We are newer to the ADHD medication treatment. Our son started last Saturday. We have noticed some great changes. He is able to focus and concentrate, he's less physically aggressive and less fidgety. These are all great improvements. They last throughout the day. Nighttime is tough for us. He had two very long tantrums the past couple of nights. Lonnnng and he was agitated.
He is Taking Adderral XD 5 mg.
Wondering if anyone's kids have had similar reactions?
Adderall causes a pretty big crash. My daughter would go into rages every Friday afternoon when she was first on it. That stopped after a month or so and she's been fine ever since. My husband who also has ADHD would get really depressed as it would wear off. Coffee (caffeine) helped smooth it out, but he's on Vyvanse now and it's a much gentler transition.
It would help to know what he's taking, when and the dose. Please share.
Okay. Adderall XR works great for me, but not for my 12 year old. He can't focus with it and it drops out of his system so fast at the end of the day that he's just a basket case.
Not every med works equally for every child.
Hunter now takes Vyvanse and Intuniv. The Vyvanse is the daily stimulant medication that helps him to focus in class. It lasts a long time (10 or so hours) and tapers of pretty slowly. The Intuniv is a non-stimulant works 24/7 and builds up in the system...and really helps when the Vyvanse is wearing off in the afternoon.
A coworker of mine has a son who is taking the same meds, but was having serious troubles at night. I suggested that he give his son the Intuniv in the evening, because some kids notice they feel more relaxed in the first couple of hours of taking the Intiniv.. They've noted a drastic improvement.
Sooooo....all that to say: Talk with your doctor about the option of adding a second, non-stimulant medication, such as Intuniv, to help your son in the evenings. I do not suggest Strattera as it has aggression and depression as side effects.
ETA: 1. It's NOT normal and you shouldn't just live with it.
2. If you can fix your kid's behaviors and lack of focus by changing their diet, they never had ADHD.
ADHD medication can work wonders when it's active, but the real challenge is when it's not working. Adderall, unfortunately, has the nickname Madderall, because it has a tendency to make some people really angry as it wears off. It sent our son into rages as it wore off, despite working fine when it was active.
It may be that this first try isn't the right match for him. Our son does super on Concerta and doesn't have rages as it wears off. We sometimes give him a booster of regular Ritalin to get through homework in the afternoon, if he has a large amount to get through. At night, he takes a small dosage of melatonin to help fall alseep (he needed it even before we tried medication).
We've also seen a therapist for years and have tips for managing our son's behavior when the medication isn't active. If you're not in therapy yet, definitely get your son signed up with someone.
Don't give up if this first medication try isn't a match. It can take some trial and error. And contrary to info. below, diet won't make one iota of difference with ADHD. That's already been well researched and documented. Would be super if it were true, but it just isn't.
Unfortunately, that is common. As a retired special needs teacher, I saw or more likely heard about these crashes, mood swings etc.
Over the years I started really looking at nutrition, especially the protein, fat, carb balance and how it affects behaviour. I have to say...now that I am in the wellness industry using food as a stabilizer and not drugs, I have seen NO crashes, mood swings or other negative side effects. Simply well balanced hormones and behaviours day and night. I will PM you the link to something that I highly recommend.
B.
Two of my daughters & I are on Concerta RX & as the meds wear off in the evening, I do notice that they are super hungry--sometimes they will make another meal, after eating a healthy dinner. I keep healthy snacks around & also stuff they can fix themselves, fruit, yoghurt, frozen burgers, mac & cheese, popcorn, etc. When they were younger, they now are 13 & 17, they would get VERY quarrelsome & start having melt-downs. And now...PMS, our friend, can cause some melt-downs, but some months they sail right through it. They are maturing & have a better handle on their emotions. Most nights they start to amp up & want to "party" --dancing, listening to loud music, running around doing gymnastics, all things my hubby & I are out of patience with by the end of the day. I generally let them "be wild" until 9ish, then herd them to bed. We have a no screens after 8 pm on school nights rule & that has helped a lot. Also on school nights if they are feeling "not tired" enough, they will take a Melatonin about 30 minutes before bed time.
I tried the Adderral RX & it caused MASSIVE headaches & I was really grumpy & angry. I didn't know other people had similar reactions, but I just switched back to Concerta after a month of that. Unfortunately, although one of their previous psychiatrists thought that Vyvanse & Intuniv would be better for them, our HMO doesn't not cover it.
Good Luck. It has been hard to figure out what's the best meds & dose for each girl & whether to use a sleep aid or not. My oldest was put on Trazadone to help her sleep & the longer she took it, the more frequent & intense her melt downs. It took me TOO long to put it together, but it was causing her MORE anxiety & her melt-downs started to be worse than anything she ever had as a toddler. I also use to resist letting them eat a full meal so late because they had just eaten 2 or 3 hours earlier. But I think it helps. The pay off in their behavior, focus & ability to handle life has been worth it. And THEY see it. I'm not forcing it on them. My youngest started at a new school this year & the teachers were so surprised to find out she had ADHD. Believe me, in 3rd grade, EVERYONE knew!
How old is he?
My oldest (15) was on Adderral last year for a while and really didn't like it. Everyone takes to it differently. My husband is one of those people who live up to the "Adderage" nickname. It made him angry and irrational. My son was incredibly chatty on it during the day and irritable at night. When he stopped taking it, it took about two weeks for him to work through a really foul, nasty mood and come back to himself.
I would call your prescribing doctor for a check in and some advice. Perhaps some melatonin would help, but it depends on how old he is. I would be wary of giving a child on a medication another medication on top of it to calm things down at night, so I would avoid adding much of anything else. Your doctor will probably have a threshold of time and symptom level that will determine whether or not it's time to increase the dose or try something else. My oldest tried Concerta first and we gave it three weeks before deciding that the side effect of a chronic headache was not worth it.
Unfortunately, it's trial and error - call the prescribing physician for clearer next steps. Good luck!
Updated
How old is he?
My oldest (15) was on Adderral last year for a while and really didn't like it. Everyone takes to it differently. My husband is one of those people who live up to the "Adderage" nickname. It made him angry and irrational. My son was incredibly chatty on it during the day and irritable at night. When he stopped taking it, it took about two weeks for him to work through a really foul, nasty mood and come back to himself.
I would call your prescribing doctor for a check in and some advice. Perhaps some melatonin would help, but it depends on how old he is. I would be wary of giving a child on a medication another medication on top of it to calm things down at night, so I would avoid adding much of anything else. Your doctor will probably have a threshold of time and symptom level that will determine whether or not it's time to increase the dose or try something else. My oldest tried Concerta first and we gave it three weeks before deciding that the side effect of a chronic headache was not worth it.
Unfortunately, it's trial and error - call the prescribing physician for clearer next steps. Good luck!
I was crying because of that. My kid had psychotic episodes when we 1st started. My dd is on focalin xr. It too is an extended release medication.
The way her doctor describe adhd kids is that they are like springs bouncing all day long. The medication holds the coil down and hold off the bouncing. Unfortunately, when you let go of the coil (when the meds wear off), it tends to spring even higher. Young children have difficulty with this. It's probably like being on speed and not knowing what to do. Mine who was never a crier, cried for an hour about her turn on the doorbell.
There are a few things that can be done.
1.) With her doctor's advice, we gave her 25mg of benadryl to take the edge off.
2.)Your doctor can also prescribe a short acting version of your Rx to be given at 4pm (We have this but our local pharmacy never seems to carry them. So my dd never get to use the 2nd pill).
3.) Stop and restart the Rx. Someone here advised me to and I followed it by chance (All our local pharmacies did not carry focalin xr at that time). This was what worked for us.
That's normal. You want the med out of his system by bedtime so he won't be wide awake all night.
You could ask the doc for a sleep aid that you can use for a while, not for an extended time. If he's bouncing off the walls and it's hours past bed time I guarantee you'll feel like cramming a sleeping pill down his throat...lol. Felt that way quite a few times around 3 or 4 in the morning. He'd still be bouncing on the couch watching TV or doing gymnastics, hand stands against the walls, flipping, and more.
We do Ritalin a whole pill in the morning, half at noon, then another half if he has something going on where he has to pay attention. The evenings he takes the second half he's stays up late. But the meds on a regular day are out of his system by 4pm and from that point on it's hard, very hard. So don't worry, what he's doing is normal.
