What dose of adderall is your child on?

[MyWanderfulBoy]

Hi everyone! My son is 7 years old and up to 15mg of Adderall XR. I don’t see it working much anymore and the next increase will be 20mg. If your kid is around the same age and on Adderall, please share their milligram/dosing. Or did your kid not have the best results on it and switch to another stimulant? If so, which one? Just looking to see what other avenues there are rx-wise to mention to his doctor in hopes of trialing. Thank you

[SherrieB]

Hi There, My son is 7 years old and on 20mg xr. We started out with 15mg however it was not helping us get through a full day, so we bumped up to 20mg. Since then we've seen things improve for a lot longer. I know all of this can be kind of scary, but just know you are making the best decision you can make for him in this moment with the information you have.

[MyWanderfulBoy in reply to SherrieB]

Thank you so much. Yeah it took time to come around to medicine but when he turned 6 it felt inevitable and the improvements we saw made it worth it.. it's a great tool. I messaged his doctor to see about increasing the dose! Hope to see it last longer.. it's the same as you said, it doesn't help for the full day anymore. If he takes it at 7am, then it's mostly worn off before lunch time which is not ideal for school. Can I ask.. how long has your son been on 20mg? What are the main symptoms for him that it helps with? My son is mostly impulsive (blurting out and talking too much) and inattentive (very easily distracted, hard to focus).

[Onthemove1971 in reply to MyWanderfulBoy]

You can ask for an extended dose.for 7am and a booster dose when it wears off in the afternoon. It is not more, just an extention of the medication so it last all day into the afternoon.

[MyWanderfulBoy in reply to Onthemove1971]

Thank you so much! I will ask her.

[Shortcake0681]

Hi there! What I understand is the dosage increase has no effect on making it last longer. The mg dosage is calculated by their weight and how the body responds to it. Too high of a dose could cause the body to respond negatively (emotional, dizzy, etc). My child takes an extended release in the morning when he wakes up. It does wear off at lunchtime. If it is a school day, he receives a booster dose at that time to make it to the end of school.

[MyWanderfulBoy in reply to Shortcake0681]

Thank you so much! It sounds like its time to ask about a booster dose. He's always had such a fast metabolism too.

[Elijah1]

For some children, Adderall XR doesn't last as long as advertised (6-8 hours rather than 10-12 hours). If it helps but doesn't last despite the increase, ask about changing to Vyvanse (same stimulant family but different delivery system that may last longer).

[MyWanderfulBoy in reply to Elijah1]

I really appreciate your feedback about Vyvanse. I've heard lots of good feedback about it overall. I will ask his doctor about it if/when we move on from the Adderall. She said Adderall is her preferred starting point and he's tolerated it quite well so far, thankfully, but it's good to know of other options that work well too.. so thank you!

[Onthemove1971 in reply to MyWanderfulBoy]

My son has been on all 3 and had no side effects. Not one was better than the other. Each child/persons body tolerates medication differently. As far as a booster dose, ours was less MG than his day medication. The reason for this is to support the child with medication the entire day.

[Crazyboymomma]

Hi. I’m not familiar with adderall dosing, but my son (11) has always required close to the highest allowable dosage on every med we’ve tried. It really has nothing to do with their age or size, it’s all based on how they metabolize medicine. I think my son inherits it from me, because I’ll take 4 Motrin for a headache and there are even strong pain meds that don’t affect me. Wouldn’t worry about raising it. My son’s dr said it’s always best to try raising the dose first before moving on to another med.

[MyWanderfulBoy]

Thank you so much! My son definitely has a supercharged metabolism. It makes complete sense as to why it wears off faster. I don't think his dr will move us to another med until he's at least reached 20mg and see how things go with that.. but I'm also going to mention the option to have a booster dose and see which way she wants to go.

[LisethHIS]

Hi MyWanderfulBoy,

Thank you for contacting CHADD's National Resource Center on ADHD. When it comes to medication and dosing it's different for everyone. Our recommendation would be to contact your medical provider and also document anything that you notice when taking he takes the medication. Here are some links that could be helpful.

chadd.org/about-adhd/adhd-q...

chadd.org/for-parents/manag...

d393uh8gb46l22.cloudfront.n...

If you have further questions, please let us know. We are here to help!

Liseth

Health Information Specialist

CHADD’s National Resource Center on ADHD

chadd.org

[OldMomof46]

My son was on Adderalll now he is o. Vyvanse. He dies well with it. He has Been on it for 6 yrs now. We just found out that our insurance company is raising the cost of Vyvanse in October to $80 a month. So we may need to go back to Adderall. We found though that it didnt work as well. Maybe it was because he so young.