tenex or guafacine | ADHD Information
I am going nuts with all these med changes we have been going through. My son is 10, on Concerta and Zoloft and I am convinced the zoloft is making his anxiety and impulsiveness worse. I brought up tenex with the psychiatrist and he said it was usually a last resort. I am looking for people who use tenex with a stim and how it is working even with a low dose of anti-anxiety as well? any help ASAP would be appreciated.My daughter (12) has been using a combo of concerta and tenex for over a year. She on 27 mg concerta and 2 mg of tenex (1 mg am/pm). The combo seems to be working pretty well. We started the tenex for tics and evening hyperness. It has decreased the tics and evenings are much more managable. I also think she has less anxiety, but it is a pretty subtle change. She seem much more even keel.
We played around with the tenex dosing (.5 am / 1.5 pm) and that made her more irritable in the evenings. Switching it back to 1 mg am/pm worked better.
With tenex, you start low and ramp up. We did .5 mg at night for about a week and then added .5 in the am. When we needed to increase, we added .5 mg in the evening and then .5 in the AM. With her weight (115 lb), we were told we could go up to a total of 3mg daily.
The main side effect is that it can make the kids a lethargic. We have had to deal with this some, but it seems better after their bodies have adjusted. It doesn't really help her sleep at night, but it does take the edge off her hyperness. We have had issues with her not performing as well in sports, but we haven't been able to totally put the blame on the tenex. There are many factors - attitude, puberty, a little exercise induced asthma and team/coaching dynamics.
My son, age 11, has been taking tenex for about 10 months. It has been wonderful. He originally started taking ritalin when he was 6. We switched to focalin and then the Daytrana Patch. I love the patch because I can apply it before he wakes up. Anyway the problem I always had was that when my son was not medicated he was dificult to handle and very hyper, impulsive and unfocused. When the school evaluated him last year the psycologist said that he had anxiety issues. I saw some of it at home but there were a few things he did that I didn't realize were due to anxiety. He had seemed to be getting a little depressed from having to deal with his adhd issues.
Up to that point I was having my ped take care of the adhd meds after having been diagnosed by a dev ped. My ped immediately refer my son to a psychatrist to deal with the anxiety/depression issues. The psychiatrist wanted to try some other adhd med, Straterrra or Concerta, I'm not sure. I didn't want to do that because the patch was working so well. A big problem I used to have was getting my son to take his meds in the morning. He would be late for school because I couldn't get him to take it. Mornings were a mess. I was not giving up the patch. Like I said I put it on him about 2 hrs before he wakes up and it is already in his system when he wakes up. Mornings are now pretty routine. Since I didn't want to try another adhd med the doctor prescribed tenex. She said it would help with his anxiety, impulsiveness, agression, and sleep problems. We started out at .5mg in the eve then added .5mg in the AM. We are at 1mg in the AM and PM now.
This has helped tremendously with his adhd issues and anxiety. The psych also referred us to a behavior therapist who has done wonders. I don't think the behavioral terapist would have been nearly as successful if he wasn't taking the tenex.
Some examples of the changes are:
He rarely has a meltdown anymore (usually if he does it is because he is sick)
He gets along so much better with his siblings
He is able to play games and not get angry if he doesn't get his way
Much more flexible when his routine changes
Remembers to call home/ tell me where he is going/ and come home on time/
Shows no signs of depression
Agression has almost totally disappeared
This medication works throughout the day and night so we no longer have issues in the evening when the daytrana has worn off. Before the tenex we used to give my son a dose of focalin to get through his homework/CCD/basketball etc. My son used to stay up most nights till 2AM. With the tenex he is usually asleep by midnight. Not great I know but much better.
As far as I'm aware my son has no side effects from this med. It did make him a little tired when he first started taking it. That is why you start giving it in the evening. That quickly passed.
My husband has ADD. His psych always ask how my son is doing dealing with ADHD. My husband told him how well the tenex was helping my son. the psych recently told my hubby that he started prescribing it to some of his other patients and is pleased with the results.
Good luck