Have you thought about getting a second opinion regarding his medical care? I do agree that a healthy diet would make a difference as it would for most issues. I would think if I had to double that kind of medication, I would not feel like doing anything at all including a healthy diet or working out. I pray that God gives you wisdom on the best way to handle this for your brother.

This is a delicate situation, but since your mother left an opening by saying he may be overmedicated "a bit," I would suggest that he ease back on the adderall and see if that helps. Adderall works fast and wears off fast, so if too much Adderall is keeping him up, you should see improvement quickly.

I responded to your original thread, and mentioned nar-anon.

Hi OP - first off, thank you for giving a care about your sibling enough to post this question.

Sadly, there is nothing you can do LEGALLY about this because he's not your dependent. I do have a few comments and questions:

Who in the world is managing his meds? Is he seeing a psychiatrist or is the pediatrician doing it? Age and dosage, when it comes to Adderral at least, are not correlated. In other words, just because someone is growing does not mean they need a higher dosage, so that's weird. but more troubling is that your brother can easily manipulate his doctor and mom like this.

No offense to your mom/dad - or his mom/dad - but he is being totally enabled! allowing him to stay home because he's tired? I get that if its once or twice and only if your mom is dragging him to the psychiatrist to get the meds checked but do allow it so casually? NOPE!

Do you live near your brother? Do you have a good relationship with him? And do you have a good relationship with your mom? Do you have the time to become more involved in his life? Be more present? Can he come live with you for a couple of months and not change schools in order to do so? Because based on the picture you painted, your mom is clueless either willingly or just plain doesn't know this is happening.

He also needs the help of an Organizational Coach - someone who can come in, organize his life, his work etc. Then he needs to get off his butt too. My DS is not at all athletic, at least not team sports oriented. I started realizing that he was spending way too much time on his computer so I got him involved in indoor rock climbing at Earth Treks. It may not be for everyone but my DS loves it.

Anonymous wrote:*Cross-posting from the Tweens and Teens forum*

I'm the adult sibling of a teenage (16 yo) boy. My brother was diagnosed with ADHD as a child and has been on medication for the better half of a decade at this point. Recently I have learned that he is having severe difficulty falling asleep at night because his adderall dosage was doubled over the past year. He also has trouble waking up in the mornings and has been allowed to not attend school or go in late due to lack of sleep (e.g. falling asleep at 3am and waking up at 6am).

To my knowledge, increasing the adderall dosage was an extreme measure to take because his dosage went up by the same percentage increase between the fifth and tenth grades (e.g. puberty) as it has this time and the current increase happened because "he felt like it" and "thought it would help him in school" (there's typically nothing wrong with his performance as a student). He also takes beta blockers to counteract the effects of his adderall at nighttime and had those increased as well, but apparently he's so stimulated that they have become useless. The psychiatrist he sees recommended putting him on anti anxiety medications as well to help him fall asleep, which as of day two seem to be making things better, although he is still groggy in the mornings.

I think he is EXTREMELY overmedicated and have thought this for years. He always seems to be taking an adderall to help him with his homework at all times of the day, up to as late as 6pm. His use of medications has only increased with age, not decreased. There seems to be minimal emphasis on proper time management or getting better at executive functioning, which IMO would decrease the need for heavy levels of medication. He is pretty sedentary overall (no team sports, gym class as primary physical activity, town doesn't have sidewalks) and doesn't have a particularly healthy diet (very limited fruits and vegetables, heavily protein based). I also don't think he's that overscheduled because he's taking a rigorous but not completely backbreaking course load and doesn't have extreme extracurriculars. My mother doesn't *completely* believe that he is super overmedicated but is starting to think he might be "a bit overmedicated." She also seems to be expecting immediate results for him to have a perfectly healthy sleep schedule again when I don't think he ever truly had one and it took a year for him to reach this point, which makes me think it'll be a process for him to reach healthier sleep patterns again and not feel so groggy in the morning. Another family member also recommended talk therapy which I think would be helpful, but I don't think my brother or mother are completely on board with the idea.

What would you do or suggest in this situation? I have tried repeatedly to emphasize proper diet and exercise over a span of at least two years but it's fallen on deaf ears. I have tried to offer advice for what I do as someone who can have trouble falling asleep myself, albeit from an overactive brain and anxiety rather than stimulants. I don't live with them anymore but am getting increasingly frustrated with this situation because I offer suggestions and they don't want to do anything except rely on medication when I think it's just making the situation worse. As an aside, I find it really problematic that he was just able to double his dosage no problem and my mother signed off on it without thinking something like this could happen, and that using pills to counteract pills is the most appropriate measure. I'm also under no doubt he's feeling stressed from normal teenage life and that this isn't helping at all.

If the bolded is true -- that you actually see him regularly taking adderall throughout the day -- the problem might be that he is abusing his prescription, rather than that the prescription is wrong. But if you don't live with them, your mother is competent, and they are seeing a competent psychiatrist, then really, it's none of your business.

*Cross-posting from the Tweens and Teens forum*

I'm the adult sibling of a teenage (16 yo) boy. My brother was diagnosed with ADHD as a child and has been on medication for the better half of a decade at this point. Recently I have learned that he is having severe difficulty falling asleep at night because his adderall dosage was doubled over the past year. He also has trouble waking up in the mornings and has been allowed to not attend school or go in late due to lack of sleep (e.g. falling asleep at 3am and waking up at 6am).

To my knowledge, increasing the adderall dosage was an extreme measure to take because his dosage went up by the same percentage increase between the fifth and tenth grades (e.g. puberty) as it has this time and the current increase happened because "he felt like it" and "thought it would help him in school" (there's typically nothing wrong with his performance as a student). He also takes beta blockers to counteract the effects of his adderall at nighttime and had those increased as well, but apparently he's so stimulated that they have become useless. The psychiatrist he sees recommended putting him on anti anxiety medications as well to help him fall asleep, which as of day two seem to be making things better, although he is still groggy in the mornings.

I think he is EXTREMELY overmedicated and have thought this for years. He always seems to be taking an adderall to help him with his homework at all times of the day, up to as late as 6pm. His use of medications has only increased with age, not decreased. There seems to be minimal emphasis on proper time management or getting better at executive functioning, which IMO would decrease the need for heavy levels of medication. He is pretty sedentary overall (no team sports, gym class as primary physical activity, town doesn't have sidewalks) and doesn't have a particularly healthy diet (very limited fruits and vegetables, heavily protein based). I also don't think he's that overscheduled because he's taking a rigorous but not completely backbreaking course load and doesn't have extreme extracurriculars. My mother doesn't *completely* believe that he is super overmedicated but is starting to think he might be "a bit overmedicated." She also seems to be expecting immediate results for him to have a perfectly healthy sleep schedule again when I don't think he ever truly had one and it took a year for him to reach this point, which makes me think it'll be a process for him to reach healthier sleep patterns again and not feel so groggy in the morning. Another family member also recommended talk therapy which I think would be helpful, but I don't think my brother or mother are completely on board with the idea.

What would you do or suggest in this situation? I have tried repeatedly to emphasize proper diet and exercise over a span of at least two years but it's fallen on deaf ears. I have tried to offer advice for what I do as someone who can have trouble falling asleep myself, albeit from an overactive brain and anxiety rather than stimulants. I don't live with them anymore but am getting increasingly frustrated with this situation because I offer suggestions and they don't want to do anything except rely on medication when I think it's just making the situation worse. As an aside, I find it really problematic that he was just able to double his dosage no problem and my mother signed off on it without thinking something like this could happen, and that using pills to counteract pills is the most appropriate measure. I'm also under no doubt he's feeling stressed from normal teenage life and that this isn't helping at all.