17 year old with ADD

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-02-2006
17 year old with ADD
8
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 10:06am
I need HELP my 17 year old son was just diagnosed with ADD. He has been prescribe ADDERALL XR 20mg. He has only been taking this drug for 5 days and is already telling me he doesn't want to take it. He says it makes him feel sick. ANY ADVISE OUT THERE????? I know he needs something to help him at school. He's grades are TERRIBLE!!! His attitude at home sucks... He is making life miserable for my husband and me. He is a junior and I'm being to think that he's not going to be able to graduate if we can't get a handle on this problem . The pills are effecting his appetite. I find myself not wanting to come home at night from work. There will just be another fight with my son over this medication. Is there a medication out there that dosen't have side effects??
Avatar for heartsandroses2002
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 10:49am

Hi - there is virtually no medication that comes without at least some noticeable side effects. However, usually after the first 1-2 weeks, most of those 'noticeable' side effects pretty much disappear. Loss of appetite or increase in appetite is pretty common with almost any med prescribed, for ADD or anything else. It's the number one side effect next to nausea and headache.

My dd has taken a couple of different meds and we're actually at a pretty good mix right now. She used to take plain old fashioned wellbutrin for her ADHD because if she took something like Adderall or Ritalin she would develop exacerbated facial tics - she has tourette syndrome. Anyway, the meds she has tried all created some kind of side effect that was initially intrusive and annoying and inconvenient, but after about a week or so, those side effects went away. The only one constant side effect that remains is a craving for carb-like foods, like pastas and rice especially. This has caused her to gain a little weight.

When she was nauseous we went from eating 3 meals a day to eating 2 main meals and smaller things in between to prevent the nausea, like those packs of crackers and peanut butter or a 1/2 bag of light popcorn, or toast - something to help settle her stomach. Eventually she was able to switch those foods in between to things like an orange or an apple with peanut butter or a small salad.

However, if your primary complaint is that the meds are causing your son to have mood swings or agitation, his DR should be called and notified. Usually ADHD meds don't cause that type of reaction unless there is some other biological-neurological issue going on. Perhaps your son should be seen by a neuro-pychologist for a full evaluation. It's very common for ADHD to be the initial diagnosis when there is in fact another reason for the poor behavior. Good luck.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-20-2005
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 11:40am

My DD takes Strattera and it doesn't seem to bother her. It may take a few weeks for his body to adjust to the medication so I wouldn't let him give up just yet. Does it say whether or not he should eat with this medication? Sometimes taking meds on an empty stomach can be a huge mistake. At the very least make him eat a few peanut butter crackers and drink a Sprite with it.

If it continues, then talk to the doc about a different medication.

Good Luck!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-02-2003
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 12:36pm

is your son in therapy? getting other kind of help? if your son is 17 and only now diagnosed - then he has alot of other problems that need to be dealt with. meds will help for SOME aspect but there is alot of things that need to be UNdone.


my DS was diagnosed with ADHD when he was in 9th grade (and to this day i am not 100% sure that the diagnose is correct). he was not on medication -i didn't want him put on ritalin and he didn't want it either. i can't say if it was the righ tdecision or not but i can say that i did put him into a special school and that was the most helpful thing of all. kids who managed to 'get thru' school by masking their add or adhd - usually end up wtih social issues, self esteem issues, they think they are stupid, kids sometimes make fun of them, etc etc etc so these are issues that need to be dealt with. medications alone aren't going to solve those problems.


also, it will be helpful if you and his father would go to a psychologist who deals with ADD issues so that YOU can get the advice that YOU need in order to know how to help him, set boundaries, work out issues, etc.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-02-2006
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 1:47pm
Does your daughter take her medication seven days a week or just five days for school. The dr just wants Zach to take it five days a week. How can you get use to the medication if he is not taking it seven days a week?
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Registered: 03-02-2006
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 1:51pm
That is where we started out was the psychologist. He tested with no doubt as ADD. We have been struggling with him since middle school. I just thought he was lazy. He would do his homework and not turn it in or he would forget to turn it in. He acts like he could care less about school.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-17-2005
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 2:17pm
I haven't yet read the other posts, but if your teen is having a bad reaction to the medication you need to contact the dr. immediately and have him stop taking it! I have a 16ds who has "mild" ADD and just this year we also decided to bite the bullet and eventually were able to talk him into trying the meds. He was afraid of how it would "change" who he is, and how he would feel. The dr. explained to him that the whole point of taking these meds is to help him, and that if one drug doesn't work, we can try another one, etc. Then ds agreed to try, and he's on Concerta at 36 mg. except for the weekends (he sleeps in, and he can't take it later in the day or he'll be up all night). After the first week, his appetite was greatly affected and he lost 6 lbs. I was concerned, but we kept him on it another week and he regained 2 lbs. He will probably stabilize somewhere between the original weight and the weight that he lost. It helps that he doesn't take it on weekends. I'm concerned that during the day he still doesn't have much of an appetite, but he eats like he's making up for it in the evening. He seems to be improving in class; he's getting all of his work done and says he feels an improvement. If this drug had not worked, we would have tried another. The whole point is to find something that will help, not hurt, and it sounds like that med is not the answer for your son. Bottom line: call the doctor!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-02-2006
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 3:38pm
I'm so glad I found this site. Thank you very much for this info. And encouragement. This is very hard to go through. I'm glad to know there are others out there with similar problems. It's not like he is getting thin, he's pretty tall and weight 185. My problem is getting him to eat breakfast, I know that's is his main problem with this medicine. If he would eat, he probably wouldn't have some of the side effects. But I am sick and tired of arguing with this know it all teen.
Avatar for heartsandroses2002
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 3:51pm

My dd has other issues so her meds are 7days/wk. When she USED to take meds for her ADHD she also took them 7 days/week so she had an adequate build up in her body since the wellbutrin washed out each day. In fact, it took almost a week before we noticed anything, that's how great it was (IOW, it wasn't immediate which means it didn't have a lot of other side effects, except for when she needed it, like at school, etc).

There are many other ADHD drugs out there. I am hoping you find the right one for your son.

Seriously, you should have your son evaluated by a neuro-psych to get a true diagnosis if he's having a bad reaction to the ADHD meds - it could be something else that is treatable with a med that has less side effects. My dd had to take a different drug to counter balance the first drug they put her on. Eventually, as she outgrew some of her tics, we were able to eliminate the first drug which then meant we were able to eliminate the second one as well. As the kids grow, thier chemistry changes and it's important to be sure of the correct treatment right from the get go. Good luck.