Intuniv Dosage Decrease? | ADHD Information

I was wondering if anyone has experience with Intuniv, I have a 6 year old son who started Intuniv about 6 weeks ago and we started on 1 mg and he did wonderfully, then of course we went to the 2 mg and he was extremely tired and taking 3 hour naps throughout the days when he wasn't at school, very lethargic and when he wasn't zoned out he was throwing a tantrum.  I took him to the doctor who suggested we give him the dosage in the a.m. rather than at night.  Which I have done, but my gut is telling me he needs to be on 1 mg rather than 2 mg.  Anyone else have to drop their child from 2 mg to 1 mg due to side effects.  I feel like I've waited a good amount of time for the side effects to wear off and I just can't stand to see him like this any longer. 

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

We are actually up to 3 mg and my son 11.5, is doing rather well but has stopped eating. I am more worried about this that the spurts of tiredness he also has. I am thinking that 2mg may be better for him than the 3 even though his behavior is far better at 3mg. I find it very confusing and have in calls to both his psychiatrist and his therapist. we will se which road to take i will keep you updated. he gets his in the morning as well.Same w/my son very grumpy even on the 1mg.  But I'm going to stick it out another month before I return to the pediatrician.  But we are also experiencing the behavioral issues as well, tantrums and zero patience on the Intuniv oh and he has ended up back in bed with us as well and wakes up throughout the night too! 

He just couldn't handle 2mg of Intuniv he was just lost on it, complete breakdowns, crying constantly, it was horrible.  Now that I've dropped him down to 1 mg it is much better but still having bouts, like I said w/the anger/behavioral issues, not resting well, waking up throughout the night and tiredness/grumpy a lot. 

Hopefully this will pan-out within a month or two like the doc says, if not I will be trying something else.  I hate to see him go through this, at 6 years old it's got to be tough not knowing why you're feeling that way.

Thanks for the info.

My 10 year old, 73 pounds, is taking 4 mg of Intuniv.  He hasn't been eating much lunch lately, but he eats some.  That's the only side effect I've seen.We dropped from 2 to 1 after we noticed him being sleepy and actually
sleeping at school. But he was on Strattera then and now our insurance
won't cover it and so he is on 2mgs of the Intuniv. It's not working the same
and he is grumpy and having behavior issues. Nightmares are horrible. We
may be switching to another med but I am scared of STIMULANTS....we give
the meds at night because his stomach is queasy in the morning and the
meds make him vomit.

I just dropped Jake from 2mg back to the 1mg for awhile as his body didn't seem to handle the 2mg very well. lost of outbursts and alot of tiredness going on. I just hope the 1mg is enough to help we will see in a week

 

Almost the same thing here. My 6yo son has been on 1mg tenex for a little over a month. We tried adding in a stim, but that didn't work at all. Now the psych that consults with his ped wants us to slowly bring his dose up to 2mg. I'm worried because all of the things mentioned in your posts have been occurring. The nightmares have been the worst. But the meltdowns are terrible, too. And when my son does fall asleep in the afternoons he wakes up in the most horrible moods.

Tenex/Intuniv is supposed to calm down the sympathetic nervous system, but it doesn't seem to be working for my ds. Maybe we do need to up the dose, but that seems so backwards to me. Anyway, I'd love updates on your situations and whether or not sticking with this med pans out for you. Thanks.

Wow I am hearing alot of thing that don't sound good. My son is on 2 mg and was tired and out of control and bad attitude,fits when he was on 3mg. but now back at 2, he is doing better. but this is beging to scare me

I never heard any of these things with the tenex.

We did experience irritability when my daughter's tenex dosage was too high.   We had been doing 2 mg (short acting) - 1 mg AM/PM.  Because she was really dragging,  we switched things to .5 AM and 1.5 PM.   That wasn't a good combo.  The 1.5 was too much - and I had a crabby kid.   We switched things back to 1 mg AM/PM and things have been good.

From my experience,  it seems that tenex requires some fine tuning to find the right dose and schedule.   Maybe the short acting version allows for more flexibility.

Horsemom,

Thanks for the post, we were experiencing extreme exhaustion, fits, meltdowns, etc.  and I could just tell it was too much for him when he would just start crying hysterically over the smallest things.  But now that we went to 1mg, almost all side effects have ceased.  Even on 1 mg it took a few weeks for him to get over the tantrums, nightmares have stopped he is sleeping better just wonderful news from school.  I am happy happy happy that I brought him down to 1 mg.

One or the Other,

It took my DS about 6 weeks for the mood swings and all the other side effects I have mentioned to calm.  I do think that if you're having the effects on 1 mg to give it a few more weeks and upping it will make it worse.  Trust me on this I know from experience.  I was almost to the point of pulling Ian off the medication all together until finally started seeing the side effects fading.  Ped. informed me could take up to 8 weeks for these to level off.

Spamula,

From the way I understand it Intuniv and tenex are basically the same medication just Intuniv is the extended release. 



mandajayinc,

Thank you so much for this advice. I have been thinking I didn't want to go up to 2mg tenex, but the ped and the psych both agreed that we should. I think I'm going to call and see if it's possible to just keep him at 1mg until things calm down. He has only been on a full mg for two weeks. Before that he was only taking .5mg split between AM/PM.

Again, thank you for the positive support. I really needed that this week. Hi OneOrTheOther,

I'm glad I could be of help, I know how it is with new medications, it's so scary.  I found a really good sight that talks about Intuniv and the dosage and it also stresses not to up them too much.  As for right now I am keeping him on the 1 mg and then I may increase to the 2 mg in a few months, but I'm not rushing it until all his side effects from 1 mg are gone that's just what I feel comfortable with. 

Hope all works out, keep me updated
http://www.corepsychblog.com/2009/11/intuniv-for-adhd-dosing -details/

Forgot to send you the link, lol, check it out, has some really useful info on the dosage and side effects, etc. 

I have referred back to it  a couple of times already

Thanks mandajayinc. Don't get kicked off for posting links though. Your advice has been so helpful I'd hate to see that happen.

This really did help me understand why the meds might not be working for my son. Also, we have been trying to up the protein in the morning, but it's nice to see the research behind WHY that's important. I just knew from personal experience that I get cranky and out of sorts if I have too many simple carbs with no protein.

When we finally get our appt with the psych I'm going to ask about Neurotransmitter testing. I think there might be something to it. Hopefully things will settle down for us. If it takes another month, I guess I'll just have to deal with that. Thanks for the hope that we still have options!


Whoops did not know I couldn't do that.  Sorry

Up the protein in the morning?  I'm so new to this ADHD medications and such metabolic changes, whew I keep reading and I think I'm becoming more confused lol

So I should give him high protein breakfast?  Any info on the diet you mentioned i would appreciate I am searching sites now for it.

Thanks and I really hope things level out for you, keep me updated.  I am watching Ian and if things keep going well I may start him on the 2 mg after this month.