ADHD And Albuteral ?

I have asthma and take Albuterol as needed.

Albuterol, MAY make some people more 'hyper.' Or if they take too much dosage.
That is one of its side-effects.

For me and Albuterol, it does not cause me to feel hyper at all. Nor does it cause a reverse effect. I simply, do not get side-effects with Albuterol.

In an ADHD person, caffeine (which is a stimulant of course), actually causes a reverse effect... meaning, it calms them, makes them more focused.
Thus, with Albuterol, its potential side-effects of causing "hyper-ness' in a person, has the reverse effect, on a person with ADHD.

2 moms found this helpful

I don't know the medical technicalities, but amphetamines used to be used as bronchodilators, so I'd suspect bronchodilators could have similar effects as amphetamines.
If she's on a stimulant for ADHD, she may need a higher dose, since this worked out so well, If she isn't on ADHD meds, it looks like they might be a big help!

1 mom found this helpful

TELL me about it.

My ds8 is also adhd/gifted and when he's having to use his inhaler (new, since febuary)... he does *fantastically*. Far better than anything else has ever worked. We homeschool... so the night/day difference is instantly noticeable.

I've actually been doing a bit of chicken & egg thinking ... and have just been trying to document and track. Trying to figure out how much is the stimulant properties and how much is the 'being able to breathe is less distracting that not being able to breathe' & 'meltdowns trigger attacks v attacks trigger meltdowns'.

((On the nebulizer, however, he becomes Mr. Happy No Sleep. 2 hours on, and he doesn't sleep for 36 hours without drugs... the hospital will give him a tranquilizer after day 1.5. I have no idea as to his adhd symtomology on the neb, however, since we don't have one at home... it's only when we end up in the ER or admitted. But with the albuterol puffer, even 8 puffs every hour doesn't trigger the insomnia. So no idea there))

So glad she's had a couple of great days! And wouldn't it be great if it was the albuterol!

I too have an asthmatic ADHD daughter (now in her late 20s). I didn't find in her that the albuterol made much difference in her behavior. Still, I think there's a lot of medicinal treatments that work better or differently for one person than another. Whatever works!

Good luck!

Huh... Never experienced this or if it did I didn't realize it was happening. Ask your doctor, this sounds like an experiment waiting to happen. Maybe conduct a little one yourself. Wow, you might have just discovered something that will help a whole lot of people (myself included) with their kids. Thanks for sharing!

Check with the doctor, I am sure that this would be an off lable use, but if the doctor gives you the go ahead...also, the albuterol is not that long lasting, if I am right, so just that she felt better may be part of your explaination, as the drug would be out of her system at some point in the day, unless she is getting a breathing treatment every 4 hours, so I would check and see how long albuterol lasts in her system. When I have had to take them, it has been something that I had to do every 4 hours while awake (and they make me shake like a leaf...so there is a definet stimulant like effect. Just be in touch with your doctors. Glad she had a good day!

M.