Kapvay for ADHD

vdoeinck

New Member
My son is almost 4, was recently diagnosed with ADHD and Sensory Processing Disorder (SMD sensory seeking) and has been prescribed Kapvay 0.1 mg. We started out giving it to him at night because we knew it would make him drowsy. After about a month of doing that we thought we would move up the dosage to mornings so that we could better see the results of the medicine...it has helped greatly with his impulse control but he's still aggressive and goes 90 mph all day. So we have gradually moved up the dose and just this week he has started taking it in the morning. I'm not happy to see that he gets so drowsy he can't stay awake about 2 hrs after taking it. He took a nap at 10 a.m. today which was nice considering he got up at 5:45 but I'm afraid this drowsiness is going to interfere with our daily activities...he does go to pre-school which he needs to be awake for , and on the weekends he has a gymnastics class that he can't be drowsy for...so I'm wondering if this will go away, or if he will just have to get used to being awake while he's on it? Any experience from anyone on this? I hate seeing him so out of it....but at the same time, if he's not on it he's out of control. I may just have to start giving it to him at night again...even though that will cause him to be asleep during the time the medicine is supposed to be most effective. I don't know what to do! :sigh:
 
H

HaoZi

Guest
Kapvay is the extended release version of clonidine, a blood pressure medication, which is why it can knock you out. It's not the kind of drowsiness you can get used to and get over like other medications. This is not to say resistance doesn't happen, but it will be more as he outgrows his dose.
 

SRL

Active Member
Hi and welcome to our forum.

Kapvay was approved for use in children and adolescents ages 6-17 a few years ago but we don't seem to have a lot of members reporting on it yet. And definitely not anyone with a child as young as four so please do share your experiences with us. I should mention that it's not uncommon for doctors to prescribe outside of the age guidelines, we just haven't seen much of this form of clonidine yet.

You may want to do a search here at the site both on Kapvay, as well as Clonidine.
 

vdoeinck

New Member
Thanks for the input everyone. I'm happy to report that he seems to have gotten used to it now...he does need a nap if he gets up really early but I don't mind that since we have been skipping naps for over 6 months....he did great today and yesterday not getting sleepy until after lunchtime which is when the average pre-schooler needs a nap so yay! The only thing now is since we've switched from dosing at night to mornings he is getting up at 5:30 a.m. which is way too early so I tonight I gave him 1 mg of melatonin to see if that will help him sleep longer. I am so new to this...just trying what our therapist said might help. We are doing Occupational Therapist (OT) once a week and that seems to be helping too. A couple of months ago I was just trying to get him in bed before 9 and trying to keep him from breaking things in the house, or hurting himself. He seems much happier since starting the medication...he can do puzzles now without putting all the pieces in his mouth and just any activity we do seems to go so much smoother. Glad a found this forum so I can read and learn more from other parents.
 
C

Confused

Guest
vdoeinck,
You already got help, and I do not know anything about medications. I just wanted to say hello and you have my support as well. I'm glad to hear he is doing better :)
 

kdeter1121

New Member
vdoeinck, when did you start seeing symptoms in your son? My son will be 3 soon and I am having a lot of issues with him and am at a loss. You can read my thread at a loss with my soon to be 3 year old which it describes what I am going thru with my son. I just need advice on whether or not I should seek help for him or if it is a normal thing for boys at this age. Good luck to you and your son :)
 
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