Adderall and night waking

[SurvivorFan]

Hi!

We recently switched my son from Focalin to Adderall. This is the first time switching from methylphenidate to amphetamine for him. He has always been a pretty good sleeper.

Since starting the Adderall he can fall asleep fine but has each night woken at midnight and again around 4am. Not hyperactive just restless.

Does this go away eventually for most or is this a sign it wont work out most likely? He is taking last 10mg XR dose at noon.

Adhd symptoms and irritability has decreased considerably since the switch so would be a bummer if this doesn't work out.

[BVBV]

My son had been a great sleeper since 10 weeks but he would wake in the middle of the night when taking any extended release stimulant, even with just taking once in the morning. He didn’t have the issue in the short release versions.

[SurvivorFan in reply to BVBV]

Thanks! We never had this issue with the Focalin. Today I decided to test out just how long the Adderall immediate release tabs would last for him. He has always metabolized so quickly and would need a methylphenidate immediate release every 2 and a half hrs. Today he only needed 2 doses of Adderall immediate release (first dose at 7am and second at 12:45) I'm blown away. He's asleep now...fingers crossed for better night sleep!

[Aloysia in reply to SurvivorFan]

I'm curious why you switched from Focalin to Adderall... My son also metabolizes quickly. I discovered by accident that when using a patch (Daytrana) instead of pills, that the medication lasts the normal amount of time in his system. This may be something you want to try if you're open to him staying on Methylphenidate. My son also was able to use a smaller mg dose via patch and still see results in his focus (vs the dosage he needed to take via pill). So if you do try it, start at a lower dose and add patches or 1/2 patches every couple of days to find the correct mg dosage.

[SurvivorFan in reply to Aloysia]

We switched from Focalin because it was feeling like it was not being very effective anymore. His behavior was way more hyper, obnoxious/just overall more times of being dysregulated.

We have tried other long acting forms of Methylphenidate and his anxiety was through the roof so we decided to try amphetamines this time.

He is back to being regulated, sweet, and laughing a lot but now we have the night waking. Ugh! We did 2 doses of short acting with last being at 12:45pm yesterday and he still woke up at midnight. I have been having to give him half a benadryl to get him back to sleep which does work for the rest of the night but obviously not a long term solution.

I really hope this is something that will improve with time...