Tired of ADHD medicine

[032159]

I have a 10-year-old ADHD son. He has been on medication since he was 6. Although the medication helps with his impulsiveness, attentiveness and hyperness I hate the change in his mood from a smiling happy boy to being very sad and never smiling. I have thought about changing to vitamin supplements to see if this helps instead of medication. Has anyone tried these and what were the results? Thanks.

[Ddbev]

We tried vitamin supplements and saw no improvement. But clinical trials have shown promise. Have you considered changing your ADHD Meds?

[032159 in reply to Ddbev]

Yes we have changed a couple of times but so far nothing seems to work.

[coopha]

We do take vitamins but it's along with his meds. Maybe increase the dose or change the one he's on? We've had to change a few times over the years as the children's chemical needs change with maturity.

[Sunbreaks]

What medication is your child taking and at what dosage? There are some medications that can make a child seem like a zombie if the dosage is too high.

[032159 in reply to Sunbreaks]

Vyvanse 60 mg is what he is taking. The medicine seems to make him very sad. I remember a happy jolly fella before starting mess which he has been on since 6. I would love to have him back the way he used to be.

[Sunbreaks in reply to 032159]

Its totally ok to ask your child’s doctor to lower the dose incrementally until you get your child’s happy personality back but still see positive results in his focus. Finding the right dosage should theoretically do that. If a child’s dosage is too high they may experience what’s called “the zombie effect” because they seem to lose their personality. Generally it’s not a big deal to dial the dosage until you find the sweet spot. Good luck to you - I hope it ends up being that easy of a fix!

[Pennywink in reply to Sunbreaks]

I’m gonna second what Sunbreaks said here, and definitely look into a dosage change. Kids are a moving target in finding the rights meds, so what didn’t work at age 6 may now work at age 10.

Ultimately, for us, if the medicine is bringing my son down / making him unhappy or flattening his personality, then it’s not worth it to us & time for a change. Doing well in school is important, but it’s not everything.

[Jennyfufu]

I have researched certain vitamins and supplements. It has helped my son. Check out ADHD diet. It helps him too. The less sugar he gets the better and absolutely NO artificial colors. They make him more hyper and moody. My sons teachers are complaining less since he has been doing these things.

[Atwitsends]

Hi 032159, my son was also diagnosed w/adhd/hyperactivity in the third grade. His pediatrician put him on Adderall 15mg (ER) he took 1 every morning with his breakfast. My son also was happy & smiling, but after he started taking the Adderall I also notice he he started acting very sad, distant, & depressed, it helped him focus somewhat & stayed calmed but I just didn't like the side effects.So I stopped giving him the Adderall everyday & on the days I didn't gave it to him I noticed that he was back to being happy & smiling. So I weened him off of the Adderall & what I did was Google & found natural ways (methods) to treat ADHD instead of using medication. I found that Smarty pants vitamins (white bottle w/red top) & Focus factor (for kids) w/ pholyasidate I'm not sure the spelling (pholyasidate) is correct, but it's close(it an ingredient to treat adhd) helped my child tremendously. I gave it to him during his entire year of fourth grade & he didn't have near (not 1)

suspension or problem that year versus third grade where he had 2-3 suspensions & phone calls & notes from the teachers weekly.

I started him back on meds in fifth grade cause his teachers kept complaining that he was acting aggressively, easily distracted & angered easily &trouble keeping focus so I started him back on meds cause I thought the Smarty pants & focus factor wasn't working. But then I realized they were actually working it just was the teachers being unfair, having no patience &not trained on how to deal with kids w/adhd. Do now I'm gonna go back to the vitamins.

Give the vitamins a try and see if this helps. Good Luck!