Starting Adderall

With my son, he has to take his meds first thing when he wakes up, with food. He gets an upset stomach if he takes it without food and it doesn’t do any good if he doesn’t take it right away-he’s already had a chance to get hyper. Don’t expect him too eat too much lunch but his appetite should pretty much be back by dinner. He should not have trouble sleeping-if he does, give it a couple of days and then call the doctor. My son has been on meds for over 3 years and has NEVER had a problem sleeping and the kids that I know of who have are usually found to be on too high a dose. Usually they will have started you on the lowest dose and will work from there. Have your child (I didn’t see anything about whether it is your son or daughter) do something that they usually have trouble paying attention to completing (for us this is reading or playing Scrabble) and see how it goes. Do not have your child drink fruit juices (high percentages like Juicy Juice are a problem but lower percentages like sugar water Kool-Aid are OK) with these meds, it effects the absorption rate. Luckily my son loves milk so all he has is milk or water until after lunchtime.

I would suggest keeping a journal for several months noting eating/behavior/grades whether good, bad or otherwise. Days and times are very important. Also things that have occured before the behavior (my son is often off the wall when he comes beack from my ex-husband’s house because he stays up too late) are important. These will help when talking to your doctor. Watch when school starts for how homework time goes. Also watch if grades in afternoon classes are lower than morning classes. If there are problems, the dose may be too low.

Be careful, in most states prescriptions for these meds are only good for 3 days from the date listed on the prescription because they are narcotics.

I hope this helps you at all.

This is all good advice. Some other things to look out for include excessive quietness or tearfulness or a flat affect. Those can be signs that the dose is too high or that the child is not tolerating the medication well.

Andrea

Thanks for the input! I’m getting the meds. filled today, and might start them Sunday instead of Monday. He’s got Tae Kwon Do testing Monday evening and I don’t want to interfere with that if we have problems. Do you need to give an extra short dose afterschool? My Pediatrician siad that in some cases one is needed for the homework period. This is so nerve wracking! How soon after taking them should I notice things changing (if they are going to)?

My son did not do well on the XR version, but had very good results with the regular adderall. We give one dose in the morning and, when there is homework to contend with, another small dose when he gets home from school. We usually don’t medicate on the weekends, but my son’s ADHD is of the inattentive type. Some kids, especially hyperactive/impulsive kids, need to take it every day. Some, perhaps even most, bad reactions are pretty immediate (and go away after you stop the medication), but it can take a little time to notice that the child is too quiet or is seeming depressed. Another possible problem I forgot to mention is the development of tics, although my son’s transient tics disappeared altogether after starting meds. I always made sure to tell the school when we did something different with meds so that they could report any changes they observed. In fact, it was my son’s teachers who told me that they he was TOO quiet and didn’t seem himself while taking adderall XR.

Andrea

If you got the XR, it is only once a day. The regular version my son had to take with breakfast and again with lunch. We tried an after school dose because he was having problems but all it did was cause him to not eat dinner and didn’t help very much.

If it is the XR, do not give a second dose because he will not go to sleep. It is meant to last 12 hours. If the XR doesn’t last until homework time, he needs a higher dosage in the morning. My son is 10, going into 5th grade, and weighs 64 pounds and takes 30mg. I know kids who are twice his size and take the same dose, the dosing doesn’t always involve weight.

He should be more focused for his belt test if the dosage is correct. If something is amiss he will be cranky and appear to be “crashing”. If, like many adults, you tried diet pills in college, think about how you felt at the end of the day!! Horrible analogy but I remember what it felt like and I NEVER want my son to feel that.

don’t think anyone has mentioned that for the first few days - maybe even a couple weeks as the kid’s system adjusts to the meds, there can be a “crash” effect in the late afternoon (or sometime in afternoon) as the meds wear off. In some kids this will manifest in atrocious behavior — worse than before they started meds. But it is worth hanging in there a bit to see if things “even out” after a few days. Check with your doc (or other info, written, on meds) about this.

You’re smart to be getting this started BEFORE school starts. Good luck.