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Post by blaynesmama on Nov 8, 2003 14:14:41 GMT -5
Hello, o.k. I have posted a couple times about my son. We started him today on Adderall (the generic version) and he is 4.5 41 lbs and has adhd/odd. The ped started him on 5 mg 1 time a day for this weekend to see how he will respond. It only lasts for 6 hours we are about 3.5 hrs into it. Firstly he seems very tired and moody, then all of the sudden he will be smiling and happy but if I tell him that he can't have something or that I need to rest (I am 38weeks preg) he falls apart! Starts calling me and anything else in his way stupid and dumb and trying to hit me and himself (things that he already did before) Should I give it to him again tomorrow or just wait till Mon and talk with his Dr? Any input or your experiences would be great to hear.Thanks
April~
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Post by Mayleng on Nov 8, 2003 14:33:48 GMT -5
Hello, o.k. I have posted a couple times about my son. We started him today on Adderall (the generic version) and he is 4.5 41 lbs and has adhd/odd. The ped started him on 5 mg 1 time a day for this weekend to see how he will respond. It only lasts for 6 hours we are about 3.5 hrs into it. Firstly he seems very tired and moody, then all of the sudden he will be smiling and happy but if I tell him that he can't have something or that I need to rest (I am 38weeks preg) he falls apart! Starts calling me and anything else in his way stupid and dumb and trying to hit me and himself (things that he already did before) Should I give it to him again tomorrow or just wait till Mon and talk with his Dr? Any input or your experiences would be great to hear.Thanks April~
Since you just started today, I would continue to give him the adderall and would wait and see how it goes. The first 2 to 3 days you will see some "side effects", when my 8 yr old started on Adderall Xr, he had tummy pains and was emotional. It took him 3 days to "get used to it". Unfortunately, Adderall gave him sleep & appetite issues and also emotional rebound as we went along but worked really great on his attention and focus. Give yourself a week to see if this is the right med/dose for him.
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Post by blaynesmama on Nov 8, 2003 16:15:00 GMT -5
well his ped said that if we noticed mood swings and things like that to stop using it and call him. But we aren't sure if we should stop it after today and wait for Mon to call or give it to him tomorrow. He didn't get stomach aches he hasn't been hungry but he says that he feels fine. Maybe we will give it to him tomorrow but the dr is worried that because of the aggression and behavioral issues that we have been having that it would be bad to leave him on something with bad side effects for too long. Thank you so much for your reply  |
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Post by TheirMom on Nov 8, 2003 17:13:09 GMT -5
Hi. I don't have experiene with generic Adderal or medicating at that age, but please remember that your child has had 4.5 years of learning that if "A" happens, then he should do "B'. It may take some time for him to learn new behaviors.
On the other hand, this is your child and you must do what you are comfortable with. Choosing meds was diffiicult for us, but it made all the difference for my son.
good luck
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Post by blaynesmama on Nov 8, 2003 18:56:37 GMT -5
I'm not quite sure I fully understand your reply but there is alot more to the story..if you feel you would like to know I would be happy to let you in. But we have gone through alot I mean alot with what is going on. I am asking for advice on what we are doing, not someone else to imply that he is too young for medication....
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Post by TheirMom on Nov 8, 2003 19:08:40 GMT -5
 I'm really sorry if you thought I was implying ANYTHING. My point was that he has learned certain behaviors ... not knowing you/him, I' m guessing here. When he doesn't get his way, perhaps he has learned to respond with anger and frustration. he might still respond with what he has learned even though he is on meds. It may take a bit until he learns new responses to old situations. The good thing about meds is that it helps them to learn and remember. good luck
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Post by Mayleng on Nov 8, 2003 19:15:11 GMT -5
I'm not quite sure I fully understand your reply but there is alot more to the story..if you feel you would like to know I would be happy to let you in. But we have gone through alot I mean alot with what is going on. I am asking for advice on what we are doing, not someone else to imply that he is too young for medication.... Blaynesmama, I don't think Theirmom was implying that he is too young to be medicated. She was just saying that when you first start on medication, the child is used to a certain behavior before meds and that even with meds it takes time for the child to "unlearn" certain behavior. The child is able to take control of his emotions but still have to learn how to "behave" with the new found control he has. She was just stating that she has no experience with medicating a 4.5 yr old and you, the mother knows which behavior is "normal" for the child and which is medication induced. So it would take time and so to give the Adderall time to work and the child to get used to being in control. It is very hard to convey certain thoughts on a board, and I hope you did not take any offence with it. I know it is a difficult time for you and medicating is never an easy decision and we are all very senstive to the subject. As you read Theirmom's post again, you will also see that she medicates her child and it has made a difference to them. |
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Post by Mayleng on Nov 8, 2003 19:17:20 GMT -5
Theirmom, you beat me to it. I was typing as you were posting.
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Post by blaynesmama on Nov 8, 2003 20:28:49 GMT -5
Gosh there I go making a jerk out of myself. We have been so defensive with our son since we have decided to do this that I took it the wrong way...my sincerest apologies. It has been a really hard road with him and we made the mistake of telling some of our family and we have gotten nothing but greif from most of them. I am once again sorry if I offended you when I emailed back. You were just trying to help and now I understand what you meant by that. I hope you understand,
April
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Post by Mayleng on Nov 8, 2003 21:32:32 GMT -5
April, we know what you are going through. A lot of us go through the same thing. So we understand. Family is always the last to support us. That is why you will find understanding and support on these boards because we all are where you are or have been where you are. We are here if you need us.
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Post by TheirMom on Nov 8, 2003 21:44:59 GMT -5
April, I know that you are strugglng to do what is right for your child. if only they came with instrutions In any event, many of our family members doubted the existence of ADD along with the need for meds. Once my son began taking meds some of those people apologized saying that they hadn't realized...... The ones who didn't apologize? Their opinion no longer mattered as I finally knew that I was doing the right thing I hope you have as much luck. Mayleng, thanks for making my post clearer. I appreciate it!  |
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Post by dfp on Nov 8, 2003 22:40:55 GMT -5
Hello, I wanted to write because we did a trial of Adderall XR a few weeks ago and encountered some of the same things you saw. Thanks to someone at the ADHD.com site (sorry, I don't remember now who suggested it), we learned to keep our son well hydrated on a drink with some sweetener. The person who suggested it drank Gatorade. We tried fruit juice. It seemed to diminish the emotional side effects. After a week (again with the advice of pre-demise-adhd.com members) we realized that Adderall wasn't the stim for our little boy. He NEVER slept, got obsessional and antisocial, and became quite volatile. In some cases his impulsivity got more severe. For instance, he wouldn't hit a classmate (he would before), but he ran into the street (he never would have done that pre-meds). The kicker was that the reports from school got WORSE than before his trial.  So Adderall got the axe. I do understand that lots of kids do really well with the med. We were disappointed that it didn't work for us. DS is now on Tenex which seems to be doing very well for his specific set of issues. Of course everyone is different, and it's only been 1 week...  Good luck with it all. Keep us posted on how it's going. dfp |
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Post by blaynesmama on Nov 9, 2003 9:14:59 GMT -5
thank you all soooo much for your support and replies. gosh this is enough to drive a parent nuts!!!=) you don't really realize just how much it gets to you until you start blaming people for things they didnt' say!!!! I dont' think I have ever felt this defensive about anything in my life. I do not think we are going to give him adderall again today. IT was so sad seeing him on it yesterday it made us feel so guilty for giving it to him. The Dr said since he is so young if we see any side effects that are really neg dont give it to him again so I think that we are going to wait until mon and just call him. but I will keep you posted and thanks again for accepting my apologies!
April
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Post by Mayleng on Nov 9, 2003 10:46:49 GMT -5
thank you all soooo much for your support and replies. gosh this is enough to drive a parent nuts!!!=) you don't really realize just how much it gets to you until you start blaming people for things they didnt' say!!!! I dont' think I have ever felt this defensive about anything in my life. I do not think we are going to give him adderall again today. IT was so sad seeing him on it yesterday it made us feel so guilty for giving it to him. The Dr said since he is so young if we see any side effects that are really neg dont give it to him again so I think that we are going to wait until mon and just call him. but I will keep you posted and thanks again for accepting my apologies! April April, medicating is never an easy road, we all "suffer" from guilt every now and then and if we had a choice none of us would ever medicate. But when you see good results, like I did with my son on Strattera, it makes it all worth it. Initially, there is always trial and error trying to find the right meds. This is probably the hardest part. There is no need to feel defensive here, you are amongst friends, and we all understand how you feel. You have to do what you feel is right for your child. Your child is still young, so you have time. Ours got into more trouble, and couldn't learn when they started school. So take a deep breath, and de-stress yourself. You will get through this. |
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Post by blaynesmama on Nov 9, 2003 10:52:33 GMT -5
;)thank you!!!!  |
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Post by dfp on Nov 9, 2003 22:04:45 GMT -5
Well, I can say that even though my husband and I (and my sad & desperate son!) had all made peace with the idea of taking "brain medicine", we all felt awful when trying the Adderall. Turns out that we weren't feeling guilt over the meds, but horror over the horrible reaction DS was having. It didn't feel "right" or good or anything we had hoped for. We were devastated.
DS is now taking Tenex. It's working for him and I have no guilt-- just relief. Certainly I think about it a lot, and wish that it didn't need to be so, but to have a respite from his ADHD/mood/frustration symptoms is a blessing and we're all grateful for it. I actually had similar feelings when realizing DS the younger had to take inhaled steroids probably for life for his asthma. Sadness, but relief that there was a treatment available.
That being said, when we were trialing the Adderall, I kept saying to people that anyone that says that taking meds is the easy way out should have their heads examined. This is easily the hardest thing I've ever had to do with regard to my kids.
So Blaynesmom-- hang in there. The Adderall might not be the right med for your son, but as everyone told me when we were going through your struggles, there are lots of meds to try. I hope the right one "feels" right to you.
-dfp
p.s. We were told that there wouldn't be any side effects from taking DS off the Adderall, but we had a HORRIBLE week the week after we discontinued the med, even though he was only on it for 7 days. I feel certain it was connected. So just brace yourself and buy another bottle of wine or something. GOOD LUCK!!!!
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Post by vickilyn32 on Nov 10, 2003 9:33:02 GMT -5
My DS is 13 and in 7th grade. He was on the adderall since 2nd grade. He switched to adderall xr in 4th grade because of the extended day at school. in 6th grade when he started puberty, he went thru an anger and depressed stage so we stopped the adderall and switched to strattera. He had never had any side effects from the adderall, except the 6:30 down time. We just left him alone for about half hour or so, and after it totally wore off, he would be ok. the strat alone did not work, and now we are trying him on strat and adderall combined. He just started the adderall again this weekend, and today is his first school day with it. He would also eat us out of house and home when the adderall wore off. did not eat alot while on it, but at night watch out. We just kept good food where it was easy for him to reach, and let him go.
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I'm really sorry if you thought I was implying ANYTHING. My point was that he has learned certain behaviors ... not knowing you/him, I' m guessing here. When he doesn't get his way, perhaps he has learned to respond with anger and frustration. he might still respond with what he has learned even though he is on meds. It may take a bit until he learns new responses to old situations. The good thing about meds is that it helps them to learn and remember.
