Q: My 6-year-old son was recently diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He's been on Adderall for about three weeks now, and we have seen a definite improvement at home and at school. However, the last few days it seems as though he's been trying to hold back his emotions. He breaks down crying, saying that things and people are giving him "bad feelings." What should I do? Do you think his medication should be changed?
A: If this behavior occurs in the first three to four hours after he takes the Adderall (amphetamine and dextroamphetamine), it's probably a side effect of the medicine. However, if it occurs after the medicine has theoretically “worn off,” it's probably what we refer to as a withdrawal effect. Some children with ADHD become irritated as the medicine wears off.
Regarding your son’s concern that things and people are giving him “bad feelings,” stimulants can sometimes cause apparent psychotic-like behavior. It's a very rare occurrence, but you should definitely speak to your physician about it. You might want to consider weekends without medication. Because Adderall is a short- acting medicine, going without it on the weekends doesn't pose a significant problem. It might enable you to determine whether your son's feelings are related to the medicine, in which case the medicine could be changed or the dosage adjusted.
(www.everydayhealth.com)
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