Non-stimulant ADHD Medications

My 11 year old has ADHD and since hyperactivity is a huge part of it, equally as much as the inattention, we really did have to address that part of it. That means we couldn't go with something like Intuniv, which my other daughter uses for ADD. So my 12 year old takes Concerta. She eats a really good breakfast before or with the Concerta, drinks a glass of milk with it, and she's good. She eats a decent lunch and since by suppertime the medication is almost worn off, she eats an excellent supper.

Her first two weeks she did have a decreased appetite but her body acclimated and her appetite went back to normal.

I did not know there was such a thing. The stimulant is what makes them work. We have not medicated my son because of many reasons. One being he's a gymnast and it would just mellow him too much and he would not be able to do what he does. What we have discovered that helps with him is caffeine. It is a stimulant but not to the degree of meds. I am not talking caffeine in tea I am talking either strong coffee or Mountain Dew. It really helps bring him down but still active and eats normally. We also have given him fish oil which helps a little too. When school starts we will start giving him the Mountain Dew and fish oil each morning to help him. You can also look into diet. That is much harder though to work with.

Good luck and God Bless!!!

Strattera is the only one that I know of but there are a couple of newer ones. My husband tried Strattera and it wasn't a good fit for him. Strattera can be a great way to find out if someone's ADHD symptoms are actually bi-polar depression (works similarly to anti-depressants and can trigger manic episodes) so when people report bad reactions, that may be a factor (my husband has bi-polar II).

How old is your son? My oldest was dx'd at 7 and is now 14. We haven't yet tried medication and some of the reasons are that he's already underweight, has trouble sleeping and has a mild heart arrhythmia so I just wasn't ready to go down that path. Now that he's old enough to have a say we are considering which ones would be a good choice. Anyway, over the years we have had good results from managing this with the help of a nutritionist (chiropractor). When he was younger and more compliant, we saw a great difference with his mood and functioning when he was taking fish oil and some supplements for adrenal support and other things. We also did something called Brain Integration Technique (BIT a/k/a crossinology) and he went along with a really healthy diet. This is expensive and exhausting though, and now that he's 14 he's less compliant and eats poorly, doesn't take his supplements etc. so therefore we're looking at medication.

Best of luck to you!

DO NOT USE STRATTERA!!! i was on it when i was younger made me super sick, no appetite, and MEAN and i just started it again and started getting sick and not eating again so i stopped it

People respond differently to different types of medication. While a previous poster listed a bad reaction to Straterra, another person would respond fantastically to it but have her same reaction to Ritalin family drugs. (I cannot take ANY ritalin family meds, because they make me sick to my stomach whenever I'm happy). But most people dpn't have that reaction Others cannot take amphetamine family. Others are FANTASTIC with dexamphetamine, but cannot take lisdexamphetamine. A lot of people get " from Adderall, but a lot of people mellow out on it.

The only way to find out if a med is right for you is to try it.

Fortunately, ADHD meds are all short acting, so they're easy to try and see (unlike most antidepressants which take weeks to start working).

Straterra is one of my personal favorites. It's not technically a stimulant (it's a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor). Whether or not it ends up being a short list one for your son, though, only trying and seeing will tell.

Wellbutrin is sometimes prescribed for ADHD. It words on the neuro-transmitters Dopamine and Norepinephrine. I'm not sure that it would be a good fit, since it (often) causes decreased appetite and insomnia. But it is a non-stimulant medication, so worth mentioning. I still have done very, very little research on this, but it is exciting to me and I am in the process of collecting data. Have you ever heard of EEG biofeedback? There is a Dr. (of psychology) in my area who does this with ADHD patients. (apparently) He sees tremendous results without negative side affects.

Have you tried huge breakfast before they take their meds then huge dinner. I know my daughter won't eat lunch but so long as she gets a good breakfast and dinner she seems to keep her weight up.

The non-stimulant ones seem to be hit or miss.

My # 3 has ADHD and he had the problems with no appetite ( and not being able to sleep) also, we switched him to concerta and it has worked for him.

My #1 has ADD he is on stratera and it works perfectly for him. But my ped told me that it wouldn't work with #3 because with the hyper activity he needs the stimulat to help level him out.

My son has taken intuniv.Which doesn't really help him, but from what I hear it's a good one.he's never had loss of appetite, he's almost 80lbs. I've only taken stimulants to treat mine, once I done breastfeeding I'll go back on adderal.