side affects of adderall?

[mothercat]

I know a girl with two kids... one is 3 and one is 9. She is going thru a rough time right now . Her son has been put on adderall as well as she. The son is having what I term meltdowns at school...I do not know the side effects of adderall and she would like to know them..she has no computer or I would definitely turn her onto this site as she NEEDS help. Can anyone tell me the side affects of adderall...she is so stressed and tired and her son has meltdowns at school that make the teacher call her at home at night and the three year old well lets just say when I talk to her on the phone she has to talk very loud to be heard over him. (always)
I forget if he is diagnosed yet or not. I dont know her well ...she has called here looking for her dh who works with my dh..her dh goes out and stays gone.. (he has a substance prob and is probably bipolar and adhd from what I have seen of him...sooo he is not much help to the girl)

[catseye]

My sd does fine with adderall, her worst side effects is lack of appetite...

What we all need to remember is every child is too different, the side effects for my child, may not be the same as another childs side effects... For example my sd did horribly on concerta, yet it will work for other kids?

There is no easy answer, and it took us over a year to find sd's match for medication... And yes during that year, I got a phone call nearly every day, my sd was suspended from the bus (twice), it was a totall disaster!!

I would suggest to tell your friend, to get a dr's appt, and discuss with him... Melt downs shouldnt be a side effect from any medication... I think he needs to try a different medication...

Also the child may be able to benefit from behavior modifications, and/or councelling... If they can pin down what is triggering the melt downs, or even a way to know one is comming on, adults around him could possibly prevent a full blown meltdown if they know how... Good luck to your friend, and I so wish she had a computer!

cat

[mothercat]

This girls life is a mess. Her dh is a convict (I have discussed my dislike of him before) and he has been out since Sept. He has also been tweeking eversince he got out . ( I knew that when I seen him) She keeps taking him back if you know what I mean. These kids are around emotional B.S. all the time evidently and I have NEVER heard children behave like hers when I talk to her. They are always loud like that according to her...I would spank but thats me.. I mean these kids are really off the walls litterally..

She is young and trying to cope and work and her dr said she is adhd too but I have to wander if it is stress related. She tries to pretend everything is ok. I just feel so bad for her. She knows absolutely nothing about adhd or meds or any of it and evidently she didn't openup much to her Dr. If her dh gets caught using he goes back...that may scare her so she prob wouldnt have mentioned the home troubles..if it were me he would be gone forever but we cant make judgment for others. Thanks for the advice ...

[Meghynne]

I've been taking adderall (long acting form) for about a year and a half, and I haven't really had too many side effects. Towards the beginning I was a little hyper, until I got acclimated to the drug. Also, it's important to try to avoid other stimulants while you're taking Adderall, especially caffiene! One day after school I had a can of coke. It was my third day of taking Adderall and I thought it had worn off, but it hadn't. I felt perfectly fine, but I noticed that my friend Richard was looking at me in abject horror. I asked what was wrong, and he said "Uh, your face is...twitching." I pulled out my compact and, indeed, my face was twitching. After a few minutes my entire body was twitching as well. People that I didn't even know were coming up to me and asking if I was alright. It was kind of frightning, but the only lasting effect of it is that now I know to avoid caffiene while I'm on it.

The lack of appetite is a little worse. I usually end up having a light breakfast, and instead of eating lunch at school I eat when I get home, after the adderall has worn off. For a while my friends didn't buy the "I'm on methamphetamine salts" excuse and they thought I was anorexic. I lost about twenty pounds, but I was trying to lose weight at the time...I stopped taking adderall over the summer and I didn't gain any of it back. I also haven't lost any more since I started taking it again this September.

So, for me, the side effects haven't been so bad, except for the first week or two, which can be tough. It's worked *very* well for me...it was like flipping a switch.

[camismom]

When Cami took Adderall it made her very aggressive, just plain ol' mean if you will! And the rebounds of it were awful! I have told the stories before of how she was at night when coming off. Let's just say my little girl (she was 7 at the time) was a monster! BUT, as Catseye said... every child is different. What works for one may not for another. I would suggest to your friend that she call her son's doc and talk to him... the med dose may need tweeking or he may just need an outright med change.

Sounds like he is dealing with a lot of home stress too. This may be causing his meltdowns. Tell your friend to talk with his school's counselor and see if he/she can start talking with him some too.... giving him a safe outlet for his hurt/anger/whatever.

[beautymama]

my son just started on this a few days ago. he was on ritalin and the one side effect was the lack of appetiate also. the dr says be aware of that, he is very petitie and really can not handle loosing any more weight. so far i can not tell when it wears off but from 6:30 pm till bed time 8:30 the kids doesn't stop eating. so maybe this will all work out once we get the right dose figured out.