Has anyone had the experience of their child's ADD meds losing their effectiveness over time?

My 13 year old went on adderall about three years ago, and for the first two years it was like a miracle. All of a sudden she could pay attention in class, she got organized, her handwriting improved dramatically, she'd take the time to correct and edit her writing, etc. She even made the honor roll. Plus, she was happy.

Then she hit puberty. She grew five inches and got her period. We bumped her up to 20 mg. XR at 7:00 a.m. and 10 mg. regular at 4:00 to get though HW ending at 10:30-ish. But, in 8th grade her grades went down to pre-adderall levels, her notebooks were a disorganized mess, she would sit in her room doing who knows what when she was supposed to be doing her homework. She would dawdle and procrastinate like crazy. We took her to a psychologist to talk about whether she just didn't care about schoolwork, as we thought we'd better know how motivated she was before she chose a rigorous high school. She told him she doesn't care much about grades, but does like learning.

Now, in discussing her starting HS next year, she asked me if its possible that the Adderall stopped working. She thinks that might have happened last year. She seems to want to be as on-top-of-it as she was for those two years when her medication was optimizing her performance. For her its not just about grades (although we think it would be nice if someday they might approach her ability level). She actually had to do less homework when the meds worked well because she remembered more from class, and the work she did was of a much higher quality. She felt good about yourself, and proud of her work.

Is it possible for meds to lose effectiveness, or is this in her imagination?

-Metu

As a child grows (especially teenagers) the dosage may have to be adjusted. Found out my teenage son is ADHD and bipolar II - so the doctor, in addition to the Adderall XR, put him on Seroquel at night. It really has made a difference in his schoolwork.

METU, HI. I HAVE HEARD SO MUCH ABOUT THE MEDS NOT WORKING AS WELL WHEN THE KIDS GO THROUGH PUBERTY. DEFINATELY TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT IT. THERE IS NO REASON SHE SHOULD BE TAKING MEDS WHEN THEY ARE NOT HELPING HER. THE DOCTOR PROBABLY HAS TO UP THE MEDS OR CHANGE THEM OR ADD SOMETHING TO THEM. I'M SORRY YOU ARE GOING THROUGH THIS. MY SON DID GREAT ON 18MG OF CONCERTA FOR 6 WEEKS. THEN IT STOPPED WORKING! JUST LIKE THAT. SO, NOW HE'S ON 27MG. I AM AFRAID THAT ONE DAY IT WILL STOP WORKING TOO, BUT IT'S BEEN OK FOR 4 MONTHS NOW. SO, YOU PROBABLY JUST HAVE TO HAVE THEM ADJUSTED. GOOD LUCK AND KEEP US POSTED ON HOW YOU MAKE OUT........................DARA

Yeah hormone levels change the dose effectiveness of meds and the intensity of AD/HD symptoms.

My adopted son is now 9 and was born drug addicted. He was going to a school for handicapped kids and put on the regular ritalin at 4 yrs old. I tried everything before putting him on medication. Diet behavior therapy etc. After 6 months he gained 2 1/2 years progress at his school and was kicked out of the special ed. except speech to go to regular school. When the Concerta came out he was switched to this. WE kept having to increase the amounts as he would soon develop immunity to the dosages. After about 3 years he developed ticks. At this time he was on 54 mg concerta AM and 18 mg in the afternoon. After this we tried Strattera which was a disaster. I thought we would have to have him hospitallized to regulate his mood swings. We then went to Aderall XR which again we have had to keep raising. He was up to 25 mg am and 10mg pm. This drug did affect his mood negatively and his sleep. He has now developed ticks on this and we started Welbutrin today.

My now 10 year old used to be on Concerta. He was on the 54 mg. dose for a LONG time. Then all of a sudden it was like it didn't work anymore. We had to switch him to new meds. He has very big emotional outbursts for almost no reason sometimes and I don't know what to do about it. He now takes Dexedrine.

My now 10 year old used to be on Concerta. He was on the 54 mg. dose for a LONG time. Then all of a sudden it was like it didn't work anymore. We had to switch him to new meds. He has very big emotional outbursts for almost no reason sometimes and I don't know what to do about it. He now takes Dexedrine.

That happened to my son too he was taken 36 mg of Cocerta fro 2 yrs and it stoppped working but the doctro has raised it to 54mg but i know once he starts to grow we will have to find something else but for right now he has gone back to doing his work and geeting good grades but i am scared of the future but right now I am enjoying the fact he is happy and healthy!

My oldest son is now 12, and we've recently had to change his meds, too. He originally started out on regular Ritalin twice a day. Five mg, then ten, then fifteen, then twenty. We had to keep adjusting as his body grew accustomed to the dosages. Eventually he outgrew the Ritalin and it no longer worked for him. After that we put him on Adderall twice a day. Same deal, 5 mg, then 10 mg, then 15 mg. When we started him on 15 mg twice a day, it was like someone turned a key in a lock...his whole world opened up and he was able to concentrate, was in a good mood, could remember what he was supposed to be doing, etc. We kept him on it for a couple of years, and he did great. Then he hit 12 years old, started going through puberty, and it all fell apart. All of a sudden he was never hungry, didn't sleep, was cranky, etc. We tried lowering his dose, and that didn't help. We dropped him all the way back to 5 mg, but he couldn't handle it. At one point he went three days without eating or sleeping. He couldn't fall asleep, even with medication, couldn't stand to eat. He said it made his stomach really upset, and that he constantly felt bloated. I took him to his doctor, who gave him a physical and determined that the Adderall was just reacting badly to the influx of new hormones in his system. We took him off of it and let him get it out of his system. He didn't function well that way, either. I thought, maybe it's just all in his mind - he thinks he needs the pills, so I created a label on the computer and filled a phamacy bottle with non-descript vitamins and gave it to him. It was nothing more than a healthy placebo, but he thought it was a real medicine for ADD. It didn't help at all...not one bit. That told me that he wasn't just psychologically dependent on the meds. We went back to his doctor, and decided to try the Ritalin LA. The idea is that A) it's been so long since he had the original Ritalin that he should no longer have that level of immunity to it, and B) this is the LA, so it's more consistant than two separate doses. He is doing pretty well on the LA, though not 100% as good as he originally did on the Adderall 15 mg. He's also gotten to the point where he wants to be less dependent on the meds, and he's trying to do more on his own. I end up giving him the meds a couple of times a week now, and other days he just works on concentrating extra hard. Of course all this is pending what his grades are on his next info sheet. If I see that he's just not making it on his own, he's going to have to start taking them every day again.

:)Melissa

When receptors in the brain are constantly bathed with drug chemicals that stimulate them, science already knows that in time those receptors will shrivel up and die, or become weaker(desensitized). This is called downregulation and explains not only drug tolerance (stops working) but explains how these brains end up looking abnormal on a brain scan (aka your brain on drugs).

True, illegal, uncontrolled doses of drugs can do more damage quicker but the prescribed ones will eventually cause the same, they just take longer. Already a study has been done on rats which indicate long-term antidepressant use showed serotonin receptor damage.

And now a study linking the develpment of depression from long term use of amphetamines, and possibly this becomes a bi-polar diagnosis.

Downregulation and desensitation may be the culprits in most cases, IMHO.