Hi, I'm new on here....But I'm seriously needing some support and experiences from others who have maybe tried this!
My son was diagnosed ADHD/PDD when he was 4. For most of those years he's been on Concerta. He's almost 12 now, and we're starting to notice a pretty marked increase of impulsivity, agression, and irritability over the past year. The Dr. had us try clonidine to help in the evening, but it didnt really do much. Adderall made him FREAK out and cry all the time, Strattera made him revert back to not using his words, Ritilin made him rock (tics). Concerta for the most part, has been wonderful, but seriously, his agressive behaviors and sharp mood swings, and impulsive behavior are starting to have a negative impact on him... (not to mention our relationship and his relationship with his peers- and that comes hard enough for him)... top it off, he seems to have developed an eye blinking thing (possible tic?) thats affecting his concentration.
The Dr suggested MetadateCD. I'm concerned that because this medication is related to the ridilin family, it wont have good effects on him....
I've also been reading other posts on here about Tenex? (I will have to do more research- I'm not familiar- but it sounds good!)
Does anyone have any advice who has tried either- that has had to deal with agression/impulsivity/social skill deficiency?? He's starting middle school in the fall at the bottom of the totum pole. I'd like to make the switch during summer, so the kiddo doesnt end up with two strikes against him right off the bat...
Thank you so much for any info!!!!
My 10 year old sold has been on Tenex for two weeks now. The only other medication we tried was Aderall, but he lost too much weight and couldn't sleep. The Tenex has been great. He does get a little sleepy arond 7pm, but the pros definitely outweigh the cons. To have him tell me to Have a good day and that he loves me, instead of the normal screaming match in the morning when getting ready for school has been great. He's a happy child now. Occasionally sleepy, but he's very happy.My child has found success w/ a combo. of Metadate CD and Tenex. He takes 60 mg Metadate CD in the AM, 1 mg Tenex in the AM, and 1-1/2 mg Tenex in the PM. We've found it better to spread out giving the Metadate CD and Tenex, so he takes the stimulant at 7:30 AM and the Tenex at 8:30 AM.
Metadate CD is the 2nd stimulant my child has tried. We discontinued Focalin XR b/c it made him too detached/withdrawn for a couple of hours per day. Both of them are in the Ritalin (methylphenidate) family. You can have a problem w/ one methylphenidate medication but do well on another one.
My son has been on Tenex for several months now along with Ritalin. It's beem working wonderfully! However he still needs the Ritalin. It takes care of his very severe hyperactivity and impulsivity but it also had emotional side effects and aggravated some of his other "sensory" issues. The Doc thought he was too severe to take Tenex alone. She didn't think it would help enough with the hyper/impulse side. So she suggested combining the two to help smooth everything out. It's been great! Definitely talk to your Doc but if he takes Tenex, it may be that he can tolerate some of the meds that he couldn't tolerate before.
Good luck!
You should also check out the "started Tenex" strand...someone else is trying it for the first time. Logan'sMom39984.6648148148Thank you o much for your replies! Ev started on the Metadate CD a few days ago. He's only on the 20mg to start (from 36mg of the concerta)... And it doesnt seem to work for very long. By the time baseball starts he's really all over the place again... So when we go back to the Dr, we'll have to possibly address dosage. It was funny though, he's been sleeping wonderfully, which is a good thing! We'll see what the future holds! Thank you again for your support. This website is a blessing...Increasing the dose should make it last longer, or you could do a booster dose in short-acting form. I hope it continues to go well!