My 16yo son (ADHD Inattentive) has been taking Concerta for 3 1/2 years. Was taking 54 mg until last year when his BP was consistently elevated, then we switched to 36mg. After a year of 36mg, the BP was still high. We saw a cardiologist and a nephrologist, and were able to determine that he had no underlying medical issues causing the high BP. Took him off Concerta in Dec-06, after 3 weeks the BP was completely normal. My regular pediatrician said that Concerta wears off at the end of the day, so if the med was causing the high BP, it should be normal the next day if he didn't take the med, but that was definitely not the case for us. It took at least 2 weeks for his BP to normalize, but it finally did. Nephrologist and I agree that this proves the Concerta was the cause of the high BP.
After being off the Concerta for 2 months, his schoolwork is slipping. Nephrologist has agreed to write a RX for Tenex (guanfacine?) so that he can resume the Concerta 36mg.
I see a lot of people here who are using Tenex for the ADD, but is anyone using it to counteract high BP with Concerta or other ADD stimulants? If so, what has your experience been?
Thanks very much!
Tenex is a mild antihypertensive and when used for kids the effect is minimal for most as long as it is increased and decreased slowly. Since your son showed hypertension with concerta, he may also show more of an effect with the Tenex. He may be more sensitive than most to this effect of meds. It would be worth trying under the doctor's guidance.
Also, becasue he did not return to normal bp for 2 weeks after stopping concerta, he at least does not have daily ups and downs, which would be harder to deal with.
vickie39115.7265162037I was told that the level of guanfacine dd is taking is so low as to not affect her blood pressure at all. Based on that, I would assume a much higher dose would be taken to actually lower blood pressure.