My son was on this for a few years...to I think it helped? I really don't know. It helped his moods a bit...but he gained ALOT of weight from it. It really became a problem....our new psychiatrist decided he really didn't think it was needed and we weaned him off of it. He has been fine w/o it...and has lost weight. It was amazing..the weight fell off him after stopping that medication.
It's a strong medication...move carefully before giving it.
My 8-year old is on this-2 months now. She has ADHD and ODD. She takes it in the evening 0.5 mg and uses a 30 MG patch during the day. I was scared to have her take it too, because of the class of drug it is in. But, it has helped her stay in a nicer mood, and for the first time EVER I have seen her yawn and actually fall asleep on the couch at night! She sleeps with me and refuses to go to bed unless I am next to her (gave up trying to get her in her own room years ago). One thing I have noticed is that it is more difficult to wake her in the mornings, but one hurdle at a time! She can become violent in the mornings prior to her patch kicking in. Her appetite has not surged like I was told it would, she is small for her age and usually gets hungry at night (10 PM). Good luck.No, not really. What does "3rd line" mean? She was on Clonadine only, just at bedtime, but was weaned off of that because she was complaining of migraine-type headaches every night within half an hour of taking it. Risperidone was substituted at bedtime, but I don't see that it is really helping her with sleep, and am not sure it's really supposed to. The Ritalin was begun around the same time, after she attacked me and my arm ended up in a sling for a few weeks.