Bad reaction to Tenex and Clonidine? | ADHD Information
Clonidine has been wonderful for my daughter! She takes it in the evening to help her go to sleep. Without it, she is literally bouncing around ehr room half the night, unable to settle down until she finally crashes. With this med, i am able to tuck her in, read her a story, leave the room, and trust that she will stay in bed and go to sleep. A good night's sleep also makes a world of difference in the next day! We have monitored her blood pressure closely and there has been no change since she bagan it last June. [QUOTE=freedom33] Sorry to hear things are going difficult for your kids. I don't have personal experience with those meds, but know that there is the right combo out there, and it's best to combine meds with therapy and more.[/QUOTE]
No wonder Clonidin made your son sleepy. It's not a drug for ADHD, but for too high blood pressure.
It's also pretty dangerous if you don't suffer from too high blood pressure.
I wonder who came up with the idea to give your son this drug?
Sure, I can see the association: Clonidin slows down everything, maybe it slows down ADHD too?
But that's hardly the way to go around the problems we have with ADHD.
I'll really urge you to stay away from that drug (Clonidin)! - I'll urge everybody to stay away from it - at least where ADHD is concerned!
Good luck! :-)I'm not familiar with Seroquel, but I can tell you that we had to make some adjustments to make Tenex work. We figured out that, if he takes it later than 3:30, he wakes up several times overnight. Taking it by 3:30 pm, he doesn't wake up at all. Doctor said that some people find Tenex activates their REM sleep, which is why he was waking up.Interesting about the timing of Tenex. I'm not sure if I'm ready to go back to that family yet.
I've thought about Adderall XR. It was the first med we tried with he was 5, but he didn't tolerate it well then. It might be worth a try now. I know the doctor will be weary about it though because of how Vyvanse caused horrible vocal tics. The Vyvanse worked wonderfully though before the tics started.
We have increased the Seroquel XR to 150mg and it just isn't helping. His anxiety was bad over the weekend and he still is irritable and impulsive. The Concerta 36mg does nothing and maybe is making his irritability worse.
I have a call into the doctor. I'm just so tired of this!
If your son couldn't handle it when he was 5, then he still can't, from what I have read here on the boards. My son couldn't either. He handles the ritalin family, not the adderall xr family - two seperate "families" - your prescribing doctor should be able to explain better.
Tell the doctor what is happening. I would work the dosage of concerta, increase it first. I would also add the tenex to the concerta. Try it you will never know until you have, then eliminate it if it doesn't help. It does wonders for my son's impulsiveness AND anxiety. BUT you have to be at the correct dosage for your son. We didn't last long at all at 36mg. He went to 54 for a while and leveled off at 72 for a few years. We also have him at 1 mg of tenex. That truly does the trick - like the frosting on the cake. The cake is still good, but with the frosting, even better. Sorry but that is my best description at this time. I hope it makes sense!! It makes it all good is what I am saying.
My son also had a really hard time getting the meds right (and I still think they could be tweaked some). I asked what kind of doctor you're seeing because that made a big difference with us. Once we got to a doc that was really experienced in these meds we were able to get it right fairly quickly. The other doctors (psychologistn and pediatrician) weren't as experienced and really didn't know what to do with him! 
Do you think the PA seems to have the experience you need?
Stimulants work well for my son's hyperactivity/impulse problems but aggravate his sensory problems and anxiety making him angry and aggitated. That's why we started taking Tenex and it calms those things for him. But his doctor is talking about switching him to Stratera though because she thinks he will be less aggitated overall. She said (like you said) that he could be on Stratera and a stimulant if necessary. Good luck and I hope you find what works for him! 
I'm really hoping this works because he is struggling with school. The school is great working with him, but right now he is refusing to do any work and tells me that it is all boring. I'm sure much of it is for him as he is advanced academically, but his teacher does try to challenge him. I talked with the school psychologist today and she thought that DS's recent escalation in behavior problems was more due to anxiety versus a pure focus issue. He had a problem in the cafeteria today, a very noisy overstimulating place and got upset over the assigned seating. The psychologist said that once he was in her office she could see the tension release from him. He was calm in her office and told her that he knew what he had done was wrong and apoligized. He ate lunch with her. I'm thankful that the school is so supportive of him!
my only experience is with BOTH concerta and Tenex. We always work the dosage of concerta to make sure my son is where he needs to be in order to be successful.
I would call the doctor and discuss this. Have you tried Adderall XR yet?
I do know from reading that if you can't handle one family that you may have success with the other family. I am just not sure of the medical name.
My son can handle the ritalin family but can't handle adderall xr. I believe your son is the opposite if I am not mistaken?
Also, my son started at half a pill of guanfacine (tenex) to be .5 mg - we broke it in half. We then increased him to a full 1 mg dose a few months later and he is still at that same dose of tenex 5 yrs later. We just recently increased his concerta but the tenex is still the same. My son is now 12.
I wish you success finding the right med for your son!!
We are really having a problem finding the right meds for my 7 year old DS. He is currently taking Concerta 36mg. I don't think the dosage is high enough and school is up and down, evenings are horrible. I don't think the dr. wants to up the dosage as too high of a dose aggravates his tics. Vyvanse 30mg worked great this summer, but within two weeks he developed severe vocal tics. No amphetamine based meds for us....I've heard so many good things about Tenex and Clonidine, but every time we have tried them, things go bad. We tried Tenex when he was in K and he started waking up multiple times a night and got really irritable and aggressive in school. We recently just tried Clonidine and I think it made him too sleepy so that it increased his irritability and aggression. His teacher noticed a big difference in school after he had been on it a few week. He also started waking up really early in the morning and was off the wall hyper and silly in the morning.
I'm just so frustrated because the meds that seem to really help others, don't help him. Has anyone else had bad experiences with Tenex or Clonidine? My son really needs something with more 24 hr. coverage that will help with irritability, impulsivity, hyperactivity, aggression and restlessness.
ajweeks40100.455Sorry to hear things are going difficult for your kids. I don't have personal experience with those meds, but know that there is the right combo out there, and it's best to combine meds with therapy and more. My son is on Tenex and Ritalin and the Tenex works well for him. What type of doctor does your son see? Psychiatrist, pediatrician? Have you tried Stratera?My son is currently going to a neuropsychiatry office and is seeing a PA there.
We haven't tried Strattera yet, but I'm going to ask the dr. about it tomorrow. In the past, I've had other doctors tell me it wouldn't be a good option for my son because it doesn't help with hyperactivity as well. Now I'm reading that it can be given along with Concerta so maybe that would be a good option. I don't know.
Puzelle, it's very common to give clonidine to someone to control ADHD. Yes, it's primarily a medication to lower blood pressure, but it's also often used to treat ADHD. As the pp said, you need to monitor blood pressure when using it, but many people use it safely and successfully to help with ADHD.