My son, nine years old, was diagnosed with ADHD when he was seven. When he was eight, we put him on Vyvanse and he was given 10 mg for about eight months during that time we went up to 20 mg for a little bit, but found it affected his personality too much and decided we were happy with keeping it at 10 mg.

About a month ago, we missed giving him his medication and noticed very little change that day in his behavior. We decided to go a few more days. I noticed that there was virtually no change from when he was medicated to when he wasn’t.

I guess the purpose of this post is to say that he has been off Vyvanse for about one month and we are pretty happy that he seems to be himself and showing less impulsive behavior than he was prior to giving him medication.

I’ve started to wonder if Vyvanse helped him through a period of intense impulsivity and now he’s naturally maturing. Keeping in mind it’s summer break and things could change in the school year.

Has anyone else experienced this?

I have a 9 yr old daughter . She was diagnosed with adhd when she was 4. We are looking to relocate. I’m thinking nyc or Washington state. I like nyc for the diversity and opportunities. But I’m worried it might overstimulate her. We are in Texas right now . I’m big on school systems and wonder in Washington state would be as good as nyc… recommendations?

Hi so still on the journey -3 weeks in! My 13 yr old has moved from 18mg concerta to 36mg now after a consult they want to try 54mg - he has mild adhd symptoms and masks in school - we have seen a difference in him but the 36mg wear of quickly and he can be irritable - is this normal (am I just a mom panicking about the dosage amount)??!?? New to this chapter!!

I know people are only trying to help, and I really do appreciate it.

But every now and then someone says something like, "Just keep them busy," or "Maybe they need a quiet activity," and I just think... I wish it was that simple.

Some days something works, and the next day it's like they've never liked it before. Then people wonder why I don't just keep doing the same thing every day.

I used to explain why certain advice didn't really work for us, but now I usually just smile, say "thanks," and leave it at that. It's honestly easier.

I don't expect everyone to understand what it's like. I just wish people knew we're not ignoring their advice. Most of us have already tried it... and probably ten other things too.

Hi all. Me and my wife are really struggling with our almost 7-year-old to give some background we’re based in the UK and whilst his teachers recognise that he does have ADHD and is impulsive he isn’t actually diagnosed. He is a very loving caring sweet boy and academically very bright and has lots of friends at school. However, Home life is very different. He seems virtually incapable of listening we can say things swim 567 times and he carries on. He has regular outburst. He’ll get aggressive hit kick throw things and there seems no reasoning with him when he’s like that. I’m really looking for some firsthand advice on what people have done in this situation that has helped their child with this? This is a daily occurrence not now and again. Any advice welcome to try and help him and us!??

Thank you!

My 6 1/2 year old boy was very aggressive towards me tonight. He was hitting me repeatedly, and throwing whatever he could find at me. It all started because he was mad I put his toys away while he was at camp. They were all over the family room, and I was cleaning up today. He started to try and take them all back, and I said no. I had no idea he would react like this.

My husband travels a lot, and is gone this week. Luckily my mother in law was over. We have two younger girls ages 4 & 2. I carried him to his room to remove him since he was not being safe. He hit me multiple times while I carried him. I stayed in his room with him and blocked the door to try and keep him in there until he calmed down. He just escalated more, and was throwing pillows, legos, ect at me. It was very upsetting seeing my son like this. He was extremely dysregulated and could not control his impulses. I was talking to him calmly the whole time. He was screaming mean things at me, trying to fart on me, and just yelling. This went on for about 30 minutes. He finally pushed through me, and got out of the room. He continued to cause chaos with the family for the next hour.

I’m just at a loss. He’s diagnosed ADHD, and is on Ritalin ER. He’s been doing well with it, but does struggle in the evenings sometimes when it wears off. I want to help him but do not know what to do. We see a therapist, and also a developmental pediatrician. I’m going to reach out to them tomorrow. Does this sound like typical adhd?
I do think summer schedules, vacations, ect have made things tough for him lately. He has had some rough evenings, but he really hasn’t been aggressive in a long time. He’s the type of child who behaves well at camp/school and lets it all out at home.

My 7 year old daughter recently received a ADHD diagnosis and has started focalin this summer. She’s a rising 2nd grader and I emailed the school counselor to request a meeting to set up a 504 for her. In kinder and 1st her teachers were very accommodating to my requests for her to sit near the front of class and to be moved away from more distracting peers.

Her grades so far have been good and she has done well in school thus far without a 504 but the pediatrician suggested requesting one as as kids age she may need testing accommodations or preferential seating in class.

This was the response I got from her school:

“...Most doctors will immediately put the recommendation for a 504 when a child is diagnosed, but a diagnosis alone does not always mean that a student is in need of one. In order for a 504 to be put in place we have to see an academic need showing that ADHD is significantly impacting her. This would be something we can look into as she moves into 2nd grade. I can keep her on my radar and discuss with her new teacher on how she is doing to see if this is something we will need to start the process for.”

My question is what does “significantly impacting her” even mean? She comes home crying on testing days saying how frustrated she gets with distracting sounds. Struggles with emotional regulation and peer interactions.

I was just surprised that even with a letter suggesting accommodations from her pediatrician the meeting was put on pause/suggested to wait and see. Am I missing something here?