I am almost to the point of stopping this medication. Since my son (11yrs) has started this medication he acts depressed and has a very BAD attitude. He is very short fused and angry almost all the time. Today he came home from school in a foul mood and is saying things like I would be better off dead and I should shoot myself and stuff like that. Is this coming from the medication? :(

I am almost to the point of stopping this medication. Since my son (11yrs) has started this medication he acts depressed and has a very BAD attitude. He is very short fused and angry almost all the time. Today he came home from school in a foul mood and is saying things like I would be better off dead and I should shoot myself and stuff like that. Is this coming from the medication? :(
My 8yo is has also been behaving this way since starting Adderall, but we're still working on dosage. Each time I raise it his mood improves.

What dose is he taking and is there room for more?

My son's doctor said that if he gets moody/weepy to let him know and he would raise the dose. He said that means he isn't getting enough. We take him back on Jan. 27 for his recheck. So far he seems to be ok on the 20mg. My son is 17, 144 lbs. I am not sure how the meds are doing as far as his concentration for school. Will know more once he starts the next semester here after this next week. When he can start fresh. I sure hope he does much better. He failed two classes so had to redo his schedule and replace a couple.

Ok, that is good to know. He is on the 20 but maybe we need to bump it up. He has been on that dose for a little over a month now. I am going to schedule another appt next week. Thanks :)

Take into to account too that when he comes home his medication is wearing off. Some kids go through a "rebound effect". They often become very irritable. My daughter gets like this sometimes. I'll let her watch a video and usually it passes. The other thing to keep in mind is that you are now controlling his behaviour through medication. Sometimes the kids at school find this out and tease them. They may also not have relealizes that they even had a disorder until they were put on medication. In their mind, they may now see themselves as abnormal or they want to fight that perception. Some kids rebel at that point. It's very important that you know everything about this disorder. Here is a good place to start. Free download of PDF from Dr. Russell Barkley , one of the leading experts in the field. ->http://www.schwablearning.org/Articles.asp?r=54

Best of all is when you can talk with your son/ daughter, about the symptoms as they relate to school and social relationships and the kid gets it. I took my daughter to the Dr.'s yesterday to refill a prescription. My Dr. had an intern working with him and you could tell that he held some prejudice against stimulant medication. When our Doc came in he asked her questions. My daughter smiled when she said that, "yes...medication helped her at school" and she then talked about her grades improving. Thats what the trouble is all about, making a real difference in a major part of their life.

I had a rebound effect when my adderall IR would stop working in the evenings....I had feelings of depression, hopelessness and was very spacey....now Im on a small dose of prozac in addition to the adderal and I find it to be helpful for that...though, it can take almost a month for the full effect of something like prozac to become apparent in someone...

Thanks for the link, I will check that out. I am willing to learn all I can about it. I do try to talk to him about how he is feeling and what is making him feel this way but most nights when he is in that mood he just will not open up about it.

No...when my daughter is like that, I give her lots of space. There are other times to talk.

We bumped our 12 year old boy up to 60 mg of XR from 40 mg four days ago. He is sooooo agitated and wild all day long and even he says it's too much. Today we only have him 40 mg.

We also think he has some anxiety issues and are going to check it out this week.

My son who is 8 yrs old goes through the same thing on his dose. 20 mg a day. We have an appointment on Monday and I am going to find out how to get him of the drug. His concentration is much better in school, but his attitude is terrible. I can not believe sometimes how he acts and reacts to stuff not even big stuff. My son is having trouble falling asleep still and he is not alway hungry even when he has not eatin for 6 hours. I really don't know which is better upping the dose or stopping it. It has been a roller coaster for 5 months now, so I know how you feel. Whatever you decide good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We stayed on the same dose after going to the Dr today. He is really concerned about him loosing weight and not wanting to eat. Today he had applesauce for lunch in school and a chicken breast for dinner. He did not even want dinner but I told him to just make himself eat and he did. His doctor said to come back in a month and he may possibly switch him to concerta. It has been a roller coaster. He has been really busy with wrestling practice and going to basketball games and has not been home much so it has been a good week for him as far as his angry outbursts. He does sleep well so that is one plus!

It isn't always just that it is wearing off. I have never been depressed before but when I took adderall xr, I would have bouts of depression where I would just be crying for no reason and felt hopeless and everything. My dose was raised from 10 to 20 mg (because of efficacy, not depression) and the depression got worse. I just ended up switching meds and haven't experienced anything like that since. Just letting you know since I've never seen it as a warning of the side effects which doesn't seem very logical. But I have heard of other people having the same experience as I did. Just keep at it. Straightening out meds can be a real pain. Trust me. It took me like a year, but it was all worth it:)