Ritalin to Tenex | ADHD Information

Hello, I'm a total newbie to all of this but have been reading through the forums for help in understanding everything that's going on in my son.  I don't have anybody to really talk to because I am currently in Iraq while my wife is home with our two boys.  My oldest is 6 and was diagnosed with ADHD last month.  We had taken him to our family doctor who immediately prescribed Strattera but we never filled the prescription, we weren't comfortable with how quickly she made the diagnosis.  My wife found help through the school and a woman that works with my son's district walked her through the whole process of assessments with a psychologist and psychiatrist, she even attended these visits with my wife and was absolutely wonderful.
Anyways last week Landon started on Ritalin, and no change was seen by my wife or his teacher (who has also been wonderful) so the dosage was upped.  Doctor said that we should start seeing changes immediately. Landon became more aggressive and moody, crying for extended periods of time, something he didn't do before, this was the first week.  So in consulting with the psychiatrist they have already changed the prescription to Tenex by itself.  I'm just wondering if we should have been trying some of the other stimulants before jumping ship, the way the doctor explained it to my wife was that if the Ritalin caused those side effects then likely the other stimulants would as well.  I know we're just in the beginning of this and that finding the right prescription will take time.  I'm just a bit more nervous about this one since it's not in and out of the system as fast.
And I wonder if he should be on a stimulant as well as this Tenex.

I forwarded the thread about the marble jars to my wife that so many have had good luck with, we tried something similar last year but it didn't work but I think the jar thing will really help him out since it fills in the gaps that our previous system had.  Hopefully she will implement this soon since it was just what I was looking for as far as how to help him in as many ways as possible in addition to the medication.

Thank you all for any input and for the stories and advice already here, definitely helpful to read as a worried parent that wants nothing more than to help their child.  It has been so heartbreaking (as you all know) to watch him going to kindergarten, wanting to do well and to have good days, and he really tries but he just can't
Landon's Dad40219.1599537037

I have to agree, if he is sensitive to the side effects of Ritalin, then he will likely be sensitive to all the stimulants. My son is one of those kids who is super sensitive to stimulants. Right now we're trying Straterra, a non-stim, but 6 weeks in we're not seeing any improvement. He also takes Tenex which helps the impulsivity, but he needs something like a stim to go with it. I hate the horrible side effects of methylphenidates, but the non-stims don't seem to be working. Not sure what we're gonna do. Looking for answers now. Good luck, this board is wonderful.

By the way, if you're not sure about the doctor, try a pediatric psychiatrist. They're usually very experienced.

Thank you, when I said doc what I meant was his psychiatrist, like I said I'm not home right now but my wife has faith in her, I do believe she may even be a dedicated pediatric psychiatrist.  Some stuff has been going smoother the last few days which could be the drugs or it could just be Landon having a couple good days.  Teacher has also said he's had some good days but that they've been "good Landon days" meaning pretty much not quite there.  Landon is definitely one of those that is ADHHHHHHD.  My wife just went to school with him last week for a class party celebrating their 100th day of kindergarten (wooo hooo!) and she said she was proud of him when they were making crafts, apparently he was taking his time and concentrating on what he was working on, which of course isn't very common for him so maybe the Tenex is starting to work... fingers crossed.