Intuniv? Not sure about this...

mavh2005

Member
difficult child's psychiatrist suggested using Intuniv instead of risperdal. I'm not keen on changing her medications. Both husband and I suggested waiting until next month because we want to check into this, however difficult child's biological mother, is singing Intuniv's praises because her other daugther is on it and apparently it works for her.

My biggest concern is the sleepiness.. difficult child had a huge problem last year staying awake in class on the days she was at her mother's house. We don't want to go thru that again. My other concern is the material that comes with the medication says it hasn't been studied for longer than 9 weeks... no one seems to know what the long term effects could be? Any one use this longer than 9 weeks???

What can we expect??
 

TiredSoul

Warrior Mom since 2007
We tried it, but only for 15 days on 1 mg. It did not cause daytime drowsiness for our difficult child but did cause night time wakening, some bad dreams, and difficult child got up 1-1.5 hrs earlier in the mornings. He was more cooperative going to bed, fell asleep fast, and seemed more peaceful in the mornings. We stopped it because we thought it was making difficult child more aggressive, but after we discontinued it the aggressiveness did not subside - so we think that was/is just something going on now and not from the Intuniv. I think I would like to try it again.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
Are you sure it's Intuniv and not Invega? Intuniv is long-acting guanfacine, a beta-blocker that has been shown to be effective for ADHD symptoms, especially focus and concentration. Invega, on the other hand, is the long-acting version of Risperdal.

My difficult child 2 has been on Intuniv for a year now with no problems whatsoever. He cannot tolerate stimulants, and this drug has really helped control his focus and concentration issues a lot. It does cause some sedation, but he takes it at night so it's not too bad.
 

mavh2005

Member
Are you sure it's Intuniv and not Invega? Intuniv is long-acting guanfacine, a beta-blocker that has been shown to be effective for ADHD symptoms, especially focus and concentration. Invega, on the other hand, is the long-acting version of Risperdal.

Yup.. it is Intuniv... Got the information sheet on it. I didn't know there was a long acting version of Risperdal...

After talking to both difficult child and her therapist, we're asking the psychiatrist not to change any medications at this point. difficult child is totally against the change. therapist thinks that if we keep changing the medications, even though difficult child is showing signs of improvement, it will not help her and start making things worse. Guess, we'll wait and see what happens at the next psychiatrist appointment.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
Why was she put on Risperdal in the first place? If anything, I would have thought the Intuniv would be a replacement for the Vyvanse...
 

mavh2005

Member
Why was she put on Risperdal in the first place? If anything, I would have thought the Intuniv would be a replacement for the Vyvanse...

She's on the risperdal to help control her moods... I think she needs an anxiety medication to help her deal with the transitiions she has going from our house to BM's house. So I'm sending an email to her therapist now to see what she thinks..
 
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