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adderall

i have a 7 year old son who was put on adderall 5mg yesterday can anyone tell me what they think about the drug?
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242606 tn?1243782648
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Children do not necessarily respond in a similar fashion to the various stimulant medications. In other words, a child may not do well on Adderall but do perfectly fine on Concerta. Activation, hypermotoric behavior, psychotic episodes, and other reactions can occur in response to stimulant medications. That is why it is so important to have a child followed closely while on medication.
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Avatar universal
2 years ago my 11 yr. old son w/ ADHD was switched from Ritalin to Adderall(because of bothersome side effects-stomache cramps) He was on the medication for aprox.3 weeks, during that time we observed very shocking behavior, which we later learned to be side effects. He was having what I considered to be psychotic episodes. He would get extremely angry, throw huge fits, break things, he would have a "crazed look" in his eyes & this could be over anything!(This particular incident was over a Monoply game that wasn't going his way). This would last anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour. For the first time in my life, I was afraid of my own child, I had no idea what was going on. I would have to send him to his room then I would go to mine & just shake & cry. After all was said & done he would come down from his room & ask me why I was crying! He had no recollection of what had just happened. Finally when I decided that this had to be from the " new medicine" I went back to his neurologist, told him what was happening & that I also noticed he was having an almost OCD type behavior on top of all this. The Dr. in not so many words called ME crazy!!!! Said there was no way it was the med's. & just chalked it up to him having ADHD. Needless to say, I switched to a new Dr. that put him on Concerta. That behavior I spoke of earlier went away!!! Then just last year, I was watching a news program ( 20/20 or 60 min.) the topic was Adderall, there were quite a few personal stories, all w/ the same effects, PSYCHOTIC EPISODES!! The people in the program were talking about how Adderall mad them so "crazy" that one of them ended up killing their child, the other tried to kill himself & his family & so on..... I guess my question is, have any of you heard of this? or experienced anything similar? it's very disturbing to me to think that it could have been my child on that program w/ a horrible storie to tell the world! Any Ph.D comments would be much appreciated.
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242606 tn?1243782648
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Adderall is one of a number of drugs in the amphetamine class. Specifically, a 10 mg tablet of Adderall contains dextroamphetamine sulfate (2.5 mg), Dextroamphetamine Saccharate (2.5 mg), Amphetamine Sulfate (2.5 mg), and Amphetamine Asparate (2.5 mg). Essentially, it is a combination of the central ingredients found in Methylphenidate (brand name Ritalin) and Dextroamphetamine (brand name Dexedrine).

Adderall might benefit someone who may not have had good results from Methylphenidate, for example, either due to clinical ineffectiveness or to bothersome side effects. In addition, some patients experience less (or absence) of rebound symptoms when they use Adderall, even when both are effective relative to target symptoms.

The major reason for increasing the dose of any of the stimulant medications is the impact on the target symptoms. Usually these targets involve hypermotoric behavior, inattention and/or impulsivity.

Inadequate dose would be indicated by failure to remedy (or improve) the target symptom(s), accompanied by clinical effectiveness at a higher dose.

Insomnia can be a side effect of stimulant medications, though this is less likely if the medications are taken at a time which allows for their metabolism well before time for sleep. With children, clonidine (at a very small dose) is often prescribed to assist with sleep. Imipramine is not generally prescribed for this purpose. If a patient achieves significant benefit from medication for ADHD, but experiences insomnia as a side effect, it is perfectly reasonable to ise another medication to treat the side effect. As is often the case with medications, decisions can be made on the basis of a careful weighing of the benefits vs the risks.
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Avatar universal
Having read articles on the medications used in the treatment for ADHD,information I have viewed referred in one article to adderol as having a combination of the the central ingredients found in both ritalin and dexedrine.  Then having read a current posted question and answer response from a, HVMA-Ph.D.-KDK, the response was that "adderol is an alternative to methylphenidate, although the active ingredient in adderol is methylphenidate". So, is adderol a combination of all 3 active ingredients of the drugs (methylphenidate, ritalin, and dexedrine)?


These are the questions I pose.

1.Is adderol a combination of all 3 of the above referenced    
  drugs?
2.Why is adderol a better choice of medication used for the
  treatment of ADHD versus some of the other medications?
3.When the drug adderol or any of the other drugs listed here are
  prescribed for the treatment of ADHD, what are the guidelines
  for increasing the dosage versus no increase, and what are  
  the reasons for the increases?
4.What are the side affects to observe from overdose and or
  underdose?
5.What are some of the indicators to observe to alert, that the
  dosage is the right one, versus indicators to alert you that
  it is the wrong one?
  

I am familiar with some of the side effects as far as nausea, suppressed appetite, weight loss, headaches, and most of all insomnia.

Would you say that insomnia is an idicator of to much or too little a dose?  Insomnia would seem to be a negative side affect, considering that sleep, and restful sleep, is most crucial to ones health and well being. This is very much a concern I have in regards to using adderol as a treatment for ADHD. Too, what about being prescribed the medication Imipramine for sleeping aid along with the adderol?  One drug prescribed to combat the side affects of another doesn't sound practical, does it?
Helpful - 0
242606 tn?1243782648
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Adderall is one of a number of stimulant medications employed to treat ADHD. It is often used as a front line treatment of ADHD, as an alternative to methylphenidate alone (although methylphenidate is one of the active ingredients in Adderall). Many children tend to tolerate Adderall better than they do methylphenidate, and experience less of a rebound impact as the medication is metabolized.
Helpful - 0

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