medication issues

[Kjs]

difficult child definately has ADHD. The ODD seems to have quietly, slowly gotten better. Still very stubborn.

In the past two years he has tried Concerta, Focalin, Adderall and now Vyvanse. ALL put him in an extremely bad, angry, scary mood. So angry he is scared.

He is taking 50mg's of Zoloft. (is that a lot to start?)

Dr. last year gave some samples of Strattera and wanted him to take that for anxiety. We did not. The reason I put of Strattera is because the others are quick in quick out. It is easier to see how he does in just one day. Now I guess we need to go with Strattera. He doesn't do well on any stimulant.

Does anyone know of a different ADHD medication that may work? One that is quick in, quick out?

 

[JJJ]

Tigger couldn't take stims for the same reason. Strattera mad him very depressed.

We have found that Clonodine gives us some symptom control with minimal side effects.

 

[jal]

We have had the same problem. Tried every stimulant under the sun and difficult child has had adverse reactions to all of them. We trialed a Straterra and Tenex combo to treat ADHD with-o stims and we never saw any improvement. We trialed Clonodine with-out any luck too. What had really seemed to work in our difficult child's case has been a combo of Seroquel and Prozac. Once he started this his academic world opened up. His psychiatrist wanted us to trial Clonodine again in patch form, but because he did so well this summer (camp, school summer program) we have held off.

 

[tictoc]

Hi,
Bug has tried Strattera, clonidine, and Focalin for ADHD symptons, as well as Zoloft, Prozac, and imipramine (a tricyclic antidepressant) for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

We started with Strattera because he has Tourette Syndrome and many doctors view that as a first line treatment for ADHD combined with Tourette's Syndrome. Honestly, we never even got him to a therapeutic dose because it caused vomitting. Lots of vomitting.

We saw results with clonidine quickly and I would guess that if it doesn't take long to get out of the system, either. Bug uses the patch form and if his patch falls off (like when swimming), he crashes quickly. It is not a pretty sight. Initially, clonidine was fairly sedating, but that wore off after a week or so. He also experienced a lot of itching at the patch site at first, but our pediatrician. prescribed an inhaler for us to spray directly on his skin before applying the patch. That took care of the itching problem.

We have been trying other drugs in combination with clonidine, without a lot of luck. Bug started at .1 mg of clonidine in April and is already up to .4 mg (he wears two .2 mg patches simultaneously). The maximum dose for kids is .6 mg, so we are worried about the day when we have to move on. But, for now, we are happy with clonidine. The patches are convenient (and just came out in generic form), he doesn't have the crashing that some people experience with the tablet form, and he is far less impulsive and hyperactive.

Good luck.

 

[jcox]

My E who has mixed diagnoses is a complex child to medicate. At a recent visit with his new psychiatrist we discussed his ADHD symptoms. She said because of his diagnostic mix, especially his BiPolar (BP), she would only even consider Tenex or Straterra with him. She decided to try him on Tenex. It is in the same family as Clonidine, but made up a little differently. It is said to be 10x less potent, but work for longer at a time. Tenex has shown alot of promise in children who have ADHD, BiPolar (BP), and Autism Spectrum Disorders.

When he first went on Tenex he had a rough 2 days as his body adjusted but then we began to see improvements with his attention span, decreased hyperness/mania, his speech slowed down and became easier to understand. I know that all children are different, but maybe you should consider Tenex.

 

[Christy]

Tenex has been a very good medication for controlling my difficult child's ADHD symptoms. He did not tolerate any stimulants including straterra. We also tried clonidine but it was more sedating than the tenex and made him fall asleep.