My 11 year old son was started on 5 mg. of Adderall when his Effexor was not helping enough at school. The 5 mg. didn’t do much, so it was raised to 10 mg. He is doing better on the 10:00 mg., but still has problems with talking out, not completing work, etc. Last week, after a later than usual bedtime (goes to bed at 9:00 normally, but didn’t actually get to sleep until 10 that particular night…), he fell asleep in math class. I would have thought, on the proper dose, even if he was a bit sleepy after the late bedtime, the Adderall should have kept him alert and awake. I am wondering now if this is really the right dose.My son has been on stimulants in the past and had such bad side effects with moodiness, tearfulness, grumpiness, etc. that our doctor is going very slowly with the stimulants this time. Even on the 10 mg., my son is a bear at about 4:00 with rebound but he is eating during the day at least. I am torn about trying another 5 mg. because I am afraid the rebound will be worse and he’ll stop eating. On the other hand, if he is able to fall asleep in class, the 10 mg. might not be enough to really be helping him. Any advice? Thanks!
Re: Falling asleep in class on Adderall?
:When my own son was on medication, he also had a “rebound.” His doctor gave him a much smaller dose in late afternoon/early evening so that he would not have a rebound until after he fell asleep. Thus, the “rebound” was buried in his sleep.My 11 year old son was started on 5 mg. of Adderall when his Effexor
: was not helping enough at school. The 5 mg. didn’t do much, so it
: was raised to 10 mg. He is doing better on the 10:00 mg., but
: still has problems with talking out, not completing work, etc.
: Last week, after a later than usual bedtime (goes to bed at 9:00
: normally, but didn’t actually get to sleep until 10 that
: particular night…), he fell asleep in math class. I would have
: thought, on the proper dose, even if he was a bit sleepy after the
: late bedtime, the Adderall should have kept him alert and awake. I
: am wondering now if this is really the right dose.: My son has been on stimulants in the past and had such bad side
: effects with moodiness, tearfulness, grumpiness, etc. that our
: doctor is going very slowly with the stimulants this time. Even on
: the 10 mg., my son is a bear at about 4:00 with rebound but he is
: eating during the day at least. I am torn about trying another 5
: mg. because I am afraid the rebound will be worse and he’ll stop
: eating. On the other hand, if he is able to fall asleep in class,
: the 10 mg. might not be enough to really be helping him. Any
: advice? Thanks!
You could try giving him 2.5 mg when he gets home from school to help with rebound. I don’t think that would be enough to interfere with his appetite for dinner or to make it hard for him to get to sleep, but it mightt even out the rebound. The best way to tell if the dose is right is to have the teacher complete Connors rating scales, or some similar ratings scale. If there doesn’t seem to be much difference, it may be that the dose is too low, or it may be that your son does not respond positively to the stimulant medications.Andrea