eight year old son has been on adderol for close to a year, he was on ritalin and the down side was more than we could handle, he lost so much weight at first, i would cry when he took off his shirt, you could count every rib. he take adderol twice a day, the school gets the good side and we get the down side. when he is coming off the drug, he has a hard time getting to sleep. not sure which drug is the better of the two. our son is a bright,loving,warm,fun young man and now the teachers and school and school mates can see that also. we do make sure he has a drug holiday, christmas break and two weeks in the summer, good luck and don’t let them push you around. go with your guts when you’re making choices for your child…….