Break from Adderall XR, chest pain...

[bunny]

DS (8 years old ) began Adderall XR about 1 month ago. It has been working great! Teacher, son, and myself can all see a difference Its worked wonders on DS concentration, and helped get his frustration under control. He also seems to be making more friends already!

Last Thursday he complained of chest pain at bedtime. He had a sharp stabbing pain "near my heart". It went away in under three minutes, then another one while he was watching tv with us about 1 hour later! This was very scary. Took him off meds for Friday and spoke with psych. He said keep him off until family doc can evaluate. Of course the family doc is out of town! We will see him this Friday. Meantime... yesterday ds complains that he had another pain in school (psych said if anymore, take him to the ER), and then last night at bedtime another sharp pain. It was gone in about 30 seconds, but we went to the ER anyway. On the way, one more episode. The ER visit was uneventful, they did physical exam, chest xray and ekg. All clear "maybe indigestion or gas".

I have some real concerns for my sons health, and is it meds related? I had also heard about Canada taking Adderall XR off the market because of drug related deaths. Anyway, I began doing my own research and came up with precordial catch syndrome.

This syndrome described my son's symptoms to a T. It is harmless, and may or may not recurr. I'll go see our doctor on Friday, and will be interested to see what he has to say.

We have really missed our meds this week! School and homework have been very difficult. I suppose that on the bright side, his school had a 2 hour delay for weather on Monday, he had today off because of the episode last night, tomorrow may be a snow day, and Friday morning he has the doctor appointment. The teacher should thank me! ;D

We hope and pray that the diagnosis is this harmless, but it's hard to watch how panicked he is when it happens.

Had to vent, and hopfully pass on some good info.

Thanks!

[Linda]

:)bunny....I will be very interested in what your Doc. has to say...check back with us and thanks for the info.

[Amsmom]

omg bunny, how scary for you. thank goodness his visit to the er did not show any abnormalities. you are such a great mom for all the research you have done. take care, give your little guy an extra hug and keep us posted.

[tchrmom]

Hi. My 7yr son is on the Adderall XR too. He also has been complaining of his "heart hurting." He says it feels like his heart is pounding hard. The doctor didn't seem concerned. I'll be curious to see what your doctor says.

[bunny]

Had the doc visit today. He was not at all concerned, although he said that I reacted appropriately. Adderall side effects may be more towards "racing heart" than "chest pain". My son had definate chest pain, and once again, I believe it was "precordial catch syndrome", not acid reflux or gas...

cwoods, you mentioned your son feeling like his heart was beating hard... I listened to my sons heartbeat (ear to chest), and timed it for one minute, then checked the internet for his age appropriate heart rate. Have your son tell you when it's happening, and check it yourself. My son's was normal, and telling him that made him feel better.

I never discount what my kids say about their bodies, but I do try to sort out the drama, and try to figure out what's really going on. Unfortunately, sometimes I feel like I'm more in tune than the doctor, so I guess that's why we always have to follow our instincts.

DS goes back on meds for school next week... it should be a better week.