hi,

we are in our 4th week of intuniv and so far it looks good. my son has been on either adderallXR or daytrana for 5 years (he's 11) and during that time has never eaten lunch and needs melatonin to sleep. (adderall was a nightmare, daytrana better) And we had problems with facial ticks, so we couldn't use a lot of the stimulants. It seemed they worked well for the hyper/impulsive but not the attentional issues.

so far on intuniv he has a more normal eating pattern and has stopped using melatonin. we are doing now testing 4 mg of the intuniv and may have to back down to 3 because of sedation but we'll give it a few more days. He's not been on stimulants since about day 5 of the 1 mg test and the fact that he functions fine in school is amazing. He sat down the other day and worked for 45 minutes straight on a geography map he was making for school, which was shocking itself.

so....I'm tentatively optimistic that this may be a better med for us.

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We have just very recently begun to hear about Intuniv and am wondering if this will be a viable option for our son. He is 9 and has been taking Guanfacine and Strattera for about a year now. While these meds make a slight difference he is still quite impulsive and has a VERY difficult time focusing. I think that we saw improvement in his level of impulsivity after we introduced the Guanfacine. We have him on a low dose (10 mg) of Strattera and have tried to increase dose many times but he always ends experiencing depression and despair so we back him off. We tried Daytrana and Vyvanse but had to discontinue because of pretty severe tics. We started down the Guanfacine and Strattera road after discovering that the Mehthyphenidate based drugs were causing these tics. I guess I am curious if there are more success stories about Intuniv out there. If this seems to help I would like to discuss this with our Doctor. thanks.

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Hi there! We have just begun the 2nd week of my son's treatment on Intuniv. He started with an entry level dose of 1mg and as of Wednesday went up to 2mg. So far, we have heard some positive feedback from the school but I suppose its still too early to tell. I am crushed though, because a playground incident occured yesterday which caused him to be suspended from school today and on Monday. I think the Zero Tolerance stuff is a little ridiculous but the school will not bend on their policy. My son, like many of thesekids, will act impulsively and can be aggressive towards other kids. This has always been the case for him, however, I believe there is another side to this particular story which I don't believe warrants a full suspension- my opinion, of course. I called the psych to report this incident and he felt it would be a good idea to see him earlier than we had originally scheduled. He said he may have to add something else to his regimen but we shall see after we visit w/him in next 2 weeks. He will also have his first therapy appt. this eve. Hopefully, as time goes on we will have better news to report and will try to post his progress. I wish you all the success with your child in finding the right med(s).

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I took my 5 year old son to the medication doctor today and she told me about Intuniv. When I read the brochure I felt that this could be a medication that I've been looking for. My son struggles with ADHD, ODD, and is especially impulsive and aggressive. He's been on Abilify for mood stabilization but it doesn't help with everything. I'm going to start him 1 mg this Saturday for 2 weeks and keep him on the Abilify. After 2 weeks, if he is tolerating the Intuniv, I'll start him on 2 mg and after a week reduce the dose of Abilify. I would love it if he isn't on 2 medications. I would love it even more if he wasn't on any medications at all, but I don't think that's an option. I feel for you, Neutron Mom, as I have concerns about my son being kicked out of kindergarten because of his issues. Have you ever heard of a 504 plan that is available for kids diagnosed with ADHD? I had one made for my son - it's prevention measures and things a teacher should do in a classroom to make it easier for the student. What I really like about this plan is that it is designed for each child individually. For example, it is in my son's plan that even if he gets in trouble for hitting, punching, spitting (yes, spitting on people), etc. he cannot be denied recess because he needs the physical activity. I am a little leary about the Intuniv as I didn't want him on Tenex. I've tried blood pressure medicine before and I don't like messing around with it. It only made my son go to sleep. While he wasn't hurting anyone while he was sleeping it wasn't helping him either. But since Intuniv is approved for ADHD I'm going to give it a try. I'll post again after he has been on it.

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Hi There! No, I have never heard about the 504. I will research it though. Thanks for the heads up. Though it was my understanding that the IDEA laws no longer provide immunity to those kids with an IEP from a school's individual disciplinary action policy. Now as we are into our 3rd week on the Intuniv (still at 2mg) I see a bit more focus emerging. He has been complaining of nausea and fatigue but yet he still has a lot of energy. I wish you all the best with your child. Please keep me posted on your progress! Thanks for sharing.

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