tenex | ADHD Information

My son used Tenex when he was 3 1/2.  The first week he was REALLY tired and acted like a zombie.  After that the meds slowed him down a little, but after about a month he was back to being very hyper again.  We have tried several medications but no avail. 

 

Michele

my son dakota was digonised with adhd in feb 2004. we have tried adderall xr, concertta, metadate, ridalin and now he is on adderall and tenex. has anyone ever used tenex before and did you have any problems, dakota is only 7. we've had a problem with him being scared at night, not wanting to sleep in his room. we have found him sleeping with his little sister. he wakes up screaming and crying in the middle of the night. please help.

thank you for repling. i gave him 2 tenex last night at 7pm. he was asleep by nine. he woke up once and i put him back to bed. he still wants to sleep with his little sister, i decided that if he has to sleep with her to get some sleep then i will let him. i am going to try this the rest of the week. hopefully it will work. if not then i will call the doctor again. all i can do is pray. i do that alot around here. again thank you.

I pray a lot too!  Power of a Praying Parent is an excellent encouraging book too. 

My son sleeps with his 2 younger brothers every night in 2 twin beds that we pushed together under a bunk bed.  It's great.  I think kids need one another and when they're ready they'll be on their own.  I have twin boys who are 6 and my ADD son just turned 8.  They are all good friends, of course the fighting too as a part of siblinghood.  My 8 yr old  used to have his own room, and he could have kept it, but he wanted to sleep with his brothers who shared a room.  There's nothing wrong with that at all in my opinion.  I think our culture is one of the few cultures who's children don't sleep in the same rooms with sibs or parents anyway.   It's good for bonding too.  He'll be fine, he'll grow up secure, and happy!  For him to grow up secure, and develop a strong sense of self, he'll need that extra nurturing.

edhmom

From what I understand about Tenex, is that it controls more of the aggressive/impulsive/anxiety driven behaviors or feelings.  Since insomnia is anxiety driven, I think it could help him relax long enough to get a good nights sleep.  But I also know that we give our son 1/2 mg. 3 times only during the day because he has no problems sleeping, in fact he is a dead sleeper for 12 hours if he can.

It will help with his internal anxieties (which we all know causes high blood pressure in the end anyway --) and allow him to get some rest.  And he's still young too, I know you probably don't want him in the habit of sleeping with parents, but you could set him up a bed on the floor beside yours.  He may feel more secure.   I'm wondering if giving the 1mg once in the AM is truly effective for him.  It is a short term affect med--like for my son 1/2 pill=4 hours; when that 4th hour is near, you can really tell.  It helps with the synapses of the back stem of the brain to have better communication. 

I wonder if doubling the dose and essentially knocking him out would be helpful. Doesn't sound like it.  I don't know, I'm no doctor, but if it was my kid, I'd slowly up the dose adding 1/4 pill at a time to see when I got the effect that was good for him.  Time will tell, and maybe he could use the double dose to calm his anxieties.  Of course,  try a nice hot bath, a good 1/2 hour of reading and really spend quality time one on one with him before bed for some time if you can. 

I can't imagine how not getting sleep would affect me, you must be at your wits end.  hope it gets better!  make sure you take time for yourself too to relax so you can project a relaxed persona for him.

edhmom

 

my biggest problem is that my son does not and cannot go to sleep at night. he was unable to go to sleep sunday night until 1:30am and he was up at 6:00am he did go to sleep monday night at 9:30pm. tenex seems to help his behavior. i have not givin him his 4pm pill sinse sunday. i am going to see if he is able to go to sleep tonight at a decent hour. he also takes adderal 5 mg in the morning and one at noon. the tenex he take 1mg in the morning and then one at 4pm. i called the doctor and he said to change his tenex to 1 in the morning and 2 at 7pm. but i can't see giving him the pill that late. if what i am doing now does not work then i guess i will try what the doctor says to do. i don't know anymore. it has got to get better.

My son is also 7 years old, and we started him on Tenex just about 2 1/2 months ago.  He was difficult to manage with defiant behavior and tantrums at home, as well as  getting calls from school with distracting behavior, lack of ability to focus, aggression on the play ground, and what not.  He also has had peeing accidents in his pants since he was 3 years old pretty much everyday.  Since on the tenex, he has come home potty free, he is less combatative, and for the first time in 2 years I can tell him to sit down to do his homework and he doesn't throw a fit.  I hope he will develop positive relationships with other children and maintain relationships too.  He used to cry saying that he didnt' have friends.  His teacher is very structured and focused, she keeps him in the front of the class with 2 other "quieter type" students.  When he gets off task, she gently lays a hand on his shoulder, and it refocuses him.  There are methods of teaching, and classroom structure that teachers should be aware of instead of trying to stick the "trouble" child in the corner the whole day.  Don't let that happen, and don't feel bad saying that's inappropriate for a teacher to do that.  I guess I just have so much more information than I used to have and feel very empowered.  Tenex helps curb impulsive behavior, and my son takes it when he wakes up, at noon, and at 4. (during the waking hours only).  For the first  week, he did have sleepiness, and some headaches, but he's no zombie.  He started on 1/4 of 1 mg pill, then after the first 5-7 days after his body got more used to it he went up to 1/2 pill.  You can adjust the dose too as you see the effectiveness.  But if you miss a dose, you don't make it up.  And he may have side effects again.  good luck

edhmom