The results of our Intuniv experiment | ADHD Information

Both of my kids started Intuniv at the beginning of November.  My DS(11, ADHD) was on Daytrana 15mg, and Tenex 1mg in morning, .5 afterschool.  This was working very well.  We wanted to try Intuniv with the hopes that after titrating up and only being on Intuniv over Christmas break that he could start school in January with just Intuniv. My DD(14, ADD/OCD) was on Vyvanse 50mg with Zoloft 200mg. She had stopped the Vyvanse because it made her OCD worse.  Our hopes for her were that it worked well enough to not need to be on a stimulant. 

The results were mixed.  With DS, while titrating up in November we tried just the Intuniv without the patch.  Bad, no focus.  We added the patch back in.  By end of November he was on 3mg Intuniv with the patch, and while it was successful, his tics were not as well controlled, and he was SO tired.  We tried one day of 4mg, and DS said that he felt bad, tired, and that he wanted to go back to 3mg, so we did.  Over the break we stopped the patch and just did Intuniv 3mg.  His ADHD behavior was good, but he had completely no focus.  He was so tired, even after being on it three weeks, that we decided not to up him to 4mg.  I could not imagine him on only Intuniv in the classroom.  He is now back on the patch and Tenex, but we have increased to 1mg in morning, 1mg afterschool.  So far, so good.  The only downside is that his appetite is decreased on the Daytrana, so we don't like to use it on the weekends.  Intuniv works well enough to use on the weekends, but Tenex does not.  So, we may see about using Intuniv only on weekends, breaks, summer.  Not decided about that yet. 

DD has done very well on Intuniv.  She said that she hyperfocuses sometimes, and that she does not have as good of focus as she did on Vyvanse, but that she feels much better and that it does help.  She has thought about adding back the Vyvanse with the Intuniv and Zoloft, but feels good enough to leave things as they are for now.  I am hesitant to add back the Vyvanse because of her OCD, but she always has the option to try it.  Interesting enough, Tenex does nothing for her. 

So, things did not worked out as we had hoped, DS will not be able to be off of Daytrana and be just on Intuniv.  But, I am glad we gave it a shot.  It really made us see that for school DS really does need to be on a stimulant med.  But, we are glad that it seems to be working well for DD, and that she does not have to be on a stimulant.

Heather

Just goes to show how different the meds work on each child (even siblings).  My son is up to 4mg Intuniv with Ritalin LA.  His OCD seems worse lately so not sure if it's the meds or not. 

 

My DD is on Intuniv 2 mg...makes her very tire din teh evening...and does not help ticks at all. Staretd at 1mg now up to 2mg...thinking about trying Texex? Possibly to help the ticks?