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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Our Challenging Children (gifted, ADHD, sensitive, defiant)
Please tell me more about guanfacine, dc with adhd/behaviora
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amother
OP


 

Post Sun, Aug 02 2020, 6:24 pm
12 year old dd just started guanfacine 1 mg for adhd and severe behavioral issues.
Seeing improvement in behavior but still ways to go, I assume the psychiatrist will increase.

Psychiatrist is also talking about starting a stimulant in addition at a later point.

Does guanfacine also help with focusing in addition to behavior?

What else can you tell me about guanfacine from your experience?
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mha3484




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Aug 02 2020, 6:29 pm
My son (9) has been on it since he was 6. He currently takes 3mg. It’s extremely helpful in regards to curbing impulsive behavior. For focusing we added straterra and it’s a great combo. We also give him zinc, magnesium and fish oil.
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amother
Teal


 

Post Sun, Aug 02 2020, 6:34 pm
I don't have ADHD, but I recently started taking guanfacine for emotional reactivity/ rejection sensitivity (I have BPD) and it has really helped a lot with lowering my impulsive reactions and the intensity of my emotions when I get triggered.
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livinginisrael




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Aug 02 2020, 6:38 pm
Ds age 8 just started taking it to help with impulsivity . Hes doidoindoidoing gr8 on it.only side effect is very drymouth so we try giving him a lot to drink o
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amother
OP


 

Post Mon, Aug 03 2020, 12:24 am
mha3484 wrote:
My son (9) has been on it since he was 6. He currently takes 3mg. It’s extremely helpful in regards to curbing impulsive behavior. For focusing we added straterra and it’s a great combo. We also give him zinc, magnesium and fish oil.


Thank you. Do you find that the zinc, magnesium, and fish oil are helping?

Dd has extremely intense reactions, anger, hitting, pushing, destroying things over the tiniest trigger... The medicine is HUGELY helpful in taming her reactions, but I do think she needs a higher does. I guess 1 mg is a starter dose...
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amother
OP


 

Post Mon, Aug 03 2020, 12:25 am
Thank you all for the responses! Keep em coming!
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amother
Hotpink


 

Post Mon, Aug 03 2020, 12:33 am
DS 10 started on guanfacine for impulsivity / adhd. It has been helpful though he maxed out at 4 mg / day at which point the psychiatrist added ritalin and decreased the guanfacine to 1 mg extended release / day.
In the very beginning guanfacine caused GI upset but he got passed that.
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amother
Lemon


 

Post Mon, Aug 03 2020, 6:16 am
I have 2 ADHD boys who take guanfacine. My 12 year old takes 1 mg along with his mid-day dose of Ritalin. It helps a lot with impulsivity. I see a big difference how he is at home with his siblings during these corona times when he’s taken his guanfacine or not! He also takes .5 mg at bedtime, along with his melatonin.
My 15 year old also takes guanfacine, but I can’t remember his dosage anymore... it also helps him with his anxiety....
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amother
Apricot


 

Post Mon, Aug 03 2020, 7:08 am
My 19 yr high functioning old special needs son takes 3 mg. Guanfacine or intuniv at night when concerta wears off.( about 6 pm) He has been taking it for over 10 years and I believe it helps with the defiance and the impulsivity. Recently noted it might be not as effective but it could be we need to adjust dosage because overall no side effects and seems to work on the anger management. At the time when Dr. prescribed it he was going through some teenage hormonal things and very difficult to handle. (Ie:tantrums,throwing things etc.) It really brought it under control.
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amother
Brunette


 

Post Thu, May 27 2021, 7:19 pm
How do you get a kid to swallow it - I understand it is not chewable.
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imasinger




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, May 27 2021, 7:38 pm
I had several kids with ADHD try it. It helped slightly with impulsivity for a while, then didn't seem effective any more. Didn't help with focus at all; stimulants did.
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, May 27 2021, 11:12 pm
OP, my 12 yr old dd sounds quite similar! She is on guanfacine 3 mg along with a stimulant, but it takes a while to get there You have to start at 1 mg, wait a bit, monitor side effects and bp, go up to 2, etc. It greatly helps tame her responses, now we have very rare physical aggression and much less explosiveness, she seem so much calmer. The guanfacine doesn't really help with the focusing. The stimulant also helps with behavior, not only focusing. But first you have to get one medication at a good level before starting another.

Feel free to ask questions!
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, May 27 2021, 11:13 pm
OMG this is too funny!!!! I just gave advice to my own self from last year lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It came up as a current thread and I didn't realize it was me from last year!

Well, as you can see, we are bh in a much better place!!
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amother
Brunette


 

Post Mon, Jun 07 2021, 6:43 am
My son age 11 is on it now for 1 week but still don't see any change. Is it normal? When did you start seeing change and when do you tell doc there is no change and need to up the dose?
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FranticFrummie




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 07 2021, 6:50 am
Thank you for this thread! It never even occurred to me that it might help my DD. I'm going to suggest this to her doctor. (anxiety, ADD, BPD)

Right now I have a sinus infection, and I've been taking Mucinex, which has guanfacine in it. Now that I think about it, I have been more focused and gotten more things accomplished. Mucinex has another ingredient that keeps me awake at night, so I can only take it at the beginning of the day.

I'm going to ask my own doctor if I can give it a trial run. I'll let you know how it goes!
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amother
OP


 

Post Mon, Jun 07 2021, 10:46 am
amother [ Brunette ] wrote:
My son age 11 is on it now for 1 week but still don't see any change. Is it normal? When did you start seeing change and when do you tell doc there is no change and need to up the dose?


I think it takes a couple of weeks.
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amother
Brunette


 

Post Thu, Jun 17 2021, 10:01 pm
Son on it for two weeks now not seeing any great improvement. Can some one tell me when they started to really see change how many weeks?

Op laughing abt u giving advice to yourself☺☺☺
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amother
Brunette


 

Post Sun, Jun 20 2021, 7:02 am
bump
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amother
Strawberry


 

Post Sun, Jun 20 2021, 9:03 am
FranticFrummie wrote:
Thank you for this thread! It never even occurred to me that it might help my DD. I'm going to suggest this to her doctor. (anxiety, ADD, BPD)

Right now I have a sinus infection, and I've been taking Mucinex, which has guanfacine in it. Now that I think about it, I have been more focused and gotten more things accomplished. Mucinex has another ingredient that keeps me awake at night, so I can only take it at the beginning of the day.

I'm going to ask my own doctor if I can give it a trial run. I'll let you know how it goes!


Mucinex has guaifenesin, not guanfacine. Very similar names, though.
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amother
Brunette


 

Post Mon, Jul 05 2021, 6:31 pm
amother [ Brunette ] wrote:
Son on it for two weeks now not seeing any great improvement. Can some one tell me when they started to really see change how many weeks?

Op laughing abt u giving advice to yourself☺☺☺


Still struggling with son on vyvanse and guanfacime. It's now one month- the dose for guanfacime is up to 2mg and vyvanse is at 30mg. This is the point last time we tried meds that we gave up. His behavior is very difficult - hurting siblings, angry because I bought the same item for him and his brother so he lashed out at me in a store. I have an appointment thursday with the psychiatrist but what is the next step. Does anyone have experience what happens at this point?
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