Vyvanse for 6 1/2 yr old

[MNmom99]

Hi all, I was just wondering if any other parents had experience with Vyvanse for their children ,my son who is 6 1/2 has been on methylphenidate extended release with another bump after school for over a year after increasing his dose on that because it wasn’t working longer we realized he was more irritable and didn’t ever seem very happy, so we are trying to change his medication. His doctor gave him prescription for Vyvanse 10 mg. He’s been on that for six days and we’ve been in contact with his teacher who says he’s clearly been a different child and has needed a lot of extra help. His irritability seems to have went down, but his hyper activeNess has seem to shoot up., along with not being able to focus 3ect, we reached out to his doctor, who suggested we try 20 for a few days to see how that goes just curious what others experiences were on this medication at the start of it thanks in advance for reading and your time. 🙂

[Hidden]

When Methylphenidate was stopped for my son (after 8 months) due to a range of side effects and ‘rebound’ his psychiatrist said that no point trying other ‘stimulants’ (let’s say from amfetamins such as Vyvanse, and anyway I wouldn’t agree to give another ‘stimulant’ to my child, I felt that he was suffering on Methylphenidate and he wasn’t ‘himself’). Doctor offered non stimulants - Atomoxetine or Guanfacine and we agreed to give Atomoxetine a go. My son is 9 and is on 40mg taken once a day in the morning and school has no complaints and I can see that he’s been a much happier child ever since. It’s not perfect by any means but I don’t think there is any medication that is perfect, they always say that medication works best in conjunction with the ‘behavioural therapy’, teaching coping strategies etc. If your child is fine taking whole capsules/tablets then you have a good choice of non stimulants to try. In my son’s class there is another child who is also on Atomoxetine (also at first trying stimulants and child suffered) and when I chatted with his mum she said her child mellowed, is more relaxed, more ‘with it’. I totally agree with her.

[Purple2002]

We stopped methylphenidate after a year due to lots of built up anger and aggression. He was back to his normal self with stopping it! I was so happy! We started vyvanse 20mg and went up to 30mg. At first we were satisfied with it. He was definitely more hyper on the vyvanse. He ate better but didn’t sleep well at all. It seemed to “take the edge off” the ADHD. He definitely was not “zombied out” on the vyvanse like he was on the methylphenidate. But eventually the anger and aggression came back. He just kicked a hole in my wall the other day. We are now off the vyvanse and started the Atomoxetine (Strattera), I hope it works!!!! The psychiatrist said if he has an anxiety component that is not being treated, the stimulants can make him more irritable. I just hope the atomoxetine works since we have to wait a few weeks to let it kick in……!! Good luck and just take it One day at a time❤️❤️❤️

[SecretAgentIEP]

10 mg is not much. My 7 year old son is on 2 mg Guanfacine ER (1 mg in am and 1 mg in pm) and 20 mg ER Vyvanse in am and he is doing well on that combo therapy. He does much better with the nonstimulant; trial with stimulant alone like Focalin XR had much worse side effects. Don't give up, take time and try nonstimulants and combo therapy.

[hygienehollie]

my son tried Vyvanse in 2nd grade and it was not a good experience. Instead of helping him focus and not be hyper it had the opposite effect on him. It sped him up. The principal had to be in the classroom each day while he was on it because he could not stop moving.

Each child is so different, it really is a lot of trial and error. Hang in there.

My son currently takes Metadate CD 40 mg, Clonidine (2mg am/1mgpm) for adhd along with Abilify, Prozac and Lamictal for his mood disorder.

We are finally in the most stable place we’ve been. He is able to attend school without too much behavior issues, learning,l and is an amazing athlete. He also smiles now and laughs. I’m thankful for a great child psychiatrist who listens and is so helpful.