Clonidine... does anyones child take it for ADHD/Hyperactive/impulsitivity?

[sweetsouthern]

not just to help sleep...

dd has been taking this for about a month .05mg 2 times a day and it is working great for her! but im concerned because of it being a blood pressure medication.

the doctor is also talking about adding another .05mg dose to the day to keep her more balanced consistently...

anyone have any experience with it and at what dose?? thanks!

[meet me in paris]

Doctor prescribed it for my dd for anxiety in addition to her ADHD... it was not a good fit for her - made her very moody and depressed and she cried at the drop of a hat. I think it was the .05 as well.

I wouldn't be concerned about it being a blood pressure med. I think the dose for blood pressure control is about 10x what they prescribe for mental health (I can't remember the exact number, but it was something like that).

[homeschoolally]

One of our children used it for similar reasons and it was very helpful. We did learn though, that he had to take both a nighttime and daytime dose for it to work correctly. When he was only taking it at night he had moodiness and strange behaviors during the day.

I think that dose sounds OK-I think it is less than we used.

As far as side effects, the side effects of a low dose of BP med are comparatively low compared to some of the psychiatric drugs prescribed for these issues. I understand your concern though, it is a hard decision to make!

I'm very thankful we used it, at the time this child had such issues with impulsivity that it was a safety issue. Taking the clonidine for a year or so gave him the opportunity to develop the habit of slowing down, thinking before he acted--and the results continued after we stopped the med.

Feel free to PM me if I can help. =)

[sweetsouthern]

oh thanks! that makes me feel better lol!

did you have to have ekg's done for your child while they were on it? the pschy. requested one and i guess thats what sparked my more panic lol!. i do agree though that she needs the one added dose a day... which would put her daily dose at .15 mg

[elise1mds]

My son uses it to get to sleep at night sometimes, and it's quite handy. :)

[MariannNOVA]

oh thanks! that makes me feel better lol!

did you have to have ekg's done for your child while they were on it? the pschy. requested one and i guess thats what sparked my more panic lol!. i do agree though that she needs the one added dose a day... which would put her daily dose at .15 mg

The doctors like to have this as a baseline. We've had to have them for DD and DS even though they are taking something else.

Mariann :001_smile: