Intuniv for ADHD
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Anonymous
| Does anyone use Intuniv for ADHD? If so, how old is your DC? What is dosage? Do you use only Intuniv or does it supplement a stimulant? Does it work? What are the side effects? Thanks so much. |
Anonymous
| We just started this for my six-year-old. Had one week of 1 mg to ramp up to 2 mg. Very good results so far at home and at school. Sometimes sleepy in the afternoons when he wasn't before. Will post more later or feel free to ask specific questions. |
Anonymous
| OP here. Thanks. Is your DC inattentive, hyper, compulsive? Which one does the Intuniv help with? Mine is combined type? Currently on Adderall which hurts his stomach and makes him sleepy. Would love to get him off Adderall, but wondering how Intuniv helps each ADHD sub type? Thanks again. |
Anonymous
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We used it for a few weeks when DD had just been diagnosed, at 8. She was on a small dose (can't remember what), but the effect was profound. She was slow and deliberate in everything she was doing -- almost sleepy. She's an athletic child who was on a swim team at that point, and we were blown away when we saw her suddenly hesitate a full second taking a start, or swim a pace so deliberate that t added almost 10s to her short laps. Even then, while we no longer had the melt-downs, she had increased problems with math and no patience with reading. It was as if she was in a trance.
When we discontinued, we had out hyper/inattentive child back who read her way through book after book, swam fast, melted a few times a day and whizzed through her math. These days, she thrives on Long-acting Ritalin, again, a low dose. |
Anonymous
First PP here. DS is combined type with lots of impulse control issues and very combative. My older DD (10) has mild inattentive type and is on Focalin so I am family or with that, and we briefly tried Metadate for DS but that seemed to make the combativeness worse. Intuniv seems to have made it better so far. |
Anonymous
| Whoops, "family or" should be "familiar". |
Anonymous
| My DS uses intuniv with his stimulant. Before intuniv, he would never fall asleep or calm down in the evening. He now takes just 1 mg at dinner and he goes to bed much better than before |
Anonymous
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My 12 yr old so is on Metadate and Intuniv. The Intuniv just wasn't enough alone and could cause night terrors if the dosage was too high. We added the Metadate. Alone, the stimulants make him more agressive. The two together seem work best for him. We use Focalin as a boost in the evening when needed. I like the way it works and have considered trying it alone. Maybe in the summer. Trying new combos during school doesn't seem fair to anyone.
Intuniv also offers coupons regularly that keeps the copay to $15. |
Anonymous
| Any luck with intuniv for inattentive ADHD? |
Anonymous
| 7 year old DS on Intuniv and Staterra which works well. Intuniv by itself didn't do a whole lot but works very well in conjunction with another drug |
Anonymous
| My 9 and 12 year old use intuniv 2 mg. The 9 year old uses it along with vyvanse 40 mg. The 12 year old with concerta 36 mg. It works. It helped control moodiness and anger issues. Both are impulsive. The only side effects they experienced were in the first two weeks when the medication was started - at the 1mg dosage. The older child was so tired. We solved that problem for the second child by starting the medicine at night. When he moved up to the 2 mg dosage we switched to administering it in the morning. |
Anonymous
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There are two types of Intuniv. Long-acting seems to have less fatigue for our child with primary diagnosis of anxiety. Lots of other things on top of that, but anxiety is the main challenge and often presents as ADHD. Intuniv is basically a tiny dose of high blood pressure medication. Be careful using with OTC allergy meds that might intensify fatigue.
DC's psychiatrist is very cautious about meds in pre-teens and communicated a lot with pediatrician and school counselor before prescribing. The Intuniv and CBT over 9 months has helped to take some of the edge off DC's explosiveness at home and impulsiveness at school. We have the same child, and love them deeply, but we've definitely progressed out of crisis mode into manageable, but still challenging stage. Can't wait for puberty... 
good luck OP and others |
Anonymous
| Hi kind of curious about the poster who switched intuniv to daytime. We just started 1 mg around dinner time and after a week only had one evening where child was sleepy. Child is ready for sleep at regular bedtime. Always has been a good sleeper. So no real dopey side effects at this low dose, but wondering if would see more tiredness if took first thing in the morning. Does anyone see a difference in efficacy during the day if taken at night versus the day? Thanks |
Anonymous
I'd be interested in responses as well. |
Anonymous
I am the PP who started at night then switched to day. Doctor told us to do that to avoid sleepiness. My older son had extreme sleepiness when we started the medicine in the morning - the 1mg dose. We learned from his experience and the younger son started the 1mg at night then switched to morning when switched to 2 mg. Both kids now take the 2 mg dose in morning and it does not cause any drowsiness. They are both accustomed to the dosage. |