My six year old son was diagnosed with ADHD in October of last year and was prescribed Vyanse 30mg to help him with his hyperactivity and focus at school. The first day he was fantastic and he had a great day, however each day after this the medicine seems to make him really chatty in the morning but wear off in the afternoon? I have read that some kids metablize the medication quicker. Could anyone else help with the following...
1. Can Vyanse only last some of the day but still stays in his system to keep him awake until 9.30 at night? Also he has lost a bit of weight due to the medication supressing his appetite so his paediatrician wont up his medication until this stops?
2. Paedrtician mentioned an alternative call Intuniv which is a non stimulant - has anyone had better luck with this for a 6 year old boy and did this affect appetite and sleep etc?
I have heard that once you find the right medication that its a real game changer. We have noticed improvements and other people have also. His teacher says that he has been very good in the morning but loses focus etc in the afternoons. At my sons last appt his paedtrician said that he still seems hyperactive and that on medication he should be 90% better? This was in the morning too.
Any advice would be much appreciated. Sorry for the long post.
Jen
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We were in a similar situation a couple of months back. My son was diagnosed in October as well and we put him on Adderall in November and the first couple of dose increases we found him less hyperactive (at home anyway- still having issues with focus etc at school) however the chatting was off the charts high. I’m not sure about your son but for us it seemed like he was very shut down before we medicated and the medication seemed to clear up a mental fog and he was all the sudden wanting to talk about anything and everything. We’ve since gone up in dosage and his excessive talking has gone down and he communicates more clearly. We are seeing similarities too though in that he seems to have more difficulty in the afternoon and he says the meds leave his body then however he is calm for me after school and he doesn’t get his full appetite back until 7:10 pm and has more trouble falling asleep.
Something that has helped with us in case you haven’t figured it out.. if they are hungry before bed as the meds wear off, we feed him a pretty substantial snack and that seems to help him fall asleep.
We are having other issues with irritability and anger but we are still figuring out if that has to do with a side effect of the Adderall or something else. Still trying to figure out this medication stuff ourselves!!
Thanks so much for your reply. We sure are in similar situations.
We found our son's aggression and anger pretty much disappered after his blood test showed that he was very low in iron, magnesium and zinc. Since the supplements he is so much better! I did some research and apparantly very low levels.of these vital minerals such as zinc and magnesium affects boys brains and can cause aggression etc. We wouldnt have known without doing a blood test. Perhaps this could be a cause for your son? Research indicates that kids with ADHD are lacking in these vital vitamins and minerals.
Good to know that the excessive talking etc stopped but i agree with you it was like he could focus properly for the first time and he was so interested in everything!
Interesting about the minerals, we had him tested for iron last year and he wasn’t showing low but maybe worth re-testing this year. Thanks for the tip!
My son is 14. We have been on both Vyvanse and Intuniv for almost 4 years. We are currently on 40 mg Vyvanse but have gone as high as 70. He crashes every day after school. Meaning-he has to come home and lay down for at least an hour. But his school work is solid, so we don't want to change anything. We do take Vyvanse breaks on the weekends/during school breaks. Appetite returns and he gets better sleep. You will find what works best for your family. Oh and I make him takes a multivitamin every day. The pickiness of eating needs some kind of supplement.
Both of my grandsons are on Intuniv, one of them in conjunction with straterra. We have had to discontinue some medications because they caused the boys to be so angry. Neither of the boys have trouble with appetite now but one of them never ate lunch when he was on Focalin XR.
ADHD medications sometimes interfere with sleep. We have to do melatonin to help with that.
Every child reacts differently sometimes it takes a couple of weeks to know if something's going to work. Stay in close touch with your doctor over this.
Our son is on the same dose but is older. We used to use melatonin drops at night to help with the come-down/bed. Have you tried that yet?
He too dropped weight and we are now using cyproheptadine (which is similar to a benadryl so it helps him sleep at night) but also gives him more of an appetite. We are new to the Cypro but thus far he is sleeping better and eating more.
The Vyvanse works for about 9 hrs so we manage when he take it (earlier on school days so he arrives focused, and later on weekends when we don’t have to be out of the house so early). It has made HUGE positive changes in our son but may not be a fit for yours. Also, manage your expectations. If his diagnosis is relatively new, consider we are 2 yrs into this and have changed meds 3 times.
My son was on vyvance 30 mg the same thing happened and he had hardly no appetite his doctor lowered the vyvance to 20 mg and started him on 1mg of kapvay 1 in the morning and 1 at night it works wonders
Mine, 13 has been on Vyvanse for 3+years. If needed, she'll take a 5mg immediate release, around 3, as. The Vyvanse lasts around 7 hours. For sleep, she takes melatonin at night.
My 11 y/o has been on Vyvanse since 2nd grade. We used to pair it with 5mg of Adderall in the afternoons b/c the Vyvanse would wear off. About a year ago we switched to using both Vyvanse and Intuniv and dropped the Adderall b/c my son wasn’t gaining weight. Talk with your son’s doc about what would work best for him. Good luck!
Thanks for your reply. How to you find the intuniv with the Vyanse? I have heard that Intuniv can only be taken in pill form. My son has trouble swallowing pills. We mix his Vyanse and hide it in his drink.
My son is 9 and has been on Vyvanse for maybe two months, 50mg with a "booster" in the lunch time. We've bounced around a few meds to help him at school. Each one work well at first then looses effectiveness. I'm chalking it up to his metabolism as he's growing, but his appetite is better with Vyvanse compared to other meds. We're still looking for something that does the trick and won't loose effectiveness after a few months. Wish us luck!
Thanks for your reply. It does seem likely that our childrens metabalism is affecting the medication. I wish you luck and hope you find something that lasts longer and works well soon.
My son also seems to talk just as much - maybe more - while medicated. I'm not sure if his dose isn't enough, or if it's too much, as it seems like he can't STOP focusing on and discussing a particular thing. After a year, he's finally getting som eappetite back (though I am nervous if that means he needs to go up a dose.)
He has a harder time sleeping after the medication leaves his system. He's usually still relatively calm after school, but seems to explode at dinner. When we give him an evening booster, the sweet spot of putting him to bed is usually @ 30 mins before it should wear off - thus he's still able to quiet his brain & get some rest without the stimulant keeping him awake all night.
Intuniv did calm my son's body, but did not help enough with the focus. But each child is different.
My 8 year old son was diagnosed with ADHD/mild OCD/ODD in September of 2018 and we were living in FL at the time and his neurologist prescribed COTEMPLA XR ODT
Generic Name: methylphenidate extended-release orally disintegrating tablets - he did so well on this and they were the kind that dissolve under the tongue, but we moved to GA in March of last year and I had to put him on Vyvanse (I was paying out of pocket for Contempla because BCBS insurance wouldn't pay for his medicine until we go through who knows how many rounds of medicine and it has been my biggest nightmare with this - the insurance companies make me sick to my stomach what they are doing to these children and to the parents by making us go through this horrific bout of medications while suffering through it. It is just S-T-U-P-I-D... OK rant over). Now he is on Vyvanse 30 mg and I hate it. He is more defiant than ever and rebelling against everything and everyone, he doesn't have a care in the world. My heart is broken into a million pieces for my son and the way he is being treated. I hate that I cannot home-school him. So I just wondered do you ever experience the raging fits, throwing things and the disrespect towards anyone older than him (including myself), no amount of discipline or taking away things from him are working. I'm at a loss right now. Also if you have private insurance you cannot get help with the APEX program we have in the schools here for ADHD children, just ridiculous. We go for a consult with his pediatrician next week to talk about changing meds again. Please pray for this exhausted, worn out mommy who is also in the middle of an unexpected and devastating divorce from his dad (hence could be some of his issues as well). I am ready to find the right medicine for my son so we can both have some peace and some rest as well. It is depressing.
Sorry to hear about the difficult time you are going through and your divorce. Our sons Psychologist told me that major events in life such as someone passing away, divorce or moving can definately trigger or cause increased agression, anxiety and defiance etc. She said that they can pick up on the stress. This being said it is so hard to try and keep this bottled up for yourself. Do you have any close friends or family that could help you? Even just to give you a little break to take some time out for yourself? I really feel for you. I hope you find the right medication soon, once you do it will be a game changer. Take care
My son (9) is on the same dose of Vyvanse. They can give you an Rx to help with bed and appetite. It’s called cyproheptadine. It’s basically a Benadryl (to address the sleep issue, we also use melatonin at night) and the other part of it helps appetite. Basically, my son eats like crazy before and after meds. During the day, on Vyvanse, not much eating is done. We follow a strict “kitchen closes at 8, until then, eat away” policy. Helps keep rules in place so they don’t try the “I’m hungry to stay awake” card. We also do the Cypro at 7:30 and melatonin @ 8:15 so he goes down hard by 9 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
We recently tried Intuniv and were the 1% of however many that it did not work for. He got horrible headaches and felt sick.( I have found that reaction is not common.)
It is a constant mind-f*ck- balancing focus vs food and attitude vs impulses. We are coming off of the Intuniv and go back in 2 weeks to see what our next options are. Good luck w/ your situation LMK how ya do- we seems to be in similar boats.
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