Clonidine | ADHD Information

My 4yr old has tried Adderal XR and Focalin and neither seemed to have any impact on him other than the terrible rebound effects. His Dr. prescribed him Clonidine 1/4 pill twice a day. Has anyone used this and what are the side effects. We are to the point, where because of his age, we would consider stopping the meds and just dealing with the behavior for another 2 years until he is able to take more meds. The bad thing is that he is ok in school but he terribly aggressive with his younger brother. He has trouble making/keeping friends due to his hitting and impulsivity that we worry about his happiness. Any suggestions?Both of my sons are on clonidine to help with sleep issues that have plagued them both since birth (well, yea .. basically since birth). they are both on .1mg at bedtime.

With as young as your son is I would highly suggest seeking out a psychiatrist that works with pediatric patients and get a work up through them. I can imagine the aggressiveness is a trial to deal with (my older son had gotten really aggressive as well... he's been on Risperdal for nearly 3yrs now), but I would want someone that is highly trained specifically to work with ADD/ADHD type disorders in pediatrics to be testing/treating my child.

I have no real suggestions on either the medicine (as we use it for a different purpose) or what to do about the med situation in general. I will say that the clonidine CAN make them very sleepy, so keep that in mind, initially.

HTH!

My son is on Concerta and the psychiatrist just added 1/2 mg of tenex 2 times a day to help with the "impulsiveness".  Her first thought was clonidine, but decided tenex would be better because it is less likely to make him sleepy. 

It's only been a few days, but I think things are going better.  I think he will have to go to a higher dose, because he metabolizes medicines (and everything else) extremely quickly.  He seems a little more calm to me, not as many outbursts, hardly any name calling!

Hopefully things will only get better from here!

My son is also on Clonidine, he takes .15 before bed. We also just started Tenex a month ago. .5 twice a day to help with hyperactivity and aggression. The Clonidine seems to make him really quite sleepy with in an hour of taking it. I hate giving any of my kids meds, but at this point he is a danger to himself and everyone around him.

I suggest (and you may have already started since you posted a couple of weeks ago) that you start on a day he will be home so you can monitor the effects on him.

Welcome to the board hilsmit You might want to also check out one of our older threads about Clonidine:

ADHD Message Boards: Clonidine