CLONIDINE
It was ~8years ago but my son was on ritalin and clonidine. he was ten years old. Clonidine was .1mg three times a day and then more at night to go to sleep. Maybe .3mg at night. Altho the doc disagreed, this seemed like too much and made him zombie like. Change of doc and change of meds to just .3mg (?) at night to help sleep. Hope this helps a bit. My son was started on Clonidine just over two weeks ago. He is on Adderall XR 50mg, Lexapro 5mg, and now clonidine .1 mg twice a day. For two weeks straight after starting the medication, he had fabulous days in school. No more yelling out, being disruptive etc. Today (the beginning of week 3) he was again yelling out and being distruptive and acting silly in class. He is 11. I was wondering if this is a typical dose of Clonidine? Is it possible he needs more? Do you think this is related to the medication at all? Is there another medication that is longer lasting to help with impulsive type behaviors? When the put him on the Clonidine they decreased his Lexapro at the same time from 10 mg, because we didn't see a whole lot of benefit when we increased it. Is it possible that the Lexapro came out of his system totally and that is the problem? We have noticed more mouth biting since the medication change. Thanks for your insight! Guanfacine (Tenex) is similar to clonidine, but less sedating.
My youngest has done wonderfully with the guanfacine. It has curbed her impulsivness, hyperactivity and defiance and has allowed her to make and keep friends. With the guanfacine alone, she can focus some at school but not quite enough. The combo of a stimulant and the guanfacine is perfect for her. We started the guanfacine at nights and increased slowly to the current dose (2mg AM, 2mg night and 1/2 mg if the afternoon or evening social schedule will be challenging for her). We are still trying to work out the stim with the weight issues. I will keep her on the guanfacine during the summer and take a break from the stim to gain weight.
She also was one to never sleep (pre-med); both the guanfacine and the stim help her fall asleep easier (alone or in combo).
I take Clonidine 0.05mg once at night. I was taking 0.1mg once at night, and for the first week or so it was great! Sleeping better, much calmer, much better mood, etc.. but i found that after a few weeks it started to wear off, but also that i was rebounding much harder when i stopped taking the dexies for the day. My swearing has increased, and i also felt much less inhibited and would readily verbalise my thoughts with alot of passion thrown in with it. It also made it much harder to focus, to the point where i drove straight through a roundabout without even slowing down or looking!
Luckily everyone else stopped before i realised what was happening. Its like your in your own world and nothing around you registers. It also seemed to make me moodier, but mostly happy.In the end i had to back off as it was making daily tasks difficult to do, and also potentially dangerous things like the roundabout were happening. Thats why i only have the 1/2 tab now, and after initially taking a dive for a few days i have done a big turn around, and life is looking much better now - i can focus better, still have less agression than i would normally have, and just generally relaxed and more tolerant.
The only drawback at the moment is the jaw clenching at night once the dexies have worn off.
So yea don't increase it unless you really have to . . . the side effects will soon outweigh the benefits and then life can become much more difficult.Thanks and what has your experience been with this?Thanks for the input. Is there another medication that is has similar results to Clonidine for impulsivity in the event that he is resistant to this one?
Tics can be a problem with stims for some. They can go away or lessen after a while.
Different options you might consider to make the med regimin a little easier to deal with:
You might consider a methylphenidate formula that does not need to be administered so often to reduce the number of pills. These would be concerta, metadate CD, focalin, daytrana).
Clonidine comes in a patch form for less frequent administration (Catapres).
Also an alternative for clonidine is guanfacine, which is given for tics, and ADHD symptoms. It can be given 2 or 3 times a day and shire should have a once a day for on the market for ADHD later this year. With guanfacine, you may get better results than the stim alone and may be able to reduce the amount of stim.
IS IT JUST ME OR DOES THIS SEEM TO BE TOO MUCH??? SON 8- MORN: RITALIN 20 MG AND RITALIN LA 30 MG NOON:RITALIN 20 MG AND CLONIDINE 0.1 MG 4:30 : CLONIDINE 0.1 MG : NIGHT TIME TRAZADONE 50 MG. HE BEGAN HAVING TICS AND I AM PUZZLED , SCARED AND FEELING REALLY AWFUL ABOUT THIS , THE DOC SAYS WE CAN PUT HIM ON SOMETHING ELSE FOR THE TICS ALTHOUGH THE CLONIDINE IS SUPPOSE TO HELP. I WANT TO TRY THE PATCH AND SEE IF THIS HELPS THE COMBO. IS WORKING FOR HIM MY ISSUE IS I WILL NOT KEEP HIM ON SOMETHING (the ritalin)THAT IS GOING TO CREATE MORE PROBLEMS(the tics) HAS ANYONE ELSE EXPERIENCED ANY OF THESE PROBLEMS?THE TICS? IF SO ..... HELP......
THANKS FOR THE INPUT I HAVE PRINTED IT AND WILL BE TAKING IT TO THE DR. WITH ME... YOU HAVE BEEN SO HELPFUL.Enter Your Email below to claim your Free Book