Intuniv Er And Sleepy (Page 2)

Hello there,
My son has been on Intuniv ER 1mg for four days. The Dr says give it time, but how much time he didnt say. My son takes it at 8am, and at 2pm each day he is tired. after a nap, still tired for the rest of the day. Anyone know how long this might last?
Thanks

REPLY

REPORT

My son started 1 mg a week ago and is the same--listless and just seems drunk (or drugged). He typically sleeps at least 3 hours mid-day and then goes to bed at night normally (8pm) and wakes up around 6 or 7. He doesn't really want to play or go outside or do much of anything. I hate it! Has anyone ever tried giving .5 mg? I'm supposed to move him up to 2 mg tonight but forget it. I'm definitely not doing that!

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

My seven year old is on 3mg. I'm thinking about tapering down to discontinue. He is so moody simply because he is so tired. He comes home school like a zombie. I'm just seeing more problems with medicine, not sure if this is the right decision.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

My son is on day 8 of 1mg intuniv & all behaviors r still present- aggression,hyper,fidegty,poor focus,& this is usually more at school but he is even now nasty at home. He seems more tired & not as social at home.dr said wait another week & stay on1mg.is this normal?

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Thank you so much for your encouragement! Although I know somewhere in my heart that my ADD daughter will probably turn out fine, right now (age 7) it is just HARD. We struggle a lot with her, she and i butt heads. Sometimes I want to put her out on the doorstep and lock the door! But I love her an want the best for her, despite how difficult she can be. I'm grateful for your perspective and the optimistic, positive comments you've shared. I'm going to keep on trying!!

REPLY

Was this helpful? 3

Lets just drug our children, lower their blood pressure so they are so lethargic, they don't even feel like doing anything. I believe it all starts at home. ADHD is too easy of a diagnosis for a Dr. to make when parents are tired from work and it's play time! We all need to remember that when kids get out of school, they need to go outside and run and play and do.. I wonder what the statistics are for stay at home parents vs dual working parents?

REPLY

Was this helpful? 2

First off, having a hyper child is one thing....having a child who does not know how to "brake" is another. Having no impulse control is not a parenting issue, it is not a society/environment issue, it is a frontal lobe deficiency. When you can teach and teach and teach and guide and guide and guide and your 8 year old still runs after the ball into the street not realizing what he/she is doing because all they see is the ball and their brain doesn't know how to tell them to stop, you would and will do anything you can to try to help them. This is a SAFETY issue, not a "I don't want to play with my kids" issue. I am sure there are some who abuse this diagnosis just as there are those that try to abuse any situation, but to blanket and assume all are like this is not only narrow minded it is ignorant. Please, for the sake of those who have children in need of help, educate yourself before throwing out comments that truly are based on nothing.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 27

@twinmommyvermont
I am so happy to read your post because that is exactly how I feel. I was someone who thought ADHD is overprescribed and is probably more a reflection of bad parenting. I thought I would never put a child on meds. I was wrong. My child has been kicked out of preschool and camp in the last four months. He is out of control. We have tried everything we can do as parents - consistency, change of diet, firm consequences, lots of exercise...etc. The fact is that my son's wiring is off in his brain. He has enormous trouble with impulse control and it is DANGEROUS. He has SPD (sensory seeking) and most likely serious anxiety issues. Although he has been spinning out of control for almost a year now, I have known from the time he was a toddler that there were problems; I just didn't want to admit it and figured that I could solve it with good parenting. His behavior has made living in our house miserable and it has negatively affected my son, who thinks he is a bad kid and has no control as well as his siblings who can't stand to be around him most of the time. He is only 5! We started him on Intuniv 2 days ago and although I am worried about the drowsiness, it is so beautiful to see his sweetness come out and that he isn't kicking, screaming, hitting, and spitting at everyone when he is angry. It breaks my heart to think that he can't help it. We have punished him so much in the effort to be consistent with our rules, boundaries and consequences. Nothing has worked. This isn't "a more liberal society" problem or a "dual working parent" problem or any other of those ideas that sound good to say because it is easier to swallow than the truth; some kids have real, serious problems. THeir brains do not process the same way as other kids. As my doctor said, when a child feels so much anxiety and so out of control and you don't medicate as a way to help him, he has more chance of growing up and self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. Kids do not want to feel out of control, or different, or "bad". Don't blame the parents. Most of us are doing everything we can with love and broken hearts to help our children.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 26

@marjorie and @twinmoomyvermont

You twp could not have said it better. I won't repeat it all because I don't think I would be adding anything new. :/ I am on this site reading these tonight because my 5 year old started intuniv 2 days ago as well and has been so sleepy. We give it in the morning but I may try at night if this doesn't wear off. But I have to admit as well..he was so sweet and just calm. I was so relieved after 2 stimulant meds completely changed in the worst way (more aggressive, moody, angy, emotional etc) I am praying the sleepiness wears off and we can stick with this and therapy. Thank you both for your supportive words, so many people have a gross misconception of what were dealing with. Strangers are one thing but friends and family can really say some stupid things. :/ I wish the best of luck to everyone dealing with this. My heart goes out to all of us!

REPLY

Was this helpful? 4

I just wanted to update. After 2 months on Intuniv, everything is GREAT! I cannot explain enough how much I love this med. It has completely changed my relationship with my daughter. Instead of the difficult, frustrated, obstinate, angry, moody child I had before, I now have a pleasant, happy, cheerful child. Rarely does she melt down now. Rarely does she argue or throw fits. It has even improved her Sensory Processing Order dramatically. She actually put on jeans of her own choice the other day for the first time in 2 years! I am now enjoying the child that only a few months ago I wasn't sure I could live with. YAY for Intuniv! (Just a note: this hasn't made my child an angel. She still has issues, just like any other child. She still has moments of anger, sadness, etc., but they are more normal now. She is more rational in the midst of her hard moments and can be talked down from the edge much more easily. Dont' expect a miracle, just a major improvement).

On the drowsiness front, it took a while to get that in check. I'd say about 2 weeks. My daughter only takes 1mg. When we went up to 2mg, she became a zombie and couldn't function. But back on 1mg, she is alert, social, happy and not tired at all. BUT we also had to experiment with WHEN to give it to her. The doctor recommended at night, but after 2-3 nights of good sleep, she began being restless for long periods at night. So we tried giving it in the morning, but that made her sleepy all afternoon. Finally, we tried giving it at 4pm. For her, that is optimal. She gets sleepy right about bedtime, but she doesn't get the wakeful fits. By morning she is alert again and doesn't experience any sleepiness during the day. So if you're still struggling with sleepiness after a week or two, try a late afternoon dosage. It was perfect for us. (Bedtime at 8:30pm).

I also will say this about Intuniv: It hasn't seemed to affect my daughter's attentiveness and focus much. I know that is the main feature of ADHD people are looking for help with. But for us, her ODD was a much bigger issue. And the ODD seems to be almost completely gone now. She still is pretty spacey at school, still struggles with staying on task. BUT, she is so much more pleasant and easy to manage that her teachers are much more willing to help her and work with her than when she was demanding, argumentative, and hysterical. So for me, this is a super product!

(p.s. Side effects? Not many. She's more talkative. WAY chatty in fact. And she may or may not have had a bout of restless leg syndrome related to this med. But aside from the sleepiness with the higher dosage, I haven't found any side effects I can't live with. No appetite issues, no negative behaviors...it's great!)

REPLY

Was this helpful? 9

intuniv does not make the person depressed, just sleepy, all it is, is blood pressure meds and im not even into meds

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

It gets better. My son was on 1 mg for 1 week, 2 mg for the next week and 3 mg for the next week. He gets really tired sometimes - especially when we up the dosage. He just went back down to 2 mg (this is the fourth week) and the sleepiness has gotten much better. His ADHD (Hyperactivity/impulse control) was so extreme. He can now sit still and his behavior is manageable. I am still uncomfortable with him being on meds (he is 5) but he was totally out of control and getting worse. This is helping, and he still has his spark

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

My son is 5 and his dose was just increased to the 2mg after one month on the 1mg. The intuniv has helped. My husband and i were always against giving our kids any meds pertaining to adhd but when my son started this school year he was out of control in the first two weeks. My heart was bleeding for him because i could feel that other kids were going to alienate him and his behaviour. I've seen kids on stimulant meds and i had no desire to stifle my sons personality so we decided to try intuniv because it's a non-stimulant. Literally, i tried everything before we came to this point, even a sleep study in which we found out he had sleep apnea and we had his tonsils and adenoids removed. Even on the intuniv, he doesn't sleep much. Most days he's awake when i get up to leave for work at 3:30am!!! Dressed, on the couch, watching cartoons. I get so exhausted and stressed out because of his behaviour and he is soooo smart but I get constant calls from the teacher or the principle. I think he may be ODD as well, but i really am working with just the intuniv right now. He's not as defiant or aggressive on the intuniv and he can actually focus when I'm talking to him but he has his moments. Just my experience.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 3

I apologize if I offended anybody. I read most of your posts and am shocked at how many children under 6 years old are on medication.... These meds aren't even recommended for children under 6 per the patient insert. Intuniv was first marketed as a blood pressure medication called Tenex. The package insert stated that it shouldn't be used for pediatric patients because hyperactivity could occur....hmmmmm Now, it's renamed and used for hyperactivity. I agree some children need external help, however I do not believe that medicine should be pushed so hard from the pediatricians.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

I get your point, Kim. And I do think you're right--ADHD medication is probably overprescribed. But please don't forget that children (and adults) who truly have ADD/ADHD do no have the same chemicals in their brain as the rest of us. While caffeine and stimulants would make most normal children and adults hyper, it actually calms the brain of an ADHD person because of the chemicals their brains are lacking. So it doesn't surprise me that the insert of Intuniv used to say that it would cause hyperactivty and now it's used to treat hyperactivity--that's exactly how most ADHD meds work, kind of counter-intuitively to normal people's brains/bodies.

ADD/ADHD isn't a made up diagnosis. Although there are probably plenty of kids out there who are just naughty or poorly disciplined and are diagnosed with it, lots of kids and adults really, truly have a chemical unbalance in their brains that causes them to have impulse control problems, difficulty focusing, poor memory, and learning difficulties. My own mother, age 69, was only diagnosed with ADHD in her late 50's after a whole life of not being able to focus, stay on task, remember anything, behave appropriately, read social cues, etc. She isn't a poorly managed little kid. She's a very intelligent, grown adult with a masters degree and two bachelors degrees who STILL struggles with all the characteristics of ADHD and literally cannot function without her meds. With them, she can manage, although she will never be "normal" as long as she lives. Her ADD is REAL. And thank heavens that the meds exist to allow her to have some quality of life!

So while I get your point, getting an a forum for parents who are struggling to find some way to help their kids learn and behave and telling them that it's all in their head, that they're bad parents, that ADHD doesn't exist, or that meds are wrong (which I know you didn't say directly, but did imply) is probably not the right way to express your thoughts that ADHD meds are problematic. Yes, they are. There isn't a med invented yet that doesn't have some kind of side effect. But as a parent of a child whose life is much harder because of her ADD, I"m willing to try a new med to see if it can help. It has helped. Intuniv has completely revolutionized our relationship. I thank God every day for that miracle. And I pray for other parents who are still looking for an answer.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 7

That was extremely well said. I would give anything to have found a way to help my child without meds, but nothing worked. Yes, he is only 5, but his brain is wired differently, and we have known this for years. After he was kicked out of preschool and kicked out of camp for impulse control troubles and for being completely unable to sit still, it was obvious we had to try medication. His self esteem was being negatively affected because he knew he was unable to control himself. He started calling himself a "bad kid". Heartbreaking. We still have our difficulties, but at least Intuniv has made it a bit more manageable.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 2

I hear all of your struggles and everyone here has the best interest of their child in mind. My son was a normal happy very active youngster, and growing up myself with some dyslexia and ADHD (unmedicated)I did what I needed to do to provide him safe outlets and means to plug in. We did art therapies, horseback riding and lots of spacial athletics. I had the luxury and liberty of time being that we live on a large property and I am a work from home/ stay at home mom. All this changes in middle school when he developed severe depression. The odds now- of size and maturity- were in his favor. His reasoning skills were very developed but the rationale was extraordinarily skewed. A dangerous combination for a physically strong and irrationally stubborn young man. The aggressiveness is scary. And while I could understand that the feeling of always playing catch up- dyslexia- and fear of failure can be overwhelming to the point of depression; there was nothing I could do to break the cycle. As a threat to himself, he had to be medicated. And the trial and error period was terrible. But now he is stabilized to the point the we are implementing dietary changes and it is really working. We have gone gluten free and casin free and have begun- under strict monitoring- to reduce his medication needs. There is so much related to spectrum disorders and autoimmune that effect neurology. Our family has a history of Ulcerative Colitis and this is a genetic disorder but so many gene mutations present as autoimmune and go undiagnosed. Keep trying and do what works for your family. But don't rule out that dietary changes can have huge impact on your health. It's been worth the effort.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

I am a parent who is struggling to help my child. My child was a happy, well behaved child until his father (without my consent) took him in for "behavioral problems". He has been on Intuniv and now Methylin and gets in more trouble in school and is not my same little boy. The court said he needs to take the meds so now I can't protect my child. He doesn't need any medical help and is getting worse by the day so I DO know what it is like to try and help your child... Children with ADHD have different wiring, I get that. Not until they receive an EEG will I acknowledge that. Psychiatry is not science and if you look at the DSM IV, anybody could be diagnosed with anything based on the symptoms. My family has extensive medical background so I am not just stating my opinion. I'm just only on this forum to warn parents of the long term dangers of these types of medicines. Question, how did your mother focus enough to obtain all those degrees and raise a family? Was that before or after her medication?

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

You really want to know? All of her degrees and child rearing were before meds. Before she even knew why it was that she did terribly in school growing up and had no friends. One of the characteristics of ADD is the ability to hyperfocus on things that interest the person and to be completely unaware of eveything else. I guess she found her college/post graduate classes interesting enough to succeed in them, while she utterly failed at elemenary and high school. And as for raising her family, she completely ignored her children, as that was not interesting to her. Sad, but true. We raised ourselves while she flitted from fun project to fun project... But seeing her life has given me SOOO much perspective and insight in now raising a child who is exactly like she was. So there are mixed blessings in there. And that means trying new medications once in a while and giving them a shot at helping her brain compensate for its physiological problems.

I'm sorry about your son. I know there are people like him who are misdiagnosed and for whom medication is a problem not a help. Good luck to you in that.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 2

Thank you for your reply. Good luck to you with your child and I am glad your mother is doing well!

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

I am not sure if t here are different forms of intiuniv. But it is a time released formual and you should not open it, cut it or crush it or it will go into your childs system all at once. be careful..ask your daughter about crushing it if you havn't already....also.my dr. switched my son to a morning dose from evening and for some reason this has made him less tired during the day.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well with the Chantix and are able to quit smoking! I'm a week and a half i...

1 REPLY

My son is 9, ADHD and this is the first time that he tries med. He has been on INTUNIV for 8 days, we have not seen any ...

9 REPLIES

My son just started taking intuitive last Friday and it is now Tuesday. Yesterday and today he has had a bad headache lo...

2 REPLIES

PLEASE, PLEASE, someone help! I have a 10 yr old daughter who has been diagnosed with ADD and they want to put her on th...

2 REPLIES

Hi, my son is 11, has ADHD, autism, Tourette,SPD, GDD and a learning disability. He's been on Ritalin for three year...

1 REPLY

Hi there, so my 9 year old has ADHD and we just recently switched from Focalin 10 mg twice daily to Intuniv. The Focalin...

1 REPLY

i take nardil an MAO can i take INTUNIV ## Has your doctor instructed you to use both? Intuniv contains the active ingre...

1 REPLY

I would like to get my 12yr old son off intuniv. How do I do it ## Hello, Chelle! How are you? What dosage is he taking ...

1 REPLY

Please tell me the side effects. ## Intuniv ER contains the active ingredient Guanfacine, it is used to lower blood pres...

1 REPLY

My 8 yr. old has had a hard time sleeping for years and now goes to sleep between12-2am and is up at 7am. he never gets ...

3 REPLIES