Comments on: The Best Time of Day to Take Intuniv

By: cindy

cindy — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:32:51 +0000

Hi Tammy: Sometimes a med break can result in the med working again- if it is a tolerance issue. Others won’t- as they stopped working due to change in the body’s chemistry, the person’s diet, etc. Of course, athletics speed up metabolism- hence the need for a higher dose- due to the increase. There is also the body’s PH. The more acidic a person, the faster a medicine breaks down- opposite for a person with an more alkaline system.

By: Tammy

Tammy — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:12:47 +0000

My nine year old daughter just started Intuniv on Monday afternoon (three days ago) and I have several questions. My first question is if anyone has any experience with the Intuniv if it is broken or crushed? My daughter has a very difficult time swallowing pills and we are really trying hard to swallow this but she is biting into it before swallowing it. I called Shire and they told me it would be absorbed into the bloodstream faster if it is altered. So I was wondering what people’s experiences were with that.
Now for a little history about us and then for my next question. My daughter stared taking Adderall XR when she was seven years old in second grade. The Adderall worked great for the first year but by third grade she was up to 20 mg and it had stopped working. In the middle of third grade we switched to Vyvance for about three weeks which was a disaster. She had the worst mood swings and would go days without eating a thing and then binge non stop for several days in a row. We then switched to Focalin XR which worked beautifully for her. The only problem was she needed a pretty high dose right from the start as she is very athletic and seemed to matabolize it very quickly. 30 mg seemed to work like a charm for her from the winter through the rest of the school year. Unfortunately at the start of this year the Focalin stopped working and even when we went up to 40 mg we saw minimal improvement. So in November we switched to the Daytrana patch. The patch seemed to work better than the Focalin, however, it seems to take about 3.5 hours to kick in in the morning and she doesn’t put a morsal of food in her mouth all day. So we just started the Intuniv this week and for the first two weeks we are using it in conjunction with the Datrana patch. The doctor said when we increase the Intuniv to 3 mg we will stop using the patch. Now for my question…. I’ve noticed from all the blogs that I’ve been reading that most kids are on a combination of Intuniv with a low dose of stimulant. Has anyone had any experience of going back to an old medication that used to work after being off it for a while and then combining it with the Intuniv? I’m wondering if since my daughter did have so much success with the Adderall and with the Focalin at first if it is worth trying a low dose of either of those in conjunction with the Intuniv? What I want to know is once these meds lose their effectiveness does that last forever or can you go back to them after not being on them for a while? She has been off the Adderll for a little over a year and off the Focalin for three months.
Any advise would really be appreciated.
Thanks,

By: Beth

Beth — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 04:39:22 +0000

I have 2 boys a 10yr old nd a 7yr old both of them has ADHD my 10yr old takes Alleral XR 35mg nd Intuniv ER 3mg at night to help him.. Both of my boys Meds work every well nd they r improving alot.. Of course they have their days when they want 2 be bad but the meds work..

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:25:09 +0000

Concerta causing eye rolling

We have a 9 year old son diagnosed with Moderate Severe ADHD. We have had him on meds since he was 6. He went from thinking he was a weird kid to loving school and being a straight A student with friends. As nerve racking as it has been we’ve been very pleased with the positive results of meds, therapy, school involvement and learning techniques.

The meds now seem to be the problem. In December we moved my son from 27mg of Concerta to 36 mgs. He started rolling his eyes in just a few days. We dropped the Concerta totally and have started on Intuniv (1mg).

Our psychiatrist mentioned Tourette, but suggested we change meds and see if things improve.

Obviously we hoped we would have seen improvement by now (1 week), but we can’t see any change. We move to 2mg of Intuniv tomorrow.

Has anyone been down this path? Did the eye rolling get better?

By: Sage

Sage — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:24:38 +0000

Yes thank you all for so much useful information! My 6 year old son just started taking it TONIGHT (5pm) and we are anxious and excited and hopeful to see improvement. I thought there was something about a bad taste in the mouth, as already he has woken up complaining of that, but I’m looking for more recent feedback. Anyone?

By: Allyson

Allyson — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:32:58 +0000

My son is on his third week of intuniv & I’m wondering, if he misses a dose, will it take another two weeks for him to get used to it again? He is a sweet boy, he is just difficult to handle & I’m jus trying to figure out how to handle him. He also takes Procentra.

By: scott

scott — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 02:09:55 +0000

Im glad I found this site, its nice to see others that are experiencing some of the same things I am seeing with my son. He also was diagnosed at age 5 with ADHD and has ben on several medications, ending with Focalin which seemed to do the job…….but after about 6 months he got ticks that went form infrequent to very frequent. We stopped the Focalin (he was taking two doses, am and pm, at 10mg per) I have not put him back on any stimulants and per his Dr we are now trying Intuiniv. He started with a very low dose and weve barely gotten to 1 mg and tonight did 2mg. Even with the low doses there was really no reduction in the ticks so Im hopeful that the increase dosage will have an effect. My question to anyone who might know, is that if the ticks subside, is it because of the Rx, and what happens if he stops it or the dose is lowered? Do the ticks come back?? Im not a fan of all the stimulants and thankfully intuniv is not, but just the whole idea of depending on this drug long term frightens me. Any input or experience someone has to share would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

By: Andrea N

Andrea N — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 01:20:07 +0000

Hi. My son is 6 years old, and was diagnosed with ADHD when he turned 5. He is now taking 27mg of concerta and 2 mg of intuniv. We are about to increase the intuniv to 3 mg because it seems like nothing is working anymore. He is always saying no to me no matter what i ask him to do.He basicly laughs in my face when he sees me getting upset. Everything is an argument, he purposely does things to upset me. It is so hard for me to not lose my temper. The worst part is that his 2 yr old sister is watching every little thing that he does and is starting to learn his behaviors because she thinks that is what normal is. My son has problems in school. Can’t sit still, or keep his hands to himself. I thought this medication was supposed to make things better but it hasn’t. 2 months ago, everything was working great at home and at school and then it was like someone just flipped a switch and now all of the ADHD symptoms are back. Does anyone have any tips on how to handle him saying no all the time? Spanking doesn’t work, time out doesn’t work. Nothing works!

By: Michelle H.

Michelle H. — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:09:59 +0000

Hello,
This is my first time on this site and I have already read so much useful stuff. I have a 6yr old daughter who i’ve been struggling with for several years. She is aggressive, impulsive and plain out mean at home to us and her siblings. But at school she is shy, reserved, behind and pretty much keeps to herself. After being in therapy for a year with little improvement, I decided it was time to seek help from her pediatrician and try out meds after we concluded that she does suffer from ADHD, ODD and a little OCD. She is in the 1st grade now, which she will probably repeat since she is still at a kind level. He first prescribed vyvanse but after 2 days on that she was all speedy, wouldn’t sit still, kept doing this weird movement with her jaw. I took her off. We waited a few days and started intuniv 1.5weeks ago. I have already noticed much improvement at home, she is polite, helpful and responsvie at homework time.
The only problem that we are encountering is her waking up several times a night. I give her the meds after school around 3pm because doing so in the AM made her very sleepy. I have started to give her melatonin to help her sleep through the night. Last night wasn’t good but I realized I gave her the regular kind not the extended realese. Anyone use melatonin? Reccomendations?

By: forrest t.

forrest t. — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 18:00:29 +0000

i am a 17 year old in high school and i have recently started up on intuniv along with 72mg of concerta each day.i started on 1mg (intuniv) for three weeks once in the morning.
i have found that since i bumped up to 2mg a day, that i have had LITERALLY, model student behavior. and i can not emphasize how serious i am when i say LITERALLY.
everyday the teachers and principal call my mom(by their choice) and tell her that they would like to take the time to say how they would like to tell her ,how amazing i have been doing in school since i have started up on this medicine.
im sure that you are saying to yourself oh big deal all kids can easily do that good.
well im a kid that has quite doing meth,cocaine, and ecstacy everyday, with occasional ghb, ketamine, barbituaries, and acid (both pcp and lysergic acids) useage.
i did homeschooling after getting blacked out drunk at school and trying to fight my principal and the later called to the scene resource officer.
i spent my time selling ecstacy to fund my habbits.
i have never done perfect in school until this year, and this medicine has definately helped, in such ways as making me feel to mellow to fight, misbehave our even laugh at other students negative behavior to encourage it, but at the same time without making me feel high off of it.
i have found that drinking 1 full 12 ounce cup of water at least every 30 minutes(if not more frequently) has made the medicine much more relaxing on me. (p.s. i am 5’11” and 235 pounds with a body that is very used to medicines) the water has helped me make 2 pills as effective as 5, but i have found that i have to keep drinking constantly throughout the day.and i feel that the water helps my liver and/or kidneys alot easier to all the meds i have to take.
in other words , i think that all the water makes my kidneys not as damaged or affected(made less healthy) as badly from all of my meds.
remeron has helped with bedtime, no insomnia at all. but i need to eat a piece of bread with butter 30 minutes after taking the remeron and trying to sleep after that even if i dont feel drugged up from it ,will get me to fall right asleep.sleep alnight, no groggyness in the morning.