Clonidine Patch?

[Ilovemy3babies]

Hi Everyone, My 6 year old son was put on the Clonidine patch for ADHD/flight of ideas this week, we started the first patch last night .1, sadly my poor kid has turned into a zombie, he is on his 5th nap of the day, which clearly tells me that the .1 patch is way too much for him. I'm wondering if anyone else have the same experience ?, does it go away ?, can I cut the patch so that can get half the dose ?. I've sent an email tour doc to see what he say, waiting on reply.

 

Thank you

[Sheila]

Hi -- I have sent you a private message and really apologize for your note slipping through the cracks! I hope you will let us know how things are going and if there has been a change in medication. We are glad to have you on the forums!

[PANS-mom]

My son is very, very sensitive to Clonidine. He was prescribed a half of a 0.1 Clonidine tablet, but we soon figured out that he needs less than a quarter!! We give it to him at night and any more than less than a quarter, he couldn't get out of bed the next day and was a complete zombie. We gave it to him once during the day and he couldn't function for the tiredness.

 

The small amount we give hime now, however, is very helpful for his anxiety and tics. His doctor is surprised that the trace amount does anything at all but that just shows how sensitive my son is to this medication that is actually very helpful for him.

[Ladymavs]

My PANS son was recently prescribed .1mg clonidine daily (1/2 tab AM and PM) to help ease anxiety and possibly help with his OCD. We have not noticed that he gets overly tired, but we also have not really noticed any help with the OCD & anxiety around it. My son also has aDHD and we had read previously that clonodine can help with focus...but have yet to see. The script said to work up to .1mg twice daily and we are increasing slowly. At what point, if any, did you notice any major difference with clonodine? I opted to try over other medications due to the lack of too many side effects. We do check his BP regularly to make sure it does not dip too low. Any feedback would be appreciated.

[lysia]

I am not familiar personally with this med as a treatment for childhood adhd. but I would call your doc right away as it seems highly likely the med is either at an improper dosing for him, or all together toxic/inappropriate in his case.   Esp as the sleeping is such a bummer when a 6yo needs to be playing (not to mention getting exercise as this is often said to be the most proven way sans meds to help adhd related focus probs, in particular flight of thought in my case) .  is this an off-label prescription for the transdermal med for hypertension and high blood pressure in adults?   I do know some of these meds have sleep and heart issues plus depression as either a rare or more common potential side effect so it is good you are monitoring him so closely, as I would want to be super cautious my young one doesn't get exposed to such SEs (both the physical and psychological ones [in particular depressive thought patterns created that can tend to carry on post med once initiated in the psyche could even just serve to add on another illness to adhd]).  I'm assuming he had been suffering from adhd related insomnia or anxiety(?) as i suspect this likely was motivation for his dr to call on this particular script perhaps.  i do also come from the school of thought that cbt and adhd training at that age can help with symptoms including insomnia (also diet and supps in particular for sleep). in my personal case of adhd, flight of thought had always been extremely severe, especially as a child when not being aware of this.  didn't bother me on a personal level really until i was older, but imagine this was hard on my school and parents. i also struggled for a period of years therein ocd on top of this. the adhd is the only disorder remaining in adulthood, and as it turns out i am among the 33 percent of cases of this disorder which are mostly resistant to medication (learned from a study program rather than any one of my psychologists, as we have to understand that although our good doctors do absolutely care a great deal about treating us effectively, there can be [as in my case] a slight motivation for persisting diff medications even if there could be a better more natural option for a patient, as this is not only their only means of revenue, but even most of their training and experience with patients when in and working towards a prescribing practice to begin with).  generally its said to be agreed in most studies that about 2/3 are treatable w medication. tho when they are, can be very well treated for what it's worth).  therein, I'm overall particularly grateful i was not medicated as young child as i can only imagine how difficult the process of meds would had been on my mind, body and overall sense of self as a little one with my rapidly growing and changing mind, having gone thru this process as an adult that was painstaking enough even with my brain being fully developed.. (and  in the instance of the ocd (which may had likely been treated), i'm still lucky in a way that i didn't get pcych meds at 6 in the sense that it ended up going away completely on its own. even tho the symptoms were awful as a kid- there is a plus side too in working thru it without meds (just so long as the parent is always keeping on it- this i can only imagine would had been all the more help for me).  i kinda credit a bit of a case study in early childhood adhd medication when comparing myself and my life long family friend of the same age who also had this disorder.  we are born less than a month apart,, neighbors, and parents best friends.  she began medical treatment for her adhd at about the age of 6 or so. and altho  i did struggle quite a bit, especially in school (focus, hyperactivity, discipline, comorbid disorders) without not only any medical or professional treatment, but also without any notice whatsoever to the disorder from my parents (only discipline that i should had behaved like my sister who is free of disorder), she seemed to have struggled much worse dealing with meds and changing meds while in school. she missed lots that i hadn't.  by the time we were in high school, i was doing very well in class and she had dropped out and was missing from her parents. altho i did work with my symptoms, i strongly believe that  had my parents learned and studied the adhd brain in kids the way you have (as you obviously have to have known to see a dr etc) it would had helped me a great deal. with that said, on the other hand, i strongly suspect that had my parents treated me with meds specifically, it wouldn't had helped and would had even hurt me. (of course this is me alone. every case is so different- so I wouldn't begin to suggest indefinitely that meds aren't the way for your child; when even this drug at a better dose could be beneficial being as how he was prescribed this for a reason). but in my case, ideally it would had been to do non medicinal adhd programs, lifestyle changes, also diet ones with whole foods and some supplements (in the 90s we still ate a large percentage of processed food and drink in a variety of fun florescent colors with plenty of 6syllable ingredients and this has changed quite a bit for most kids). but doing all this in early childhood and school with no meds, and then trying medication after puberty is fully finished and my brain had been able to change and grow naturally (example being that it had ridded the ocd on its own during this period w/o having needed to deal with the struggles/risks of medications on the growing mind).  i really think this would had been the best course (in my case at least). i don't believe that kids or parents should ignore add as mine and many parents do, (as it is so important to understand how our minds work to help us), but i like the idea of letting the brain grow first without meds, as despite the challenges that may seem immeasurable at first can have a serious payoff well worth it later in life. when the ADDer is older and able to make the choice on their own once  to medicate this or not seems preferable. for me this course was needed, as by the time i had grown up to where i was more independent and so much more responsible for my life/daily activities/deadlines/etc, things got so much more beyond difficult after these changes (especially come college/ leaving home etc) without knowledge or therapy etc. and if meds work for them, they would likely be a total game changer and really help their lives.  as a kid, however i just feel so lucky never to have not been on them or had to deal with the trials of any medications at all.  WISH so much i had tended to the adhd and tried meds when i became an adult and left home tho.  i waited too many years and didn't get help for the adhd until my late 20s. and just those ,years between 18-27 without getting specific adhd treatment, really were enough to mess up my life some.  and altho meds didn't prove all that effective for me, I'm still glad i tried.  and the alternate treatments (especially daily high intensity exercise no matter how short, diet with dha/epa omega combos and omission of processed foods/chemical ingredients/excessive sugars/animal products, etc), cognitive behavioral therapy, and adhd specific group and individual work, has given my life a total 180.  and my friend i had mentioned earlier who went thru all the meds as a kid got there too.  but in her case it involved quite a few years of homelessness, drug addiction, high-risk lifestyle, comorbid disorders (including MDD, self injury, addiction, and multiple anxiety disorders) and the like. she is now both illicit drug and medication free, reunited with her family, and has a beautiful family of her own and is doing so well.  we both got there eventually, but her route appeared much more difficult than mine with the meds vs not meds.  if i took just this case, i would say that a happy medium of treatment- one that doesn't involve drugs in childhood (and the physiological changes, risk of personality adjustments to loss of self,  plus the process of trials/errors therein to find what works) would had been the best thing for both of us.  altho in both our cases, the adhd was severe and absolutely needed to be addressed and helped by our parents, in neither of our cases tho, did they benefit by meds (and in her case likely did much more to hurt her and her condition).  BUT of course this is a 2-case kinda thing and the only 2 i'm actually well familiar with.  as u and your doc know, there seems to be something of a mountain's distance in between each add/adhd case in both kids and adults.  you know your kid and his condition better than anyone you speak to, and what will help him best (be it meds or not).  if it were me, i likely would look into how to get him off the clonidine tho, as the SEs are unsettling. and alltho i can't give you a recommendation to what to try next since i'm no dr or familiar with your child, i can only say what i feel would had worked for me, (tho this is  not med related). plus, being as most parents have already exacerbated all natural options before turning to drug treatment in the first place, you may have already tried all of what i am suggesting . in which case, i guess my only advice is to go back to the dr you trust. if u and your dr absolutely believe your son really needs meds tho, i would def ask about something that doesn't  cause this fatigue he's having or impair ability to have fun or exercise as a start. (as my exp the exercise is crazy helpful with thought flight among other issues (which is maybe why these adhd kids seem to run around like crazy). plus if i am exhausted (Ritalin did this to me when i tried this among others), it makes focus sooo much worse.  tho the drug did kinda fix thought flight for me- i was so  and mentally tired/drained (esp if dosed too high) that i had no thoughts at all- (or would just focus on one even if it was just the wall- ie 'the Ritalin zombie') . i could not function in a painful way that i wouldn't had even really known to describe as a kid. and i fear that had i been on this as a child, i wouldn't had known to object, and had appeared a dream kid for my parents, likely being much better behaved and my teachers might had even said i had improved too. but i assure you, i would not had been a kid or myself at all. or creative either (my career, joy in life, sense of self, and livelihood as an adult has been as an artist).  they say maybe the next Picasso has been cured already by adhd meds, and we'll never know.:)  these kids are abs special, (be them a future artist or banker), and as hard as the disorder is, there is a really big payoff in this creative style of thought processing many don't have that can work for any occupation, 'creative' or otherwise, and even in developing strong relationships. adhd can hurt or help us, i guess.  ridding it physiologically can help with some conventional things, I'm sure.  but directing and coaching it while still keeping it alive might even help more??.  my mom is amazing, tho i do wish she had been a bit more like you and had addressed and worked to help me with the adhd.  can't be easy for u at all, but so so  important. i read this is the most common undiagnosed illness in kids- meaning there are far too many parents who refuse to recognize and treat this.  i know that even if it is not by my suggestions/experience( of the non med options), that you will find some way of helping his adhd. as you are clearly working and seeking for help and doing everything you need to do (and so much more than most); i'm confident he will have a super great life with such an attentive and loving parent. :):) so keep up the amazing work! all my love and best to you both!!