Metabolizing XR quickly

[Parrot36]

Does anyone have a child quickly metabolizing adderall XR? I thought it was supposed to last 6-8 hours but my 80 pound daughter metabolizes 10XR in less than 6 hours requiring another dose of quick acting after school or worse (because she has no appetite) another extended release. Is the dose too low? Should we ask our dr to add another medicine in to carry her during those off hours?

[kami73]

My Dr told me to take it with something that has a lot of fiber like oatmeal or something substantial like it. He Said it helps level out the release of the med.

[Parrot36 in reply to kami73]

Ok. Thank you. I started researching it a little and it seems that something with a high fat content might be best and lots of water throughout the day. Now to get my daughter to buy in. 😉

[Matzijoe03]

Try asking for a higher dose ? My son had the same issue and they increased his dose from 15 to 25 and that seems to do be doing the trick currently.

[Parrot36 in reply to Matzijoe03]

Hadn’t thought about that. Thank you. Did you see any side effects from the increase?

[Matzijoe03 in reply to Parrot36]

He started picking at his fingernails. I read that a high protein diet might help alleviate some of the side effects and it defenitly has.

I also minimized the amount of processed foods I allowed in his diet. If you get a chance read up on smarty pants gummies. They might be a good alternative to a dose increase.

[Parrot36 in reply to Matzijoe03]

I will look into it. Thank you for the suggestion! As for processed foods, that might be really difficult because we are doing everything we can just to keep the weight on her and that means foods that are high calorie and high fat. We do lots of milkshakes with protein drinks mixed in.

[Onthemove1971 in reply to Matzijoe03]

mine has always been a picker! Especially scabs... yuck

[Matzijoe03 in reply to Onthemove1971]

Have you been able to get yours to stop? Mine would pick sooo much he would leave his fingertips raw.

[Onthemove1971 in reply to Matzijoe03]

It's always when his medication wears off. We tell him we are going to put gloves on him if he doesn't stop. But when he stops doing that then he starts cracking his knuckes (and toes) which also drives me crazy. Then he moves onto the last habit which is picking his nose.. He often doesn't realize he is doing these habits.

[Parrot36 in reply to Onthemove1971]

Is the picking adhd related or could he also have anxiety? My daughter picks fingers as well but we have found it’s likely due to anxiety.

[Matzijoe03 in reply to Parrot36]

I honestly believe it's the medication they are given to aid them with the ADHD.

[Parrot36 in reply to Matzijoe03]

I didn’t realize that was a side effect. And it happens when off the stimulant? That is when my daughter picks. We are thinking the stimulant helped control it - and didn’t cause it.

[Matzijoe03 in reply to Parrot36]

For my son he didnt have these habits before he started taking medications. As I had mentioned before someedications made it worse than others. The concerta specifically had him picking consistantly at his fingers. He's been on adderall for some time now and he does pick at his fingers some... most of the time it's as onthemove1971 mentioned when he is bored. However this only happens on the days the medication is given and more towards the end of the day (Homework or dinner time).

[Onthemove1971 in reply to Matzijoe03]

It is not the medication because he has been this way his whole life before we started any medication, part is that he gets bored when has nothing to do or distracted and focus on them.

[Matzijoe03 in reply to Onthemove1971]

It was the opposite with my son. He didnt have any of these habits before he started on the medication. I agree that it maybe boredom.

[Ldydy24]

My son only lasted 4 hours on Focalin XR due to his metabolism. We found his body works better on short acting pills vs the XR. Plus with XR I could barely get him to eat during the day. You could try to increase the dose but if you are still only getting 6 hours I would recommend adding a small short acting dose to help with the rest of the day and homework.

[Parrot36 in reply to Ldydy24]

Ok. Thank you for sharing your experience. I feel like everyday is a chemistry experiment.

[Elijah1]

A high fat meal will affect the absorption of Adderall XR (but not regular Adderall tablets) and delay the improvement of attention. Had it happen with a meal that contained a lot of peanut butter.

[Parrot36 in reply to Elijah1]

Thank you for the information.