Adderall causing anger or sadness?

[FulmerFamily]

Hi, our 5 year old son was just diagnosed with ADHD and we are in the process of finding a medication for him that works. Has anyone noticed if Concerta/Adderall brought on more mood swings, anger or low self-esteem? We feel like there was a very noticeable change once we started meds but want to see if it's a real side effect or we're just over analyzing it. Today he curled up under a blanket and was very sad for 1.5 hours about a toy he thinks he lost awhile ago. It's been a real long and hard struggle and we're hoping this isn't the case.

Concerta made him the most upset so we stopped this one pretty fast

Adderall XR - less anger but still noticing mood swings and sadness.

Now trying regular Adderall

[Aloysia]

Hi,

My son is 12 now (6th grade). But we first tried medication when he was 7 (2nd grade). At that time, we started with Concerta. He had a lot of side effects such as stomach aches and headaches. The Dr kept telling us that after 6 weeks the side effects would go away for most kids. It did not go away for our son, so we stopped. Next we tried Adderall. Within the first week, his teacher told us that our son was really sad. So we immediately stopped that one. We decided to wait a while until his stomach aches stopped because that still continued for a long time (I guess the first medication triggered it or something). Anyway we struggled with stomach aches for a long time and didn't put him back on medication.

When my son was first diagnosed (age 5, Kindergarten), he was all hyperactive/impulsive - no inattentive symptoms at all. Which is highly unusual. Around 4th grade he started showing some inattentive symptoms. By 5th grade we decided to try medication again because his school work was starting to be affected (never had been before). We tried Focalin XR and that has been working. It took a little while to find the right dose. And we just had to up the dosage this week (6th grade).

If it's the right medication for your child, there should not be a change in their personality. They should not suddenly be angry or sad or any other negative feeling (of course if those feelings were there before, they may still exist but should not be worse). I highly recommend immediately taking your child off the medication that is making him sad! Wait a week or two (or longer) until you feel he's back to normal and then try a new medication. Start asking him questions e every day about how he feels. Maybe he's good with a 1-10 scale, but if not use a chart that goes from smiley face to sad face in 10 steps. Several times a day ask him the same questions and have him give a number or point to one of the faces:

- how sad do you feel?

- how angry do you feel?

- how happy do you feel?

Write down his answers while he's not on meds. Then continue tracking this and writing it down while you're trying out meds. This will help you notice any trends very quickly.

I wish you the best on this journey!

[Redpanda5]

This can be a very long process and isn’t for the faint of heart! It took over a year for my daughter to originally find the right medication for her and we’ve had to change what we use several times due to different circumstances.

A few of things:

1. Side effects.

Any negative side effect like what you’ve mentioned is reason to stop the medication and call your doctor. Do not keep taking it. Our psychiatrist tells us to give a new stimulant a couple of days and to call him if they (I have two children with adhd) experience bad physical effects (racing heart) or bad feelings (sadness or irritability). It’s not like antidepressants that take a while to see if they work.

2. Dosage.

It is possible just that the dose is too high.

3. Everyone is different.

Focalin - worked for both my son and daughter while in elementary school. It lost its efficacy in both by mid middle school.

Vyvanse - was good through middle school and early high school until my daughter developed an eating disorder. My son still uses it in college.

Adderall - caused my daughter awful heart palpitations. My son uses it as a booster when his Vyvanse wears off but doesn’t really like how it makes him feel - more intense and harsh than Vyvanse.

Ritalin - at an extremely low dose is working for my daughter now in late high school as she battles her ed. Clear focus, no racing heart but not long acting.

3. Persevere. It is a journey. You will eventually find the right medication but keep in mind it may not be a “one and done” over childhood. 👍🏻