ADD / ADHD Community

Dear An_248631

To summarize, your email seems to indicate that your son's behaviors are better while his Vyvanse is effective and worsen when he is off. His behaviors also worsen when he is on either or both of the other medications. Given this may I suggest that you discuss two things with your son's prescribing physician.

First, you use the word "mania." I would ask him or her to define that for you and and answer if he thinks your son is bipolar. Could these behaviors just be increased hyperactivity?The answer to these questions are important for treatment decisions. Second, it sounds like the Vyvanse is working but that he needs something else. His medication coverage should be continued into the evening and on weekends. In addition, he may need to add a non-stimulant to the stimulant to increase effectiveness. Ask if Intuniv would help. Intuniv is a non-stimulant ADHD medicine. For some children, adding once-daily nonstimulant Intuniv to their stimulant has been shown to provide more ADHD symptom improvement. It may also improve anxiety.

In one 9-week study, 455 children were included who were on a stable stimulant dose for at least 4 weeks and had some improvement but still had ADHD symptoms. These children then took either Intuniv or a sugar pill with their stimulant. Doctors saw about 30% improvement in ADHD symptoms when Intuniv was added to a stimulant compared with a sugar pill added to a stimulant.

I'm glad that schoolis going well (on Vyvanse alone) but your son also needs to have his symptoms under sontrol at these other times as well. If you don't get the answers you are looking for, please find another expert in your area and ask for a second opinion.

Pat Quinn, MD

He was on tenex (I guess that is Intuniv) for a year and it eventually made him have extreme leg cramps as well as drowsiness even on the lowest dose. Also, he was depressed and extremely anxious on it.

Now that we've had him on just vyvanse for a week, things get slowly better each day. At first in the evenings he was very wound up (not manic like he was before on depakote or trilaptal), overly silly, etc. But now the evenings are getting better the longer he's off the other drug.
Of course it could also be because we give him a medication break from vyvanse on the weekends and perhaps we should just have him on it all 7 days?

School is going very, very well on just vyvanse. The best it's been through kindergarten and the first semester of 1st grade.
It's the evenings and weekends that we're still trying to figure out.

I will say that vyvanse makes him anxious and I think he is already an anxious kid, so perhaps he needs to be on something very light for that. He doesn't eat well on vyvanse and I think if he ate more that perhaps the comedown would be better but not sure how to help that.

So glad things are getting better for your son! Sounds like the Vyvanse alone is the way to go!

Pat Quinn, MD

My son is on concerta, and has been for years now. Before concerta we had tried several other medications including antidepressants. I am in a similar situation, but different. My son is now 17.5 years old. And, if you think it is hard dealing with a 7 year old, 17 is worse. He is to the point where is is very violent. He is extremely argumentative. I can no longer even have a normal conversation with him. It hurts me every day. He is very abusive to me mentally. And, God forbid I tell him no! He has been violent many times, going back to when he was very young. He has always broken things. I know by now nothing is sacred from being broken. If he knows I like it, the object becomes more of a target. We were told when he was little to restrain him. At that point our main objective was to keep him from hurting anyone or himself. I also had hoped that restraining him would teach him that he he could not act that way. Sometimes I blame myself. I feel as if I am a failure as a mother. Lately my husband and I have had to call 911, due to the violence. It has been horrible! I am so afraid that something horrible is going to happen, when this is going on! This last time, he kicked him dad in the head really hard, and punched him repeatedly leaving multiple bruises. His dad only tried restraining him. He has went overnight to juvenile hall twice.Both times they have dismissed the charges. I am glad that he did not get charges. Really, who wants their child to have that label, or that kind of life. But, I am living in fear. I never know what will set him off next. I am trying to get him help through therapist, psychiatrists, and blood work to determine if this may also be something chemical as well. I am not really comfortable talking with anyone about this. I am depressed, discouraged, and stressed to say the least. I would do anything to help my son. I love him so much, and only want a good life for him. I am looking for advice as well. He does have moments of being what i consider "normal". He can be a very good person. He at times has a heart of gold. He will at times go out of his way to do nice things for others. All of this confuses me. If you figure anything out, please let me know.