Adderall XR

[kyty]

Hi,
It's been a while! Hello to everyone. I would like some addvice on this med. My son has been on Concerta for 3 years and is now 13 and still doing OK behaviour wise just losing focus in school and not getting anything done. His phyc. wants him to try Adderral XR now. He has only been on it for 2 days now so it is very new. He says he has more energy! That's it. The teachers haven't complained yet but I find it to jave worn off by the time he gets home from school. He is off the wall and can't get homework done. It was awful. Very stressful. Should I give it a few more days and wait to see how he is during the day? I havn't been with him yet to see if it even works at all for him. It is just stressful for me because he has had such good success on the concerta that I worry that it won't help and we will be starting all over again. Please I just need some info. Thanks

[bugsmom]

Is there anyway your sons Concerta can be upped?

Meds are a funny thing. As you know, every kid is different and will react differently. If your already seeing problems with the Adderall XR, I don't think I would give it too much longer to even out. Maybe you can watch him over the weekend and see if you see any positive effects. My son did terrible on Adderall, in fact, it was the worst of all the meds he tried. That's not to say your son is the same way, but our experience was a tough one. We seen a lot of emotional garbage, crying, tantrums, meltdowns...oh, it was a trip. I also felt it made him more hyper AND the rebound was awful. But, lots of kids do great on it.

I think you just have to go with your gut. If it don't feel right, then talk to your doctor about switching back. Since he's 13, he should be able to tell you the difference between the two meds. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[kyty]

We did up his concerta from 36mg. to 54mg. He seemed to do OK on it at first. He was doing better with school work which was the problem. After he was on the higher dose for about 2 months he all of a sudded was getting angry at a kid in class saying mean things to him because he was looking at him. He was threting to punch him. This was being yelled in the middle of class. This is not my son. If anything he is a very passive kid. I took him to the movie that weekend and he was just vibrating gritting his teeth when I talked to him. Later that night after it wore off he told me that he can't stand it when people even talk to because he just wants to yell at them! So the next day I put him back on the 36mg. and he said it was better. The teachers said he is back to being his gofy self but again being the class clown and not working. So this is why the phsc. wants to try something else. He does seem a little better tonight and he says likes the way he feels better than the concerta. I will be with him over the weekend for Easter so I will get a better chance to see for myself.
He seems to have trouble telling me how he feels because he didn't even let me know about the Concerta after it was making him get so annoyed. After school and in the evening it was great. It was just at certain times in the afternoon when it really seemed to be to much for him.
Thanks for the coment. It always helps to hear other peoples expieriences

[jfla]

Hi,

I am wondering why the doc switched him to Adderal XR which is a different drug family than Concerta. For my son the methylphenidate family (Ritalin, Concerta, RitalinLA) seemed to provide the focus that Adderal didn't. adderal was fine for everything but the focus.

It sounds that on concerta the 36mg is not enough for your son, but the 54 is too much. The way Concerta's pill delivers the medication does not allow for any fine tuning of the medication to fit the specific needs of patients...but Ritalin LA does in its time released beads in the gel capsule.

My son switched from Concerta to Ritalin LA when it first came out and has been happy with it since. It has a smoother effect than concerta and when it wears off, it is a gradual decline. Very smooth.

I was able to fine tune his medication to his specific needs, tweaking it until it was just right for him. I just opened up the capsule and took a measured amount of beads out. Some people don't want to bother with doing that but for the difference it made for my son, it was well worth it. He started on Ritalin LA in 9th grade, is a sophomore in college and doesn't want to try anything else. at some point I was able to discontinue taking out some of the beads and the effect for him was fine.

[kyty]

I don't know why he did that? I was wondering the same thing. We go back in 1 month and I am going to ask. I also want to know if it is possible to have just regular ritalin for weekends so he can sleep in. Does anyone do this?

[jfla]

my son uses short acting ritalin as needed. that can mean for a couple more hours of homework time, on the weekend if he will be driving or wants the focus for just a few hours.

[puzzled]

I would suggest the Ritalin LA as well. My son switched from Concerta to Ritalin LA due to appetite issues and the very first day came home and said it was MUCH BETTER! He would still be on it if not for the fact that our insurance changed and it was no longer covered and way to pricey for us to pay for ourselves.

I never had to open capsules and divvy up the beads but would have tried it if it was necessary....can't remember his dosage.....it has been a couple years.

[lisacap]

Christian just switched to focalin after years on concerta, he is also 13...he over the last 6 months had become so hostile, angry, aggressive, anxiety ridden, it was awful, like I was raising this bully who was out to get the world and didn't give a crap about doing it. He had been on concerta for 3 yrs straight and we it always helped, never saw this side of it. The physch told me that the methalphyndalte family (ritalin, concerta, adderal etc) when the boys start to hit puberty can cause all of this. We switched 3 weeks ago, and I must say, it doesn't last as long as the concerta does, but it releases in 2 periods half in the morning and the other half 4 hours later. By 4 it is starting to come out of him.Positives I have found..he is happy, laughing, joking something he hasn't done in a long time. He is sleeping through the night, and he is eating a lot better. Sometimes he is even eating lunch. Negatives I have found, he isn't as focused in school, but I am weighing the positives over that, and letting them realize that the drug isn't going to change everything and in all reality, he is still a 13 yr old boy, med's or no med's they all don't sit still....but I like the results so far...hoping it stays.

[kyty]

Thanks for all the responses! It really does help. We we're gone for a few days for Easter and one day he was really good and the next he was off the wall again. I'm not sure what to do? I told him he should go back to his concerta until we go back to the doc. he got quite upset because he says he feels better on the Adderral so I don't know yet!!!! I did give it to him later in the day the one day and he seemed alot better but then the next day by 3:00 he was arguing and bugging his little brother again! I'll have to wait and see what happens this week. He is off school for a week because of Easter! At least this gives me a chance to be with him before school starts and I can get a better feel for what to do. Thanks again!

[mom23boyz]

Hello kyty. My son also switched to Adderall Xr after going up to 54 mg of Concerta, but it still proved to be not enough for him. The Adderall was great for a while, but then major temper, crying issues. Then we went to Focalin, great for a few months but then not enough. We have found that after a few months he is building up tolerances to the meds and needs to use a different class for 2 weeks before going back to what works. But, in doing this we tried Vyvanse, which is an Adderall based drug but acts like Concerta in it's form of all day releasing, whereas Adderall Xr is a two part release pill. Vyvanse has been a blessing!! We never tried it earlier because of such bad luck with the Adderall Xr, but it has been the best medicine besides Concerta for my ds and he is 8. Much better concentration and not the crying meltdowns he had with Adderall Xr. Maybe you could see about it? But remember all kiddos are different, and what works for mine may not work for yours!! Good Luck!