Symptoms of meds

My do is nine and been on adderall for about 1 yr. it’s helping immensely and he has the usual loss of appetite and sleeplessness. I’ve recently noticed he is opening his mouth real wide for a few seconds as if to get some relief. It’s becomming more frequent and he stopped covering his mouth with his hands. Also, he picks his lower lip and it bleeds from constant picking. He seems to be in a zone when he picks.

Does anyone else notice these symptoms with their child? What do I do? The dose is stable, 10mg at 8am 10 mg. At noon. Anything less and he acts out with constant distractions and loss of focus. Will he grow out of this eventually?

[Shamasamdrew]

My son takes adderall and has been for approximately 7 years. He takes one extended release tablet a day. I would tell you to speak to your doctor. I will tell you our son’s experience and I hope it helps, but they are two different kids so I think your doctor would be the best source of info. My son had some increased anxiety and anger when the drug would wear off, but that stopped after a few months and that was at the very beginning of use. Also, my son did develop a series of tics in third grade, but when it was over and summer rolled around, they went away. He had a very bad teacher that year and I think once the stress was done of that, so were his tics. They have not returned. Also, I would say until you get an appointment with your doctor, you could try giving him some fidgets when he is in the zone of picking his lips to keep his hands busy. Maybe shop for those together so he can see what appeals to him. Hope this helps and you all get some relief.

[ADHD_DAD]

Hi. I don't know what "do" means, but from the rest of the post, I assume it means son. My son also has this same tic (opening mouth widely) but it comes and goes and is worse with stress. What I do with this or any other tic is just ignore it or if he mentions it, I tell him it doesn't bother me, so he doesn't feel self conscious about it. Like all of his ideosyncrasies that go along with ADHD, he cannot help or stop it, so i just focus on making sure he feels good about who he is. On a more practical point, we have tried changing meds, but for him, all result in some sort of tics and the current med is the most effective with the least side effects.

[Hidden in reply to ADHD_DAD]

Thank you for your reply. Yes, it’s a typo, “do” is son. Instant spell check.

I’ve heard it mentioned from his teacher to just ignore any tics. You’re so right on, we want to build our children’s self esteem not make them self-conscious.

Thanks again

[Happle]

I would start keeping track of when (what time) these symptoms are happening. It may help you identify some type of pattern. You stated that you are giving 10 mg at 8 AM and noon. Is it happening around noon-1 pm? Maybe 4 hours between a pretty high dose is too close together and overlapping? Is it happening around 4-6 PM (when the medicine is declining)? Some kids can have a "crash" "rapid withdrawl", especially on short-acting. I would look to see if there is a pattern over a couple of week period. If the symptoms are occuring randomly, maybe it is a dosage sensitivity? It is very common for the physician to have to "tweek" medicines. A good physician will be willing to listen to your concerns and work with you. Good luck.

[anirush]

My 13 year old grandson has been on medication for years. A couple of weeks ago he started blinking rapidly all the time. I had considered notifying the doctor but now it seems to have eased up. Never thought about extra stress causing that but it makes sense.

[Smith97]

My son is 8 and on meds for about 8 months, similar dosage but time release.

He chews his nails. Our doc said you have to replace one behavior with another. There are a type of organic beads you can get, they come made in a bracelet or necklace form and the kids chew or fidget with those. (Hopefully to replace lip picking.)

My son doesn’t do the mouth thing but he will roll his eyes/bug them out or do these high pitched screams once in a while. Usually before or once meds off.

Also, for weight gain- Haagen-Daz. As much as he wants, whenever lol. It’s only made of 3 ingredients and it’s fattening. (Pediatrician recommend)

My son has always been thin and unless its straight sugar, I let him eat whatever/whenever. Have to keep the calorie count high since they’re such busy bodies. Hope this helps.