Adderall XR and adhd

My son is 5 years old and has been on several different Medications for ADHD he is talking Vyvanse 50 mg for the last 9 mouths. I;m fixing to take him off of all of it because the side effects are worse then the ADHD.. He is cranky, no appetite, sad, and very bad facial tics.. He pops his jaws all the time and clears his throat every 5 seconds this is just crazy and I cant take it anymore... My poor baby... I just cant do this to him anymore. I'm going all natural.. and changing his diet..

Hi,

To the first poster: bbk I had the same problem. I've been on Adderall-the regular kind, not XR-since my ADD diagnosis in June.

Whenever I start an SSRI: Prozac, Zoloft, Effexor, Lexapro, my Adderall stops working. I get exhausted, brain fog, and I also get an insane appetite.

I've done some research and the explanations I've found are that SSRIs tend to increase your insulin and lower dopamine. Adderall is supposed to increase dopamine. Basically, the SSRI interferes with the Adderall.

In one appointment with my doctor (while I was on Prozac) he actually admitted that most SSRIs raise insulin, Prozac being worse than others. Guess that explains why my blood sugar was always in the 60s and I felt horrible no matter what I ate or did.

If you're already overweight and insulin resistant it will screw you up more than other people.

I'm currently trying to find an anti-depressant that works well with Adderall.

I've been taking Adderall XR 30mg per day for two years. I've gained 20 pounds and feel terrible. My doctor keeps telling me he doesn't know why I'm gaining weight. That is making me feel even worse!!! Can anyone tell me what's going on??? I also take Wellburtin & Lexapro. Before I took any of these medications, I asked the doctor if I could gain weight from them. He told me that these particular drugs do not cause weight gain. The thing that's so frustrating is, I was put on these drugs for anxiety and depression (results of an abusive marriage). How can I begin to feel better about myself if I'm gaining lots of weight? That just kills it for me. Can anyone out there offer some advice? My doctor won't even let me take an appetite suppressant. I take Adderall in the A.M. If I want, I can go right back to bed and sleep again. I also get hunger pains about 2 hours later!!! Help!!

I have had really bad anxiety and panic disorder for a year now from being a former pot smoker. My doctor prescribed me adderall xr 20mg after I asked her to. I'm in college and I have a friend I go to school with who takes it. I found out about it from her and she gave me a few. When I took it I was fine. Even the come down wasn't as bad as what I am experiencing now. I took the first pill out of the bottle yesterday. The first 5 hours were great. I was focus on what I was doing and I had no anxiety or weird side affects what so ever. Around 2am I started feeling dizzy, fatigue, parts of my body was going numb, my limbs were getting weak and they hurt, i got massive migraines, chest pains, weird shots of pain that felt like lightning going up my spine to my neck, blurred vision, and my speech was slurred. I did not want to wake my parents up because I thought maybe i was just having a panic attack. My doctor put me on metadate prior to adderall and I had some panic disorders with it, but this was far worse. Then I realized that all of these horrible feelings couldn't be from anxiety. I usually just get the rapid heart beat, short breath, numbness due to hypertension, and chest pains. This was far worse! I felt like a thousand needles were poking into my chest, at time I felt so weak I thought I was going to faint, if I got up too fast I got dizzy spells and everything became a blur to me. I was so scared that I felt like I was going to die. I had read the papers given with the drug and it said to seek medical attention immediately with the symptoms that I had. I didn't want to do anything drastic like call 911, because thats what I did with the metadate and over time i felt fine, so instead I called the poison control hotline on the pamphlet. The woman over the phone said that what I was experiencing was normal and that everything only seems more intense because its late and i'm tired but I can't get any sleep. Her voice and assurance made me feel slightly better, but afterwards things just got worse. I don't understand why this drug had these effects on me when I took the same thing before with no problem! During that time I had anxiety as well, and I still did not have any issues. I love the fact that this drug helps me to remain focus, but the after affects are so horrible. Does anyone know if I can just sprinkle half of the pill in some food or something and I won't have these problems, or if there is something equivalent to adderall without those horrid side effect?

My beautiful 11 year old daughter was on Adderall XR 20 mg per day for 4 years. After about 2 years she started to develop some minor facial tics. After 3 years the facial tics were worse along with severe head shaking and she also started to develop trichotillomania (obsessive compulsive hair pulling). The hair pulling continued until she was almost bald. Her grades began to drop and she withdrew herself from her friends and family. Finally, we took her off the medication in October 2007 at age 12 and she immediately stopped the tics and hair pulling. We have found 3 other families whose daughters have developed these same symptoms after being on this medication for at least 2 years. We have filed a report with the FDA as our own doctor had no idea that this medication was causing the hair pulling. Now 5 months later her hair is growing and the tics are approximately 97% gone. We have taken her to a homeopathic doctor and she is doing absolutely great now. Marks have gone up and she is smiling and socializing. I am so happy we have our daughter back. The side effects of this drug was definitely not work it.

my six year old has been on Adderall xr 10mg for about two months.He gets so upset!!!!! very easy then he cries. He cries so hard sometimes he cant even breath. In school he is doing great still behind academically. He is seeing a neurologist next month to see about a learning disability until then I am very concerned about him getting so up set and crying He even said he didn't think I loved him. That just broke my heart. Before the Meds he had never been like this. As soon as as I held him he calmed right down. I also have a 9yr old that takes 15mg. He suffered a severe Brain injury this past July of 2007 The med is working well with him his Focus. He injured the frontal lobe and right and left side of the brain. If he gets upset it is a bit different too I am assuming it is more the injury I am not sure He is definitely not like my six yr old. They both do have a hard time settling down for bed time at night the DR said that was a big side affect and prescribed them both Melatonin 1 hour before bed that seems to help. s any suggestions I am open.

just started taking Adderall, though i am not prescribed. I went to my doctor and asked for it but she said no. I explained that I am often overwhelmed at work, I am a case manager and keeping on task with all of the work is hard. My doctor said when she was in med school, med students used to take it for that purpose.So anyway i bought 5 pills from a coworker. I seem to have super human energy, get all types of work done and stay focused all day. On the down side, in 5 days I have lost 3lbs., I want to lose weight, but not that fast. I have what I consider to be Adderall hangovers the next day, where I am extremely tired. I also have noticed severe headaches, every day that I have taken it, I crash by the end of the day at work and cant wait to get home, because I am so tired. My neck aches, and I had to change to a firmer chair at work, because all of a sudden my back is killing me, I also get insomnia and have to counteract the Aderall with Tylenol pm just to get to sleep. These side effects freak me out, and I don't know if I want to again ask my doctor for a script, but I get so much done at work, and I am heading back for grad school, I just don't know what to do? oh yeah, the pills that I bought were Adderall XR 30 mg.

I remember, 4th grade when I got glasses and could actually see what everyone else saw, I couldn't believe how blind I was. This is the way I felt when I tried adderall for the first time. It was givin to me my senior year by a friend who was diagnosed with adhd. It gave me a feeling like I could accomplish anything. I seemed to be on top of everything. Growing up my mother always forced me to go to the clinic, because there was something "not right" with me. I hated all the medicines, especially zoloft. About my 8th grade year was when I rebelled, and stopped taking it. High School went decent, I made it, My favorite subjects were and still are art and music. Once I was introduced to adderall senior year I couldnt get over the fact that maybe my mom was right, I tried it a few other times over the next year in college and it seemed to help emensly, It felt as though I was quicker in my thought process. Problem was I wasnt perscribed and I felt I should go talk to a physician. I went in, sat down, said I have problems focusing and that was it. I was out the door with the perscription. I went to the pharmacy, ten minutes later I get a bottle that says Amphetimine Salts.... which kinda bothered me. So I took 10 mg a day for a month then 20mg the next month, over this time period I noticed that I started looking forward to taking it every day and having dry mouth. I also drank more soda then usual which was odd. I wanted to tell my physician but I didnt in fear of being pulled off the medicine and felt the benifits out weighed the the dry mouth. The 3rd month was where things got worse, I would take it before work have an awesome day and be worn out after, and then I come home and stare at all of my homework. Tired and tempted by the bottle on my dressor, I started abusing it. I would say "ok only this time", yet It seemed like I always got put in a bind and gave in. I started to notice a little bit of teeth grinding but not to bad. Now currently as of tonight I no longer will take adderall, because I saw myself in the mirror, I have a cracked tooth after 4 months of taking it. I brush and floss regularly everyday. Its not to big of a crack but big enough to have opened my eyes. I dumped all my my perscribtion down the garbage disposal, and all I want to say is parents be careful and adults be responsible and that sometimes its ok not to see or be "not right" and drop this medicine if you experience any of this.

My son is 7 years old and has already tried focaline and now adderall xr the focaline was extremely bad results he criied all the time no up and down just downs and so angree, then the adderall xr was so happy with it for about 2 weeks or so then he started with the criing again now it's only in morning and around 2 or 3 in the afternoon and some times at bed time he is now saying he feels like he has a monster inside him and then crys because he doesn't know why but always says sorry I don't know why I am crying. IS THERE ANY HELP FOR MY CHILD? Or are all these Med's crap and I will have to watch him struggle like I did. Oh then there is the stomache aches too.

I have been taking adderall for over a year, but for about 10 months ago, I started taking wellbutrin also and since have had chronic problems with my ears, It's actually getting worse. Not so much ear infections, but the pressure is actually pushing inward. So i feel light headed just funky all day. Kind of like a head cold without the cold. I can't figure out which one is causing (i think wellbutrin) since that's when it began. But it could be the combination. Just wanted to know if anyone else is experiencing this. I am 35 female.
thanks pam

Mydaughter is 8 and in second grade. She has been diagnosed with adhd. We have been taking adderall xr for about a month and a half. While the school day goes well for her, the afternoons and ugly for us. She is very agitated, cries for nothing and irratic for about 1-2 hours. We also have a hard time getting her to sleep. Her doctor prescribed Lunesta 1 mg, but it takes a long time for her to go to sleep. We start around 9:00 or10:00 and it takes a good 1 1/2 hours to get her to go to sleep. She does not sleep thru the night either and has never been a good sleeper. ALong with this add she also has hydrocephalus. While this works great for her attention problem in school, it is very exhausting for me in knowing how to handle her moods, outbursts and the sleep issues. Any advice on either? Thank you