My 11 year old has ADHD and ASD. He was on Vyvanse for 5 years and ended at 40mg a day. We took him off because although his focus was good, the side effect of him being grumpy instead of his usual happy personality was getting in the way of him socializing. We tried Concerta at 27 mg a day and he was still too hyper so we upped it to 36mg a day. Unfortunately it is making it hard for him to fall asleep and it is giving him the grumpy personality again. We are talking with his Psychiatrist about what med to try next but I wanted to see if any parents here have a similar kiddo and what med worked. I’m hoping to figure this out somewhat before school starts.
Adhd med with low side effects wanted - CHADD's ADHD Pare...
Adhd med with low side effects wanted
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Well Hello,
My 12 yo son has ADHD and Dyslexia. He has been on 30mg vyvanse for 4 years. The medication has helped tremendously with focus and sort of with emotional regulation but it was becoming very apparent that the hangover after the meds wore off was unbearable. He would be completely out of it, hyper, rude, violent etc when the meds wore off. It was also horrible in the mornings before the meds kicked in. I started researching on this site, as well as podcasts, articles, books. I Reallyy gained a lotta information and highly recommend the book “Finally focused”. This book is written by an integrative health doctor who uses meds along with supplements. I came to the conclusion that my son (who despite what food I try to shove down him) did not eat very healthy, and took meds that leach his body of of vitamins, minerals, etc crucial to brain health. So the vyvanse was working but depleting his brain of other nutrients and causing a lot of havoc for him. I went to see his pediatrician and demanded a blood test to checks levels of iron, magnesium, vitamin b etc. He is a good doctor but really encouraged me to add some more meds to his routine for emotional regulation. My momma gut told me this was not the answer.
Within several weeks I found an integrative health doctor who was a year out for new patients. I did, through the grace of god, get an email appointment. They requested a hair sample from my son, I mailed it into them and the doctor emailed me a report on my son. There is a lot more information that I won’t cover here but my son is taking supplements now that have changed his life and ours. I still have him on the vyvanse, but he takes supplements morning, midday, and night. It really wasn’t hard to get him to take them because I was done playing around. I have cupboards full of expensive supplements that I dabbled in and gave up on because it was too hard and I was simply guessing what to give him. Heck I take all his old supplements so I don’t waste all that money.
I purchase this stuff through my doctor. You can get it on Amazon or on the vendors site. Zoom in and you can look it up. I do half dose because my son is 12 and under.
Morning: vyvanse goes in mouth before he wakes up.
Morning: 2 pills morning citamins, 1 fish oil, 1/2 teaspoon of gut health
Afternoon: 1/2 teaspoon gut health
Night: 2 night vitamins, 1/2 teaspoon gut health, 1 fish oil
The tinctures are taken 3 times a day but they are formulated for my son specifically so odciously you wouldn’t do this.
I wish you the best. I know there is a lady on here that has had great success with ‘Hardy Den’ Micronutrients, and ‘True Hope’ micronutrients. Look into those maybe as well, but you must add fish oil for the micronutrients to absorb in the body.
I love medications as one tool in the battle, but they can be rough on the brain. My son is doing so well. It took about 7 days maybe to see any difference.
Best of luck😄
We have added Guanfacine to both my grandsons ADHD medications with much success. Sometimes one medication alone does not completely work.
The first stimulant my daughter tried made her really irritable, so the psychiatrist switched her to adderall. The dose she takes wears off by lunch and then she takes a booster. The one side affect was weight loss - which has stabilized.
I was mentioning to my psychologist that I had a very difficult time with attention until I started drinking coffee at 14. She told me one of the psychiatrist she worked with used to try caffeine on kids prior to giving them medication. There are chocolates with caffeine, maybe give it a try. Also make sure he's eating a diet free of preservatives and dyes. These don't help kids with ADHD.