Experience with non-stimulant meds for ADHD

[Gena]

DS has ADHD-like symptoms as part of his autism. (Whether or not he should have a co-morbid diagnosis of ADHD is a topic of much debate among his medical team.) in the past, we have handled these symptoms with supplements, sensory diet, and behavioral techniques. Lately these things have not been enough. As DS gets older, we see that inattention in particular is having a negative effect on his academic progress. After much discussion and debate, DH and I decided to try medication for DS.

Stimulants are not an option for DS (this is one thing the entire medical team agrees on). He was prescribed a small dose of Tenex, with the plan to gradually ramp up the dose over several weeks.

DS gas been on the medication 2 weeks and we think we are starting to see a positive effect, but it's hard to know for sure since he goes through good phases and bad phases anyway. We have not seen any negative side effects. We are hopeful that this medication will help him.

I'm wondering if others have treated ADHD with non-stimulant medications and if this has been an effective approach in the long run.

Thanks.

[o_mom]

PM-ing you.

[Pepper]

Yes. Stimulants are not a good fit for DS1. We had him on Intuniv for a while - maybe a year, fifteen months? - but then it stopped working so well. We currently have him on Strattera, he's been taking it since December of '12. We've increased the dose gradually over the last few months. He is still hyperactive, but it's manageable at home and he is already in a separate classroom so they can deal with it there as well. He also take lamictal as a mood stabilize so we've been going back & forth, tweaking the two meds to try and find the right balance.

His hyperactivity is probably not all due to ADHD - we've been going back & forth with deciding if he also has reactive attachment disorder. At our last psych visit she told me that she thinks he does (disinhibited type)- I'm mentioning it because he is not a straightforward ADHD kid. But than again, neither is your DS. HTH.

[ArizonaGirl]

We tried Tenex here and we unfortunately did not have the progress we were hoping for.

I will say as well that we did experience an unusual side effect in DS in that it seemed to cause symptoms of depression.

He was telling me that he was just "so sad," and "couldn't be happy," so we decided to slowly wean him off of it.

That also reminds me that this is one medication that we were warned that you cannot just stop taking, it must be gradually increased to an effective dose and

if the medication is to be stopped it must be done gradually.

HTH and good luck

[Indianamom2]

Well, we tried Strattera a couple of years ago for DD and honestly didn't notice any difference at all. She is mainly inattentive type with anxiety. We are on day 4 of trying Vyvanse, and seem to be having some really good results. So for us it didn't work, but it didn't hurt anything to try either. I hope it helps your Ds!

[Gena]

Thanks for all the responses! It's really good to hear about other people's experiences.

His hyperactivity is probably not all due to ADHD - we've been going back & forth with deciding if he also has reactive attachment disorder. At our last psych visit she told me that she thinks he does (disinhibited type)- I'm mentioning it because he is not a straightforward ADHD kid. But than again, neither is your DS. HTH.

It's seems like a lot of us have kids with multiple issues and it's really hard to sort everything out. In our case, we know for sure that DS has autism and the experts go back and forth with deciding if he also has ADHD. It's so complicated and confusing.

I will say as well that we did experience an unusual side effect in DS in that it seemed to cause symptoms of depression.

He was telling me that he was just "so sad," and "couldn't be happy," so we decided to slowly wean him off of it.

Thanks for sharing this. I did't realize depression was a possible side effect, so that's a good thing to keep in mind. How long was he on it when this started?

Well, we tried Strattera a couple of years ago for DD and honestly didn't notice any difference at all. She is mainly inattentive type with anxiety. We are on day 4 of trying Vyvanse, and seem to be having some really good results. So for us it didn't work, but it didn't hurt anything to try either. I hope it helps your Ds!

Is Vyvanse a stimulant? It's so hard to remember what all the different meds are. So you mean that non-stimulant meds didn't work for your DD?

[egoldber]

Vyvanse is a stimulant. It's in the dextroamphetamine family of stimulants (Dexedrine, Adderall, Vyvanse) vs. the methylphenidate family (Ritalin, Metadate, Concerta, etc.).

I hope you find something that works for you!

[Pepper]

It's seems like a lot of us have kids with multiple issues and it's really hard to sort everything out. In our case, we know for sure that DS has autism and the experts go back and forth with deciding if he also has ADHD. It's so complicated and confusing.

Agreed. Part of it feel a little artificial, for lack of a better word - the actual diagnosis is a moving target depending on how a bunch of experts decide to group things. It's not like cancer or some other diseases where there is a clear problem with a specific tissue type/organ/body part. DS1's psych also said that since anxiety is not currently included as part of the RAD diagnosis in the new DSM V, she has to list it as a separate diagnosis. It's crazy.

[LBW]

I will say as well that we did experience an unusual side effect in DS in that it seemed to cause symptoms of depression.

We had a similar experience with the ER form of Tenex, Intuniv. For the first two weeks on Intuniv, DS2 was exhausted all the time, but we knew to expect that. Then for about a month, he was great. I had my happy, quirky boy back. Then he became really sad, lethargic, and uninterested in everything. Since he was on a really low dose, we didn't wean him off. On our pediatrician's advice, we just stopped giving him the Intuniv. Thankfully, the depression symptoms went away fairly quickly. DS2 is a low dose stimulant now, and is doing great on it.

[ArizonaGirl]

Thanks for sharing this. I did't realize depression was a possible side effect, so that's a good thing to keep in mind. How long was he on it when this started?

I was less than 2 weeks when we started noticed this and by a month it was obvious.

HTH