On "suspension" from PreK. Clonidine?
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| Tue, 10-20-2009 - 7:58pm |
I have a 4 and a half year old son Gray. He has been going to a county PEP preschool the past two years which is for kids with a number of special needs and developmental delays. When Gray was younger we were thinking Autism but he has now been diagnosed twice by dev peds with ADHD and he has it BAD. He is going to a "typical" preschool in the mornings and they have no idea how to handle him. He is a doll but his impulse control, loud voice and overall busyness is proving to be more than they can handle. Cognitively he is doing great, but behaviorally he is a nightmare...much more than in his PEP class in the afternoon. So we may have our first official rejection coming up with the preschool. Breaks my heart.
So as a last resort I thought we would look into meds again since he is fighting his impulse demons constantly. We've tried methylphenidate and Strattera. Neither worked for us. His new dev ped just put in a RX for Clonidine and we are going to give this a try. Since it can make you sleepy we are starting out on a very low dose once a day. Has anyone used this med? Any thoughts?
I just want him to be happy with himself and not to be struggling with what he knows is the right thing to do and his ADHD impulses. I've heard the kids are already shying away from his craziness and at 4 years old that makes me so sad. Any imput would be great. Thanks!
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Hi
We tried Clonidine when DD was 7, and it did nothing but make her sleep, literally 6-8 hours more per day than usual. She has ADHD/Inattnetive, and was having some impulse control issues, so we tried it. Honestly, Straterra did nore for her impulse control than any other med. She seems to have outgrown that problem however.
I am curious as to how long you tried each med? Methylphenidate is
A child may HAVE ADHD, but it is not what they ARE. Never tell a child they ARE ADHD.
Our son was given Clonidine when his ADHD started causing problems in preschool. It's SUPER mild. In fact, we didn't even see the anticipated sleepiness and we had to keep increasing the dosage and it never did calm him at all. It was pretty much like giving water to our son. The other mild one we tried was Tenex and that was the same. We only saw major change when he was put on Ritalin when he was four and then our whole world improved. Have you exhausted all of the forms of Ritalin?
Wish I could share a great story about Clonidine, but it just didn't do a thing to help our son.
Also, be prepared: even if this medication does zip to help your child, it can take months to taper off of it. You can't just stop it like traditional ADHD medications. We wasted a lot of time on this medication before we could try anything else.
Michelle
Hi!
We tried Clonidine during the day as well, but it didn't do much for Nick's impulse control and focus.
< <
Christine
My son also takes clonodine.
Hi Lainie!
Have you tried any of the anti-anxiety meds?
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Christine
Hey Christine!
We tried zoloft in the past and he had a horrible reaction to it.
I am a Luv Bug with Gray. My dd Madigan was born Feb.1, 2005 and now has also been having issues with school and they are questioning "AD/ ADHD". I go for a parent teacher interview on Wed. She too is always loud, very impulsive, never stops moving or talking, bossy and unable to follow clear directions.
Just wanted to let you know YOU are Not alone with him only being 4.5 yrs. I am at a loss here too but they do not even consider medicating kids for this in Canada until the are 7 - 10 yrs old due to long term health concerns. At the moment, if they offered me them though ... I'd take them too I think. I have 3 others to care for and she thinks the world revolves around her only.
Suzanne (Toronto)
Mom to Ryleigh (11/07/96) and wife to Michael (05/14/04)
Suzanne (Toronto)
Mom to Ryleigh (11/07/96) and wife to Michael (05/14/04)
"impulse control, loud voice and overall busyness"
This reminds me so much of my son. He started Kindergarten this year and has been having a lot of problems with behavior. He is very smart, but he just can't make the right decisions on his own. I was getting conflicting advice, but after everything we decided to try him on Adderall. Today was his first day going to school with it. *fingers crossed*. I'm sorry I don't have more advice, I just wanted to say I know how you feel and I can tell you love your son as much as I love mine. This will get better for both of us!
From what our psychiatrist told me, Clonidine shouldn't be used as a stand alone ADHD drug.