My anxiety about starting my 15 year old on Vyvanse is out of control. Please give me some encouragement.
When my daughter was younger, we tried Ritalin and Adderall and had problems with both. We went several years unmedicated. My daughter is doing well in all areas of life and i keep questioning why I am starting medication. She does well but she also STRUGGLES and DOES have problems related to ADHD.
I keep reminding myself of these reason to trial Vyvanse:
My daughter is doing very well in all areas of life, but I know she often struggles with focus and medication might help her. I want to provide her with tools that will help her.
She will graduate high school in three years. Her life is becoming more complicated, and I want to show her tools that can help.
I don't know if it will help her or not but I want to TRY medications and see the result.
Starting medication today does not mean she will be on it forever.
The chances of a severe reaction are small. The serious side effects are rare like with all medications!
If she does have a side effect - it will not be with her forever... it will pass when the medication leaves her body.
once we know how the medication does with her we can start taking "days off" as wanted.
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JoyousExpectation
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It's a challenging decision, but I just wanted to give you some encouragement.
As someone who wasn't diagnosed with ADHD until well into adulthood, I think that if my ADHD had been diagnosed and treated in my youth, then I probably could have been spared a lot of anxiety and struggle.
While my ADHD traits were recognized as early as 6 years old, my strong interest in school and academic capability earned me the label of "gifted". But I struggled to maintain attention, got easily distracted, and was very absentminded. Now they's a term for kids like I was: twice-exceptional (2e).
It was assumed that if a kid did well in school generally, then they could learn executive functioning skills, too. While it is possible to learn coping mechanisms, build routines, and hone skills (and that is all very important to do), no amount of practice will treat the deficit.
I have been on ADHD medication for about three years, and it has made a life-changing difference.
I started on meds at 45. I wish I'd had them to help me by age 15, because that's when my struggles began to effect my performance in school. (Actually, I can remember having problems in 6th and 7th grade that were due to distraction and forgetfulness.)
Even worse than the struggles I went through were how they made me feel. I have had poor self-esteem most of my life, and a lot of it had to do with my poor performance at work, at school (didn't graduate college because I had to repeat a lot of classes), and even home life.
Medication can make a huge difference for someone who struggles with ADHD. It's worth a try. At the very least, you might be teaching your child that there is hope, there is help, and that she is worth the effort.
Seconding this. I started having issues in school and socially in middle school. I went to a very structured supportive high school and was fine and then fell apart again in college. There’s no way anyone at the time could/would have diagnosed me because I’m female and was under the radar. But the 30 years that I spent without medication were really hard. Medication has changed my life radically. I’m calmer, less irritable, less scattered - it’s like radio static that I didn’t know was on just turned off. The first weekend I tried meds, I went shopping and was like, why isn’t the grocery store *humming*? The overwhelm from the lights, the colors, the people, the choices was just gone. When we talk about ADHD in kids it’s usually about focus and schoolwork. What gets discussed less is emotional regulation and the constant grating stress. I actually appreciate the meds more on my days off. Work (and school) have structure that you can just slot yourself into. The presence of mind, emotional regulation, and ability to deal with shifting circumstances that are required for unstructured days just isn’t available to me without the meds. For the first time in my life, I can enjoy the weekend! Medication is not a cure all: I’m actually off my meds right now because of the shortage (hence the length of this post 😊). Mindfulness, therapy, coaching and external structure are super key for me. So if your daughter for whatever reason can’t tolerate medication, I would highly recommend the above. But I think you’re doing well to give meds a go. There will likely be some trial and error with brand and dosage. And of course, she can always stop taking it. Also, your daughter is a teenager: she can tell you how she’s feeling and what she wants for herself in a way she couldn’t when she was younger. So you have a junior partner in this journey. Of course you’re nervous, but it sounds like you’ve really thought this through and are asking all the right questions. My parents did the best they could but, honestly, I wish they had put the level of thought into my well-being that you are for your daughter 💜
I understand your worries, and they are valid. Meds help, but also come with their own issues. However, two of my three kiddos have ADHD and are on meds, and I can say that, for them anyway, the pluses outweigh the negatives.
My son (7) is on Vyvanse, and it has worked the best to alleviate some symptoms and increase attention. It takes a while to kick in, though, so make sure she takes it early. Then again, she's not seven years old, so she might go to bed later 😁.
Hang in there. If it's not helping, you'll be able to tell pretty quickly; that has been our experience with other ADHD stimulants.
We had a hard time deciding to start stimulants. One thing to remember is that they don’t stay in a persons system. Which means, they can just be stopped at any time. For me, this made it worth a try with my (then) 16 year old. It makes it so you don’t have much to lose in trying, though the experimentation to find the right medication and dose is not fun.
As one of the other responders mentioned, your daughter is at an age when she can more clearly express what she is feeling and experiencing. That's a definite plus!
So, while as a minor, it's not her decision... it's a parenting decision... she can give her input. It would be best (and easiest) if you and she and her doctor are all in agreement.
* You might decide to have her start taking medication, but make sure that she understands that she can tell you about how it makes her feel.
* Perhaps give her a say in how long of a trial period that it will be (e.g. 6 weeks or 8 weeks...not 'you can stop at any time', because there's an adjustment person with these medications).
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As we raise children, the goal is the prepare them to live their own lives, and we hope that their lives will be met with success and fulfillment. They have to become their own first advocate. (This goes well beyond medical decisions, to all aspects of relationships, career and education decisions, and for the family they may have these one day.)
My daughter tried a lot of meditations before Vyvanse and non worked for her. Vyvanse is the only one that works for her. It works wonders in her behavior and focus at school. The only downside is that she has no appetite while she takes it so we give it a break on weekends and vacations. Good luck. I hope it works for your daughter!
While every person reacts slightly differently to different ADHD medication formulations, I would note that Vyvanse (which my 11yr old son has been on for 9 months after many prior years on Quillivant, a Ritalin-family medication) is in the adderall family. Neither one is “better” or “worse” but she should absolutely trial one, record her side effects, and then perhaps switch to the Ritalin family for a few days as well to compare the side effects (all these meds leave the body within 15 hrs so it doesn’t need to “build up” or “wean off”— you’ll know right away). My son switched to Vyvanse because it has the best “soft landing” profile- with Quillivant it would wear off rather suddenly and he would all of a sudden realize he was very hungry and then irritable/blue. Vyvanse has been a lot better in that regard. There are also long acting and short acting versions of both (extended release vs immediate release). All stimulants have the potential to decrease appetite so some side effects arise more from forgetting to eat and keep blood sugar level vs the medication itself- but as others have mentioned it’ll be much easier for your teen to monitor that than it is for a younger kid. Lastly, statistics show that untreated ADHD is correlated to substance abuse later on as people try to self-Medicate. We don’t often consider the “side effects” of NOT medicating but for my son, this one really resonated as I’ve seen it play out in other adults. Good luck!
You seem to understand vyvanse well. I did well in all areas of life until I went to college. In he business field, other than fast food jobs, had higher expectations socially and I was struggling to mask my adhd behaviors because it was a more stressful and expectant field. These meds can be like night and day. I wish I had been diagnosed earlier.
I can tell you from experience with all 3 of those medications, Vyvanse is definitely the better one for us. Ritalin made her violent, adderall got her agitated but the vyvanse tends to be a more even up and down. It is what we settled on at this time, for her. Now for me it was still too much of a mood swing so I went on something called Mydayis. It is Adderall extended release on steroids, it works and there is almost zero agitation on my part. My daughter is only 7 so she still has some emotional regulation to learn so the vyvanse still allows her to be a kid and not a zombie.
My sister who taught high school special education for 30 years said to absolutely give your child medication so they can feel on the same level as anyone else. Otherwise it’s like standing your child in the outfield with no glove.
Also, our psychiatrist has always said to call him after just a few days on a new med if it’s giving “dark thoughts.” This happened with a few trial medications at the beginning before settling on Vyvanse. It was no big deal to switch. You know quickly if it’s going to work or not.
Lastly, just keep an eye on her weight and eating habits. My teen daughter, who also has anxiety, developed anorexia nervosa while taking Vyvanse. My son who has taken it for years and now in college is fine. It depends on the child.
Our daughter is 18yrs and high functioning austic. She graduated from high school and heading off to university in the fall. We are so very proud of her.She has been on vyvanse for 4 years and done well.
We have worked with executive functioning techniques which helps and continue to make them second nature.
Thank you for contacting CHADD's National Resource Center on ADHD. Our recommendation would be to contact her doctor that is prescribing the medication. If her anxiety has increased or is getting worse, you should ask if it's a side effect of the medication. Here is a link about ADHD medication. Hopefully you find it helpful. chadd.org/for-parents/manag...
I am not sure if she is going to therapy, but that would be another option. Here is a link to Chadd Professional Directory. chadd.org/professional-dire...
If you have further questions, please let us know. We are here to help!
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