Strange side effects of ADHD medication (Aderall, Guanfacine, Evekeo)

[StressedmomwADHDboy]

My son was formally diagnosed ADHD when he was about to turn 6. The first med prescribed to him is guanfacine (0.5 mg, twice daily). It made him very sleepy for the first few days. He then got used to it. It helped calmed down his hyperactivity in the first few months then it stopped working. We went back to his doctor and he added Aderall XR (once a day). The combo really helped him perform at school and we noticed improvement in his behavior at home as well. However, after a few months of using Aderall, my son started having night terror (he never had that before the medication). We were told that is not completely abnormal as kids without ADHD could have night terror as well and they eventually will grow out of it. What is bizarre with my son is that immediately following the night terror he will have a violent tantrum with uncontrollable rage. He will scream, calling names, throwing every object that he can get hold off (lamps, chairs, books, etc), and hitting and kicking us on purpose. I kept my hands out in an effort to protect myself, he said "mom, I promise I won't hurt you" and then he jumped up and punched me in my eye so hard I thought i was going to have a black eye for sure. He also asked my husband "daddy, let me punch you, i want to hit you". He also tried to choke, hit himself or at the wall or door, bit himself or blanket or sofa, if he couldn't hit us. We eventually had to physically restraint him to stop him hurting us, himself, or damaging property. Together with the night terror such episode usually last 1.5 - 2 hrs. At the beginning, he would have 3 - 4 episodes a week and when we asked him afterwards what made him upset and his answer is always " I am so angry but I don't know why". It is almost like he had a seizure in some part of his brain which completely shut down his ability to control/regulate his emotion and physical behavior. Over time we have noticed a pattern which is that he tends to have such episode if he was stressed out or got upset during the day or before bed time.

We talked to the doctor about these episodes and were told he is not aware of any other ADHD kids taking Aderall having night terror or the rage. He suggested we switch to Evekeo, which is a newer stimulant medicine also treating ADHD. Overtime, the frequency of such episodes have reduced. Lately it has come down to about once a month. We did an EGG recently but found nothing abnormal. We are going to do an MRI soon as well. My gut feeling is it was triggered by the medication he is taking as my son was never violent or had night terror before the medication.

I want to reach out to the community and to see if any of your kids had similar episodes after taking the ADHD medication. I understand every kid is different and react to medication different as well, but I am desperate to understand what is causing this as it is heart wrenching to go through such event over and over again. It breaks my heart every time.

[Hidden]

Well my son gets night terrors from melatonin. He had a bunch of weird behaviors on adderall including biting so we pulled him off. To be honest, he has rep in doctors office for all kinds of weird med reactions. Nothing surprises me with these meds anymore. Our friends’ kids have no issues on adderall 🤔

He is now on clonidine and an anxiety med. No issues.

[BercotP in reply to Hidden]

Is clonidine a non-stimulant? My son has high anxiety so we can’t give him stimulants. He has tried Guanfacine and it just brought his BP too low. At this point we are only treating the anxiety but his ADHD is off the chart especially verbal tics and not being able to focus and follow directions at school. I feel like there must be something else we can do.

[Hidden in reply to BercotP]

Yes it is. Son also responds really badly on stimulants.

We do clonidine with anxiety meds. Guanfacine was ok but this works much better. Son is having major anxiety issues right now due to poor school situation. This combo is working best for us to manage both (not perfect but a marked improvement). I figure if he falls asleep at school instead of act up that is an improvement.

[BercotP in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for sharing. I may ask my sons doctor about adding this in. Sorry your son is having a hard time at school poor guy.

[StressedmomwADHDboy in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for sharing. We are going to check see if our son has anxiety. If he does that will make his Dr try different meds.

[Hidden in reply to StressedmomwADHDboy]

Anxiety and ADHD are fairly common together. If you think about the way society responds to ADHD behavior it doesn’t surprise me the kids also end up with anxiety or ODD. My kids have said they often feel like they can never do anything right or good enough.

Son didn’t have anxiety before school but after three years of ineffective teachers, he has a lot of anxiety related to school. His IEP has his schedule adjusted to help him develop a better attitude about school.

Goal #1 is to get his anxiety managed and reduce the anxiety attacks. For him this combo plus therapy is showing promise

[parkholer in reply to BercotP]

Maybe the issue is the school. Maybe all children aren't built to sit in a classroom and do non-dexterous learning all day. Maybe the answer isn't giving children stimulants.

[Onthemove1971]

StressedmonwADHDboy-

I am sorry the you guys are going through this, how stressful. It really sounds like he can't control it. It sounds like it is only when he is not on the medication, correct? I wonder if it is him body/himself being in control and then when he is off the medication not so in control. If it is only at night, I think you stay on the newer medications and try maybe a weighted blanket (they sell them on Amazon) to see if he will stay asleep so he doesn't wake up at night.

Unfortunately we have to deal with some thing.

Good luck.

[Pennywink]

Hi - so sorry to hear about the night terrors! We haven’t had any medication-induced ones, by my almost 7 year old has gotten them from time to time.

Quick question - are you waking him up from the night terror, or is he waking up on his own?

I ask, because we learned early on that we were handling my son’s night terrors in the exact opposite way that we should. We tried to wake him, tried to soothe him, and ultimately it just prolonged everything & made the whole thing escalate. But when we left him alone with the terror & just quietly monitored from the door, he drifted back to quiet sleep much faster & had no memory of it the next day at all.

[StressedmomwADHDboy in reply to Pennywink]

Thanks for sharing. No, we didn't try to wake him up once we figured out that he was having night terrors. What strange with my son is that instead of going back to sleep he would transition into an anger burst during which he is aware of what he is doing (not like when he was having night terrors during which he was not aware). We are very puzzled by this and really want to understand the cause so we can help him.

[Pennywink in reply to StressedmomwADHDboy]

Wow - that is really bizarre. Prayers & good luck getting to the root of it!

[parkholer]

I'm an adult and i take aderall, and i am on occasion getting night terrors. It is night terrors or sleep apnea, i can't tell.

But for all of you people giving aderall to young children, you should not being doing this. Children should not be taking stimulants, especially at a young age, you will hinder their growth, and train their neurological growth towards a different direction.