to try to make a long story short, my now 7 year old son has been on stimulants for 10 months and stimulants plus guanfacine for 6 months. He has been doing significantly better in school (doing his work, not being impulsive, dealing w things that don’t go his way ie not winning, being first etc and controlling his emotions ie not hitting his sisters or friends when he gets triggered). All very positive since the meds. However now that we are comparing things year over year there have started to be some noticeable themes of things that are worse. 1. Sensory issues - some have been there but the intensity and frequency of sensory issues has gone way up. For example he has new fears of things like butterflies or heights that trigger him to shutdown that he never has before. 2. His coordination has decreased. For example, prior to meds he could swim a very strong back stroke and after starting meds his arms go in different directions. and 3. His social skills have are very bad now. Socially awkward/ anxious. Two examples to compare year over year that have me wondering what is going on. 1. Soccer - in kindergarten was very active and aggressive towards the ball. In 1st grade (post meds) flinches at the ball, stands around a lot. Looks lost. 2. Halloween party at a place we belong to. Last year (pre meds) - independent- playing w friends, participating in the contests and activities proactively. This year, sitting at the table w parents, being nervous balloons were going to pop, not interacting w friends until an hour or two into the party. I never thought of these issues as related to meds until today (the Halloween party). Maybe they aren’t but interested to hear if anyone has ideas or experiences on meds making things like this worse.
help - can meds be making some things... - CHADD's ADHD Pare...
help - can meds be making some things worse?
I thought Guanfacine made things worse after a period of working well amd we stopped it.
Interesting because I just read another thread where intuniv was related to a loss of interest in things. That’s definitely going on here
It’s tough because our kids are growing and changing while we are trying/discontinuing medications. As you point out, that makes it tough to figure out what would have happened regardless, developmentally, with them, versus changes caused by medication. For our child, the guanfacine helped with emotional regulation and working memory while the stimulant helps with impulsivity and focus. As an older child, our son has said that the stimulant causes him to not only be more focused on tasks outside, but also inward focused on his own thoughts, worries, or second-guessing himself before interacting and the like. It is temporary though. Just when taking it. No issues with the guanfacine here. Stimulants can heighten anxiety in some kids. Others here have had luck with Qelbree as an alternative. May be worth talking to MD about other options and/or genesight testing.
that’s a good idea. I keep hearing about genesight and now maybe a good time to try it. I was lucky we found a stimulant that worked well right away though we did have a bunch of trial and error with different kinds and doses after that.
My 7 yr old boy on stimulant for 10 months too! Also on a SSRI for anxiety. And we just started 2nd trial of guanfacine. I know things can change quick, so I’m crossing my fingers, but I finally feel we have found a medication regime where everything managed to acceptable level. Every single medication has come with problems, but the 3 together, with finding the best dosage has worked out. (For now)
Stimulant alone increased anxiety. Guanfacine & stimulant (without managing anxiety) we tried 1mg & 2mg - and he was so irritable & flat mood for 6 weeks- I just couldn’t continue (and the anxiety still very significant). I think the initial drowsiness affected him so much, which also impacted mood. When we added SSRI to treat anxiety, his impulsivity went through roof. We had to increase stimulant & work to find dosages that got both anxiety & impulsivity under control. Then we had a great 8 hours when stimulant in effect, but at home, the extreme impulsivity was really difficult. We just added in guanfacine again, and after initial increased irritability - we have calmer mornings & evenings too.
About increased anxiety on stimulant, psychiatrist thinks my boy has anxiety quite seperate from ADHD, so rather than stimulant helping with anxiety by managing ADHD symptoms (as does for most), it increases his anxiety by giving him extra clarity in his thinking.
I know lots of people in this group have had success with non-stimulant route when anxiety an issue on stimulants. (So different pathway to we took)
Interestingly, my boy’s soccer morning matches were such a good opportunity to understand impact his medication having. He needed focus & quick decision making stimulant gave him, and the confidence to get in & participate from the SSRI. I haven’t seen him play soccer since we added guanfacine. Interesting, he wanted to stop medication when he started guanfacine as he said “he couldn’t play” (& he meant sport at lunch time). At the time I put this down to the drowsiness affecting him more/for longer than typical as we were only on it 6 weeks, but I might need to keep an eye on his sporting abilities, as he loves his sport & is very good at it.
In terms of interest in activities, when my boy is most anxious, he significantly decreases what he participates in (one or two activities he will do) as a way to make everything predictable & decrease any possibly source of anxiety. Everything you mention in your story, (except the decreased motor skills), fits with the way anxiety looks in my boy.
to add, we had a lot of issues with the mornings and evenings (still do in the mornings until the stimulants kick in) which was one of the reasons we initially added the guanfacine. The effects of guanfacine are less noticeable to me but I’m a bit worried to mess with it since he’s in a good place at school right now. But anyways my point was going to be that we had to add a booster of the stimulants around 3:30/4 so the evenings aren’t a disaster. The guanfacine didn’t do enough for that. Not that you need it but figured worth sharing my experience with that
Always happy to hear what someone with some similarities is doing & has tried. I gave an afternoon booster stimulant a mini -trial (like a week) before we added guanfacine. Booster had definitely positive results for afternoon. Just trying to see what guanfacine does alone at the moment to see if we need the booster. I really couldn’t see any improvement on guanfacine alone the first time we tried it either. I was pretty hesitant to try it again. My psychiatrist thought it really worth another trial since she said it could look very different now his anxiety is managed & so far, that is the case.
super helpful. Thank you for sharing. So glad you have found the right mix! I am going to discuss all of this with his psychiatrist. I believe my son has anxiety in addition to adhd as well. It runs in the family including his father.
So interesting to see this post because we’re in a similar situation right now. My 10yo son has been taking 1mg guanfacine for over a year along with SSRI and Concerta. Guanfacine really helped to mello him out and decrease impulsive actions. But a year out he has lost interest in most activities and has ongoing nighttime accidents. We decided to stop guanfacine to see what would happen. He hasn’t had an accident since which is awesome. He definitely has more energy and I can see greater impulsivity again but not unmanageable. He has more energy and desire to participate in activities again too. The struggle to find the right medications is real and I wish you all the best!
ADHD meds might have made my son worse? 
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Starting Meds Monday, need some positive stories!
He just won't sleep!
Defeated mom new to group-child w/ ADHD & ODD and running out of options
