Does anyone take Adderall????

[Pembo]

My ds took his first dose yesterday and he was AWAKE until after midnight last night. I know that sleeplessness can be a side effect but will it go away???? He was very quiet in his awakeness(that's not normal with him). He was drawing and wrote his numbers to 250 !!!!


Thanks for any help you can give me about this medication.

 

[mrsapalm]

I am on Adderall! I have ADD, and I take 15 mg 2x a day, then 5 mg at 4:00 p.m. By the time I get home from work (about 5:15 p.m.), I am exhausted and it takes a lot of willpower to do the nightly chores and such. You might want to wait a week or so to see how his body adjusts to the meds, then consult with his Dr. about adjusting the dosage if necessary. It works great for me, so good luck with you and your DS!
-MrsAPalm

 

[mamajoan]

Hi, Please take what I am going to tell you with a grain of salt.
When dd was 10 the doc thought he might try her on adderall as Ritalin was getting in high dose range. DD was dx'd severe ADHD at age 3 had been on Ritalin with good success until age 10.
After about a week on the adderall I began to add up all the changes in dd. She became aggresive, insomniac, ocd-repetitive with odd little things, she began to wander at night as she could not sleep. She got a really odd affect in her personality ( she became very angry and could give looks that would KILL) I called the doc, after 21 days on the meds. I reported all of the personality changes and even brought in some of the things that she was writing at night when she was up.. scary stuff.
Doc took her off adderall and put her back on ritalin. All of the personality changes that came about when she was on the adderall subsided. whew!! She has always been a happy, non aggressive but EXTREMELY HYPERKINETIC kid. DD will be 13 in January. She cont's to be on a heavy dose of ritalin and ritalin sr.
Her school grades are excellent, her behavior the same as any other avg. 13 y/o girls She does not fight me to take her meds yet.. I expect that to come in the next year or two. (eldest ds fought me tooth and nail when he got to h.s)

That being said, I have known many kids to have done very well on adderall. Different kids have different reactions to meds. I hope your son does better with his adderall. If not, no fear the doc will try something different which may work better.
BEST WISHES!!

 

[WillyJ]

Hi Pembo!

I take 60mgs of Adderall daily for Adult ADD. . . as a matter of fact, after years if anit-depressants, and then a combo of Aderrall and anti-depressants, my doctor has tried having me take just the Adderallfor the past month and a half, and so far it's worked great. The drug has made a profoundly positive change in my life. .

As far as the insomnia. . . it's hard for me to say because I've always had insomia off and on ever since I was a little kid- but I know it does add to it. My doctor has me take one day off it a month, and when I start again it does seem worse, but then it levels out some..

My best advice though is to keep some sort of daily log or journal on how it seems to be affecting you DS, and use the info to help your doctor make any adjustments necessary. . Good luck with this and your son Pembo. . let us know how it goes. .

 

[loisg1]

Is your ds taking adderall only in the AM? If it is not an extended release drug, you may want to talk to your doc about putting him on one that is. DD13 was finally diagnosed last year with ADD and is on concerta. She takes it once a day in the AM. Although at the moment, we are checking into the cause of her losing 14 pounds in the past year, which is another side effect of this type of medication.

Good luck!

 

[Pembo]

Thank you everyone.

This is our first time trying medication. My dh is on Concerta and it works great.

DS is on a time release Adderall. He took it for the first time yesterday. After school (about 8 hours after the dose) he was pretty emotional and a little nasty but I'm not sure if it was the meds or not. By 7 pm he was talking NON-STOP! You couldn't get a word in! Then he was awake. Like I said before I found him drawing pictures and writing in his room, very quietly.

I called the drs office. They suggested I call back Monday if he is still not falling asleep. He was pretty tired today. I'm anxious to see how the meds affect him this weekend.

mamajoan-My niece reacted the same way, personality-change, when she was on Adderall. We'll see...

Thank you all for your comments. It's good to know we're not in this alone!

 

[mamajoan]

Pembo, Thanks for telling me about your niece.. it helps to know that other kids have had the same reaction as sis. It sure was freaky...

I know ritalin does not stay in the system and does not need to be taken for a certain period to build up a 'level' in your system...I don't remember with the adderall.. maybe someone else will know.

I hope your weekend goes smoother.
Joan

 

[Blondie]

My son didn't do well on Adderall at all. When he would come home from school he was withdrawn and depressed. He would cry over nothing.

It also brought out ticks, like constantly rubbing his tongue up against his teeth so badly that it created a huge blister. He would also make these weird facial expressions out of the blue.

It also prevented him from falling asleep at night. He wasn't on Adderall too long before we (me and his MD) stopped it.

Concerta 27 mg. once a day in the AM has been a wonder drug for him. It's the only ADHD med he's been on that doesn't cause any kind of side effect like he experienced with Adderall and Ritalin. He doesn't have much of an appetite during the day, but that is common.