Tenex & Irritablity | ADHD Information

My 6 year old daughter has dyspraxia and ADHD. She has begun intuniv and I have been giving it to her at night. The first week she was on 1mg and it seemed to be helping some. Last night was her first dose of 2mg and she has had uncontrollable outbursts this morning. She doesn't like school but this morning she has angrily been yelling: "I don't want to go to school." The bus driver would not let her on the bus because of her yelling.

I sent her to her room and have called the med line at her doctor and am waiting to hear. Not sure what to do. I don't think I should let her stay home because that's what she wants. ( if she does stay at home, she will not get comptuter, tv, toys or any of the things she wants)However, is it fair to take her to school and have her disruptive?

Anyone had an experience like this with meds.?
milkyway, why is your DD taking Intuniv at night? I'm not sure if that is the problem or not, but for my son, Intuniv peaks in his system later afternoon/evening so he starts to get a little more tired then. Maybe she is tired in the morning and that is causing the irritability? I've read that some people also noticed that their kids were a little more tired and irritable the first few days of an increase, but then that went away. It also just might not be the right med for her, but since she was doing ok on 1mg, you might want to go back down for the rest of the school week and then try to up to 2mg on the weekend to see if she adjusts to it.
ajweeks40204.268275463Ajweeks, the dr. said I could give it to her at night if it made her drowsy. However, I will start giving it to her in the morning tomorrow and see if that helps.

I took her to school at 9am and asked what she would like for snack if she had a good day at school. She said she wanted to make sugar cookies. DD was happy when I dropped her off at school. I hope she has a good day. I hate to bribe but the positive reinforcement seems to work better than punishment.
Absolutely! I sometimes take my son in late if his meds aren't kicking in quick enough. The teacher appreciates this. The principal is another story, but I think I'm getting through to him. If I can hardly handle my son's behavior, the classroom would be a nightmare. But, meds are a definite help. He hardly ever has to miss now, and only had a few bad days this quarter when we were adjusting the dosage. Glad to hear you got her off to school in the end. And promising a reward isn't a bad thing. I don't call it bribery, I call it incentive!

I'm lucky if DS makes it through the day with a glowing report. I compromise. If he had at least one part of the day that was excellent, he still gets his reward. He teacher is good about noting it in his journal, so that I'll know. Baby steps.

The doctor decided to take him off the Tenex completely and see what happens. I'll be interested to see if his mood changes and how school goes. Wish us luck!

Good luck! [QUOTE=bkrusen] I think his dose is too high. He's falling asleep at
school every day, complaining he's cold (wearing his coat at school) and
irritable. I keep telling the doctors he's falling asleep at school and they
just don't seem to think it's a big deal. One day he was so sound asleep
he wet his pants. He wets the bed 2 or 3 nights a week. He's 10 and
hasn't wet the bed for several years! I've told them over and over and
they just keep say to wait and see. I'm very frustrated

[/QUOTE]

My son was on Risperdal for awhile along with Clonodine to treat his
ADHD. Both made him very sleepy, and he took Clonodine only at night.
He started wetting the bed EVERY night after a few months of these meds,
but we had no idea it even could have been from the meds, we thought it
was another behaviour issue. We took him off Clonodine because it didn't
seem to be working, and he STILL wet the bed every night. His doctor
then took him off of the Risperdal because she didn't see it working for
him anymore. One day later he STOPPED WETTING THE BED and hasn't wet
the bed since! In your child's case it may be the Risperdal causing the bed
wetting or wetting himself during a nap. It's worth asking your doctor
about it?
Meanwhile, stay strong, this rollercoaster is hard and remember, you are
frustrated because you care about your child and are doing whatever you
can to help them with their ADHD! **big hug**

My son is also 10 and has had problems recently with wetting the bed because he is so sound asleep. He is also sleepy during the day. He is on the long acting (Intuniv). We are up to the max dosage of 4mg, but I think I am going to ask to come down to 3mg at our next appt.

moorekiddos - My DS also has been having troubles with wetting the bed. He's been falling asleep at school everyday since we started Tenex in November. He was so sound asleep as school one day he wet he his pants. I keep telling the doctors this and they don't seem to think it's a big deal. It's a big deal!It is a big deal! Some fatigue is expected, but falling asleep isn't an acceptable side effect. How long has he been on it? What dosage is he on? It' possible that you might be able to shift it around and do more at night if need or just a decrease over all.

HorseMoom - He's on .75mg in the AM, .5mg at 4:00 (when he gets off the bus) and .5mg before bed (9:30pm). He's been on Tenex since Nov. but on this dose specifically since since Jan. 5th. He also takes .375mg of Risperdal in the AM and . 25mgs at bed. I think we need to decrease it over all. We go back to the doctor tomorrow. If the dosage is too high, Tenex can cause irritability, too. My daughter was irritable when her tenex dose was too high.
I think his dose is too high. He's falling asleep at school every day, complaining he's cold (wearing his coat at school) and irritable. I keep telling the doctors he's falling asleep at school and they just don't seem to think it's a big deal. One day he was so sound asleep he wet his pants. He wets the bed 2 or 3 nights a week. He's 10 and hasn't wet the bed for several years! I've told them over and over and they just keep say to wait and see. I'm very frustrated

Has anyone every had any problems with Tenex causing irritability? I know that lots of kids take it to ward off the irritablity that comes with stimulants but my DS is on Risperdal and Tenex and can be very irritable, angry and aggitated at times. I'm wondering if it's the Tenex. Any thoughts?Was he taking risperdal alone without irritability before adding the Tenex? Also, is he taking the short-acting? The short-acting Tenex was horrible for my son because he experienced rebound from it. The new long-acting Intuniv has been great for him.
Our DS was on Risperdal for 3 1/2 yrs and while we took him off for other terrible side effects,he did wet the bed often on it.We never related the 2 but he has not since being off it since Nov.Must be related.My daughter was only on guanfacine (tenex). Her anger issues got way out of control and I ended up taking her off all meds and look at alternate solutions as the stimulants cause her tics. But, the guanfacine cased a lot of extreme anger. It disappeared as soon as the medication was removed. Each medication works for each individual differently. My son just started taking Intuniv .5mg two days ago, in the morning along with 25mg of Zoloft, stimulants caused too much anxiety. We have not noticed a lot of tiredness but have noticed irritability, very mouthy with me and his brother. This is new to me, because thankfully we have never experienced outbursts and mood swings that so many parents face each day. Is this anger something that typically fades out or could this yet again another med that does not work for my son? I know Tenex/Intuniv takes a few weeks to build in the system, but just curious on these outbursts? Thanks