Advice on Adderall XR and Clonidine Taken Together...

I took adderall for awhile. Gosh, I cannot believe that stuff is legal. I've been off of it for about a year and a half and body still craves it. I would definatly reccomend going off of it slowly.

Hi M.,

I am not a Doctor, but honey who is yours?? (nursing background here) YOU NEVER TAKE ANYONE, ESPECIALLY A CHILD OFF A MEDICATION, cold turkey!! That is INSANE!! (obviously unless they have an allergic reaction) If he (Doc) wants him to also take the other med, then I would research to see if there is any contraindications between the two meds before doing anything. Your pharmacist would be able to tell you this too, most meds with kids (unless is is antibiotics or along those lines) have to weaned on and off because who knows what kind of an affect they will have on your kid.

I know Doctors are good, but you are you ONLY ADVOCATE for your child's health and it is up to you to get those answers! Doctors like to dispense meds like candy and then never really tell you the side effects, how long it takes to take effect, what should you do if isn't working, what do you do if it is working, but too well, etc.....You have to go in and practically be a B****, to get things done right.

With all the experience I have had with physicians, with my own medical conditions, my infertility journey and now my son's care, it is crucial you get on the internet and research (or the Library) and so some checking on your own. Doctors are not the end all to medicine!! They sometimes think they are GOD, but they aren't. They are humans and make mistakes too!

Believe me, I speak from first hand experience with a loss of a baby/child in my family.

I wish you well and good luck!

Gladys

Yes I have this same situation.. My pediatrican says this is sa common "coctail" for these types of children.. I had my son on this mix for about a month and 1/2 and I saw great results for about a week. I think my son is odd and asperger's syndrome as well, though he has not been diagnosed as of yet on those two. My son is 7 and also was diagnosed at 4 with adhd. I have just posted a question to see if anyone has any herbal help. I have tried adderral xr, regualar ritalin, ritalin la, focalin, straterra, concerta, risperidal and zoloft, they all work for about 3 months and then it doesnt seem to be enough, Our type of children need a coctail mix (like the two together) in order to have the symptoms dealt with, I know my child has type 5 adhd, which includes a lot of the odd characteristics.. I am going to ask about effexor and adderral together and see what they say .. WHere is this place you took your son to? I haven't heard of it. Do they take insurance? My son has been pushed out of being treated for adhd by two pediatricians. Let me know how it goes.

I just read your question and it caught my attention. My son has been diagnosed with adhd/extreme hyperactivity. He just started kindegarden a month in a half ago. It has not gone well at all. Just like your son, kicking, screaming, drawing on desks, running out of class, being a total disruption, even slapping a child in the face last week.

He is only a half-day kinder student from 8:50-12:20 and he couldn't even handle going for this short amount of time. They had to put him on a "modified" school day from 8:50-10:50. This was a major blow to us because he could not have recess with the other children, lunch, and even have a long enough time period to be able to learn all that he needs.

The school counselor had suggested that i visit his doctor that he had been taking his son to for years. We agreed and the doctor got my son started on adderall xr and clonidine. Today is the third day that he has been taking this medication and for the first time, he woke up this morning and actually listened to me. He got himself dressed and ate his breakfast. THIS WAS AMAZING TO ME!!! My son has never, ever been able to do that. It usually takes me 15-20 minutes just to continually ask him to even put on his clothes.

Even better, every day, my son comes home with a daily behavioral note and every single day since he started school, there is always sad faces and negative comments. But today, for the first time EVER, he came home with all smiley faces, and the teacher even used my son as an example to all the other children in the classroom.

I was so scared to put my child on any type of medication but my son is a living, breathing example that given together, these two medications absolutely work!!! Every child is different and you should definately monitor his behaviors and report to the doctor any concerns you might have. The only negative side effects that i did notice was for the first two days, my son was quite emotional and had crying outbursts and became very cranky but that has since passed :). Just one more complaint that i do have is since he started the clonidine, he has been waking up frequently at night. I will give it a few more days to let his system adjust.

I wish the best of luck to you. And i hope that these two medications can help you with your lil one. It will make his life so much easier, not to mention yours too. Boost his confidence, self esteem and make him a happier lil guy. But like i said, every child is different. I just got lucky that the first time on any type of medication, the doctor hit it right on the nose.

But actually, i am not going to give it a complete thumbs up. You have to make sure your son eats a good solid breakfast, especially before giving him the adderall in the morning. Adderall really supresses appetites in some children. Mine happens to be one of them. This is really a concern with me because it is affecting his eating habits. (he does eat, but he wants to eat at odd hours like he dosen't want anything before 11 am and wants to eat at 10pm.). I am calling the doctor tomorrow to see if there is an herbal supplement i can give him to up his appetite.

But, other than that, i really have not had any problems with the two medications combined.

Hi M.,
I hope you are going to a psychiatrist and not a general practioner or pedicatrician for your son's meds. Regular docs do not understand enough about asperger's or the meds to give the drugs.

My son takes Adderall XR and he's fine when he doesn't take it on the weekends. Maybe not all kids are but he does say he can't focus as well when he doesn't take it.

He has the Clonidine too....... but that was given ONLY to take when he had an outburst not daily. His outbursts are usually at home after a stressful day at school, and the Clonidine can make you kind of sleepy. It is a blood pressure med and can do NOTHING to help focus like the Adderall XR.

If he's having outbursts at school and is angry maybe you need Zoloft or some other serontonin re-uptake drug. My son takes that and it works for him.

Whether you use meds, the natural route, behavior modification, prayer, WHATEVER, you should be under a psychiatrist advice for your son. Asperger's is something a psych would understand and the options. Dr. Burgos in Dallas is great.

I have no advice about these two drugs taken together. I just have advice about treating your son. I have a 5 year old with similar issues. He is not on any drugs. We are treating him with natural supplements and homeopathy and have seen amazing improvements (especially since starting homeopathy). Homeopathy can be introduced while he is still on the drugs and help to prepare his body to wean him off of them. I have a wonderful homeopath in Rockwall that communicates with me almost daily about my son's behavior. It is a totally different way of thinking, but has such great respect for how our bodies are made and how smart they are. Drugs only suppress and confuse the body. (I know that are times when necessary so I'm not judging or saying never drugs at all.) I'm just very disillusioned with doctor's dispensing of drugs like candy with no regard for what this will actually do to the PERSON taking them! Please send me a note if you are interested in seeing this homeopath. Her prices are reasonable.

I have a 13 year old that is adha and has Sid as well. “Sensory integration disorder”. He is on Foclin and also is getting physical therapy from Excel pediatrics in Rockwall. Excel sees a lot of kids with adha and other disorders. It is a slow road but there has been such a change in my sons behavior. I will give you the link to excel. www.excelpediatric.com. like one of the ladies said to you. You need to do research. On the drugs your son is on and research on his disorders. Research is the key. I took my son off his meds this summer and had to put him back on when school started, but with the therapy from excel he is only on the lowest dose and doing great. This has been the best year ever. His grades are good and his behavior has been awesome as well. One note! With kids like ours there are going to be good days and bad days. But we are blessed. I know it can be VERY HARD!. Stay strong and know that you’re not alone.

I don't know anything about the Clonidine, but I do know something about the Adderall. My oldest has ADD and ODD and is bi-polar, all this at the age of 7, wow. he took Adderall for the first 2 years until I read an article about the way it cause a lot of irritabilty. I read up on Concerta then and had him changed to that. now there is some irritability but it is nothing compared to the hell I was living in with Adderall. so you may talk to your doctor about him taking concerta. your life may get better with it, mine did, I quit having to buy extra window panes, lol, good luck.

Hi M. My son has been on adderall xr for 6 years and we added clonidine about 3 years ago he has not had in trouble with the two taken together. I have noticed that if we forget the adderall that morning it does take the clonidine a longer to work. my son takes the clonidine for night time sleeping b/c the adderall effects his sleeping. Other than that he has no side effects i think they work well together. Hope this helps. Good Luck T.

M., I have written to you before about Jacob, he has taken Clonidine before, but not adderall, because hard to dx with add or adhd, he's on Tenex now which is same as Clonidine, they are both Blood pressure medications, but they help with behaviors and are supposed to calm them down, I know it works for Jacob but he and Logan are very different. Good Luck. P.s. We didn't have these behaviors, now at first, until it gets into their systems, they will have their issues, so u have to give it a few days or weeks, however long the doc told you it will take if u want to know right now, call the pharmacy and ask how long it takes to fully work. D.