How long does it take the tenex to kick in? We had a horrible morning this am; defiance and aggression, swearing- I had to swat him with the wooden spoon, which I'm not proud of, and he laughed at me. I have tried giving the tenex before he wakes up, but usually the act of giving him a med before waking means he will not go back to sleep. Also he has no appetite again...thought Tenex was supposed to increase this?
Our alternative is to bump up on the Concerta, there is no 45mg pill but we could bite the bullet with the copays and do the 18 plus 27...or we could do a short acting in the early am instead but are going to run short on pm coverage.
The thing is, he's a great kid at night lately. Almost as if the tenex works but takes an EXTREMELY long time to do so!
My understanding is that it takes a while before you see results from Tenex. I went very slowly with this med even though my doc just said take 1mg in am and 1mg in pm. Thanks to this website and its senior members I decided to go slowly. We are still on trail on the med. I am not really sold on it. Just because my son(6) has developed more anxiety, weeping, crying since on Tenex.Largely influenced by the threads I've read on this board regarding guanfacine, I asked my son's psychiatrist to prescribe it to augment his 36 mg dose of Concerta. My son is 7 and recently went through a growth spurt, so I think that's why the Concerta isn't working as well. But I don't think I want him on 54 mg just yet so I was hoping Tenex could give us some extra coverage. He did take Clonidine before, .5 mg in the am and 1 mg pm which sometimes, but not always, helped with sleep.
We started with .5 mg Tenex at 6:30 am and 2:00 pm and recently upped it to 1 mg. We haven't seen much improvement w/the impulse and aggression issues, but suddenly my son is very emotional. He cries over frustrations and generally seems sad. I should add, that on the .5mg dose he was suspended from daycare for 3 days (not because of the Tenex I don't think-but it didn't prevent the behavior either. He had several "strikes" against him before this.) so he has been home the last few days and I've had this chance to finally observe him. So I'm not sure if he's sad about the suspension or sad because of the Tenex! Also, he seems to have less appetite-seems just the opposite of what I've been reading.
How long do you think we should continue the Tenex at this dosing level? The dr wants to go to the end of the week- is that long enough to be able to tell if we're going to have results? I had such high hopes for this med!
What is the optimum time to give the Tenex? I hear mornings & evenings mostly around here, but my son's dr. has us giving it to him first thing in the morning and at 2:00 pm.- for late afternoon/early evening coverage. But if it doesn't peak for HOURS...maybe it's just that our timing is off!
My son has been on tenex for 3 years along with concerta. We have been at 1 mg in the morning only, unless his concerta is wearing off and needs help with impulsiveness at a sport practice, which is usually around 5pm
My son is 10 and was on 72mgs of concerta at the age of 7 along with the tenex. We just increased his concerta to 90 this past july and his tenex is still at 1 mg. We have had no bad side effects this whole time.
He did start at .5mg at first, which we just broke in half, but he need the full 1 mg. We even increased his concerta once but it did nothing until the tenex was increased to 1mg.
These are the only meds our son is on and he eats and sleeps. He is 10 and almost 5ft tall and weighs around 104lbs.
I am glad the med is working for you. It seems to be one that works really well for some and has too many side effects for others. My youngest has done really well on it,
That link didnt even mention Tenex for use in ADHD and the dosages are different when used for that .
We started tenex about 5 days ago and so far its working SOOOO well for us ! We were having MAJOR issues with my son being WILD ( defiant,EXTREMELY Hyper,aggressive,argumentative and just screaming outbursts every am and pm ) and I was at my wits in . I was so stressed out,scared and upset at what these meds ( he is currently on Daytrana 15 mg ) were doing to him ! We went to see the psych dr for the first time and he added Tenex 1 mg at night . I am holding my breath ............ but so far ................ mornings and evenings have now been AWSOME ! He's also eating better and goes to sleep faster . he is waking up in the mornings earlier .....but its not too early that its causing a probelm ..yet . Tenex has a 16 hr half life !!!! So it does peak HOURS after its given ....which is why I think the mornings have been better here .
Like all meds ..I am holding my breath .......but for now ........ its so much better around here than what it has been !
Roxanne221139361.3752083333Tenex is effective for 6-8 hours for ADHD symptoms (although for blood pressure it lasts longer and has a half life of 12-18 hours) so AM, after school (if needed) and at bedtime are ideal. We only use the afternoon dose if there is a socially challenging activity planned for the evening.
Dreamermom,
It scared us so bad we don't want to add any other med to the Metadate, even though we know it causes him much anxiety.
Val
Dreamermom,
Please read this list of Tenex side effects:
http://www.healthsquare.com/newrx/ten1432.htm
My son had aggression like never before - on or off meds - and when we stopped it, instead of tapering it off (psych orders), he had at least three manic episodes.
Val
[QUOTE=momval]Dreamermom,
Please read this list of Tenex side effects:
http://www.healthsquare.com/newrx/ten1432.htm
My son had aggression like never before - on or off meds - and when we stopped it, instead of tapering it off (psych orders), he had at least three manic episodes.
Val
[/QUOTE]
Yikes Val- that is interesting stuff. I noticed itching was listed- my son has been scratching like crazy lately. I wonder if this med is a bad fit- or if we just have to give it a chance. We never had any issues with Clonidine, just too sedating for daytime use.
[QUOTE=Roxanne2211]That link didnt even mention Tenex for use in ADHD and the dosages are different when used for that .
Oh yes, it did:
Side effects cannot be anticipated. If any develop or change in intensity, inform your doctor as soon as possible. Only your doctor can determine whether it is safe for you to continue taking Tenex. This medication will probably make you drowsy, especially when you first begin to take it.
More common side effects may include: