10 year old boy crying and very edgy

[leahnicole71]

I have a 10 year old boy in 4th grade.. For the last year he is been on VyVanse for ADHD... Everything has been going fine and now within the last 2 weeks he is crying alot more, the principle at school says he seems like if you walked up behind him he would jump right out of his skin... I am a single mom and I work 3 jobs... but I am only gone Tuesday and Friday nights. So everything else is day time hours.. He has been really clingy lately not wanting me to go to work, asking me if I can get it off an hour before I go in. About 2 months ago I started giving him his medicine at 6 a.m. Before we were doing it at 7:45 and he was having trouble eating lunch.. he wasn't hungry.. But giving it to him earlier now he is hungry when it's lunch time..
Anyone have any input on this?
*** my friend did say she thought maybe it was anxiety and excitement messing with him cause were leaving for a week vacation in 5 days...
Thank you!

[margypops]

My guess is he could use his parents around more , is there any way you can be at home or take him with you more ,he is telling you this by not wanting you to leavei t would be good if you could work out a better routine. He may also be having effects from the Viyanse, if you go to the ADD and ADHD forum and scroll down to past posts you will see the effects that this Med had had on others. I would definatly speak to your Prescribing Doctor for advice.

[leahnicole71]

Hi .. Thanks for answering my post. i guess there isn't really a way for me to be home more... 1 job now days just doesn't pay the bills.. I have taken a couple days off here and there recently for  his birthday and stuff and that has put me behind... There are many days where I would love to be home more...
Is it weird to be seeing these side effects so long after he has started taking the med?
I will def call the doctor today ...
Thank you!

[margypops]

Have you ever considered getting onto a multple Vitamin with antioxidants, Vit C and B Complex I have heard Fish oil is helpful and experts have said it has the same effiacy as Ritalin,ask your Docror how long he needs to be on this Med. Sounds like you are doing the best you can,we all do and he is 10 now I think it could be the Med ..see that Doc

[Sandman2]

Hi Leahnicole,
   Without doing some research, I really couldn't tell you that much about the effects of Vyvanse.  Certainly some of the people on the forum have mentioned effects like you have stated and others have praised vyvanse due to how gentile acting it is.
   Having said that, I think it would be a little unusual for someone who has been on vyvanse for a year to suddenly start having a reaction to it.  As long as the dose has not changed.  Even the different time period shouldn't matter since he has been on that for two months.
   Thus I would think that something in his environment may be the trigger.  Does he cry only at home or at school too.  Talk with his classroom teacher - she/he sees him a lot and may be very sensitive to mood changes.  Is he clingy only on the days you must go to your night job?
   He is at an age where he has enough knowledge to be scared of things, but doesn't know how to deal with fears.  I kinda wonder if he saw something on television that might have triggered this.  
   Anyway, if his worst times are the nights you leave - try and find something that can distract him.  Maybe music in his room or get some of the old comedy tv shows on DVD and let him watch those.  The classic comedys are really funny.  You would just have to make sure he doesn't watch them all night.
   If the teacher notices a problem at school, then it may be something at school is bothering him - and he doesn't want to talk about it.  If that's true, then start asking him - he may not open up the first time, but he will.  You also might want to ask the teacher to keep her eye on him and look out for anything unusual.
   Finally, it doesn't hurt to talk to his doctor.  He maybe outgrowing his dosage.  Sometimes straterra is given at night to help kids sleep, etc.
  This will take a little trial and error.  Keep us posted.

[leahnicole71]

Well I made an appointment with the doctor and can't get in till Mar 24th... I have been doing some serious thinking and I am considering taking him off meds completly... When I talked to the doctor they talked about putting him on another medicine along with the vyvanse.. It's some wierd name where if your not really careful it can cause cesers of something. So i don't want to do that again. His medicine is only really really needed at school for it's hard to concentrate so I think maybe we should just try harder at home and say screw the medicine. I am starting to feel like I don't know my son anymore and I think the medicine is a big part

[Sandman2]

    The problem is that "trying harder at home" won't help at school.  I would wait till you talk to his Doctor so you know what the options are - and more importantly so that he knows what is going on.  By the way is he a psyc or a general  MD kind of doctor?
     I also think that you should really talk to his teacher and find out what she thinks is going on at school.
     Of course, one advantage of going off meds, or changing meds, is that you will find out if his mood is related to the meds or not.  Do keep one thing in mind.  He is now at a point where school is just starting to get hard (for example, he should soon be starting common demonators in fractions).  If he needs his meds to concentrate now, he will really need it in the next several years.  
    Finally, if you are a reader of the ADHD forum, you will see that it does take a bit of trial and error to get dosages correct.  If you go this route, you want to do with your doctor's supervision.  Good luck!