Perhaps I was wrong about meds | ADHD Information
[QUOTE=BL Moretti]For me it has to do with my son's (9) feelings about himself. If he is in trouble all day and cannot get his work done that does not help his sense of self worth. I wonder about Tenex because my guy could sure use some weight gain.
If things are going well I would not make a change until summer... Summer is a great time to take a break, see how you stand, try a different med. Remind your self of life w/o meds.
Tomorrow I see a psychiatrist with my 5 1/2 year old.
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Guanfacine(tenex) has really helped with my son, who is 9 also. I too am going through my son realizing he is different and wondering if he needs to take meds for the rest of his life.
In the past, before he leveled off at where he is now, when the concerta had been increased but not the guanfacine, the teachers noticed NO difference. But when we increased the guanf. the change was wonderful.
He is on 72 mg of concerta and 1 mg. of guanfacine. He will be 10 in June, weights probably 85 lbs and is 5' 0 tall. He is a good size boy, but he too went through the skinnies. In one year he gained 10 lbs! I can't wait for the physical in June this year. The doctor said his body finally adjusted to the medication, which has been 2 years now. I just bought him size 16 cargos at the gap, both pants and shorts!
I could be the spokesman for guanfacine because it has been the wonder med. in my son's life!
Regards!
Beth
For me it has to do with my son's (9) feelings about himself. If he is in trouble all day and cannot get his work done that does not help his sense of self worth. I wonder about Tenex because my guy could sure use some weight gain.If things are going well I would not make a change until summer... Summer is a great time to take a break, see how you stand, try a different med. Remind your self of life w/o meds.
Tomorrow I see a psychiatrist with my 5 1/2 year old.
It is normal to go up and down by 0.5mg on the tenex. So just stopping at 0.5mg would be ok (and that is probably why the doc gave no further instructions).
Guanfacine (tenex) is very versitile and is used in post tramatic stress, PPD, ODD, ADHD and other disorders.
It is useful to take a break from meds once in a while so that you can see the current effect they are having. My daughters' doc likes a med break each year to see if the child has matured and needs less meds or no meds. It also is a time for us parents to get a reminder that the meds are really helping, so we quit second guessing ourselves on the treatment choices we have made for our kids. We were seeing such good results with guanfacine/stimulant (but with issues gaining weight) that we recently tried without the stimulant (guanfacine alone). It took time to see some of the struggles return (not near as much as with no meds). We know know that she needs both guanfacine and a stim (at least until something else changes-like puberty).
Stopping Tenex suddenly could cause dangerous blood pressure issues.
If you are worried abut the meds, take your child to a Psyciatrist of your choivce,and have an evaluation done. that is the only way you will be sure.
Our psyciatrist recommending taking him off. he was only on .5 mg - 1/2 of the lowest dosage possible and the doctor didn't give me any instructions except let's try taking him off the meds. I have a feeling that I need to find an alternative doctor - this one is starting to give me a funny feeling. I think the only time you will see scary side affects with the guanfacine is if you are using a couple mg and start or stop suddenly, rather than increase or decrease slowly. Like all things, posible side effects should be kept in mind and the proper caution exersized with its use.What scary side effects? Chase goes w/o the stim on the weekends sometimes and the only thing that I notice is that he is a bit more relaxed, maybe sleepy... and I suspect that would diminish if he were stim free for a longer period, and his body adjusted to the guanfacine only. I do know that sometimes the guanfacine is prescribed only for the hyperactive ADHD, when the child doesn't need the focusing power of the stim, and shire is working on a time release version as a first line ADHD med.....
The dose is quite low, I have not seen any scary side effects l! 
We tried the Feingold diet for 3 weeks with additions of Omega-3 and Amino acids - The change in our son was huge so the doctor said we should try to take him off Tenex. Well, within 2 days our son's behavior went down hill at school really fast. By the 5th day the school was really concerned about his behavior and saw he really couldn't control himself. I also witnessed his extreme behavior yesterday after school. He was uncontrolable. We regrettfully feel we need to put him back on Tenex.
Does anyone have children on tenex and tried to take them off? Your results?
Perhaps we were wrong to remove him from medication. It does it appear it helped him.
newmom39155.1986574074
The tenex is not a stimulant....why do you feel so strongly about no meds? Does he have unwanted side effects from the tenex? If he was doing well on the diet and the tenex combined, just keep on doing what is working! It is so great that you were able to eliminate the stimulant!
And now at least you know you have tried everything and you know what works...
My son is on ritalin LA and guanfacine (tenex generic) and I love the combination....tenex alone would not be enough for him, he needs the focus the ritalin gives him, but the addition of the tenex was the missing link...the icing on the cake....
Regarding no meds - I think that children are overly diaganosed with diorders and that meds are over used on these little ones. This is not to mean that some are legitimate issues and need medication.My situation is a little different. My son is not my bio son. My husband and I are adopting him and his sister from foster care. They have only been with us 3 months. I suppose I had too many expectations but I also know children in foster care are all on one medication or another so I assumed he was misdiagonosed as well. I was wrong.
I totally agree that children are way overdiagnosed. I think it is wonderful that you and your husband are giving these children a loving home, and that you are going that extra mile to be sure that they get what they need to succeed. I, too, think that way too many children are on ADHD meds unneccessarily, and have witnessed the zombie like state in some of them in my years as a preschool teacher.
Kudos to you for trying, and for being smart enough to admit that you may have been wrong...
Great job!