ADHD And Albuteral ?

I have asthma and take Albuterol as needed.

Albuterol, MAY make some people more 'hyper.' Or if they take too much dosage.
That is one of its side-effects.

For me and Albuterol, it does not cause me to feel hyper at all. Nor does it cause a reverse effect. I simply, do not get side-effects with Albuterol.

In an ADHD person, caffeine (which is a stimulant of course), actually causes a reverse effect... meaning, it calms them, makes them more focused.
Thus, with Albuterol, its potential side-effects of causing "hyper-ness' in a person, has the reverse effect, on a person with ADHD.

I don't know the medical technicalities, but amphetamines used to be used as bronchodilators, so I'd suspect bronchodilators could have similar effects as amphetamines.
If she's on a stimulant for ADHD, she may need a higher dose, since this worked out so well, If she isn't on ADHD meds, it looks like they might be a big help!

Have you found out any more information since 2011? I am curious because after a recent sickness my son (age 11) was on albuterol and his behavior changes dramatically also. His grades went up. He finished his homework. He is coachable at sport practices. He has always been an active child playing football, baseball and soccer without any breathing difficulties. He is diagnosed with ADHD and Intermittent Explosive Disorder. After many trials with almost all the different types of stimulants and non-stimulants, he has been off all ADHD medicine for two years. We have just been teaching him to cope. The albuterol just seems to keep him calm and sleeps well at night without being scared instead of the negative side effects that I keep reading about. I was wondering if you or anyone else found any clinical trials with ADHD and Albuterol for me to bring to his doctor?

So glad she's had a couple of great days! And wouldn't it be great if it was the albuterol!

I too have an asthmatic ADHD daughter (now in her late 20s). I didn't find in her that the albuterol made much difference in her behavior. Still, I think there's a lot of medicinal treatments that work better or differently for one person than another. Whatever works!

Good luck!

Huh... Never experienced this or if it did I didn't realize it was happening. Ask your doctor, this sounds like an experiment waiting to happen. Maybe conduct a little one yourself. Wow, you might have just discovered something that will help a whole lot of people (myself included) with their kids. Thanks for sharing!

Check with the doctor, I am sure that this would be an off lable use, but if the doctor gives you the go ahead...also, the albuterol is not that long lasting, if I am right, so just that she felt better may be part of your explaination, as the drug would be out of her system at some point in the day, unless she is getting a breathing treatment every 4 hours, so I would check and see how long albuterol lasts in her system. When I have had to take them, it has been something that I had to do every 4 hours while awake (and they make me shake like a leaf...so there is a definet stimulant like effect. Just be in touch with your doctors. Glad she had a good day!

M.

I'm an ADHD adult male (38yo) and the GP gave me Albuteral for some kind of breathing problem and I noticed that I'm much calmer and patient.

This stuff is definitely having a profound impact on my temperament. What I don't know is if it's because I'm sleeping better or if breathing better during the day or what.

If you saw an immediate impact the morning of on the first day your child got the Albuteral, that pretty much removes sleep from the equation so that points to a breathing thing. For me, I noticed the improvement a few days later so I thought it was probably a sleep quality thing.

The other interesting outcome I've had is that taking Ritalin no longer seems to have much impact on my concentration. I can take double the dose and barely notice I took it. Had I doubled my dose prior to taking Albuteral, I would have been bouncing off the walls. I don't know if it makes me less sensitive to Ritalin so I need more or what, but I do know my focus is not better on Albuteral; just my temperament.

As for what my doctor told me, the Neurologist who writes Ritalin told me that this brings into question the diagnosis of ADHD alltogether. Not sure if I agree, but if what he said is true, maybe some kids don't need stimulants if their sleep or breathing is improved.

Lastly, I've been diagnosed with central sleep apnea but have never had much luck using CPAP. That's probably why I noticed it affecting my sleep so much. I think what the albuteral is doing is opening up the airway so I breath better and sleep better. I just don't really understand the whole story yet. I'd like it to improve concentration so I don't need stimulants, but so far, that hasn't been the case. If anything, I need a higher dose of Ritalin now that I'm breathing better. Very weird.

B.-
Do you have an update since April on the albuterol/ADHD connection? My son was diagnosed with ADHD in January, has been on 3 different amphetamine based meds: Concerta, Stratera, and Adderall. He did NOT do well on any.....I did notice how calm and relaxed he was last night after his albuterol nubulizer treatment........is there a connection????

TELL me about it.

My ds8 is also adhd/gifted and when he's having to use his inhaler (new, since febuary)... he does *fantastically*. Far better than anything else has ever worked. We homeschool... so the night/day difference is instantly noticeable.

I've actually been doing a bit of chicken & egg thinking ... and have just been trying to document and track. Trying to figure out how much is the stimulant properties and how much is the 'being able to breathe is less distracting that not being able to breathe' & 'meltdowns trigger attacks v attacks trigger meltdowns'.

((On the nebulizer, however, he becomes Mr. Happy No Sleep. 2 hours on, and he doesn't sleep for 36 hours without drugs... the hospital will give him a tranquilizer after day 1.5. I have no idea as to his adhd symtomology on the neb, however, since we don't have one at home... it's only when we end up in the ER or admitted. But with the albuterol puffer, even 8 puffs every hour doesn't trigger the insomnia. So no idea there))