I have a teenager who is on adderall for his adhd. He's an athlete & can't keep weight on...it really suppresses his appetite. Any ideas/suggestions for anything even prescription based that will help him maintain/gain his weight?

signed,

//hoping to learn from others experience

I suppose my first question would be - what kind of adderall is your son on? Is it the XR (extended release) or "regular" adderall?

If it is the "regular" adderall, you could try getting him to eat a fairly large meal before he takes his medication.

Other than that .... I am not sure.

On adderall, I was always drinking something due to the fact I was always thirsty - but never hungry. You could try getting him to drink smoothies to get more calories in him.

best of luck.


Ane

aneededchange, that's a really good suggestion. i too noticed the lack of appetite though it doesn't bother me as much. but have a big meal like a good hearty breakfast will definitely help.

I'm the oppisite, I get hungry and sleepy when I take my adderal, but it seems that I tend to have the opposite effects than describe. But I can tell you this, aderall also shuts down the racing and gives me a calming effect that allows me to focus and concentrate without bouncing from task to task as before I was diagnosed with adhd.Weird ha?? So now my Dr. is thinking about putting me on DESOXYIN, he said that it has a little more coverage in working on the Brain? I don't quite understan it though.Basically I won't feel so sleepy is how he put it generically speaking.

Best.........chris m. :eyebrow:

If it's the XR, then you might consider switching to instant release instead since this will only last 5-6 hours. Alternatively, you could cut his XR dose in half and couple its dosing in the morning with a small amount of instant release. This would give pretty good coverage during the schoolday while evenings would be less medicated than presently.

If it's XR, I can relate. I wouldn't suggest switching to instant just because of the appetite - XR works well with me in every other way, the instant makes me feel like I'm coming down off of some really bad, tainted illegal drug. Makes my scalp crawl, my front teeth feel numb, I have to pee non-stop, etc.

On days the XR totally kills my appetite, I drink some Slim Fast shakes, just to get some of the nutrition. On other days, I think I eat ok, but much less than I used to (I'm a petite female, but I could out-eat anybody in town!). Those days, I often have a large milkshake or two, like from McDonalds. I can also choke down a smaller candy bar, so I usually go for a Heath Bar. I've dropped enough that I'm going for stuff that gives me as much sugar/fatty stuff as possible in the smallest way. I can always get a milkshake down, and a Heath bar is small enough that I can eat a whole bar.

However, I'm still losing weight, although much much more slowly. If I were you, I'd look into some nutritional supplements (powdered stuff to make shakes) designed to add bulk to athletes. I had a naturally skeletal friend who used them to gain a few pounds. She was tired of every single person assuming she was anorexic, and being rude about it. Seems like she found something at GNC.

It helps to know how long the medication lasts for him since this varys by person. Like for me regular Adderall lasts for 2-3 hours and XR lasts about 6. I usually don't eat much during the day but can manage to make myself eat a pretty good size meal before bed. The other plus side with eating right before bed is I'm not burning off a lot of those calories. As opposed to eating a big meal in the morning and just burning them all off.

Also I don't know how long he has been on Adderall but the appetite side effect seems to decrease the longer you take it. I know the first month or so I could eat one M&M and be full for the day LOL after that my eating started getting back to normal. I have to admit I wasn't a big eater before the meds so that could be a factor.

I agree with the shake recommondation others have made and since he's a kid I'd prob go with some kind of shake made with ice cream. That way he'll enjoy it plus he'll be getting calcium and some fat. While you want him eating healthy also keep in mind fat and calorie content of the foods your serving. If everyone in the house is into low-cal, low-fat, low-carb or some other diet thats not gonna help with someone that needs to gain weight. If he will only eat one meal a day make sure that meal is packed with calories and fat. Remember portion size or meal frequency does not always equel a lot of calories.