We are having similar issues and successes with my 11 y/o son. There is another thread already started on Tenex/guanfacine with more information. We'd love to see you there.
http://www.adhdnews.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=24770& PN=1
My 7 year old dd is on guanfacine and strattera. She has started sleep walking at night and waking up at 5 am. She has been on medication for 2 months. Sleep walking and the early wake ups started a few weeks ago.
She used to be hyperkinetic/hyperactive. Totally unable to control herself in a highly stimulating environment. The medications have made a HUGE difference. She is grateful to be on medication .. but the sleep disturbances are weirding me out.
Anyone have any advice?
Talk to the dr. The developmental ped. told me that some people get a side effect from guanfacine/Tenex of sleepwalking. From what I understand, it can resolve itself after 2-3 months on the med. and then the body adjusts.
I'd keep track of what time the med. is taken and what time the sleepwalking occurs. See if you can find a pattern. My child's dr. suggested we may want to juggle the time he takes guanfacine to help with his night awakenings (he's not sleep walking, but wakes up and then insists on lying near a parent--- but that's another issue!).
My child slept worse the first few days he took it. It took him forever to fall asleep. I thought it had been a massive mistake to discontinue the melatonin. Then, after around 3(?) days on the guanfacine, he started falling asleep with no problem, like he used to do on the melatonin. He's been on the higher dose of guanfaince for 3-1/2 weeks now, and we're still having night wakening. However, he just gets up once, changes rooms, and lies on the floor next to a parent (parent is on a bed). My child also has some anxiety issues, so this may be why he isn't sleeping in his own room for the whole night. It's a big coincidence that this has started since he began guanfacine, but it is possible they're unrelated. That's our story! Hang in there as long as you can to see if things improve. Also, maybe ask the dr. about adding melatonin in the short term. I know people whose child is on guanfacine who will occasionally give melatonin, but not on a regular basis.
I hope you get a decent night's sleep soon! Sleep deprivation is one of the worst things.
Have either of you seen any improvement with the waking or sleep walking? I know we can not handle 2-3 months of this. 2 weeks has about done me in....and my son too, I think. LAst night and the night before he couldn't sleep till midnight. Tenex does not make him drowsey at all. HE got up at 1 or 1:30 both night then permanently at 5 teh first night. LAst night, he woke up every hour and at about 2:30 just got in bed with me. He still did not sleep well but tossed and turned and sat up and talked out of his head a few times. This morning we have had a hard time getting up...both of us. So he has not really slept since last Wednesday and had 2-3 night time panic attacks at 3 am or so the week and half before that. Things were going so well until that point. I have cut back from 3/4 twice a day to 1/2 twice a day but things continue to get worse at night. I think his tiredness is affecting the good benefits during the day now as well. And him keeping me awake is affecting my ability to be nce and patient with everyone. I don't want to give up if this will go away but it seems worse each night. Any thoughts? Have your kids improved? Thanks.He slept all night....well almost all night..last night!!! I feel like a new person. lol He went to sleep around 11 which is earlier than lately and ok with me for now. He woke up sorta about 5 mins after his dadddy turned off his light but we just put him backin bed. I hope he continues to sleep.
We already have the melatonin and took him off of it just recently becasue we weren't sure if it was making it worse. He had quit taking it initially when he started Tenex the first part of June. But since tenex didn't make him sleepy, it was added back. He has had problems going to sleep since starting stims a few years back but always (unless there was a storm or the occassional nightmare) stayed asleep the rest of the night.
I think we will stay at 1/2 twice a day for a while. I don't know if the benefits are as good but maybe we can go back up later on. I just want to get him through summer camp first....oh...and maybe get some more sleep. Gosh I hope he continues to sleep.
Thanks.
Rachel takes guanfacine 1 mg in the morning, 0.5 mg at lunch, and takes strattera at night. She had been getting the strattera at 9 pm. I moved the strattera to 5 pm. She has slept well the last two nights .. but both nights in her big sister's bed. But slept soundly.
We started out with a pediatrician last January who put Rachel on Ritalin. Rachel developed tics. Tourette-type tics. We moved Rachel to a pedi psychiatrist who switched Rachel to Focalin. After a few months, different tics developed. So .. No more amphetamine class meds. We added a pedi neurologist as a second opinion. Last week, we added a neuropsychologist for social learning issues.
The good news .. Rachel used to not be able to sit still through a movie. She just couldn't do it. She loved to read but could only read 10-20 pages before she just had to get up and leap around. To take her anywhere in public was like taking some wild animal out of the zoo.
Now, she can sit through a movie. She can focus. She has read the first 5 Harry Potter books this summer. I can take her to a store without having to chase her down and extract her from under displays and off shelves.
The BIGGEST thing is that she is grateful to be on medication. She sees it as a huge improvement in her life.
Current challenges are going to be catching her up on social learning. She is simply socially delayed. We hope that the neuropsychologist can help us with the social learning.
It is all getting quite expensive. Ouch!