You are not overreacting. Most of the prescriptions are relatively safe, but you MUST monitor your child for any changes in behavior and make certain she is getting enough nutrition and water.

I took my son off Adderall because he began to rage at the end of the day when it was wearing off. He lost 10 pounds in 6 months. He began to have severe tics. He started walking in circles in his bedroom talking to himself and the skin on his hands and feet began to peel off.

The pediatrician suggested we changed to Intuniv, but one of the side effects of that drug is low blood pressure. My son inherited low blood pressure to begin with making the drug not a good choice at all.

In short, there are many prescriptions out there and with careful supervision by yourself and your doctor, you can watch for these things and make the appropriate changes.

I personally have my son on all natural right now and removed him from school to homeschool him the last couple of months of school. We are trying some natural supplements also for focus and I will start him on those soon while I closely monitor him for any reactions even on the natural stuff.

It's not easy deciding what to do, but what is certain is that these children NEED something to help them with focus. There are many ways to help them beyond prescriptions, but sometimes prescriptions are necessary. Just be very careful when administering and monitor closely as with all prescriptions of any kind.

I understand your concern. We waited for 7 years until my son was nearly 13 to start meds. The doctor checked his BP and did a height and weight on him. That is all she checked. The rest, is up to me to monitor. I ask him how he feels, I weigh him regularly, I watch for any odd behaviors. The school also watches him as I told his teacher what things to watch for or if she noticed him feeling unwell. There are always risks, but take into account if your child has any physical problems that warrant a more thorough checkup. You should discuss these concerns with your doctor and maybe they would do some further testing. You need to be comfortable with giving your child meds before you do, or else you will always feel guilty if anything happens. Also, both parents need to be on board so there is no blame game going on. It is not an easy choice. For my son, it has helped and apart from the weight loss of about 8 pounds (he has now leveled out) he seems ok. Good luck to you and good for you for being thorough!

My son has been on Vyvanse for a few months and we love it. I have only noticed a couple of side effects...he doesn't eat nearly as much as he used to and he picks at his fingers. It is long lasting which is why we choose it. We started him on medication about 6 months ago and didn't like the ritalin at all. Best of luck to you and your family

Your not overreacting. I do the same thing. My son is adhd and probably bipolar and asbergers syndrome. The doctor put him on vyvanse 20 mg at first which he did great at. Then she wanted to increase it to 30 and said that at his weight he will probably be at 40 mg dose. But once she changed it to 30 it was horrible. he was so emotional and crying all of the time. His sleep pattern was all messed up he just didn't seem like himself. So I stopped that immediately and went back to 20 mg. Where we kept it. I think he has been on it for 1 year. But about 1 month ago, he told me he didn't want to take it and that he can control himself. I told him the first time the teacher calls me and says bring his medicine or the sitter says he flipped out today and was hitting everyone, that you are going right back on it. Well it's been about 5 weeks now and he is fine. Yes he is still adhd and all over the place and not focusing on what I am saying but he is not throughing the tantrums that he used to so he doesn't need it. He wasn't on it for his grades because he has good grades. He is very smart. He was on it because he has a temper and flips out and throughs tantrums which he has been doing because I took another parenting course through counseling called Triple P. It's parenting based from Australia. It's really good! I've taken 4 parenting courses now all of them different and this one works for me.
Anyway I just want to say that I think it's Ritalin that can cause the heart problems and they should do an EKG first before giving the medicine. I'm not aware that Vyanse can cause heart problems.

I think any stimulant medication can cause heart issues. They raise BP and increase heart rate. Most people are fine with this, but if you already have underlying problems, can be a bad thing.