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[chookas!]

Just looking for any feedback. My daughter was recently diagnosed adhd, we did try Ritalin and then concerta but unfortunately it impacted her appetite badly and I had to take her off it.
See how this one goes.

[Tbird24]

My son is on it - no side effects and it isn’t as effective as stimulant meds, but it helps a bit in the mornings with his mood and organisation. He needs another med (vyvanse) to get through the school day. We manage the dose so he’ll still eat - have had issues with appetite too so it’s a bit of a balancing act.

[JoanJett]

Interested to hear feedback as this has been discussed as an add-on therapy for our son (currently on Concerta).

Tbird24, are there particular symptoms Intuniv was added in to target?  

chookas! were the appetite problems over a longer period for your daughter?  When our son's weight stagnated, we saw a Paediatric Dietitian to learn how to pack the calories into what our son was eating - it was very useful, as there were many simple tricks to supplement his usual diet.  It might be something to consider if you ever trial other stimulants.

Good luck.

[mayahlb]

We haven’t used it but several people in an adhd group I’m in have. There seems to have been mixed results and it definitively doesn’t seem to be as effective as stimulants. It affects blood pressure like catapress and I know one child had to stop it because he was having issues with his blood pressure dropping too low. But overall for those it works for it seems to help. I get the impression it’s similar to strattera in how effective it actually is and sometimes it is used to provide coverage outside of when stimulants are taken.

Our family is on strattera and strattera with Ritalin LA so I’m
Not much help. We’ve also used a dietician to help with food, though the big kid is fine outside of when the Ritalin is active and believe me when it wears off you want to be somewhere with food. I won’t talk about the younger child... him and food and weight has been an issue from long before starting medications. We supplement with sustagen smoothies and calorie loading what he will eat.

[IamzFeralz]

We’ve just finished trialling it with the goal of cutting out or reducing Vyvanse but it hasn’t been as good at controlling DS’s ADHD symptoms.

Also if you continue to use a stimulant as an adjunct, the PBS won’t subsidise it and have to rely of the drug manufacturers discount of $40 per month.

I’ve decided to quit, which is a bit disappointing as I had hopes for it.

Edited by IamzFeralz, 07 December 2018 - 04:38 PM.

[Tbird24]

JoanJett, on 07 December 2018 - 03:38 PM, said:

Tbird24, are there particular symptoms Intuniv was added in to target?  

It was to help mainly in the mornings as he was a real handful before we gave him the vyvanse - it was pretty stressful and disruptive, not a great way to start every single day. It has definitely helped in that regard and he’s less aggro towards his siblings throughout the day too. We still notice when the vyvanse wears off that he gets more hyperactive but not as bad as before, so I think the intuniv is working somewhat but doesn’t completely fix things.

Edited by Tbird24, 07 December 2018 - 04:57 PM.

[JoanJett]

Thanks for the feedback Tbird24 and IamFeralz.

[mayahlb]

IamzFeralz, on 07 December 2018 - 04:37 PM, said:

We’ve just finished trialling it with the goal of cutting out or reducing Vyvanse but it hasn’t been as good at controlling DS’s ADHD symptoms.

Also if you continue to use a stimulant as an adjunct, the PBS won’t subsidise it and have to rely of the drug manufacturers discount of $40 per month.

I’ve decided to quit, which is a bit disappointing as I had hopes for it.

That’s really frustrating about the PBS. Gosh I’m glad they cover both strattera and Ritalin at the same time even though they are both to treat adhd.

[QuirkyMum]

JoanJett, on 07 December 2018 - 03:38 PM, said:

Interested to hear feedback as this has been discussed as an add-on therapy for our son (currently on Concerta).

Tbird24, are there particular symptoms Intuniv was added in to target?  

chookas! were the appetite problems over a longer period for your daughter?  When our son's weight stagnated, we saw a Paediatric Dietitian to learn how to pack the calories into what our son was eating - it was very useful, as there were many simple tricks to supplement his usual diet.  It might be something to consider if you ever trial other stimulants.

Good luck.

OP sorry to highjack.
Joan Jett, are you in Sydney? Of so, could you please share contacts? Good Pediatric dietician is hard to find.

[jmjsa]

Our 11 year old has been on it 3 months now.  The first 6 weeks were really tough as it made her so sleepy that she was sleeping through the day.  I finally feel that it is making a difference though and she is more focused than usual.

[JoanJett]

QuirkyMum, on 07 December 2018 - 08:37 PM, said:

OP sorry to highjack.
Joan Jett, are you in Sydney? Of so, could you please share contacts? Good Pediatric dietician is hard to find.

No sorry.  Our Paediatrician referred us to ours, so perhaps check with yours?

Our son was already eating more than required calories, but still not gaining weight (sadly I used to be the same, emphasising used).

Most sustainable tips were mixing milk powder into the higher fat milk we were already using, denser bread, olive oil on all veges/salad, more nuts/nut pastes at home.