James Donaldson on Mental Health - Side Effects of ADHD Medication

Mood changes When a stimulant dose is too high for a child they may begin to look sedated or zombie-like, or tearful and irritable.

If this happens we need to adjust the prescription until we find the right dose.

But there is a small subset of kids with ADHD who seem to get moody and irritable when they take stimulant medications, even if we have the best possible dose.

It usually happens right away, as soon as they start taking the medication, and goes away immediately when they stop taking it.

If this happens with your child, once again we can try switching to a different stimulant, since some kids react differently to those based on methylphenidate and those based on amphetamine.

If that doesn’t work, a non-stimulant medication is a possibility.

Of course we have to keep in mind that kids who have ADHD can also develop depression .

In fact they are higher risk for developing major depressive disorder than other kids.

The good news is that kids can be safely treated for both disorders at the same time, though we don’t recommend treating mood problems that are a side effect of stimulant meds with another medication.

Cardiac risks There was some concern back in 2005 and 2006, based on a study of pooled data, with Adderall in particular, about increasing the risk of what’s called sudden death.