what does Guanfacine do? How does it affect your child after taking it?

[CatzBCrazy]

My son just turned 12. He has severe ADHD and mild ASD. We just started Neurofeedback and it shows his anxiety is through the roof. It is definitely causing his major malfunctions. I think it’s time we rethink his meds. He has been on Lexapro 20 mg but I don’t think it’s doing its job for him. He also takes Jornay PM which I highly recommend for easy mornings 😀. 5mg Abilify and a booster in the afternoon of amphetamine . His frustration and aggression has gotten way worse. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

[BLC89]

Hello CatzBCrazy,

I am sorry you son is so anxious that is a tough one. He is 12 so his hormones are a changing' and the Lexapro may need to be reassessed, especially if he is growing like crazy. His weight will be changing so dosing should be adjusted accordingly.

Is there an exercise you have found that he likes? It has been proven to be hugely effective in lifting mood for sure, but also in curbing outward ADHD symptoms. It also wears them out so there is less energy for being anxious, irritable or aggressive.

Incorporating high intensity cardio several times a week can be hugely impactful. It is a two fold gift - fitness & good health and reduction in ADHD symptoms.

The other activity that has been studied and found to be quite impactful is mindfulness. Even 5 minutes a day can have a big results. You can't lose when you meditate: if your mind wonders and you bring it back to the focal point you just strengthened your focus muscle - yay! If you stay focused longer you are strengthening your focus muscle - yay again!

There are many meditations that involve movement too, tai chi has been called out in particular for ADHD and helping reduce outward symptoms, but there are others too. Something as simple as counting steps out and back from the mailbox can help. It allows them a chance to purposefully slow down and decide what to focus on. In short intervals like 5 minutes it gives them success and agency over themselves and their thoughts - that is a huge gift.

I hope some of this helps,

BLC89

full disclosure I am an ADHD Parent Coach and have raised two kids with ADHD and been married to ADHD for nearly 30 years

[CatzBCrazy in reply to BLC89]

Good advice! Thank you so much.

[BeingMom in reply to BLC89]

Do you have any specific recommendations for mindfulness practices for an unwilling 9 yr old? Maybe a specific guided meditation or an app? TIA!

[BLC89 in reply to BeingMom]

I will look around.I used to engage my kids competitiveness and say things like "it's OK if this is too hard, most kids your age can't do this" or, and this worked best in our house "if you can do that then you are ahead of most grown ups I know" that may motivate them to try.Staring at a candle flame for two minutes - could hold a fidget toy while found that.

Tai chi is a great one but may need to be modified to something like balancing a ping pong ball on the their hand while moving slowly and not letting it drop.

But I will see what I can find as far as apps or guided meditations.

I have an app I created if you know any app creators I'd love to get it out in the world.

BLC89

[BLC89 in reply to BeingMom]

Here is one from ADDitudemag.com There are some great ideas. Still looking for guided meditations for kids though. The "Pause app" mentioned (and linked) in this packet, I can't find. I see the website but when I search in the app store I don't see the app - maybe you will have better luck, I'm sure it is user error.

additudemag.com/download/mi...

I will keep looking for guided meditations and let you know,

BLC89

[BLC89 in reply to BeingMom]

I found one, of many, mindfulness, guided meditations. This one is the most meditationy in that it walks you through placing your hand on your belly to focus on your breath, and picturing their breaths moving in the body, etc. This is narrated by John who also has the kids bring up someone they are grateful for. It seems like the most explanatory one I found.

youtu.be/IN5z4gNOVYg(Not working as expected?)

You can search youtube.com guided meditations for kids and lots come up.

New Horizons seem to focus on pure bright white light and visualizing breathing it in, it seems like a stretch for kids to be able to do it but if yours can great, they have a lot of different meditations.

That's what I found, not exhaustive by any stretch but a start. Have your kids help you they may like different voices than what you may choose or something like that.

I hope that helps,

BLC89

[BeingMom in reply to BLC89]

Thank you so much for the reply! I'm hopeful this will make a difference.

[coopha]

my 17yo son has been on the 20mg Lexipro and 2mg Guanfacine for years now. When he was younger, we had him on higher doses of both. Guanfacine helps with his ticks (hand stimming) and overall tension/anxiety. It does make him tired, so this year we switched to taking meds at night and that helped immensely at school. My son is Asperger’s (ADHD/ASD Level 1).

[MommaofandwithADHD]

I used to take lexapro for anxiety and depression. At first it worked great but as time went by I found that my anger and aggressive thoughts and behaviors were out of control. So I took a weekend to myself, no meds, just a tent and the forest to detox and see if I could figure out what was driving this rage in me.

Upon arriving home I was immediately bombarded by my spicy child so I took my lexapro. It did not go well at all. I raged at everyone and every thing. So much so I locked myself in my room with headphones on rocking in the fetal position until it passed. Never again will I take that medicine. I am 50 yrs old and if it so happens that this is what it is doing to your son I can’t imagine. I had a hard time controlling it as an adult.

Good luck at getting him balanced out….

[GhostOrchid]

Guanfacine really helped with my son's emotional regulation. I think of all the meds he is taking--Focalin XR, Ritalin, Guanfacine, Lexapro & Clonidine--we saw the most drastic improvement with Guanfacine for emotional regulation & clonidine for sleep. He definitely needs the other medications, but without the Guanfacine we were walking on egg shells hoping not to do anything to upset him because he would go from laughing to raging in a split second over the most innocent comment. With the Guanfacine, he might still get upset, but he will actually take a moment to pause and get his emotions in check before he reacts. If I recall correctly it took a couple of weeks on the medicine before we saw the improvements. My son is similar in age to yours...turning 12 in 2 months.

[CatzBCrazy]

oh Wow. Thank you so much for all your feedback friends! I was always told that puberty will mess up the meds and so I think we are in that stage! I need to talk to his dr about some changes. His emotional dysregulation is out of control.

[amewhit]

I would absolutely try guanfacine. You could try either short acting or long acting. In addition - Strattera really helps with anxiety and depression symptoms and may be less “harsh” than lexapro? Strattera does not help with focus. My son is 12 and has not tolerated stimulants. We may try again but right now we are on 1mg tenex pm, .5 Tenex am and 25mg Strattera am. We went up to 60mg Strattera but he was too manic-y and dizzy after three months so we lowered back down. It helps with sadness/anxiety. Guanfacine tamps down that “flight or flight” response. We could use help with focus. But staying where we are till summer. I can’t handle another med change at the moment! It’s hard!!!

[Fish1fish]

My daughter is only on Guanfacine and is doing well with just that. Previously we tried a whole slew of drugs and nothing seemed to help, had weird side effects or cause major aggression. At some point we got her a genesight test which concluded that stimulants were not good for her. Low and behold taking her off stimulants made her way more tolerable! She had 3 meds going at the time as well, one to help with the symptoms of the other.

I’d recommend getting your child a similar test, if nothing else its an additional piece of information.

[ECJH2022 in reply to Fish1fish]

Hello! I know this is somewhat old but what is a genesight test?

[Fish1fish in reply to ECJH2022]

genesight.com/home_new/

[ECJH2022 in reply to Fish1fish]

Thank you!

[MerryDay]

This is a selfish segue from your question, but could you tell me a little more about the neurofeedback you tried?

My 7-year old son is on guanfacine but I don't know if he's close enough in age for my information to be of use to you. But he's been on it about half a year, he takes 1 mg in the evening, it helps him get to sleep, it doesn't give him the ability to go do a puzzle on his own like ritalin did but ritalin's side effects were too undesirable. We tried 2 mg guanfacine for a while but it made him more irritable. So we went back down to 1 mg (evenings) and we've been experimenting with strattera (mornings) as well. When we forget his guanfacine he struggles to get to sleep, sometimes staying awake an hour or two.

[CatzBCrazy in reply to MerryDay]

when he was reevaluated a few months ago he did a brain mapping session. The Dr suggested we continue with neurofeedback when she received his results. He has done about 6 sessions total. We’ve gone once a week. I don’t see any changes as of yet but it does sound promising. I’ve talked to other patients’ parents in the waiting room and they have been happy with the results. 🙏🏽

[MerryDay in reply to CatzBCrazy]

Thank you so much! I'm going to look into that for us.