Hi,
I need some help here. My 9 year old son was diagnosed with ADHD & is now on 15mg of Adderal XR. He started taking the meds about the last month of last school year & only took it for about 2 months. The dr. recommended that during the summer he does not have to take the meds everyday...only when we are going somewhere & I need to control his hyperactivity. For about the last month he has not been on the meds but I have noticed some things about him that is not like him. I have noticed him talking to himself/humming/grunting while watching tv or playing. He doesn't even notice that he is doing this. I ask him what he is saying or why & he says he didn't realise he was doing it. I ask him to stop because it gets annoying while trying to watch somethin & hearing him in the background. I did not know that it could be a tic that he was developing. Also, the other thing that I noticed was that he became very clumsy. He would constantly drop things & I started watching him as he was picking things up or holding things & I came to realize that he would only pick things up/handle things using his fingertips & his arms are closed together so its like his hands are a claw. I asked him why he does that & he says he does not know.
After noticing all this I started putting the two together & thought maybe a side affect from his meds.
My question is...Has anyone heard of this ? Could it be from his meds even though he hasn't been on them for a month ?
He is a very happy & good boy, loving & affectionate just hyper & has a very short attention span. This is breaking my heart seeing him go thru this.
Any advice would be appreciated :confused:

Thanks,
Cheri

I have a thread out there entitled "I need to buy stock in Adderall" regarding my 12 year old son and his Adderall experience. I also added a post to someone else's thread that was entitled "Hello, my son is on Adderall XR" and also mentioned my son's experience with Adderall.

To recap his experience, he has been diagnosed with adhd, ocd, mood disorder and also has a learning disability in math and reading.

Due to his off the chart hyperactivity, he was medicated at the young age of 3. (After getting kicked out of every daycare and preschool in the 3 closet zip codes.) At one preschool, they told me to bring him back when he was properly medicated. We went the holistic/homeopathic route first. The doctor gave us a remedy that would work for 4-6 weeks but once it wore off, we had to hurry and start it again. This was not something we could do. His behavior was horrible when it wore off.

We then started Ritalin along with the homeopathic route. We then stopped the homeopathic remedy and just did Ritalin. Then Dexatrine. Then Ritalin again. He was then on Metadate CD for a few years.

As soon as school let out 2 months ago (he just finished 6th grade), we went to his doctor to see if he could try Adderall instead. I started Adderall XR in March for my adhd and his dad started Adderall XR for his add and we both love it.

His doctor agreed he could try it. He put him on Adderall Instant Release instead of the XR.

I wish now that we would have left well enough alone. He had been doing very well on his Metadate but one of his medicines makes him gain weight (Respirdal) so we wanted to give Adderall at shot.

At the same time he started Adderall IR, we also tried dropping his Respirdal from 3 per day down to 2 and perhaps 1. The Respirdal also makes his face super red when he does something as simple as ride his bike. He hates having people stare at him.

Anyway, it went great for a few weeks. It was heaven. Then on Father's Day, it turned sour. He got moody and defiant. I chaulked his behavior up to the full moon. But the noise tic he began was horrible. He made this grunting noise a few times per minute. Seriously. It was driving our whole add/adhd family crazy. My son could not help it and we felt so sorry for him.

We went ahead and started adding his Respirdal back in. Even at 3 per day again, the noise tic continued. I got ahold of the doctor and he suggested putting him back on Metadate. The noise tic subsided alot about a day or 2.

It got alot better but I am sorry to say, he still has it enough that when he goes to school on August 15, he will be made fun of I am sure. (Kids are so mean.)

We have an appt with his doctor on Monday so that we can get the school paperwork for meds completed. We will discuss the noise tic then.

I am now wondering if perhaps it wasn't the Adderall. He always had a tic. He used to do the quick eye blinking. He went through the throat clearing phase. And the licking his lips phase. And the small grunting phrase.

But it was never as loud and constant as when he was on the Adderall. But maybe even if he was on the Metadate, the tic may have come back. Several of the medications that he takes has a possible symptom of a tic. Even his Metadate shows that.

Who knows. All I know is that we are praying that on Monday he gets something that will stop the noise tic. The last thing this poor kid needs is to have that too.

Cross your fingers. I'll keep you posted.

Hello,
Thanks for your reply.
If it wasn't the Adderall that started the tics, what do you suppose it was ? Connor never had any tics before starting Adderall...none that I noticed anyways. Before Adderall he was on Strattera ...it didn't seem to phase him at all & they tried 2 doses.
I too am worried about school, he starts on Aug 15 also.(3rd grade) The noises he makes are not that loud...but in quiet classroom setting, it will be noticeable....even when teacher is trying to talk. I can already imagine the phone calls home about it. Another thing he has been doing is constntly scratching at his nose. He was put on allergy meds for that, but still hasn't stopped the scratching. I'm not sure if thats related or not.
I will be making him an appt. to see a dr this week.
Thanks again,
Keep me posted

Cheri

The Adderall patient info sheet does state that Adderall may worsen tics and Tourette's syndrome.

We went to my son's doctor appt yesterday and discussed his noise tic, among other concerns.

His doctor said that our changing from Metadate to Adderall may have brought out his noise tic but chances are, lowering his Respirdal is what caused it to resurface. In the past, lowering his Respirdal caused tics.

We are leaving him on Metadate, Respirdal and Zoloft (adhd/ocd/mood disorder) plus we are increasing his Clonidine at night. His doctor said that Respirdal and Clonidine are both prescribed for tics. We will see how it goes for the next 30 days.

If we do not see an improvement with his noise tic in the next 30 days, he suggested that we may want to go see a neurologist.

We are keeping our fingers crossed.