Son Just Diagnosed with ADHD - Anyone's Child on Adderral XR

I Have a daughter who is on adderal and it does not have an effect on her. As for her ADHD she is in special Education because she has learning difficulties. My daughter is now on focalin. And she is doing well on it. She also has ODD.

My 7 year old son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 5 yrs old. They had started him on Adderral when he was first diagnosed. When he took the Adderral he was acting out alot at school. Emotionally at the beginning he had a hard time adapting. We were up at the school all the time. He was acting out of character and they were having a hard time with him. Since then they have switched him to Concerta XR because the Adderral had been recalled in Canada due to children having heart failure. So first off that might be something you might want to bring to your doctors attention. Second ever since my son has taken the ADHD medicine (Concerta xr) he has done very well. He is very bright but the medicine just helps him slow down and focus. Basically pay attention. I had always had my doubts about putting him on because of all the things I have herd people say. When he is on it (Concerta) he looses a little bit of weight. But I have never herd of the labeling. The teachers at my sons school are very patient and understanding. The only thing I can give you advice on when it comes to the schools is play a role. Make sure you talk to your child and the teachers. Know what is always going on. It realy helps to be involved as much as you possibly can.

My son was diagnosed in his 2nd yr of Kindergarten, he was way behind the other children, and they thought he was dislexic. It was actually a very bad case of ADHD. He has been taking the Adderall XR for about 1 yr now and he also takes chlonodine at night, it is actually made for blood pressure, but they found out it helps with the spyradic behavior of ADHD. He is in 1st grade now and he has some problems with reading and spelling, but was nominated to be in the gifted and talented program at his school (HONORS for elementary). I call him my little science and history geek :)
He is very smart, but it takes him longer to show it. I hope this helps.

Good for you for getting your child the help he needs. I support the other moms statements. Some meds work for some kids. Other meds work for other kids. It really depends on the needs of your child. It may take some time for your child to adjust to the medicine and his dosage and/or "brand" of medicine may need to changed. However, once the get on the proper regiment you will see a whole new child. Just make sure he takes it everyday! I teach elementary school and last year I had a student that was a behavioral nightmare. He was disrespectful, extremely hyperactive, violent, and completely incapable of functioning in a classroom. He consistently received Ds and Fs on his report card despite being a bright student. In January he started ADHD meds and it was like having a whole new student. He sat in his seat, waited to be called on, completed his work and no longer attacked the other students. His grades rose to As and Bs and this year he qualified for the gifted program. Talk to his teacher and ask her about extended time. You may find that he is completeing work at school quicker than he is at home. You may also find that his completion rate picks up when he settles into the meds.

Hi D..
My son was diagnosed with ADHD in his first year of school. He is now in the first grade and we are still trying to find the right medication. I cam relate already to the "labeling" at school. My son stayed in so much trouble last school year that I was there almost everyday. However, the school that my son attends does a great job with him. We had an ARD (Admission, Review and Dismissal)(get familiar with the IEP (Individual Education Plan)meeting to discuss things that needed to be changed in the classroom to accommodate him. He is having a hard time with Spelling Test and now he has fewer words then the rest of the class. If you have not already, I would talk to the school counselor, and the diagnostician tell them that your son was diagnosed with ADHD, the school has to accommodate him. If you feel he needs more time on work then let them be aware of it. I have found that many times children with ADHD are smarter then normal, but they do need the extra time. I wish you the best of luck. I know this can be hard. I am going through a very hard time right now with dealing with my son and his ADHD.

My son was taken off of Adderral due to the fact that we seen a national commercial in reference to this medicine been recall and parents or those that have taken this medicine being asked to join in on a class action lawsuit.

Wow! I was just reading the other peoples responses. My daughter was diagnosed with ADHD when she was 5 yrs old. She could not have functioned without the medication. As long as it is regulated and NOT ABUSED then it is not a bad thing. My daughter has been on Ritalin, Adderall and Concentra( Not all at the same time). She seemed to do best on the Ritalin. She took it until she was 17yrs old when she then decided that she didn't need it anymore. She is now 20 yrs old and lives a great life without the medicine. She did pretty well in school. They put her in ARD which was a program for kids with ADHD. ARD is a program that will give him more time to finish work, it will also cut down on the amount of work they give him, his test will be cut in half(for example, he will only have to do all even numbers on the test), also in the classroom if he doesn't understand the work they would send him to content mastery, etc. This is all with the ARD program and it continues all the way through high school. We live in Corpus Christi btw. They should have the same program in San Antonio. The only problem I had with the school is that the teachers would not let her go to take her medicine when it was time. We got that cleared up though. Your son is on the extended release tabs so that shouldn't be a problem with you. With my daughter, the extended release tabs didn't work for some reason. So if you have any more questions at all let me know and I will be happy to answer them.

Hello,
I have two sons that are ADHD they are 21 and 24 yrs olds now when they were younger they were labeled as bullies and trouble makers etc.....One of my sons was on Adderrall and I had to take him off of it because would pull out all of his hair and his eyelashes and even the hair on his arms.

I struggled with many schools from Texas to Florida and the way things are today Teachers are taught on how to handle kids like ours. Things will get better you will see I am not saying that the med's won't work for your child but watch him and look for the side effects that I told you about.

As far as the schools go my son graduated almost two yrs ago from clemens and they were great.
Go to the school counselor and see if his work could be modified the more stress with the work he will start to shut down and act out. Kids like ours work better in smaller groups it is hard for a teacher to give so much attention to one child when they have 15 to 20 kids in the classroom....

They can modify the work give less homework but start with the school......Hope this helps

My sons are on Adderall XR 20 mg. each... My kids are diagnosed with PDD and ADHD. My oldest son has been taking Adderall sinse he was 6 years old. We heard the horror stories of Riddolin(sp) and werent too sure about Concerta as we had friends whose children reacted badly to it.
So we chose Adderall...
We originally had CJ on Adderall 5 mg and he was increased gradually to Adderall 20 mg. The biggest problem I have found was the weight loss. In CJ we werent prepared for it, he lost so quickly we didnt have time to compensate. In Isaiah, we saw the signs and quickly got hold of it with High Calorie shakes, Peanut Butter snacks and Bacon Breakfasts. We kept good control of his calories and he has maintained his weight for 6 months now, the same with CJ(hes actually gaining weight!!!).
With ADHD kids make sure to keep them occupied but not overly stimulated. Cut out foods with Red Dyes and ask your doctor if its OK to feed him small amounts of Flax Seed Oil. We enrolled them into Goju Ryu(Karate)and taught them meditation techniques. It helps alot to have a school that is willing to work with you and help you when you are flustered and dont know what to do. A good school WILL NOT tell you how to handle your child but will point you in the right direction for help.
My children are more severe because of the PDD, that adds on sensory issues and bad coping skills. Thats another email all together LOL!
Hope that helps...
Any Questions email me at ____@____.com

Well, it's been a few months since you posted this and I am very curious about how your son is doing. I have an 8 year old son who was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 4 and has been on Adderall XR since then...with a few ventures to find something else b/c of the "stigma" of Adderall but with no success. He does SOO well on it that we just get frustrated when try something new. His Dad has had ADHD all his life and has been on and off meds and is now on Strattera. It works for Dad but NOT for our son for some reason. I do find that my son is very emotional if we have him off of it for a few days and then put him back on, he has become slender due to lack of appetite but is ravenously hungry when not on the meds and he tends to lick his lips alot the first few days back on which cause them to get chapped. BUT...those minor things are WELL WORTH IT b/c of how well he behaves on the meds! My son is very intelligent and has no problem getting his work done except for the fidgeting and occasional lack of focus. I've run into issues with the school system...they are just not wired for kinesthetic learners (those that need to move around) and I battle that alot. He is very sensitive and has been lableled a tad bit just because he has to be reminded to raise his hand or calm down a bit. I'd love to hear how things are going for you and know that you are not alone!! Good luck!

Hello D.,
My son and my two nephews, are diagnosed with ADHD, my nephew is on Adderral but my son was on Risperdal, the meds
did justice for my son containing his school work and his patience. He went from F's to B's. And my nephew went from
C's to A's. So let him take the meds, and see how they work out for him.

well for my child we both went through the horror stories that you hear never thinking it could happen to you.my son who is now 17 in the 9 grade had always been a head but then i notice around 5 years old something happen,i notice something was going on with him but did not know what it was called so i took him to the doctor and they diagnosed him withADHD but the didnt step in until he was maybe 10 years old after he kept felling and they kept social promoting him because they said he was capable of learning even after the doctor wrote notes for him to get help. just make sure you try to make every meeting and there are advocates that will help you with child education to make sure he get every that he need

Wow... two very different responses. Certain meds work differently for different people. But I have seen and read lots of horror stories about Adderral but that was people who ARE NOT ADD or ADHD abusing the med. The same thing for ALL ADD/ADHD meds!! If you are not ADD or ADHD of course these meds will work differently for you. The other day I accidentally took one of my daughters pills.(three kids, dog and husband all trying to get out of the house at once and I don't know WHAT I was thinking!!!) I was HIGH as a kite all day and then when it wore off I thought I was having a heart attack! That WILL never happen again!!!
My daughter is ADD... dx in the first grade but I fought the meds hard until this year. She is on Concerta XR. And when I say that I have a different child... OMIGAWD! Now I'm kicking myself for waiting so long. She went from D's and F's (barely passed the second grade) to A's and B's, finally making friends, self esteem is finally getting better... I could cry when I think about how happy I am for her. Anyhoo.... about having longer to take tests. My daughter does get extra time... but that is because of the dyslexia (not the ADD). And now that she's adjusted to her med... she no longer needs that extra time. She is doing so well.. she can actually focus and THINK!!!!
How long has he been on the med?

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Why would anyone say? "If your child really needs medication (which I doubt) try something less harmful." And I'm talking about the "WHICH I DOUBT" statment!!!!

hi there dont feel bad or alone. we found out over the summer that my 6yr has adhd and he is on addreal xr and he seems to be fine. in fact we just moved here from germany which was really scary because i did not know how he was going to. and so far he has not been label as anthing by the teachers or other kids. my son though also has a learning disablite. but if you have any question or anything maybe we can help each other through this. and just be patent.you will hear different people say things about having the kids on meds but i have talked to people in support chanels on line that have learned to handle the adhd with out meds or they use to be on meds and now are off. all you can do is do what is best for you and your son.hang in there though.

My son is 8 and he was on adderall xr for 3 years. We just got of it. The doctor is trying some new drug patch. We took my son out of public school and now we homeschool him. He wasnt doing well in school.

well i just have to say that adderall has been a big help for my son, and i total disagree with the person that posted before me. if taken properly it helps!! and my 6 yr old doesn't watch much tv b/c he doesn't like it, he rather the computer!! the tv has nothing to do with it!!

at the end of my daughter's 2nd grade, her pedi diagnosed her w/ADD and put her on Adderal; my daughter lost her appetite and constantly complained of headaches; i started her back on the medication in the third grade, but only for the first 2 months; she lost a lot of weight and was bringing home her full lunch; one morning she made me realize that the medication wasn't helping her focus, so we stopped; she is now in the fifth grade and doing well in school; please consider a second opinion should you child have any side effects