Questions about Clonidine | ADHD Information

My son's doctor prescribed Clonidine 0.1mg to be taken at 4pm every day.  She said that it should help him calm down and should not effect his bedtime/sleeping.    Has anyone ever used this?  I looked it up online and it says that it's a blood pressure medicine but has had great successes in children with ADHD and calming their hyper activity.   Thanks in advance...   Michelle

clonidine and guanfacine (Tenex) are in the same med class and work similarly. The guanfacine is effective for hyper and impulsivity, etc and my youngest takes it daily (am and pm, with an afternoon dose when needed). The stimulant is needed for full attention at school, so the combo is good for her. There is a Tenex thread that has lots of info on these meds (articles and references):

http://www.adhdnews.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=24770& KW=tenex

i was on that clondine and i was thinking the risperdal and clondine was fighting each other but i wonder if i took the risperdal first and waited a while and then took the clondine, if it would of helped .   Also the medicine resolves in the mouth and you do not have to swallow it. I think that is neat. But it is nasty the medicne. yuck. It tastes yucky. I hate tasting it. It be nice if doctors let us know that it can resolve on your tongue because i thought opps i need to get another pill because that resolve on my tongue and couldn't take it.

 

My youngest is on guanfacine and risperdal together. They complement each other in her, but everyone is different.

Ok.  Here's a brief update...

On Friday at 4pm I gave my son 1/2 of the .1mg tablet.  It dissolved quite quick in his mouth - no biggie..washed it right down.  He got a little drowsy and fell asleep shortly before dinner and then again while he was trying to eat.  I was told that he would be drowsy for a day or two while starting the meds, but it would even out and he wouldn't be drowsy.

Then, I got a phone call from his father saying that he was complaining of stomach pain.  Stomach cramps wasn't listed on the side affects (unless I wasn't reading it properly).  Any idea what this could have been?  Will the drowsiness continue or will it diminish as we continue to give him the clonidine as it is such as small small dose??

Thanks!

it will not make him drowzy for long and it can help, also i know i should be back on it. but i will see my psychriatrist this month so i will just see.Clonidine has been extremely helping my son with the "H" in his ADHD.
When he was on focalin, he took a full Clonidine three times a day. When we
changed to Ritalin LA, we had to cut back to 1/2 tab as the full tab was
making him fall asleep. Not a good thing at school. The 1/2 tab is great, but
I wonder if your son only neeeds a 1/2 tab.

My son did have stomach pain today when he took his Clonidine and
accidently forgot to take his stimulant. But he rarely has had stomach aches
in the two years he's been on Clonidine.

We give a dose 30 minuts before bedtime and he sleeps very well.

I see the original post was a little while ago, so not sure if this will help or not:

I see where a few people say that the sleepiness effect of the clonindine should wear off, but our dr. prescribed it FOR that reason...my son was taking Provigil in the a.m., and then pretty much HAD to have the clonindine at night or he physically could not go to sleep...not a matter of him not wanting to, I assure you, but he physically couldn't, so for us, the sleep effects did not wear off, and were we glad!

Even if  sleepyness wears off, there is a relaxation that can better allow sleep which can stay with taking the med. So basically, daytime sleepyness can go away but the before bed relaxantion (that lasts 1-2 hours) can stay and be helpful.