Tenex ? for Puzzled...

[bugsmom]

Hey Puz...I know that Chase has been on Tenex for a little bit, so to me your the resident expert...

Josh's psychiatrist wants to put him on this starting tomorrow. We are going to ween him off the Risperdal (thank God...I hated him on this, even though it did help with anger issues) and start the Tenex. She wants him to start with 1/2 of a pill (.1mg) in the morning for a week, then adding another 1/2 at night to get him up to the full .1mg a day. Is this amount Chase takes? I know that Josh and Chase are the same age, so I was just wondering. She also said we could add another half at mid-day if he needed it.

What I also wanted to know is...how has it improved his behavior. Josh had a great year at school, but his impulsivity and quick to anger and behavior has been worst. He is ALWAYS irritated! It hard to distingish if this is just pre-teen behavior, growing pains, or a real problem. His moods lately are so hard to deal with. The whole house suffers if Josh is unhappy.

Anyway...thanks for your imput. He's already gone off his ADD meds for the summer and now weening off Risperdal. I'm hoping the Tenex will be the ticket and just make him a happy boy again.

Thanks...Bugs

[puzzled]

Chase takes 1 mg in the AM and 2mg at bedtime, though I have been toying with the idea of giving him .5mg at about 3:30 to help him through the evenings.

How it has helped him is that he is on a more even keel....he does not go straight to furious, he is able to take a deep breath and regroup a least part of the time. It has just taken the edge off of his temper/anger/bad mood. He is much happier, and apt to shrug an insult/bad experience off now, instead of letting it ruin his day. If he does go overboard on the anger, it is at 4- 5 or later in the evening, which is why I am contemplating splitting the evening dose and giving a small part in the late afternoons. He was quite angry, aggressive and frustrated even before the stimulant, and after it was added, it only got worse. The tenex(we use the generic guanfacine) has been just the ticket for that, and as an added bonus, it has helped him to gain some weight. He weighed himself this morning and he was at 64.5, which is a far cry from the 52 he was weighing in at in November.

It did make him sleepy at first, and Chase has still been napping some afternoons since we stopped the stim, but basically, it is on days where we have nothing going on and he is sitting around watching TV, he will then doze off, but if he is busy, he isn't sleepwalking through it, if you understand that...? The ped says that will get better as his system adjusts to being stim free.

I have got to say that his behavior here at home is no different on the guanfacine alone, than it was on the stim plus the guanfacine during the school year, except for possibly he is eating more.

I hope this answered your questions, if not ask again and I will attempt to get it right the second time

[bugsmom]

Puzzled...thanks so much for the info. It sounds like our little guys are quite alike. Its the anger/frustration/mood crap that drives us nuts. He's such a great kid, but he can get frustrated quicker than anyone I've ever known! It's making him miserable! Josh can't take stims either, believe me we've tried them ALL, they work GREAT for his attention, but make the anger and frustration worse! This school year he was on Strattera, and it was a little better but not where we think an 11 year old should be in controlling himself.

Well, I'm going to fill the perscription tomorrow...probably start on Saturday. I'm gradually weening him off the Risperdal, so we'll see how it goes.

Oh...I meant to ask you...do you think Chases weight gain is from the Tenex? Because this is one of the main reasons for taking Josh off the Risperdal...he gained 20 pds in a year! I was hoping the Tenex wasn't going to be another weight gain drug...I don't remember reading that it was. It's good for Chase, but my Bug can't gain anymore.

[puzzled]

Chase does okay on the stims....they just made him a bit more angry/aggressive, etc....but still manageable....we are taking him off for the summer, but I think he will need them for focus come school time...he has always been quick to anger, even as an infant.....

I think his weight gain is from the combination of guanfacine and periactin....he had started gaining on just the periactin, and then the guanfacine was added about 2 months after, then he was switched from concerta to ritalin LA, and that is when he started gaining faster.....so I think it is just a happy combo for him.

My ped said when I wanted him on the guanfacine, that she had never seen it make a patient gain weight, and I was disappointed, but that must mean it is not known for it....

I really think that in Chase's case, the ritalin LA just agrees with him more, and doesn't take away his appetite, then with the appetite stim in the mix.....it is the ticket for him.

I am planning on watching his weight, and if he looks like he is gaining too much, I will take away the periactin. He could still gain like 20 pounds and not be overweight, though....he is a skinny minny, and never sits still, burning calories as fast as he takes them in....not hyper, just an active little guy, playing outside, not sitting around the house, which is good for him, so we just deal with it...I am NOT going to discourage physical activity at all...LOL

[meli]

How is the Tenex going?

We stared out slow and I really think that is the key! Robert had the same problem with the stimulats and anger/ aggression the tenex seemed to help!

Lets us know how things are getting along!