Klonopin and Guanfacine??

[Bootsie1]

Still trying to find some peace for my 14 yo daughter. She is taking Guanfacine right now and we are still trying to figure dosing out. She seemed to do well(ish) with 3mg ER but I still felt her anxiety was an issue so dose was raised to 4mg ... which resulted in a blunting effect. Her psychiatrist suggested .05 Klonopin at night as an add on. Has anyone had any success with this combo?

[ADHdMoMmY1]

Hello my almost 6 year old was talking both of those but the klonopin really gave him bad headaches I would say just stick with the guanfacine

[WiscoMama]

My 12 yo son was on vyvanse and guanfacine for about a year and clonidine was added this fall. It has helped tremendously with his RSD and he has tolerated it well with no side effects. It really has been the most effective for him to help regulate emotions.

[Bootsie1 in reply to WiscoMama]

WiscoMama thank you for your reply

So your son takes clonidine as well as the Guanfacine?

I asked her doc abt trying Clonidine and he dismissed the idea and suggested the Klonopin

[WiscoMama]

Sorry, I read that quickly and misread Klonipin. My son has not been on that, just clonidine. Perhaps the doc is suggestion clonazepam particularly for anxiety symptoms vs RSD. I hope you find something that works well for her!

[IheartDisney]

I would do more research on the Klonipin. We had one psychiatrist that prescribed it every day. The other psychiatrist said she wouldn't give it to children (my daughter is 14) and that it was addictive. It did help my daughter because it is pretty much a tranquilizer and just knocked her out but then she seemed to withdraw from it and was very upset when we wouldn't give it to her. I'm not trying to scare you in any way, it can just be very powerful so I would do as much research on it and see what you are comfortable with. This is just the experience that we have had.

Now for the Guanfacine, my son (9) takes 2 mg and has done really well with that.

[WaveBug]

I would be careful re: Klonopin. It is only meant to be used for a short period of time and is as addictive as heroin. ADHD kids are more prone to addiction issues in general so this makes Klonopin extra scary. My brother had this issue and was lucky to get clean but it took years.

[Bootsie1 in reply to WaveBug]

Thank you for you’re reply. We actually did give it a try over the weekend with not much success. Instead of a calming affect, she was hyper and had a difficult time falling asleep that evening… in the morning she was crabby and reactive. Not something we will be exploring again!