ADHD Stimulants

If your dog got into an Adderall, Vyvanse, Ritalin, or Concerta bottle, call now rather than reading to the end. The Merck Veterinary Manual is explicit that no antidote exists for this class. Treatment means controlling signs while the drug wears off, and arriving early is most of the outcome. The numbers explain the urgency. Merck's dose-response figures for amphetamines are restlessness and agitation at 0.09 mg/kg, hyperthermia and tachycardia at 0.2 mg/kg, tremors at 0.7 mg/kg, and seizures at 1.3 mg/kg. For an 11 lb dog, the seizure figure is 6.5 mg — less than a single 10 mg Adderall tablet. The minimum lethal dose of amphetamine sulfate is reported at 20-27 mg/kg orally, and the LD50 for most amphetamines at 10-23 mg/kg. Methylphenidate is different: Merck notes its LD50 has not been established and that Beagles survived 20 mg/kg daily for 90 days. That is not permission to wait — it means there is no threshold you can use at home. Mechanically, amphetamines increase the release of norepinephrine and block its reuptake while raising dopamine, epinephrine, serotonin, and histamine, so signs hit every system at once. Merck lists restlessness, agitation, hyperactivity, aggression, mydriasis, circling, head bobbing, vocalization, ataxia, seizures, and death. Rising body temperature is the part that kills. Formulation changes the picture. Extended-release products pack a full day's dose into one tablet or capsule of beads. A chewed XR tablet can deliver that entire dose at once; a swallowed one can produce delayed and prolonged signs. Merck notes that a clinically normal patient who ingested a long-acting or extended-release product might benefit from induction of emesis followed by activated charcoal, while emesis is generally not recommended for immediate-release ingestions because of the rapid onset. That call belongs to the clinic, not your kitchen — do not induce vomiting at home. Write down the drug, the strength, whether it is IR or XR, how many doses are missing, the time, and your dog's weight, then call your veterinarian, an emergency clinic, or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 and bring the bottle. One thing worth knowing in advance: Merck lists phenothiazines such as acepromazine (0.55-1.1 mg/kg) or chlorpromazine (0.5 mg/kg) as first-line sedation and warns that diazepam can cause a paradoxical reaction and worsen signs. So do not be alarmed if the team reaches for a sedative rather than a seizure drug.