Real-Life ADHD Journey: Teen and Caregiver Perspectives
Emmett, a teen with ADHD, and his mom Cyrena share their story and discuss his treatment with a nonstimulant medication.
Narrator: This is the story of Emmett, a 17-year-old who loves architecture and playing video games. He is living with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Emmett has been taking Qelbree for about the last 3 years.
Once-a-day Qelbree (viloxazine extended-release capsules) is a nonstimulant prescription medicine used to treat ADHD in adults and children 6 years and older. Pay close attention to changes in your or your child’s mood, behavior, thoughts, or feelings, especially within the first few months of treatment or when the dose has changed, as medications like Qelbree may increase the risk of suicidal thoughts or behaviors in some adults or children.
You or your child should not take Qelbree with or within 14 days of taking a medicine for depression called a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI). Qelbree can increase blood pressure and heart rate. Your doctor will monitor these vital signs.
Cyrena: Over the past 3 years, I would say things haven’t changed much, which is great. Continuing the medication has been helpful for staying on task. I’ve noticed that the medication is helping him be consistent. There’s not any ups and downs, highs and lows with anything. The treatment stays quite consistent throughout the last few years, which has been great.
Emmett: It’s pretty much wake up, take your pill, go to school.
Cyrena: Starting the medication, I didn’t think it would ever be part of Emmett’s future to be able to sit still and stay focused for more than 10-minute time. But he’s really come a long way. He’s in high school now and able to focus, turn in his work on time and everything, so it’s been great.
Emmett: I feel like if I wasn’t on it a while ago, then I’d do one problem, doze off, do half of a problem, then just stop doing my work. And now I can just get through my problems really fast.
Cyrena: Our journey was a roller coaster with ups and downs and not knowing how to treat Emmett’s ADHD. Now it’s a different kind of roller coaster, as he’s in his teenage years. Emmett’s matured a little bit. I think he’s gotten better as far as knowing the social cues. That’s not part of our roller coaster anymore.
Emmett: The progress that I’ve made has definitely been surprising to my younger self because I never would have thought that I would have been able to do this much work and not really go off task as much.
Cyrena: If I could describe ADHD in one word before Qelbree, I would classify it as a wall. He would have so many obstacles to get through and it would just become so frustrating for him that he couldn’t get through it. But since starting Qelbree, I would now classify it as a ladder to get over that wall. The wall’s still going to be there—as it is in most of our lives. We all have our walls, but this is a tool to help get over that heavy obstacle.
Emmett: Probably before, I’d probably say I was a little chaotic because I’d be focused on one thing and then I’d be finding this distraction—ooh, let me do this, ooh, let me do that—instead of actually sticking to that one thing. But now, now that I’m on Qelbree, I can be more focused on that one thing and also be clearing my mind away from those distractions that would keep me away from actually completing that one thing.
Cyrena: I’m grateful that he’s able to stay on task and focused. I’m grateful that he could attend high school and even take college classes. And now he’s able to have every opportunity all the other teenagers have, and I’m proud of him.
Emmett: One of my hobbies is architecture. I like looking at the houses, how they’re made, kind of the stuff around it, and the backstory of it is also kind of cool too. I’m looking forward to graduating high school, going to college, studying architecture, and just getting a job that works in that sort of field. I’m excited to get my driver’s license. That way, once I get a job, I can get a car. I’m hoping to get a job at a pizza place. My brother also worked there and he said it was a lot of fun.
Sandra (Emmett’s Grandmother): One of the biggest changes I’ve noticed is that he’s just part of us. He’s one of us. The distractions have minimized, so he has been able to participate in different things. Where before he was living in his own little world. At times he still is—and that’s okay, because we all have to have that. But there has been that significant change that he is now part of us, and that has been the greatest blessing.
Emmett: The people that have helped me the most during my journey with ADHD has probably been my mom, my grandma, and my family. I’m glad I did something about my ADHD because if not, I would have been much less focused in class. I do think that if I wasn’t on Qelbree, then it would have been much different.
Cyrena: Hey bud, how was school today?
Advice I would give to another parent would be to keep trying. It’s not an easy process to try to find the right treatment for your child’s ADHD. There’s a lot out there. Just keep working with your doctor and working with your child to try to find the right thing for them.
Indication and full Important Safety Information scroll at end of video.
