[angelkisses0102]

DD and I are done at the pedi's office...based on everything I supplied her (child study from 02/08 and teacher/parent survey's from 05/08 and last week) and speaking with me...

DD is now DX'ed as ADHD...no big surprise there. We will be starting medication on Saturday morning...30 mg of Vynanse. I am comfortable with the pedi as she has a 7 year old DS who is ADHD and he uses this med (although it was not his first med.)

Anyone have experience with Vyvanse?

Thanks.

[karenw]

My colleagues tell me it is a great drug. I do not prescribe it because none of the local insurances cover it. It should have fewer side effects than traditional meds.
Karen

[angelkisses0102]

Thanks Karen!! I did get a bit scared when the pedi handed me a $70 off card for Vyvanse...yikes! Luckily (?) we have met our 2008 deductible....but...

We have a high deductible plan so whatever we end up having her on...we will pay full price until/when we meet our $4000. deductible. That is a scary thought.

K

[karenw]

Since vyvanse is the "next generation" of adderall, you might consider the switch to adderall if she does well. The study I just looked up does not report better efficacy with vyvanse. Adderall might be a lot cheaper and should have a similar response. If she does not do well it might be good to try a methylphenidate med (ritalin, concerta etc.). Of course this is really generic advice as your own doctor will know her much better! good luck, hope it helps quickly.
Karen

[KiraLin]

Hi Karen,

Glad you got this appointment behind you. This is one of the drugs that has been "in the pipeline" for a while. Glad your ped is also an experienced parent. Insurance is a you know what. If your ped uses it with her kid that is about as big a vote of confidence as you can get.

Good luck!

[momofMikhail]

My daughter is on Vyvanse. If you have any questions you can pm me. Our ped first started her on Aderall, and she did not do well on it (lost 22 pounds within 2 months). But we have not had any problems with Vyvanse. But each child reacts differently to meds, so this is something you will have to consider. I want to let you know one of the side effects to Vyvanse is trouble sleeping. We have to give our daughter another med to help her sleep at night. So if you intend on starting the med on a weekday I would wait till the weekend. This way if she/he has issues with sleeping it won't effect school the next day.

[amyfk]

No experience with the med just want to wish you guys luck.
Amy K, NJ

[angelkisses0102]

Thanks...I am a bit nervous to start her...I read all the warnings, etc. and it is scary...but hopefully the benefits will outweigh the risks/side effects. I am very stressed about the sleeping...after all the problems we had with DS I *think* I am finally caught back up on sleep. DD is such a great sleeper...hopefully she will be OK. I am planning on giving it at 7:00am tomorrow (Sat) to start.

I'll update once we see what happens...
K

[momraine]

One thing that I had to learn was give it a few days. When my son took his first dose he bacame a zombie. I was all ready to quit and never give it to him again. I was totally freaked. Dh convinced me to give it a few more days and sure enough in a few days we had our son back, only more able to concentrate! It was awesome! However, I would never had gotton through to that point had I given up after the first day.

[Bcelli]

With us, it was a relief to finally "know." I've heard great things about Vyvanse, so I hope it works for her. You still might have to try a few others before you hit the right drug/dosage, so don't be disappointed if it doesn't suit her needs right away; but be joyful if it does.

On the cost thing, the first time I filled my Adderal RX, the pharmacy tech didn't run it through our insurance. With insurance, it's $30 ($20 cheaper than Ritalin). Without insurance, it was $515!!!!! I almost seized right there on the spot.

[angelkisses0102]

Poor DD is having stomach pains (as it wears off) and vomitted this morning. We were giving it on an empty belly so tomorrow...food first. She had a bit of an anxiety attack last night as well...but that was as it was wearing off and she was overly hungry (we eat dinner late on Saturdays due to church and going out to eat aftrewards.) Her usually huge appetite is way, way down and I have to tell her to eat...but...

The good news is...we already see a positive effect...and I quote..."my brain is clearer and more organized...it feels so much better to have the thoughts get in line instead of being all over my brain." YAY!!! And she fell asleep OK last night...

I'm calling the pedi in the morning...but her side effects are 'common' and hopefully will subside in a week or so. Tomorrow, Tuesday and Wednesday will be big tests...SCHOOL. Her teacher is working with us and will report back on Wednesday.

Thanks for all the support...as sad/hard as it is that she needs to be medicated...and trust me it was not a decision we chose lightly...it appears that is is probably the right one. We are just hoping and praying we get lucky and drug #1 is the right choice.
K

ETA~ Insurance covered it at only a $25 copay (we can go up to $50) so hopefully it won;t be too awful come January when we restart the deductible!

[qs mom]

My son is on Adderall and it worked much better than Ritalin. Methylphidate overmedicated him. He is very sensative to medications. Be sure to have a good breakfast before tiaking the med. It does surpress their appitite.

My son told me his brain wasn't all jumpy anymore.

[leeinmemphis]

Vyvanse has been a Godsend for our family... have been on it for about a year now and it works wonders for my 8 year old son. Good luck with it!

alli

PS we also started on 30mg (back when we started it was only available in 30 and 50) and we are now at 40 and he is doing very well

[angelkisses0102]

We are on day 4 now and yesterday was much better...I made her eat a big breakfast and then take the pill. She had some minor belly pains but no vomitting and last night was good. She is sleeping...of that I am very thankful.

The pedi is now having me open the capsule and tap off the top of the powder...that brings it down to about 20mg. So we will shall see how today goes. She is eating...a little...although she loves gingerbread cookies...which help her belly.

It is utterly amazing how quickly she is reacting...and she is showing so much positive change...at least at home. I can't wait to hear from her teacher and to review her schoolwork. (She rushes through it and makes silly mistakes...she is a horrible test taker so hopefully this will help.)

Thanks again for the posts!

[momatlast]

Hi K,

I just typed out a long post but it seems to have vanished into cyberspace. Trying again.

I'm hoping that you keep us posted. I'm interested to see how your daughter does for a few reasons. As you know, my younger may well end up on ADHD meds if her behavior/ability to function at school does not improve this year.

But I'm even more interested to see how your DD responds to meds because my older is so similar to your DD. I've suspected for some time that my older has a mild (at least mild relative to her sister) case of ADHD--probably mixed inattentive and hyper types. Plus your DD and my older both responded so strangely to their allergy meds, that I'm curious what the response to ADHD meds might be.

What kinds of changes have you observed so far?

(Happy Thanksgiving! Hi to your older from my older)

-momatlast (aka NJmom)