clonidine

[Bugsy]

Hi there,

Just wondering about clonidine for adhd symptoms. My difficult child currently is doing well on Lithium (600mg/day) for mood.
Thank G-D, he has been rage free for almost 2 months.
Now we are trying to deal with hyperactivity symptoms. We have gone through so many medications it would take forever to write. we tried clonidine for sleep some time back with a different dr, who was totally off the mark with my son. For sleep it did not help but he was also very unstable at that point. The current psychiatrist has been great and has helped immensely and thinks it is worth trying during the day. We are starting at a teeny amount 1/4 of the .1 pill twice a day.

My question is has clonidine been helpful for your difficult child and adhd symptoms?

Thanks,
Bugsy's mom

 

[mum2JK&TH]

We use Clondine for difficult child's tics but have to use a stimulant for his ADHD. As far as difficult child goes, Clonidine does nothing for his ADHD, it's only used to lessen the tics that the stimulants cause :frown:

 

[Steely]

We use to lessen rages, and it works very well. Overall, his demeanor is more calm, and his impulsivity has lessened. However, as far as increased focus, I have not seen that much improvement.

 

[--Eleanor--]

Although we haven't tried either yet, we have talked with the doctor recently about clonadine as compared to guanfacine (tenex), which seem to be somewhat similar. My impression is that they don't help much with the attention problems of adhd, but may be of some help with calming down. It sounds like she may want to try one of these two because my son has a tough time coming off the stimulants (which actually do help him a lot with concentration at school).

Congrats on rage-free for 2 months!!! Wish I could same the same...

 

[Wiped Out]

My difficult child takes Clonidine at night for sleeping but a lesser dose during the day, .05 in the a.m and .05 in the p.m. to help with his ADHD symptoms. It helps although it is not a cure all but he can't take stimulants due to his Bipolar.

 

[Janna]

We have had NO luck with any ADHD medications with Dylan. None. I have fully and totally given up on ADHD medications.

The Tenex and Clonodine did nothing other than completely knock him out. They did nothing to help through the day with focus or anything like that. Neither did Ritalin, Concerta, Metadate, Strattera, Adderall and that stupid patch, Daytrana. Nothing.

We had him on Abilify, which is an atypical antipsychotic, with his Lithium and that was good. Too bad the Abilify pooped out. I'd think your difficult child's Seroquel should be helping with some of the hyperactivity, as it is the same class of drug as the Abilify.

Sorry, nothing good to add here :frown: