6 year old Guanfacine Night Terrors

[Skinser]

Our 6 year old has been doing great on Guanfacine at school and at home and now about 3 weeks in. He is having night terrors to where it is happening every 20 to 40 mins for the past 3 nights as we try to sleep. Has anyone else experienced this before when taking 1mg Guanfacine?

[Onthemove1971]

I recommend you speak to his doctor. I do remember night terrors being at this age and our son was not taking medication. They can tell you if they think it is a side effect. I would not stop the medication since he is doing so well..

Good luck at getting through this.

[arrh121]

Is this extended or immediate release? Our son had night terrors on immediate release but not on extended release.

Certainly should check with your doctor about the side effects of course.

[Adhdquestion]

Our 6 year old son started having night terrors when he started 1mg of Guanfacine ER, took the pill at 8pm. But the night terror would happen once a night within an hour of him falling asleep and did not occur every night. They slowly tapered off and stopped happening within a month of starting the med. they started up again when the med was increased to 2mg but they only occurred a couple of times over a couple weeks this time and then stopped. Our son also had a couple bed wettings when the med was started and then after the increase, which never happens so I knew it was from the med. when we shared with his psychiatrist he wasn’t familiar with these side effect but it had resolved itself by then. Hopefully is it lessening with time as your son’s body adjusts to the medication. For the hours you are still awake when he’s asleep, I would see if the frequency seems to be lessening. If it’s a true night terror, your son will have no recollection of the night terror as he is technically still sleeping during it. The frequency seems excessive so I would definitely make your son’s doctor aware.

[MomBaller22]

My 10YO son’s asleep was impacted for at least a month when we increased his dose from 1MG/day to 2MG/day. He was very agitated at night and would wake up very cranky, like he hadn’t slept well. It does take them time to acclimate to it… What does the doctor say? Maybe give it another week or two and see if the terrors have diminished at all… and then weigh out the pros and cons to staying the course or changing lanes. GL!

[SconnieMom]

My 7yo just increased from 1mg ER to 2mg ER a week ago. He told me last night he is seeing spiders in his sleep and I’ve noticed an increase in his talking in his sleep. He doesn’t usually have night terrors (I did growing up!). He also said he feels like he isn’t sleeping, so maybe his sleep isn’t as restful as it normally is. I am hopeful this will taper off after reading these comments! I hope this passes quickly for all our kiddos ❤️

[Kikimonkey]

My granddaughter is also on 3 mg and having nightmares It happens whe n she started it and stopped after a while but we recently bumped dose from 2 to 3 mg and they have started

[Mamamichl]

Guanfacine is originally a med to lower blood pressure. At night, our blood pressure goes down. It is possible his goes down so low that his body shocks itself awake to keep from going dangerously low. Talk to your doctor for sure.