14 year old ADHD/ODD taking Amantadine and Vyvanse is having extreme hyperactivity

[MommaBsue]

My son is now 14 years old. He has been diagnosed with adhd, odd and anxiety disorder. Has autistic tendencies. This has been an extremely rough year. He is such a sweet and kind kid and always tries to do the right thing, but is drawn towards chaos and bad kids. He is a pretty respectful kid.I love him so much, but my husband and myself and my kids are constantly fighting with him anymore. He screams and yells all the time, and I mean all the time! I will ask him to do something repeatedly and he will push to not do it in any way shape or form he can. We give positive encouragement and negative consequences.

He takes clonidine and trazodone at bedtime and in the morning we just started amantadine 50mg and he is on 50 mg Vyvanse. We just recently started the amanadine again because he was picking at himself really bad, hitting himself in the face, yelling all the time along with really struggling to do his homework and needing someone to literally stand over him and give him step by step guidance. The Vyvanse has always been around 30 to 40 mg and the doctor has had him on 50 mg since the beginning of school year. After we give him the Vyvanse he is literally wired. Screaming, refusing to listen to you, making inappropriate jokes, continually touching people and just pushing people's buttons and being annoying, even with repeated redirection and positive encouragement.

I don't know if it's the Vyvanse as he has been on it since he was 6 years old and it has always worked for him. We've tried Adderall, strattera, Ritalin, focalin, Quelbree, all negative side effects.

He also it's constantly and is about 20 to 30 lb overweight. Even with the Vyvanse he just eats all the time, which I know is normal for teenagers as he is my fifth son.

I am looking for any advice. I feel mentally and emotionally drained. I worry about him constantly. Taking him off of Vyvanse he just eats and eats and last summer he gained 20 lb in one month. We have tried many gluten-free and dairy-free diets alongside of very healthy eating habits.

He has only been taking the amantadine for 2 weeks and I'm hoping for it to start working. He tried amantadine once before and made suicidal comments, but this time he is on a much lower dose in pill form and not capsule.

What medications have been successful with having adhd, odd, and anxiety disorder?

[BlessedLady]

Talk with your pharmacist. They know much more about how medications work and interact than the vast majority of doctors do.

[MommaBsue in reply to BlessedLady]

I can do that, I have two friends that are pharmacists. I am from a small town and I'm not sure if my pharmacist would know. Thanks!

[BlessedLady in reply to MommaBsue]

Pharmacist receive the same training It doesn't matter where they live or work. A pharmacist that has nut been out of school long. Will not know as much as one that has had the advantage of adding practical experience to their education.

I had a close family friend that was a pharmacist and owned his pharmacy. He was a Blessing. You and your family are Blessed.

[Mmagusin]

when do you see the behavior most often? Story sounds similar to my son who we eventually diagnosed with ASD, not just ADHD, so there were tons of other non pharmacological therapies we found helpful. Vyvanse was a disaster. It made him super hyper and frankly, crazy. Stopped it immediately. Dexmethylphenidate (focalin) extended release worked well but dose had to go up as he got bigger. However, the higher the dose, the bigger the crash when meds wear off. This is why I am wondering if he’s ‘crashing’ on you. My son would also binge eat after meds wear off, particularly on carbs and sugar. Literally he would steal baking ingredients from our closet to hide in his room and eat up. I believe our kids are dopamine deficient or at least dopamine seeking and the med crash exacerbates this. Does your son also struggle to get off gaming or has aggression or ODD after being forced to get off? Same with phones, social media, computers. Next will be nicotine and vaping. My son is 17 and we noticed extreme swings in mood and learned he was vaping. Honestly, nicotine has been the thing that most calmed him and stabilized him but of course we don’t want him to be addicted for life…but then I ask myself what’s worse? Vaping or all this shit we’re giving them from ‘doctors’. If your so sons behaviors are recent, check if he’s been vaping and might be crashing from nicotine withdrawal. Kids are getting this drug easily. Finally, you might try Guanfacine at night. It’s a BP med that takes the edge off the crash.

[MommaBsue in reply to Mmagusin]

My son also does have odd. We are getting him tested for ASD as we are sure he has autism as well. Honestly it's all day everyday screaming and making noise. It's like he makes noise constantly or bangs on things constantly just to hear himself. Has been on Vyvanse now for 7 years that's why he is at 50 mg. I seen a study where caffeine and nicotine were used together in other countries and it's worked very well for kids with ADHD. Focalin worked well for my son as well, but the medication would only last two to three hours and then he would go back to being extremely hyper. He is only aggressive on medications such as Adderall or Ritalin. Has not shown any aggression on Vyvanse.He does not play video games, he does play a lot of sports. He is a very athletic child thank goodness. When he first got his phone he was pretty addicted to his phone, now we take phone breaks. He is pretty good about being on his phone and then taking a break and doing some sort of physical activity.

[MommaBsue in reply to MommaBsue]

The first time we tried Vyvanse with him I had to take him to the ER as he was hallucinating and was talking Non-Stop very quickly. This was when he was about six. We restarted the Vyvanse when he was seven or eight to give it another try in the second time worked. Now I would say it definitely does not work!

[Mamamichl]

Citalopram/escitalopram have been my best friends for my anxiety. Buspirone has also been helpful. Trading has helped me sleep, and stratera has helped me be more alert without being edgy.

[MommaBsue in reply to Mamamichl]

Thank you for sharing what works for you

[CHADDMOM]

Sometime, ADHD meds can cause an exacerbation of the anxiety. I’ve never heard of amantadine before so I had to look that one up.

If it causes him suicidal Ideation, i would not put him on it again. It might be possible that you son has Major Depressive Disorder, and this is a significant mental health issue. It is also very genomically linked to ADHD ASD, Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder.

A similar medication list to my son’s medication when he was your son’s age. It seems like a lot, and I sometimes wonder if it was too much. Why is he taking so much sleep medication? Maybe something else can help instead of this heavy meds. Using trazadone and amantadine might be a bit much and might be why he feels so unsettled. What does he say about how he feels?

To be honest, he is going to need more hands on and I would look into him being on the spectrum. It might be that the behavior you are trying to help

him get under control are things we see in autism and do not respond to medication.

For one my son also has PDA and we would not get him to comply with tasks either. PDA is pathological demand avoidance, and is a condition seen in autism. It is where the child cannot or refuses to do something because he perceives real

Or an imagined loss of autonomy. This is a social construct problem and its difficult to treat , but the language that you use, might make it easier or harder to get along. Social disorder problems require social based solutions.

I would see if you can get some ideas from other parents who have kids with an initial ADHD diagnosis of ADHD first and then ASD. Often an ADHD diagnosis can delay an ASD dx.

I don't see anything in place medically for his anxiety, and have you looked into anxiety reduction resources, which have you tried? Treating the anxiety, might make it easier for everyone.

Hope you find some answers.

[MommaBsue]

I have not tried any anxiety medications. At this point I do not want to go that route. I have been a foster parent for 17 years and I have had many foster kids with only adhd. Three of which I have adopted, but they do not have the other psychological issues as my 14 year old son does. ADHD medication for the other three was a very simple and medication worked very well for them. My 14-year-old is a whole other story. He is my youngest of five boys, three adopted into biological. Three of my adopted sons have ADHD. I have had 20 plus foster kids with ADHD, none of which who have been as difficult as my own biological child.I have not had him diagnosed with ASD as I don't know how that will affect him in the future. He is very sensitive to medication so he takes extremely low dosages. I have my PhD in Psychology and do a ton of research. I have tried every type of therapy with my son and do positive coaching at home and positive redirection. It is possible that treating the anxiety would be easier than treating the adhd. I do not understand why stimulants make him so hyper and agitated, but he can focus better and get through his homework easily and get great grades. The downside is he is very hyper and his moods are very up and down.

When he does not take the stimulant medication he can literally not focus and homework that should take 10 minutes will take 2 hours. Non-stimulant medication makes him aggressive and suicidal. We have tried many of them. I know during their teen years they go through so many physiological changes and sometimes ADHD medicine just does not work. I am at my wit's end. Thank you for the advice. We do have him in lots of different therapeutical programs.

I think my next step might be nicotine patch