Combined drugs

[Sk8te]

Hello- my 5 yr old was prescribed methylphenidate 18mg (concerta). We started it this morning. An hour later he’s spinning out of control as if on speed. He’s familiar w the methylphenidate class (he’s been on Ritalin-dr just wanted to give him a longer acting) Anyways- we have have tons of medications on hand that we’ve tried (Guanfacine short and long acting and clonodine all lowest doses) these were given but made him tired. My question has anyone given guanfacine/clonodine WITH the concerta? My kid is so whacked out I’m feeling like I need to give him something to calm him. I know we’re re not drs but w all the meds I’m sure we’ve all tried we should know if it would be ok. I think?! My kid is healthy w no underlying health issues. Dr also made a comment to give clonodine w Ritalin prior to this new “speed/concerta” prescription. 😔😔😔😔

[anirush]

The tiredness with guanfacine will eventually wear off. Both my grandsons have this in addition to their other medications and it has been a big help.

I oldest grandson was on focalin X R for years when it began to lose its effectiveness at maximum dose. The doctor tried switching him to concerta and said it was in the same family of medications. Over a couple of weeks his anger got so bad he broke his bedroom door.

It is so frustrating to find the medication that will work best for your child.

[izzydog2012]

Yes! My 11 year old takes CONCERTA, Clonidine and Zoloft at the same time in the morning and Zoloft and Clonidine in the afternoon

[jmhunter1014]

We had the same issue when my son (now 8½) started Concerta as his first med. His body wasn't used to it and he was tweaked out for a good couple of hours before settling down; he also had no appetite and couldn't sleep. He even complained to my mom when she had him for an overnight visit that he felt like his heart was racing and he couldn't calm down. The one thing we discovered that worked wonders (and that my mom ignored on that overnight visit) was ensuring he had a full tummy before taking it. This seemed to help dilute (for lack of a better term) that initial fast-acting dose on the outside of the pill and allowed him to level off faster. That, and good old-fashioned tolerance. Lol It takes a few days for your child's body to adjust to the medicine, but once they do it's a Godsend.

We've been through 3 different dosages of Concerta (18, 27, & 36, then back to 27 when 36 was giving him tics), and have since switched to Focalin XR (Dexmethylphenidate - much cleaner and fewer side effects), which doesn't last as long (only 8 hrs instead of 12) but works much better for us. Also because he's a fast metabolizer we're on quite a high dose (25mg) and it only lasts about 6 hrs - he's not even making it through lunch at school - so we've since added a 5mg fast-acting bumper dose of Focalin in the afternoon, and he takes 2mg Intuniv (Guanfacine) at dinnertime to help combat the sleeplessness (the only side effect remaining after we switched) and aid in his remaining impulse control and emotional regulation during the day. So far, so good!

Best of luck on your journey! 😊

[Watermelon5 in reply to jmhunter1014]

I'm curious, what do you mean when you say Focalin XR is "much cleaner"? Thanks!

[jmhunter1014 in reply to Watermelon5]

According to our pediatric psychiatrist and our pediatrician, Dexmethylphenidate is the "clean" isomer of Methylphenidate. We've found that nearly all side effects we experienced with Methylphenidate disappeared with the Dexmethylphenidate, even at what's considered a higher dosage (apparently 25mg Dexmethylphenidate is equal to 50mg Methylphenidate). We were experiencing facial tics and strange tic-like breathing when on the 36mg dose of Concerta, but we see nothing of the sort on the Focalin.

[Watermelon5 in reply to jmhunter1014]

Thanks, my daughter takes Concerta, so this is good to know! Take care.

[mplaz]

My daughter takes guanfacine with Vyvanse. The guanfacine calms her down a lot, and the Vyvanse allows her to focus.

[willandgrace in reply to mplaz]

My daughter too! She thinks the guanfacine def helps her feel more calm in the afternoon when the vyvanse is wearing off. if it makes your child tired, Sk8te, then give it at night for a while until the tiredness wears off. that's what my daughter did. now she takes it in the morning with her vyvanse.