Tenex and mood Stabilizers | ADHD Information
Kevnec, I really feel for you. I have been there myself. I didn't want to medicate my son either, but after seeing good results and the complete change in him, I'm thankful that I tried it. My son is on the Daytrana patch and tenex. The patch takes about 2 hrs to be fully effective so I apply it while he is still sleeping. We started out with Ritalin LA they come in a capsule. I tried every thing to get him to take this. I opened the capsule and mixed the meds with yogurt, pudding or ice cream to try and get him to take it. Since he wasn't medicated it was impossible. The patch has been a godsend. He really doesn't like to swallow capsules. I taught him how to swallow pills by practicing with M & M minis, and Skittles, Reeses pieces. He wasn't keen on trying so I had to set up an incentive. Let him have a few pieces of candy if he tried etc. He was 6.5 when we started meds. He just turned 11.You didn't mention if your daughter receives any therapy. I find that the use of the meds helps him with his OT and behavioral therapy. If he wasn't medicated I don't think he would have made the progress he has.
Try to keep strong. Remember if you try a medicine and don't like the results or side effects you can stop (Always talk to the doctor about problems with the meds and how to stop them).
I also wanted to say that the diagnosis for your child may change quite a few times over the years. My son started out with ADHD diagnosis. The OT diagnosed Sensory Processing Disorder. The Dev ped added Developmental Coordination Disorder. The psychatrist added anxiety and now PDD-NOS.
I wish you and your child the best.
jigsaw. Your reply was very helpful. Thank you. She is in OT but she isnt in behavior therapy. I guess I am just not convinced yet that it is worth it. I am a Psychotherapist and ParentingCoach myself and feel pretty confident in my ability to teach her if she is teachable which until very recently she was not. Right now we are currently just on the .5 of Tenex 2 times a day but we dont know if it is enough for her. The Psychiatrist suggested we can go to .5 3X's a day or switch to Trileptal. I'm just scared of the whole thing. Ironically, in my 19 years as a Psychotherapist, I didn't even believe in this ADHD dx. That's why God gave me my daughter... To teach and humble me. IT WORKED!!! She also was dx'd with Sensory Integration Disorder in addition to the ADHD and mood disregulation. Frankly, the whole dx thing overwhelms me too. I will try the mini m and m's.
kevnec,
Have you tried putting the pill in a spoon of apple sauce or pudding? My son started on medicine at 3 and he couldn't swollow pills. His Methelyn (generic Ritalin) is chewable but the Tenex has always been in pill form. We only give him 1/2 a pill at a time and it was pretty easy to "hide" in food. Sometimes we would hide the pill in a tiny piece of peach (because they are so slimy) and he'd swollow it whole naturally without even thiniking about it. After a little while he started swollowing the pills but for a long time hiding them worked.
I was also very skeptical of "ADHD". I thought people just used it as an excuse. How blissfully ignorant I was! I still think that some people use it as an excuse but WOW was I wrong about everything else! My poor son was/is so severe ADHHHHHHHD that he literally couldn't function in life. I didn't want to medicate either but after I saw the posistive effects of the medicine there was no longer a choice. I felt (and still do) that it is my DUTY as a parent to make him as whole as possible and in my son's case that includes medicine. I'm not passing judgment on other parents because everyone is different and there are always different circumstances but in my son's case I would be selfish and cruel to withhold medication from him. He needs it so desperately.
And I agree with Bethann...you wouldn't be here trying to get as much help as possible if you weren't a good parent! Your daughter is lucky! 
My 7 yo daughter was recently dx'd with ADHD, Sensory Integration issues and mood instability. First, my fear is that this "mood instability" dx is their way of easing me into a Bipolar dx. Anyway, I never believed in meds but things got so bad, I was desperate. We tried her on Adderal and Focalin and they made her worse. Then we moved to Tenex .5 in am and .5 in pm. It has DEFINITELY helped but really just taken the edge off so we could all calm down and regroup. We took her to a Psychiatrist who suggested an eeg (normal) and suggested she has ADHD with mood instability. We took her for a second opinion and she said the same thing. The second psychiatrist is suggesting either trileptal 150 mg or lamictal 25mg in addition to the Tenex. My daughter has rages and is extremely angry, sensitive, easily frustrated and at times, just really mean and nasty. We want to get her started in 2nd grade as prepared as possible. She is also very disorganized, forgetful, clumsy and distracted. Most of this is at home. She is also very creative, smart, funny, talented, athletic and uninhibited. Has anyone had any experience with Trileptal or lamictal? How about combined with Tenex? I worry about how this will affect her. I'm at a point that I am scared to give the meds and scared not to give the meds. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
I only know of concerta and tenex for my HHHHHH son and it helps him tremendously!!
What does your gut tell you about the mood/bipolar discussion? You would know if it was possible at least. She sounds like she has so much going for her with all her talents.
Does she have outbursts, break things, etc??? What does school say??
Thanks so much for responding. My gut says she definitely has difficulty regulating her mood. So I know that's true. But medicating her was VERY hard for me in the first place--2 meds may push me over the edge. Meds really scare me. I feel like we are using my daughters brain as a science experiement. On the other side--i feel like we would be doing her a disservice not to try everything we can to help her. I feel trapped. The teacher she had last yr was useless. I didn't get the sense she really paid any attention to my daughter's issues. Just ignored them and enabled her disorganization by doing for her. How old is your son? How do you get him to take concerta? We crush the tenex in ice cream bc it is so little but I don'tthink you can do that with concerta. Had he been on other meds prior? What dose of Tenex is he on? She has emotional outburts primarily at home (very out of control tantrums and irrational reactions to small conflicts--like what seat she wants to sit in, etc)My son started just shy of 7. He struggled at first, but he minds us really well. We honestly made him. We helped him to go slow and swallow the pills and he just did it.
He is on 1 mg of tenex. He is 12 years ol. He is now at 90mgs of concerta. We started him at the lowest and just increased to help with his cues. When he wasn't where he should be, then he needed an increase.
I wonder why they can make it through school and control it and then lose it at home. I believe it is the comfort of their home that allows them to release after holding it together all day. Poor thing. 
You sound like a wonderful mother. I too was afraid of meds, but my son was labeled and teased in first grade horrifically. He couldn't control his adhd impulsive behavior so we had to help him. And that is what we do everyday, all summer and weekends, we help him!!
Your email made me cry. I dont always feel like a wonderful mother. Thank you for saying that. I love her so much and want to help her but don't always know what the best thing is. It's so frustrating and upsetting! Does your son take 1mg of Tenex in the am or .5 twice a day? I can certainly understand why you put your son on meds. It sounds so clear. If my daughter was having that level of difficulty with peers, I would do the same thing in a minute. I guess bc she mostly does this to us (it's like being in an abusive relationship u cant get out of) I wonder if she has more control than it seems and by wonder if putting her on meds she won't learn coping skills? I don't know. I really just dont know. Did your son have outbursts. There is no way we could "make her" take pills. To me, that's like putting a kid on the toilet and yelling at them to poop. It can't be done. My daughter is EXTREMELY defiant and when she doesn't want to do something she doesn't do it, regardless of consequence.In the morning when he takes the concerta. It is a combo that works wonders for him!!
My son does not have outbursts. He is just very impulsive and hyper, silly, goofy. More immature than his peers, but extremely intelligent that he helps them in school. He is not totally nerdy. Quite good looking that the girls are noticing him now (12 yrs old). But he is quite a video gamer and football player as well.
Your daughter is young and not medicated. My son was at her age. She is young in age and acting for her age - typical adhd. Defiance is also immaturity, which adhd'ers are.
Yes, you are a great mom, look where you are right now and what we are discussing, your daughter who you love so much to do this for !!
Hello everyone, My son is also 7years of age he's on Tenex and Concerta during school he's on 37mg of concerta and Tenex he's on 1mg half in the morning and half in the afternoon he hides under neath the table when he doesn't want to do something at school trows the table breaks his glass he's even stand in front of the teacher and Tore up the school work he's broken down where he doesn't even talk to anyone and just stands there with all his weight so no one can pick him up because he won't walk for himself. I've asked the school for a learning disability test but the Doctor says they don't do that anymore and theres another type of thing I can ask the school staff and they have to do it. is what the Doctor said I can't think of the name right now but he wrote it down for me.
Do you think the diagnosis is correct and thorough? Do you think his meds are helping?
just wondering?
what state do you live in? The answer to your question about school depends on your state.Kevnec I live in IL and Bethann are you asking me or Kevnec?