Need info on adderall please - ADD / ADHD Message Board

mommyof5 · 03-20-2003, 11:00 AM

I was talking to my 7 year old DD's neurologist (she see's her for epilepsy) about my almost 12 year old DD's ADHD and the fact that she is on 30mg of Ritalin - 3 x a day and still has a hard time to focus and stay on task. The meds definitely work for the hyper/impulsive part of her but has never really worked well enough for the attention part of her. She's been medicated since she was 5 1/2 and has always had to take a higher than normal dose. She told me that was an extremely high dose an has never prescribed it that high ever. (My daughter tried Dexedrine once and the side effects were terrible). Anyway the neurologist told me that adderral was going to be available in Canada in the next few weeks and that perhaps I should speak to the Ped about it.
I would like any and all info on this med. What are the side effects? Is it a stimulant? Does it work the same way as ritalin ex: works for 4 hours only. Does it work better for ADD or ADHD? How well is it at helping the child to focus compared to Ritalin?

Tell me some good stories and some bad ones too.

By the way my dd had the special hearing test done today and it turns out she too has CAPD (my 9 year old ds is ADHD & CAPD) = (central auditory processing disorder)

I can't wait to see your responses and stories!

mommyof5

alexito · 03-20-2003, 11:47 AM

My son 7 years old...He is with aderall xr, one capsule 25 mg. He is fine the whole school day. Difficulty with homework and little moody. Yolu have to watch out for anxiety, loss of apetite. Overall, it was working fine...what now we are looking on Straterra.

MaryC · 03-20-2003, 12:15 PM

My 6 year old daughter was on the lowest dose of Adderall a few weeks ago. She had the worst reaction to it. She went from being totally out of it to being verbally and physically aggressive. I don't know if it's a bad drug - it was her very first. We have an appt. with her psychiatrist on Tuesday to discuss other meds. Other people have told me that he should have put her on Ritalin 1st, but what do I know? Good luck with the Adderall if you decide to try it. If it's anything like our case, you will probably know right away if it isn't good for your child.

Rozie · 03-20-2003, 12:17 PM

Mommyof5 - My son had been on adderall for I think 5 years, since 2nd grade.. it worked really well for him at first with regard to controlling his symptoms, but he had no appetite and just recently became very easily irritated .. moody. He was on 15 mg of adderall xr until last week, we just started strattera this week and so far he is like a different kid, he is eating better, sleeping better, no complaints yet from his teachers but it has only been a week... Is strattera available to you yet?

mstreye · 03-20-2003, 04:57 PM

My daughter seems to be easily irritated while on Adderal too.

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