For myself, the Elvanse (Vyvanse) is fantastic. It stimulates (I do not have the typical ADHD thing where stims calm down), makes it easy to get started on things, gives me focus, makes me motivated and euphoric.
Since I usually don’t see the 6 hours at school after my son took his meds, I decided to give him some on the weekend (doc said it’s entirely up to us when there is no school). 15 mg slow-release Methylphenidate (Medikinet). We kept it to that one dose in the morning, without the optional instant-release afternoon hit.
The effect was quite shocking:
- He appears to be strongly sedated. It’s like when I take a pretty hard benzo dose. The hyperactivity stops completely, and he just wants to sit on my lap and lean on me / cuddle. Not sure it’s tiredness, though; he still wants to go outside and play and follows through with it.
- Inside, he also does his usual projects. But instead of storming into my office for a quick hug as usual, he waddles in and sits in my lap for a long cuddle. He was very focused on an ambitious Lego project, but that has happened before.
- He does not find it easier to get on an unpleasant task all. Had to clean his room and was as unhappy as always, although I offered to do only a quick unit of work.
- At the playground, it was the first time in weeks that he wanted to get picked up earlier. It coincided with the first day in weeks where all friends were gone early, too, so might not say much. He just sat in the sand and looked sad when I arrived; usually it’s all laughter and dashing around. Maybe just no friends, but then again, he usually finds a quick instant-friend.
So, I’m not happy with that result. Sure makes it easier for the teachers when he is sedated, but the idea was that he could follow his passions like chess and math even better, get tougher challenges at school. Instead, they just gave him As and let him sit sadly in the corner, is how I picture it now.
What do you think, childhood medicated ADHD folks and others?
Additional notes:
- Of course, I’ll keep communicating my and the teachers’ observations with the doc. But medical care is limited; we are so glad that he has someone who writes the prescription.
- The dose was increased from 10 mg to 15 mg for two reasons: 1. 6 hours later, I and the occupational therapist saw 0 effect. 2. The teachers reported a strong decline in effect, after being very happy with 10mg initially. It’s also possible that he didn’t take it properly with enough food and water, or that the generic medicine he got as a replacement is at fault.
What does you child say about? Do they prefer the days with medication or without? A smaller dose might be a good middleway, but I would try to observe and ask about the childs experiences on multiple occasions, with and without meds. One day, with several factors that can contribute to their mood, doesn’t really tell anything.
Good question, and my mistake might have been that I asked straightforward: Do you feel better with meds? Do you like school better? Is it easier to get on a task such as cleaning your room?
He always says: No difference.
Maybe I should ask like: “How interesting was school today?” and then see how it correlates with meds.
I had a similar experience when I was much older. I had ONE good math teacher in 14 years, had him 5-6 and then again 11-12. Strange is that it took me a while to realise how good he is. I just wondered: Why is math so boring all through the grades 7-10, although it is so awesome otherwise?
So, maybe he does feel and grow better, but doesn’t realise it. But there is no proof. Only proof is that he is sedated, which makes the teachers happy, but that was not the goal.
I too suspect that the doc will have him try a lower dose again. Odd with lower doses was that even just 6 hours later, therapist and I saw 0 effect, and that is unlikely with slow-release; should be at least some left. Due to that, the doc decided to give the teacher’s observation (who said low is fine) less weight and increase anyway.
The problem really is that this is not an exact science when applied to individuals. Day A, teacher says he’s doing great, well maybe it’s because it was a classmate’s birthday and he brought cupcakes, and in German they were just reading an interesting story. I say 15 mg sedates him like an elephant tranquilizer gun, but maybe he was just very tired that day.
My fear is that this might drag on for months and years, and on the way, we’ll give up what would have been the solution just because it was applied on a few bad days.
And really infuriating is that in all this that they couldn’t even give him consistently the same exact meds! EUR / USD 1100 / month insurance premium and he can’t have his 20 cents pill!