My son started Intuniv about a month ago.  He also takes Vyvanse.  We have seen a big difference in talking back impulsively and impulsive behavior.  He seems more thoughtful with others.  The first week or 2 he had some lethargy, but his body has adjusted and he no longer has that tired feeling.  We like it alot and has made our house less stressful.  It works for our 9 yr old very well.

My son is almost 6 yrs old and he takes Methylphenidate 10mg in the morning and Intuniv 3 mg at night. I have to say that the Intuniv is a miracle in itself. My son is a total different person with this medication. He is much less moody and has less mood swings and is much less aggressive towards others. However, I must say that if he misses one dose, all hell breaks loose. For example, Sunday we were at my father-in-law’s house for a birthday party and came home around 9:00pm. He was tired and refused to take the medication (which I usually put in his food bc he refuses to take any medications). Well we sure paid for it yesterday. He was totally out of control at school and at home. He was extremely rude and impulsive along with extremely angry and verbally abusive. He gets very confronting and physically abusive as well. It’s so difficult to explain in detail how his behavior was besides that when he is not on Intuniv it seems that another personality takes over completely. So far I find that Intuniv is great for my son.

I’m 55 years old, and have been on Intuniv for a few months now.  I was hoping it would help with impulsivity.  I started on 1 mg, working up to 4 mg daily (morning), and took this along with Adderall (usually 10 mg daily).  I found myself in rages a few times (actually threw a glass at one point),more scattered and acting haphazardly, and also extremely tired.  Driving home one night I had to stop and sleep, for several hours!  I’ve never experienced anything like that before in my life.  So, I’ve cut all the way back to the 1 mg daily dosage, and feel much better.  I also stopped the Adderall, since I’ve realized it’s caused excessive hair loss.  It seems that the best way Intuniv works is in combination with a stimulant, yet I’m fearful of the rages, hair loss, and increased anxiety.

Has anyone given Intuniv by itself to their child for ADHD? My child is mostly inattentive with a little hyper/impulsivity but mostly just has trouble staying on task. I’ve been told the medication doesn’t particularly help with inattention but I would love to find an alernative to stimulants since they have so many side effects for my 9 y.o. little boy. Has anyone had sucess with it?

For those of you saying that the intuniv is causing drowsiness, talk to your doctor about taking it at night instead of in the morning. My 11 yo son is on a 30 mg Daytrana patch in the morning and takes 2mg of Intuniv at night (usually around 7pm). He had been on the Daytrana and took clonidine at night to help with sleep issues, but the Daytrana was wearing of too soon even if he kept the patch on for 12 hours. So one of his doctors decided to try adding Intuniv, this helped the effectiveness of the Daytrana patch tremendously and it seemed to last longer. Since adding Intuniv meant he should not take Clonidine, he said to take the Intuniv at night. While it was initially more difficult for him to fall asleep without the clonidine, he has finally been able to get on a schedule during the school year so that he is able to go to sleep at a normal time (he has always had sleep issues even before starting stimulants for ADHD at 6 years old).  Then after being on Intuniv for about a year, he started having issues at school in the mornings because his Daytrana was not kicking in until 9:30am despite putting the patch on at 5:30am, so one of his doctors suggested taking the Intuniv in the morning instead of at night. This helped at school for the first few mornings, but going to sleep at night was difficult. We stuck with it, taking his Intuniv in the morning for a month, but switched back to taking it at night for the following reasons: his grades dropped from ‘A’s and ‘B’s to ‘D’s and ‘F’s (he is gifted, as well as severly ADHD), he was very emotional in class- crying for basically no reason and arguing more with the other kids, he FELL ASLEEP in class. When we switched back to taking the Intuniv at 7pm instead of 7am his grades went back up and he was not as emotional or argumentative at school. Luckily he has always had great teachers who are able to deal with his ADHD, most of them have ADHD kids/grandkids of their own. Since he also has a 504 due to his ADHD, we all decided that it was best for the teacher to just deal with any problems from the inattentiveness and hyperactivity of his ADHD until his meds kick in about an hour and a half after school begins (while it was difficult to get a 504 because he is gifted, I fought for it and was able to get it for him- it probably helped that his teacher said he was the most severe case of ADHD that she had ever had in a class -and that was while he was medicated!)
So basically, my point is that it can make a huge difference the Intuniv is taken at night instead of in the morning. Best of luck to you all!!

My 13 year old son takes Concerta daily in the morning and takes Intuniv at night (with dinner).  He has not experienced any of the side effects (fatigue, sleepiness during the day).  I found that the Intuniv helps with the impulsivity and frustration, too.  Using Concerta combined with Intuniv has been very effective for him, overall.

My ten year old son was taken off of Concerta by our town’s only child neurologist and placed on Intuniv. The reason for this was because although Concerta was not aggrivating his condition, the neurologist claimed any stimulant medication would fire up my son’s tics from newly diagnosed Tourette’s Syndrome. I will tell you that my son tics on stimulants and off stimulants.

So we tried Intuniv with no other meds. We started at 1mg and moved up through the starter pack. He took Intuniv for 3 months…until we couldn’t stand it anymore.

My sweet but very energetic son turned into an aggressive sometimes violent child. He screamed, slammed things, and even started pushing and punching people and objects. We went back to our primary pediatrician and went off Intuniv and back on to Concerta.

I know that everyone responds to medications differently but I was NOT warned by this neurologist (who we no longer see by the way) that this medication causes aggression, suicidal ideations, and suicidal behavior. Please be aware when putting your child on this medication!

So you’re saying that a non-stimulant made your son aggressive but a stimulant didn’t cause aggression? Concerta is Speed…Intuniv is a Blood Pressure Lowering Med…how is that even possible? I know that the Intuniv sales reps are “telling” doctors to USE Intuniv in ADHD with ODD or aggressive behavior.

Are you sure your son wasn’t reacting to his loss of control from taking him off Concerta? I read the clinicals on Intuniv (Guanfacine) and there were no reports of aggressive behavior…in fact the side effects are the opposite (lethargy, somnolence, fatigue, etc).

Also, there are no side effects known to Intuniv related to suicidal thoughts of any kind…are you sure you’re not thinking of generic Wellbutrin or another anti-depressant used off-label to treat ADHD (or even Strattera)?

Make no sense to me how Guanfacin or Clonidine could do what you are saying it did to your son…there has to be an alternate cause.

Anyone experiencing fatigue or somnolence while on Intuniv (guanfacine sustained release), try switching to a much better alternative (same drug class) Kapvay (Clonidine sustained release)...it is dosed bid so you can be very flexible as to when peak plasma levels occur (i.e. amount of drug in the blood). Intuniv is a 24hr release with much higher peak plasma levels. Kapvay can be started at night and up-dosed once somnolence goes away (most everyone who experiences somnolence on clonidine find the side effect to “go away” after a month or so). So if you take the 12hr sustained release form at night for a month, the day-time dose won’t knock the kid out. You can also dose at night then along with a stimulant when the stimulant’s peak plasma level mirrors that of the clonidine.

Both guanfacine and clonidine are great alternatives to stimulants, ESPECIALLY in kids with ADHD and comorbid disorders such as aggressive behavior, ODD (oppositional defiance disorder), tics/TD, or when you’ve reached a cieling dose of stimulants and don’t want to go higher. Both clonidine and guanfacine (Intuniv and Kapvay) are the only non-stimulants approved by the FDA for treating ADHD (excluding that crappy drug Strattera).

My 17 year old ADHD son is on his 4th week of intuniv (the 2nd week of 3 mgs) & he still seems very tired.  He takes it in the morning with the lowest dose of Vyvanse.  Now that school started this week, I am really concerened about the tiredness.  He is also a varsity runner & I am concerened about how the tiredness will affect his performance.  Running is a huge part of his life & I don’t want this meds to mess that up.  He does also seem irritable a lot but that seems to be because he is so tired.  Anyone have experience where the tiredness wore off after a couple of weeks?  My pediatrician claims that the tiredness evens out over time but how long?

For those of you that take a stimulant along with Intuniv, does it eliminate the need for a second dose of stimulant in the afternoon?

My 8 year old takes Intunive 2 mg at night We will add Metadate 10 mg in a.m. on Thursday.
My question is should I give him the Metadate on Saturday A.M. before his football game or will that slow his motor skills down?
Thanks…

OVERVIEW OF IMPACT OF INTUNIV ON MY KIDS: I have to say I am very pleasantly surprised at how much Intuniv is helping my two boys. 

OUR DIAGNOSIS AND REASONS FOR TRYING INTUNIV:
My boys are 9 and 11.  The 9 yo has ADHD Combined type, anxiety, some obsessive thinking, and a mild form of dyslexia.  The 11 yo has Inattentive ADHD, anxiety and bordering on depression, bordering on ODD, and dysgraphia (problems getting his thoughts down in writing).  They both have problems with disorganization, are gifted, and have problems with motivation.  It was thought that the stimulant medication would increase the anxiety levels for both of the boys, and the obsessive thinking for the 9 yo.

DOSAGE AND TIME OF DAY OF DOSE: 
My 9 yr old is taking 2 mg, and my 11 yo is taking 3mg, and I think we will increase this to 4mg.  They both take it at night, as it helps with not being able to fall asleep for one of them.

SIDE EFFECTS:
Somnolence/Sleepiness:
When we first tried this, they were both very sleepy, and I was relieved we had started the medication before the school year began, as they were actually taking naps in the middle of the day.  This work off after the first few days, and we increased their dosage to 3 mg.  At 3 mg, the sleepiness affected the 9 yo much more than the 11 yo, and the 2 mg seemed to still give good benefits to the 9 yo, so we brought his dose back down to the 2 mg, and are sure to have him take it at night.  Both boys have had problems falling asleep and staying asleep, and the Intuniv taken at night helps the 9 yo fall asleep and stay asleep.  It doesn’t seem to help the 11 with his sleep issues, but it also doesn’t make him drowsy or tired at the 3 mg level. 
Bedwetting/Wetting Pants: 
The 9 year old had problems with wetting his pants during the day quite a bit at first (for 3-4 weeks), but that has gotten much better.  The 11 year old now wets his bed, and he had stopped wetting his bed about a year ago.  I still think the medication has so many benefits that we won’t stop having him take it, but we will try having him take it earlier in the day, and see if that helps with the bedwetting.

BENEFITS/POSITIVE RESULTS:
This drug really helps both boys, but in different ways.  I am glad we tried it and stuck with it (we had tried Intuniv about 6 mos ago on the 9 yo and stopped too soon, but came back to it after trying a few other drugs and having ONLY negative side affects from them)
The 11 yo has inattentive ADHD, and this helps him the most.  I have to say I am amazed at how much this seems to be helping him.  He is now able to express himself in ways he never could before.  I used to have to guess what he was mad about or feeling, and ask specific questions with my guesses to try to find out what his concerns were when he would get really angry.  Now, he can express in words what he is angry about, what he wants, and for the first time while doing homework was able to say he was overwhelmed, and we were able to work through it and he decided how to break his work out in to chunks.  He is also now able to write down his assignments at the end of the day, and to do his homework mostly without help, but to actually do his homework.  It seems that now that he can express himself more, he can sometimes not get as mad as he might have in the past.  His ability to express himself is also extending into better communication overall with his peers, his teachers, and his family overall.  I am excited to see how much growth this brings for him.
My 9 yo has combined type ADHD.  The 2 mg dose helps him to fall asleep and stay asleep better, which means he is getting a better nights sleep.  A benefit I hadn’t expected at all.  He is able to listen now, and it doesn’t take as much to get his attention as it used to.  It can still be hard to get his attention, but it is better.  He also can listen better, and can focus on his work much better and complete his tasks much better.  This is great!  He is in 3rd grade, and if we can get him on a good track now (as opposed to where we are with the 5th grader) it will help him so much to keep up in school.  We may try increasing to 3 mg if the teacher this year is concerned about his ADHD   When we tried Intunive last spring, his teacher felt the change when he was taking 2 mg wasn’t very much at all, but when we increased to 3 mg, she was very positive about his behavior changes, although he was too tired to us.  We tried other medications over the summer with no success, so returned to the Intuniv at the 2 mg prior to the start of the school year.  The new teacher is much more patient and believes that ADHD is a disability, whereas the teacher last year seemed to feel it was a discipline problem, so we may be able to stay at the 2mg for now with this new teacher, and that may be enough.  He seems much more able to be organized, bring home his homework and the materials he needs, and turn in his homework.  We shall see at conferences what the school thinks.
. 

OTHER DRUGS WE TRIED:

We tried strattera for both boys.  The 9 yo had a very bad reaction, with crazy behavior, so we stopped within 1 week. The 11 yo seemed to have no positive benefits so we stopped.

We tried adderall XR for the 9 yo going from 5 to 10 mg, and it made him talk MORE, and he said he had even more thoughts, so we stopped that for now.

My 12 yr old takes Conerta (54mgs) in the morning and Intuniv (1mg ) in the evening areound 6.  He was dx’d at age 7 and after trying the diet based therapies for almost a year with no success has been on several different meds. so far the most effective has been Concerta.  The Intuniv was added to help manage symptoms in the evening.  Off meds he has always (and by this I mean even before his dx) aggressive, impulsive, mouthy and emotional. He also has sensory issues to smell texture taste light etc and well as anxiety and MAJOR sleep issues. 

We have tried everything to help manage the evenings, no t.v. after 8 (bedtime is 9:30) no video games or computer use during the school week etc.
As well as Melitonin, clonidine and Traxadone to help with sleep. We JUST started the intuniv this week and let me tell you WHAT A DIFFERENCE!  Almost from eveing ONE!  I’m sure there will be some “tweeking” to dosage eventually but WOW! He is much more in control, there are still “moments” but he is better able to get it under control when we ask him to breath or use one of his other"tools”.  It seems to be helping a bit with the sensory issues to.

I’m hopeing that the sleepiness doen’t ware off…it’s a GODSEND! The trazadone was becoming ineffective after almost 8 months.  And we were starting to revisit some of the more diffacult evenings. Every child reacts differently to any medication but this has been (so far) a good change.

I need help with my 13 year son he was taking concerta and abilify and was having really bad anger issues to the point he wanted to hit. I was told he was ADHD and Bi-polar am wondering if he is? I took him to a different doctor and he wanted to take him off the abilify and try intuniv. So I tried it and at first I saw a improvement for maybe 3 days or so then the anger came back. I don’t know what to do we have tried many medications and doctors. I really need a good doctor in Louisville, Kentucky if anyone is from here too. Does anyone know what I should try or do?