Real Teen ADHD Patient Video
Eli and his mother Laura share their ADHD story and talk about his ongoing nonstimulant treatment.
Narrator: This is the story of Eli, a 12-year-old who loves to play football, ride scooters and bikes, and take pictures of sunsets. He is living with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and has been taking Qelbree for about 4 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.
Laura: Eli has been taking Qelbree for about 4 years now. Eli takes two 200 milligram capsules once a day, or 400 milligrams, in the morning. We see the pediatrician generally only once a year unless he's having a medical issue, and he'll write the prescription for the whole year and then just refill it monthly.
We were able to use the copay card this year, and that was a huge help for us. It would only cost us $20. Qelbree has been sort of a reset for us, allowing us to both to stop and process more.
As a parent, one of the things that I didn’t do well in the beginning was when he was frustrated, I would also be frustrated because I was trying to help. And a lot of times the things that I was doing to try to help weren’t necessarily helping, and it would make, both of the frustration levels would rise.
Qelbree has helped us have a reset button where Eli is able to stop and process and think things through. Eli seems more settled, able to think through things more and speak how he’s feeling versus act on how he’s feeling.
We’ve noticed through taking the medication and through talking through with a therapist some strategies of what to do when we are feeling frustrated. If you’re starting to feel frustrated or need a break that you go take a ride on the scooter or go play basketball up in your room.
In the past, if something was frustrating or if he was having difficulty, it would start him doing something like wadding up the paper or breaking a pencil or demonstrating how he was feeling. Because he has a pause, it helps me have a pause, and we’re able to communicate much better. We make each other calm down versus spiraling up. The fact that we’re able to do that, I think, is different.
We’ve gained a lot of perspective over the last 4 years. We have a lot of things that we can do that makes it a lot better for us both individually and as a family.
As a family, we’re able to do more activities together. We play cards. Takes a lot of concentration and focus and attention to play that. Eli played through the full 10 phases.
Socially, Eli has started to initiate his own friendships—people that he’s met in class.
Eli: I’ve had a few sleepovers with my friends. I feel more focused in class. I’ve seen that I can sit still for a longer period of time.
Right now in school, we’re reading The Outsiders. I have math for homework, and I can do it. It feels more easier because I’m like more focused and I can listen to the teacher better.
Laura: That is a change that I’ve noticed too. In the past, there were too many things competing inside his head to be able to process what the teacher was saying. Now he is able to do that much better and be able to say if he doesn’t understand it. He’s becoming much more confident in telling me or a teacher when he doesn’t know what the assignment is or how to complete it.
Shannon (Eli’s Aunt): Over the last 4 years, I’ve noticed some changes in Eli as he visits us in the summertime. Being able to do activities with us like crabbing and helping with the pets and playing with your cousins. It’s always fun to have you there.
Eli: We have a good time.
Laura: I think it’s really cool that we had the ability to look back on 4 years ago when you were 9. In these 4 years, we’ve learned how to talk about ADHD. You’ve made friends who have similar struggles, and you could look back as a 12-year-old and say to a 9-year-old who may just be starting the process, “Look how far we’ve come.”
Indication and full Important Safety Information scroll at end of video.
