Although it is a bit expensive (about 160 for a month supply), I would suggest you give Vyvanse a consideration. My five year old son had been on Adderrall for about a year and switched to Vyvanse about four months ago. The side effects are simmillar to adderall but much less severe and it is long acting (about a 11 hours)
This is just immedite advice I feel I can give you but I am looking into more holistic possiblities for my son at the same time. Hope this helps
A lot of people have used Tenex (generic name is guanfacine) for ADHD. My child took guanfacine for several years, and it was an enormous help. He doesn't have any family history of bipolar disorder. The Tenex helps with both ADHD and anxiety disorder. My child has both ADHD and General Anxiety Disorder, and Tenex allowed us to lower the Zoloft dose as well as the stimulant dosage.
He's since switched to Intuniv, which is a 24-hour guanfacine. This has been even better for him because he's more even and there's no wearing-off time.
My son actually had a manic/psychotic episode on Adderall and at first no one was equating it to the medication which meant he was very close to being hospitalized for his condition. Luckily we did research and found that what he was experiencing was definitely a side effect of the medication and took him off of it. After 3 days he was back to "normal."
If the medication you are considering putting your daughter on has that side effect, just be very careful with it. I can tell you it is a very scary thing seeing your child experience something like that.
I've talked with someone else who also had a psychotic episode on the Adderall and has their child now taking Concerta which they are very pleased with.
We are going cold turkey without any medication as my son has had bad side effects to both medications he has tried (Strattera and Adderall) so we are just going the holistic route and praying we can get him through school.
Good luck. I know it's not easy.
Thanks everyone :)
I'm not sure we could afford the Vyvanse, but when it comes down to it, if we're out of options and the expensive one works, I'll figure out a way. It breaks my heart when my daughter tells me she just wants to be like the other kids. Her happiness beats out pretty much anything else.
I have read a LOT of really good things about the Tenex. If the adderall doesn't work that will probably be our next step. I think I'm buying time with that to be honest because I'd really like to be able to be with her for a few days when we start it. She goes back to the doctor on Nov. 18th so if the adderall hasn't worked, we can get the Tenex then and start her on the 25th because I get a 4 day weekend off work to monitor her. I'm a lot less skeptical of it now than I was on Day 1 of my research.
I've been researching alternatives to medicaiton so we may try to go that way to. Worst case scenario: nothing happens. Best case: we end up with a lower dose of meds or none at all if we're REALLY lucky. You can't really lose with those options :)
If you end up trying Tenex, be aware that it takes about three weeks to build up in your system and reach optimal effectiveness. You need to be patient, which of course is hard.Our DS has severe ADHD & Tourettes Combo...difficult with the aggression and defiance. He is unable to use stimulants (due to tourettes), but is on Tenex. The tenex does help "turn his dial down a notch". It doesn't do anything for focus but seems to take the edge off of the defiance, aggression and general "hyperness".
As a word of caution, the combination of tenex and stimulants made him more aggressive and defiant. But on this board there are many posters who have had success with the combo. It does seem like a reasonable suggestion to try the Tenex...and it generally doesn't have near the side effects as stimulants and seems to reduce the stimulant side effects.
Good luck!
Thank you! I'll definitely know to look for that if we
Hello,
My son just turned 5 and was diagnosed with ADHD, OCD, and an Anxiety disorder. His pediatrician put him on the Daytrana patch for 9 hours. It has been a few weeks that he has been on it and I notice he is better in school and the bus but afterwards, right when it is about to take the patch off, he gets aggressive and verbally violent. I contacted the pediatrician wondering if it is due to the meds and she stated to take him off a week to see. We did and it really didnt help. So, she advised we see the psychiatrist to prescribe something else to also cope w/his adhd,ocd and anxiety. What I need is something that lasts day/night. The patch works perfectly because we call it his 'super hero patch" and pills he isnt going to be a fan of. Does not do well taking meds. i am going out of my mind with all of this. Just wondering if anyone had any experience w/the Daytrana patch.
Thank you!
Candybar, adding something else to the stimulant might help your child. I think Intuniv isn't yet approved for under age 6, but that might be a good option for your child if a pill could be swallowed. Intuniv helps with both ADHD and anxiety. It helps more with the hyper and impulsive aspects of ADHD than focus.
If he's too young for Intuniv, then Tenex might be an option. It's the same medication (guanfacine), but Intuniv is the 24-hour form and Tenex is more short-acting (I think 12 hours?). There is no generic for Intuniv, but Tenex's generic is guanfacine.