View Full Version : Question about drug interactions


SonWithAdhd
02-03-04, 06:10 PM
Hi all. I'm new to this forum & have found lots of interesting reading, but have yet to introduce myself or post anything. I am a happily married almost-30 yr old with a son who turned 7 today, who is currently on Strattera. He started Adderall not quite 1/2-way into Kindergarten at age 5, was changed w/in a couple months to Adderall XR, then just before his 6th bday, again switched to Strattera. I have a daughter who is 3 1/2 exhibiting no problems in any area.

Unrelated to me, I have a friend, mid-30's, also happily married with 4 children ranging from 13 to 5. Their youngest son is 8 days older than mine & has always been "high maintenance", as the mom words. They had suspected bipolar, or some sort of agressive mood disorder & after recent diagnosis of just a few months ago, have determined that he has severe ADHD, hyper yet, but moreso impulsive, and has a mood disorder that affects his ability to control anger. He was put on Risperdol (spelling?) & immediately they could see a huge difference. He was also put on Depacote, but the addition of this medication didn't seem to have an effect. With the new diagnosis of ADHD, they took him off Depacote & switched him to Adderall XR 10mg (he's about 55lbs). Within 3 days it was as iff the Adderall cancelled out the Risperdol & his anger & aggressiveness had returned.

My question is, is there any known negative drug interactions between Adderall XR & Risperdol? Did they maybe not wait long enough to see the true effects of Adderall? Or was he possibly going through withdrawels from the Depacote? The Risperdol alone has made a world of difference, but I know the parents are unsure of what to do or try next.

waywardclam
02-03-04, 06:42 PM
Welcome to the forums! Sorry, but I am no help on the med interactions... no experience with them. But I'm glad to see another one on board, and hopefully someone here will have some useful perspectives for you...

Gregster
02-03-04, 07:04 PM
I've looked up the various drugs and it doesn't look like they interact with each other. Risperdol and Depacote together may alter the blood plazma levels of the depacote. It doesn't look like there is any kind of withdrawl for Depacote - but of course people, especially children don't always respond the same. Judging by the side effectsfor depacote, it's not a drug you really want to be taking if you don't need to!
The Adderall is a stimulant (amphetamine salts) and could make someone more aggressive and angry. It shouldn't interact with Risperdol, which is an anti-psychotic.
I'm not a doctor, but my guess would be that he's taking too much, or that Adderall just doesn't agree with him and something else might work better. Stimulants don't really take a lot of time to start to work, but it might take some time to get used to the effects. You might want to check out the following web pages - very informative.
Great page for info on various psychiatric drugs:
http://www.crazymeds.org/
Great page to check on drug interactions:
https://www.aidsmeds.com/cmm/DrugsNewContent.asp
Good luck with everything.
Regards,
Greg

SonWithAdhd
02-04-04, 11:38 AM
Very interesting info under the crazymeds.org side & even the aidsmeds.com. I have printed off several things to forward on to the mom in the family. Thank you.