Experiences with Intunive?

[Anonymous]

My 8 year old son was just prescribed Intunive for ADHD. His doctor decided to go with a non-stimulant medicine first in hopes that it won't decrease his appetite like stimulant medicines might. Does anyone have experience with this medicine? He's starting it in the morning and we're hoping he won't have any bad side effects. Luckily, we have a week before school starts to see how it works for him. The doctor said the main thing is that it might make him sleepy. I would love to hear how it worked out for others.

[Anonymous]

My DS is on it and it works well for him. If the dose is too high, he will get sleepy. Start with a very low dose and move up. if he gets sleepy go back down.

You might get more helpful responses in the SN section. here you might get an earful from people who have ideological opposition to meds (and who don't have kids with ADHD).

[Anonymous]

We saw limited to no results with Intuniv. It is also one of the most expensive ones out there. Don't get me wrong-- if it worked, I would have paid whatever I had to. We've had better luck with the stimulants and Wellbutrin.

I agree with PP that you should search the SN forum on this site. TONS of useful-- and friendly/supportive-- info there.

[Anonymous]

Yes, same here. Not helpful at all, but made my son very sleepy. You also have to watch their blood pressure because it can cause dangerously low b.p. It was originally a b.p. medication when it was noted it also helped people's ADHD.

[Anonymous]

Helps w hyperactivity but not focus. My son just started a stimulant to help focus before school starts. GL.

[Anonymous]

Similar experience. Expensive, and it has no generic version, and it made my daughter downright drowsy. She was competing in swimming this season, and doing really well before we tried it. On it, at the smallest dose, she was like the slow-motion of herself, and with extremely poor coordination.

It is supposed to help with impulse control -- perhaps because it slows all reactions, giving the brain enough time to process consequences. We did not see it. She was still a big puddle every time she heard a no.

Everything was far better when she went back to a simple stimulant (Ritalin LA).

Looking back, it felt like there was quite a bit of insistence from our provider to continue with it. I did not like the pressure, and it felt odd.

Simpler things seem to work better for us.

[Anonymous]

Combo of focalin and intuniv have worked well for us