication. I have noticed an immediate change for the better at home, and his teacher notices an improvement at school. This med lasts longer, and it doesn't seem to make him crash like the other did. He also told me that the Ritalin made him feel weird, and the Adderall doesn't.

 I posted an AW post above about him, so I wont ramble on here.

pomrom

I have a ds who will be 7 in a few weeks. He has been on medication since just after he turned 3 years old. It was a very hard decision to medicate him and do it so you ng but it was for his own safety as he was so impulsive that he was darting infront of cars, for example.

We had a heck of a time finding a medication that suited him. He started on Adderall and then went to the Adderall XR. It seemed to slow his body down but that was about it. He didn't eat well on either of them. Although he was a little better on it, I felt that he was still a little off and proceeded with the ped on further testing and treatment. WE went for neuropsych evals, behavior evals, psych evals, and going through our local community mental health office. Austin has a psychologist that he sees every couple of months, that regulates his meds and a therapist he sees about once a month.

Anyway, we ended up with a diagnosis of PDD (pervasive development disorder) it is on the austism spectrum. He also has ODD (oppositional defiant disorder) and ADHD.

After we got this diagnosis, we changed medication to Vyvanse. It was the absolute best thing we have done for him. He is on the small side but when he is hungry... he eats. The don't hound him at school, anymore. He does take it over the weekend but this summer I took him off and he gained 4 pounds!

I saw your AW post and that sounds a lot like Austin this year. I had his conference yesterday and he is in the highest reading level in the class (most are at 4 and he is at level 8) and he is working on multiplication, IN FIRST GRADE! His behavior this year is 1000 times better this year. Infact, he has been doing so well that he saw the doctor in October and we are not going back until mid January to follow up. It is the longest we have been without seeing the doctor in almost 4 years!

I am sorry this is long and I don't know the whole situation with you little guy...and this is my first post on this board... but I would encourage everyone to keep going with a diagnosis other than your pediatritian. We would have never had the other diagnosis if I had not pushed for more treatment. Our ped is great but I am happy I pressed him.

I think it sounds like you are a great advocate for your son... love to see that. It doesn't happen enough these days!

monj76

Thank you pomron, I will push for more evaluations in case we haven't discovered all of his issues.

altodd

Hi there,

I'm a 3rd grade teacher who wasn't diagnosed with ADD until after college.  I went through a bunch of different drug options and settled on Adderall XR.  It worked amazingly for me for about 2 years with few side effects.  I had to start taking sleep aids because I couldn't shut my mind off, and I did lose some weight...but I needed to drop some lbs.

After being on it for just over 2 years I began not being able to sleep even with the sleep aids, and was in a horrible car accident because I had not slept in 4 or 5 days and fell asleep at the wheel...all is fine now, and I'm certainly not blaming the Adderall...just saying keep an eye out for changes in habits, moods, etc...even if they've been tolerating the meds well for a long time.

HTH,

Amy

Michekke

My son will be 7 on the 9th and he  is on Focalin but it is not extended release he has to take 2 during the day.It is actually suppose to be a 15 hour medicine but  Dr. says  his metabolism is so fast he burns it off A LOT faster then normal! This is his 6th medicine he has been on and ALL of them make him not hungry. He eats ALOT in the am before his meds and ALOT before he goes to bed after the meds have worn off. I think he is getting better at eating a little more but not much. He was so skinny anyway so these meds just don't help matters Hope you can find a solution for him!