14 year old son starting Adderall

[spookyscaryskeletons]

my 14 year old is starting a low dose of adderall tomorrow, and then gradually working his way up assuming he doesn't have any major side effects. He is coming off 36 concerta, which he has been on since 6th grade. His ADHD has been treated by his pediatrician until yesterday when we had his first psychiatrist appointment. His psychiatrist said that he sees positive benefits with teenagers and adderall. At this point, I'm willing to try anything but I've looked up some of the effects of adderall, and it has made me nervous. He has always struggled with organization, task completion, and impulsivity, but now we are seeing a lack of motivation, MAJOR defiance (outside of the norm), and risky behaviors (vaping, sexual activity, synthetic weed, and edibles). His grades have dropped dramatically. I'm hoping and praying that the psychiatrist can help us as well as the family counseling and his individual therapist. These are all new things for us, and he is very opposed to all of it. Have any of you experienced anything similar? Do you have any success stories with your teen on adderall? Is there light at the end of this tunnel?

[Momtrying]

My 13 yr old has been on Adderall for 2.5 year. We started at 20mg extended release in the morning, he was kind of a zombie so we went to 15 but about 6 mo to a year we bumped back up to 20 and his body could handle it without taking away his personality. it helped a lot but when he would come down off of it in the afternoons he would have a hard time. Get moody and super tired so we added a 5mg short acting for after school. That helped so much get him through the afternoon to about bedtime. He usually has trouble settling down for bed but that’s super normal. His appetite isn’t great, he eats cereal in the morning and something small for dinner, MAYBE a snack after school. When he started 7th grade this year I noticed he could not get through all of his classes so we bumped him to 25mg in the morning and still taking his 5 in the afternoon. It has helped him a lot in school with not blurting out and distracting friends in class (he was getting detentions and suspensions for this behavior A Lot before bumping up to 25.

With this said, most teens are going to start pushing boundaries. Mine has definitely started seeing what he can get away with. It’s tough bc our kids don’t have impulse control but hopefully changing meds can help you guys. Getting on adderall was tough at first. His body needed didn’t love it at first but we did find the right combo. Have patience with it, easier said than done right? 😂 this is all hard but seems like you’re trying your best. Let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to know. We are all here for each other.

[spookyscaryskeletons in reply to Momtrying]

Thank you so much!

[Betty416]

Hi, I just read the other response, and I agree. We also had to do a lot of tweaking in the beginning with dosage and how often, but once my daughter got used to it, it made the world of difference. Before being on adderall my 16 year old daughter was depressed, also involved in risky behavior, declining grades, and so on. The medication helped so much in letting her focus and make her days more productive. She’s now doing very well in school and not getting into trouble with me 10x a day! We went through a phase of “I don’t want to take it because it changes who I am and you only like me when I’m

on it”. We talked, and I explained to her that it actually allowed her to be the person she really is and that her ADHD was the heavy weight on her. She of course still gets in trouble for being naughty and still has trouble socially but that feels like regular teenage stuff. I honestly hate that she has to take medication everyday to get through her days but if it helps her build confidence, then that is what she needs right now and I’m hoping she builds enough coping skills that eventually we can wean her off it. Good luck. I hope this works for you!!