hi,
My 11 yr old son is on 60mg Vyvanse, he licks his lips a lot also, he has recently over the past 3 weeks become angry over things that he may have been able to blow off in the past. Document your son’s changes so you can share it with the doctor, that way the doctor can assess if the dose needs to be changed or the med. I would ask about the crying that shouldn’t be happening , meds are to help the focus not change the child.  good luck

That doesn’t sound normal to me, but my son was never on Vyvance.  I would call his doctor and let him know what’s happening. 

That being said, my son did go into a lip-licking phase for about 3 months when he was 7 (before he was on adhd meds) and he developed a red rash from it that looked like a mustache on his upper lip.  The doctor gave us some cream to put on it and told him he must stop or it might turn into a staph infection on his face! He understood the seriousness of it and stopped!

why not start with 20mg?  My son is on 30mg age 12, but started on 20.  He does pick at his hands and I’ve heard/read that some “tweaking” is to be expected.  It is a form of meth after all albeit prescribed.

You know. The more I hear about Vyvanse, the more I’m glad my son is not on it. None the less, I hope my suggestions are helpful.

Anytime, you have a problem a question or concern about or a a medication, especially a psychotropic medication you shouldn’t hesitate contact your doctor or pharmacist. I get a lot of helpful information and advice from my pharmacist. He is very helpful to me.

There are two things that might be going on with your son. First, he may be experiencing extreme dry mouth, hence his constant lip licking. As a psychiatric social worker, I used to see a lot of clients with extreme dry mouth. It isn’t serious. You can give your son a little water with lemon juice to help moisturize his mouth and increase saliva production. You could also give him hard candy to suck on. If that doesn’t work, you can ask you pharmacist for other over-the-counter remedies for dry mouth.

The other more serious possibility is extrapyramidal side effects. These are neurologically based movement disorders sometimes resulting from taking dopamine agonists like Haldol. I don’t know exactly what’s in Vyvanase. I thought it was just an extended release stimulant medication. Its nothing like Haldol. So, I don’t know why your child would have those kinds of side effects from a med like that. Please send an update if you find out anything from your doctor.

I don’t know if this will help you, but here’s a ppt with info about extrapyramidal side effects especially acute dystonia and tartive dyskinesia, which involve involuntary movements of the mouth and tounge.

http://pediatrics.uchicago.edu/chiefs/documents/ExtrapyramidalSideEffects.pdf

Anyway, there are lots of drugs for treating extrapyramidal side effects.  Here is a link with a list. Benadryl is the first drug on the list.

http://www.webmd.com/drugs/condition-1070-Extrapyramidal+Disease.aspx?diseaseid=1070&diseasename=Extrapyramidal+Disease&source=0

I hope this helps and doesn’t freak you out.

We tried Vyanse for my daughter and it made her worse!  She is over-focused ADHD and it made her moods worse….we lasted about 3 weeks and then quit it.

Our son (was 9 then) was started on Vyvanse 50 mg. The first few days we experienced the same thing - he played one shrot piece on the piano about 50 times that day when normally we would have to beg him 50 times to practice and play it once… he came back to the piano and played that one piece over and over again until the rest of us were close to losing our minds… after obsessive days like this (not just the piano - different things he repeatedly did) we asked the doctor to go down to 40. Things improved immediately. we then decided to try 30 (some other sides effects - loss of appetite and difficulty going to sleep) didn;t go away… the 30 left us with all the side effect like 40 but no relief for the ADHD symptom so we went back o 40 and stayed there for 2 years. It took a while but most side effect improved greatly if not disappeared. We recently “upgraded” back to 50 when we noticed that he was back to losing focus at school. he is now 12 and he can help us understand what works for him and what doesn’t. This time, going to 50 mg did not yield those obsessive behaviors and he has been on it for several months now and is doing great.  Try to reduce the dosage - it worked for us.

Our son (was 9 then) was started on Vyvanse 50 mg. The first few days we experienced the same thing - he played one shrot piece on the piano about 50 times that day when normally we would have to beg him 50 times to practice and play it once… he came back to the piano and played that one piece over and over again until the rest of us were close to losing our minds… after obsessive days like this (not just the piano - different things he repeatedly did) we asked the doctor to go down to 40. Things improved immediately. we then decided to try 30 (some other sides effects - loss of appetite and difficulty going to sleep) didn;t go away… the 30 left us with all the side effect like 40 but no relief for the ADHD symptom so we went back o 40 and stayed there for 2 years. It took a while but most side effect improved greatly if not disappeared. We recently “upgraded” back to 50 when we noticed that he was back to losing focus at school. he is now 12 and he can help us understand what works for him and what doesn’t. This time, going to 50 mg did not yield those obsessive behaviors and he has been on it for several months now and is doing great.  Try to reduce the dosage - it worked for us.

I am also one who took my son off the stimulant medications.  He is ADHD, and recently discovered Dyslexic (though I wondered), as well as having Dysgraphia.
He tried 2 different stimulant meds, and reactions were not worth the small gain in focus.  Emotional, crying, heart racing, not eating, sleep was “off” to mention a few things.
They definately are not for everyone, and we work hard implementing a quality diet, vitamin and supplemental treatment plan.
Neu’becalm, ADD-Care, fish oil, and higher protein.  No artificial food colors, and try for mostly organic.
Does well, though academically speaking we have an IEP, and modifications to help him.  Perhaps not even so much from ADHD, but from the Dyslexia and Dysgraphia school is hard. 
I feel alarmed at the high doses some of these small children are on.  Just me, but I have tried 20mg of Vyvanse, because I have been noted as being ADHD, and runs in our family, anyhow…..20 mg affected me, and left me feeling very dehydrated the next day.  Maybe making sure your kids are drinking lots of water and other healthy drinks throughout the day will help?  gum, or natrually colored candies/suckers.
I even gave my son half the 20mg dose in pudding to start, and gradually increase, but when the meds wore off, it was emotional breakdown.  I certainly wasn’t going to medicate him for that.  Medications to treat side effects, could get dangerous especially in the long term. 
Part of me will be more open to stimulant medications after my son goes through puberty, and can better explain and understand his feelings on the medications.  Maybe with all the dietary and supplemental treatments he’ll be able to manage ok.

My son is 8 and started on 20 mg of Vyvanse in October.  He became more emotional and did cry at times because his feelings were hurt.  I was told this was happening because the Vyvanse made him more aware of things as before he was very impulsive.  Since that time he was increased to 40 mg.  He had major anger in the afternoons when coming down off the med.  He developed paranoid behavior, picked at his eyebrows, was extremely thirsty, had poor sleep and poor appetite.  We always fed him a big breakfast and late supper when he was real hungry. We have recently taken him off the med (even after lowering the dose back to 30mg) because the anger became worse and worse becoming more physically aggressive.  I felt this was not my child anymore. We have since taken him off the meds (just 9 days ago) and most of the symptoms have subsided.  We are going to work with his teachers and try diet and nutritional supplements for a while.  His focus in school on Vyvanse was phenomonal but I felt the med was causing more harm then good.

I always say, call the doctor because he needs to KNOW what’s going on. Also, remember there are many helpful meds for ADHD, including the original Ritalin (not the generic) and extended release Concerta.

One note: kids often have outbursts as they come down from meds after school. This can be alleviated by giving them a small dose as soon as they come home. This will help with homework, scouts, etc., but doesn’t usually keep them awake at nite.

Ask your doctor. You’ve been given good advice, but it’s also wise to talk to your doctor before you change the dose. Sometimes they’d prefer to change the meds.
Patricia H. Aust: CT Task Force on ADHD/author of HYPER HARRY for kids 8-12 (available at Amazon.com or the Kindle Store).