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
Sponsor
alexito
03-20-2003, 02:47 PM
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, 03:15 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, 03:17 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, 07:57 PM
My daughter seems to be easily irritated while on Adderal too.
I would love to know if strattera is available to me, I'm in Canada. How would I find out without asking the doctor? Does it also work for mild depression?
mommyof5
Charmed
03-21-2003, 11:11 AM
My son didn't tolerate Adderall well. He developed tics, became extremely emotional, lost a lot of weight, and didn't sleep at night.
mvhunt
03-21-2003, 06:18 PM
My son took Adderal for about 3 years... had terrific results... some lack of appetite. The Adderal lasted through most of the day, good behavior, able to get dressed, study, stay on task, etc. We had to stop Adderal a few months ago because he developed mild tics... of course this doesn't happen to everyone. Now he's on concerta with periactin added to stimulate appetite, wish I had known about this drug when he was on adderal! It's an anti-histamine with an appetite increasing side-effect, since he also has allergies, we thought we could kill 2 birds with one stone so to speak) ... seems to be doing well. He has ADD and no hyperactivity btw. We too had tried dexedrine in the past with horrid results.
Michelle
angry green hippo
03-26-2003, 12:40 AM
To answer your initial questions, Adderall is a mixture of amphetamine salts, yes it is a stimulant, and (at least for Adderall XR, the extended release version) it lasts up to 12 hours. I believe normal Adderall lasts for 6 hours or so.
I've only been on this for a month, but I've actually noticed an improvement in my mood in general and feel more at ease in large social situations where I used to get anxious from overstimulation. I've found that attention with this is also very good, but that controlling impulsivity and motivation are not as good as with Ritalin.
As for side effects, I have experienced some loss of appetite, light-headedness, and increased heartrate, but the latter two subsided after the first few weeks.
Of course, I'm 21 y/o, and have the primarily inattentive type of ADHD, so any of these results could be very different for your 12-year-old with hyperactivity.
mommyof5
03-26-2003, 07:54 AM
angry green hippo,
Thanks for your info, my daughter is very tame on ritalin, when it wears off she becomes snarky and her voice becomes higher pitched. She also becomes a "know it all", it's like 2 different people.
It's weird because when the ritalin has worn off she is equally hyper as she is inattentive (she doesn't bounce off the walls anymore because she's older now but you can tell she's in "OVERDRIVE") But on the ritalin she's like a tame unmedicated person with ADD.
She's never been able to focus properly medicated, nevermind unmedicated and her current dose is 30mg 3 x a day!
The school is giving me trouble saying her dose is way to high, that she's staring of into space (I suspect it's because of being so far behind and not understanding what's going on in class), yet at home, Girl Guides, swimming and Grandmas' house (she goes there after school for help with her homework from her aunt because I have 2 others - grades 1 + 3 to do one on one homework with and also sleeps over 1 night a week) we don't see this behavior at all. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/confused.gif
mommyof5 http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif
momofmary
03-26-2003, 11:27 AM
My daughter was on Adderal for only 6 days - total disaster. By the fourth day I was losing my mind. She was sleepwalking - she could get from the bedroom to the kitchen in seconds, wandered off at Bible School one night trying to catch a frog, "fell accidently" in our lake several times (never happened before in the two years we were there and - never happened since), and did running cartwheels (from the front door) into the bentwood rocker and shen it would almost tip over, fly off and run to the front door again. I could not leave her for one moment. Wow - if you should try it, I would think you would know almost immediately if there's a problem. I've also posted about Concerta, Dexedrine Adderal and Strattera.
My 7 year old son is now on adderall XR 25 mg i time a day. He was recently confirmed ADHD so has been on it about 3-4 weeks. We have had pretty good results on it. He seems more focused and not so motorized all the time. He is for the first time actually using the first letter sounds to figure out words when reading even though we've stressed that strategy since he's been reading. It is like it just clicked with him. Druing boy scout and youth group outings we notice he can actually sit still for a sustained period of time which is a first. I can't sy that it has affected his appetite much because he didn't really have one to begin with. He weighs about 46 pounds and is small in stature anyway.
On the other hand a mom/intervention tutor who works at my school (I'm a 2nd grade teacher) had a really difficult time with adderall with her daughter. I had the daughter in 3rd grade. She experienced highs and lows with verbal and physical outbursts that were just not worth keeping her on the meds. If she takes anything now it is Concerta and she reacts good to it.
Also we tried strattera but my son couldn't swallow it. Now the company says it can be sprinkled on food so we tried that also. The taste however is horrid. For my picky kid it wasn't worth the battle and I can put the adderall on cottage cheese with season salt and he doesn't even know it's there.
angry green hippo
03-31-2003, 11:53 AM
mommyof5,
Just an idea about the changes in behavior you listed--it's possible that in those activities you listed where you daughter has no problem (swimming, etc), she is simply finding the right amount of interest and stimulation.
If you're wary about changing/increasing medication, maybe you could find ways for her to be in those environments she works well in more often. Or maybe try to find out from her what it is that she likes about working at grandma's house, etc. that lets her focus and behave well.
These are Just some thoughts--I hope this didn't come off as preachy or telling you what to do, as I have no experience with child-raising. As someone who went through all of school without diagnosis (until the end of college), I know I had to devise a lot of techniques to compensate for my problems so that I would appear to be working at the level of everyone else. Particularly, I found putting my work in certain environments/contexts made it easier to get at.
nymitch325
03-31-2003, 05:45 PM
My 11 1/2 year old son was diagnosed 4 years ago ADHD. He was given Ritalin 10mg 2 x a day. when he was on Ritalin he was a zombie, when it wore off he was a terror. They considered putting him in a special needs program at school. The doctor changed us to Adderall XR which is now at 30mg a day. the change is unbelievable. He is in an honors program at school with a straight A average. His appetite is not what i would like, but it is still within the normal range, he has been on Adderall for about 2 1/2 years. The biggest thing i've noticed is that when the Adderall wears off there is not extreme behavioral changes as there were with Ritalin. He recently came home from school and told me he joined the Chess Club of all things.....go figure. If it doesn't seem as if the Ritalin is working the way it should, discuss with your Doctor what other options are available.
mommtothree
03-31-2003, 06:53 PM
My son has been on Adderall for 3 1/2 years and we have seen very good results. I give him the medicine b4 breakfast and we have no problem eating, lunch is a different story but by dinner he is fine.
Allot of the behavior he does, I can see 15 other boys do it too and it would be called normal 9 year old stuff! I like the fact that it is only once a day and this has been the only meds he has ever tried. I looked into the Strattera but just not willing to switch since we are doing so well on the XR.. Hoped I helped, good luck..... http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif
bluegrassbabe
03-31-2003, 08:26 PM
Attention Kelpre:
My little girl has been on strattera, and like you, I have to sprinkle the powder w/ yogurt b/c she can't take the capsule. I can definitely relate to the fighting scenario. I noticed on your bulletin that you are sprinkling adderal on food. Is that safe, since it's a time realeased med?
I want to switch to adderal, but my pharmacist says absolutely not to break the capsule, but my Dr says it's ok. They've got me scared to death. How is it working for your son? Again, like you, we have been on this roller coaster ride for about a month, so I'm a little unsure about all this.
