Switch from stimulant to non-stimulant

[louisepearl]

My 10 year old son recently started medication for his relatively mild ADHD. He tried Metadate, but we stopped it because of side effects (moodiness and anger). We've recently switched to Guanfacine. He was taking 1mg/day with no noticeable side effects (but not a great improvement in focus, either). We just went up to 2mg/day at his doctor's recommendation, and he's so tired! He got home from school and took a long nap and now feels too tired to move -- this is a kid who has never liked to sleep, even as a baby, and is normally so high-energy. He took the Guanfacine last night, but the tiredness seems to be really kicking in now.

Does anyone have experience with Guanfacine and this side effect? Does it get better with time?

[Mom655]

Hi, my son was on guanfacine (intuniv). The first couple of weeks he was very tired but it got better with time. We ultimately had to switch to another medication for other reasons but the tiredness resolved after a couple of weeks. Hope this helps!

[GoDukes]

Hey there! Our son had issues with the side effects of stimulant meds as well. We ended up adding the Guan in the evenings to help him with the comedown of the stimulants which seemed to work pretty well for awhile when he was younger. By giving it to him at night it didn't create issues with tiredness. I don't think Guan is really going to help with focus issues by itself though. Ultimately, there were too many side effects from the stimulants. We switched to Straterra which is a non-stimulant. No more side effects but it doesn't help quite as much with the focus so far. We are increasing the dosage to see if that helps. Good luck!

[Lanego]

You may need to check his blood pressure. Guanfacine was originally used as an anti-hypertensive medication. My son started on 1mg and was tired for a few days but then did well. We always gave it at night.When we moved up to 2mg he became noticeably more tired and couldn't stay awake during the day. We had a home BP cuff and his BP was low for a 10 year old. Our provider agreed we couldn't continue on 2mg, and we had to return to 1mg.

[louisepearl]

Thanks so much, Mom655, GoDukes, and Lanego! As it turned out, he was coming down with a cold that night, and has since been much less tired, even while on the 2mg. We'll see if there are any improvements in focus -- thanks again!!

[tattooed_mom]

My son is on guanfacine but not by its self. He takes it to counteract the side effects of the vyvnace (he developed vocal ticks for example he'd clear his throat like ever 3 minutes and he was having arm and neck rolling ticks as well. He'd for no reason extend his arms or roll his head around in a circle). At one point he was taking 2 mg of the guanfacine but that was because his vyvance was at 40 mg. He is now down to 20mg of vyvance and only 1 mg of guanfacine. He started it when he was 10 and is now 14.

[Vintagecollector]

hi! Yes my son is 8 and has been taking guanfacine since October 2022 for adhd after many stimulants caused negative side effects. He was so tired the first week! I almost stopped giving it him but learned it’s a very very common side effect until they are accustomed to it. About 2 weeks later he stopped being tired and we started seeing positive effects. He should drink plenty or water while taking guanfacine, and may be tired for a couple weeks. After that I hope you see some positive! If not let your doctor know. It’s so hard. You’re doing amazing and being here is a step for help and support