Dealing with ADHD and RAD hyper inattentive and angry

[TruSoma8]

Hi we have an 8 year old who doesn't sleep well. He is on sertraline in the morning to help with anxiety and anger. He is also on intuniv 1mg in morning but I'm wondering what others experiences are with using intuniv and when its best to give it to them? Morning, night, midday???? Lost in this mess of meds. Finding the right fit is horrible on everyone.

[Onthemove1971]

Welcome to the group. We are all here for you anytime you need us. You will find such wonderful supportive parents and guardians here.

Our son takes it at bed time, the dose lasts 24 house. But he also struggles with sleep so he takes melatonin to help.

The Initiv really helps with focus at school. The times he has forgotten it he will do very bad on assignments.

Some people use weighted blankets to help with sleep issues (they are very popular and you can buy bn them on amazon). Our son wakes up a lot at night and struggles to fall asleep without it.

[TruSoma8 in reply to Onthemove1971]

Hi thank you for responding, we have a weighted blanket and use melatonin at bedtime. I'm just so confused about meds!!! He is currently taking intuniv in morning maybe I should switch to night time. He take 25mg of sertraline in morning for anxiety and aggression from early childhood trauma and neglect. We had to go off vyvanse as it made him really angry and couldn't fall asleep and had no appetite. It was awful.

[Onthemove1971 in reply to TruSoma8]

It is my understanding that Initivi helps with sleep. Are you working with a psychiatrist? I would send them a message asking about changing it as long as it doesn't wear off in the middle of the day.

You will know when it is all dialed in.

Good luck!

[TruSoma8 in reply to Onthemove1971]

Thank you its been so frustrating and stressful on all of us

[TruSoma8 in reply to TruSoma8]

and yes we have a psychiatrist but its all just coming together as our healthcare system in Canada is a mess!!!!

[Onthemove1971 in reply to TruSoma8]

Yes.. I remember those days just know once it is all stable thi gs will be so much better for everyone!

Big hug.

[TruSoma8 in reply to Onthemove1971]

Thank you

[willandgrace]

is setraline an anti-depressant, like zoloft? my daughter takes vyvanse and guanfacine (generic intuniv). she is considering adding Zoloft. is it ok to take both intuniv and anti-depressant at same time?

[TruSoma8 in reply to willandgrace]

according to our paediatrician yes

[willandgrace]

also, my daughter started 1mg of guanfacine at night because dr thought it might make her tired. after a short period of time she began taking it in the morning with her vyvanse. now she takes 2mgs of guanfacine. she feels it helps with her mood/irritation from vyvanse.

[TruSoma8 in reply to willandgrace]

Does she take the intuniv in morning both 2mg or splits it up? I'm curious as to when to give it to our little man as everything seems to affect his sleep!!!

[willandgrace]

She takes it all in the morning with her Vyvanse. She has no trouble sleepibg

[TruSoma8 in reply to willandgrace]

Thanks

[DecaturDAD]

Finding the right meds for my son was a huge challenge. Intuniv plus Zoloft caused him to fall asleep everyday during school. Finally settled in with methylphenidate in the am and amlodipine and 3mg melatonin at night. Not a panacea, but it was a huge improvement. Amlodipine use was off label, but the psychiatrist had experience using it for ADHD, and it definitely helped with emotional control, etc.

it’s frustrating when the experts seem to guess what will work, but you will know when there’s a significant improvement. Hang in there.

[anirush]

Both of my grandsons are on Intuniv. They both have other medications to help with mood swings. One is on Welbutrin with the Intuniv because he has trouble with depression.

They both take Intuniv in the morning but also melatonin at night.

[mplaz]

Our daughter was on 1mg of extended release guanfacine (which I think is the generic of Intuniv, correct me if I’m wrong.) She was taking this in the morning with Vyvanse but it made her tired and forgetful. Now she takes a whole 1mg pill at night of the non-extended release at night and .5 mg (half a pill) in the morning. It has made a huge difference for her. It takes the “edge” off of her behavior. Makes her much less argumentative and disrespectful. Her teachers noticed a big difference in her behavior after we changed to this dosage/protocol. Now, I no longer get a weekly email about her behavior. We only get an email when needed, which is what I’d been dreaming of!

Dosages and med combos are different for everyone. Luckily with stimulants you know right away if they’re working. Non-stimulants can take longer, 2 weeks or so, to see if they’re right. Hang in there.

[Cjkchamp]

We found Guanfacine to be more sedating and it would hide our sons anger so then he would have explosive outbursts. Our psychiatrist ended up recommending broad spectrum micronutrients and he has done fabulous on them. There are two companies, True Hope and Hardy Nutritionals.

[TruSoma8 in reply to Cjkchamp]

so many people have such different ideas so hard to know what's best for our little guy thank you

[Peacewarrior1]

Cbd oil is the answer darling people❤❤❤❤

[TruSoma8]

I've looked into that and I've tried it on myself but I would be skeptical trying it on a little boy as most cbd oil has some thc in it and his biological father has schizophrenia

[Nats2005]

We just started with 1mg Intuiv in the evening for our 4-year old son, in addition to the 5mg of Adderall twice daily he's been on for several months. The Adderall seemed to be helping somewhat, at least in terms of helping him focus on one activity, but evenings after it wore off were becoming increasingly a struggle. Our psychiatrist suggested adding the Intuiv to help the evenings. It's only been about a week, so hard to discern any effects.

[TruSoma8 in reply to Nats2005]

Hang in there and closely monitor his moods and behaviour, sleep etc like a detective to be exact so you can tell the doctors what you are seeing at home. I've been told it takes time so I'm still hanging

[Pennywink]

Is he having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or both?

We did a trial of 1mg Intuniv with my son for a few weeks. Administered in the morning. Though I didn't witness this, he claims he kept waking up in the middle of the night. This typically isn't a problem for my son. The Intuniv did not help enough with his ADHD to continue, so I don't know if taking it during the PM would have helped.

I'd discuss it with your prescribing physician first, but perhaps changing the time you administer it could help. My son also really like to use a sleep machine (white noise, etc)