Guanfacine has a half life (the amount of time for 1/2 of it to be left in the system) of 12-18 hours. BUT the effective time for ADHD symptoms is 6-8 hours, so a night time dose will not really help during the day (other than the good benefits of a night's rest). The early sedating properties will lessen as the body adjusts to the med, but it will continue to calm or relax your child to allow for sleep to come easier.
My daughter does not have any problem with daytime sleepiness. I cannot tell when it starts working but was told about 1/2 hour. I can tell when it wears off and she gets excitable though.
I hope this helps.
Just keep asking until you are comfortable that you know what is happening. We are all hear for each other.
vickie39216.9093865741I notice my daughter calms down in about a half hour. We actually are dropping from 1/2 to 1/4 of .1mg tablet today. She is falling asleep in school about 7 hours after she takes it. We're not 100% sure it is that, but she has been getting sleepy 7-8 hours after taking her morning dose since she started. She is VREY sesnitive to meds. We stopped stims yesterday and she fell asleep. I had to get her from the nurse. Today I will give her less. Dont know how luch they'll like her today, no stim and very little Guanfacine.Welcome toms'mum,
Adult ADHD is more recognized here in the US than elsewhere. Studies have shown that between 40 and 60 percent of people do not mature out of the need for meds.
It may be that the demands of work are more for your son than the structured school demands and your son may just need an increase in meds.
Please start a new thread so that you can get more responses.
vickie39217.2878240741It seemed like after Chase was on the med for a week or two, he was calmer...but it was gradual, the med had to build up in his system. And Chase too gets sleepy sometimes on the weekends when he has no stim in her system...he takes it at about 9:30 AM on the weekend, then he may nap at like 2 in the afternoon...but now always, and the doc says after he has no stim this summer for a week or so, he won't be sleepy like that anymore..his body will adjust.hi everyone! i am new to this and live in england i find these sites very helpful as i feel that adhd is more recognised abroad than it is here in england. my son is 17 now and was diagnosed adhd at the age of 3(long time) he was put on ritalin at the age of 6 and changed to concerta at the age of 12 he takes 54mg per day but now as he is older and left school and trying to hold down a job(very difficult) i dont feel that the concerta is doing it job anymore . does any one no if long term medication has the same affect or should we try something new at this stage in his life? please help as i feel we are now going backwards and do not get any help or support from anywhere . he is getting very distressed at the moment and feeling he will never cope with his disability. dont no anyone who has a teenager with adhd so any advice would be appreciated.
thanx!
I'm sorry I've been asking so many questions lately. I have three more questions about guanfacine.
1. How long after your child takes the guanfacine do you notice that it's helping your child's impulsivity and hyperactivity? In other words, how many minutes/hours until it kicks in?
2. Is this a medicine that needs to build up in the system? I've been giving him the guanfacine at 7 PM, and 8-9:30 PM he's still his usual impulsive and hyperactive self after the Focalin XR wears off. It is helping him fall asleep (no melatonin needed), but shouldn't I see some behavioral improvements? He's taking 1/2 mg, at this point at night only (next weekend, we'll see how he does with adding a morning dose).
3. I'm confused how this medicine works. At night, it helps him fall asleep, but he's supposed to take the same daytime dose as nighttime dose and it isn't supposed to make him tired during the day?
Once again, thanks for answering my questions!
Mom2ADHDboy39216.8759953704