(forgive the cross-posting from parents' board-trying to generate responses)
Hi, All:

We are having very good success with the Catapres (clonidine) patch and wondered if there are other parents experienced in this apparently uncommon treatment.

The short version: Our son is 4.5, ADHD, with significant impulsive aggression
and the typical never-stopping-never quiet-always into something- never listening thing.

He had a really thorough evaluation, and we now work with a child psychiatrist, a therapist, and the early intervention unit through his school district.

He was initially on Ritalin, but developed several complex tics which slowly resolved several weeks after we d/c'd the meds.

We started clonidine in January, slowly titrated the oral doses, and switched to the patch for consistent release and no-hassle administration. Thus far, we see virtually no side-effects- we monitor his BP regularly and know to keep him well-hydrated. He had very signifiicant sedation when we first started the oral doses, but is no longer sedated at all. He is currently on the Catapres .3 patch.

He is doing really well - way less hyperactive, much better task-compliance, better peer relations, etc. He does begin to fall apart as he approaches day 6 of this 7-day patch. Usuallly, he becomes impulsively aggressive toward peers and his hyperactivity returns.

This is the best we've seen him since starting the great medication serach in December, but we're frustrated at how little information seems to be out there regarding clonidine tx of ADHD kids (except for 2 or 3 pages in Taking Charge of ADHD).

I'd love to hear how others with similar situations are faring.


Thanks and take care,
Amy in PA

My brother (when he was 9... had to stop due to weight gain) and I take clonodine. I take the .1mg per day in pill form. Do you think that the patch form would be better?

I only know that the patch form works better for Alex (no pill-taking, more consistent dosing)..ask your precribing doc what s/he thinks.
Good luck!

My son (who is now 9, but has been diagnosed as extremely ADHD) used to require clonidine to sleep. He takes Adderall XR during the day - one 25 mg dose in the morning.

We changed his diet - we use the Feingold diet in addition to medication - and his troubles sleeping are much improved. So much so that he no longer needs the clonidine.

I'm not against clonidine per se, but my son was 6 when he started it and I too was concerned about him taking it at so young an age.

While he still seems to need the Adderall for daytime focus, he is sleeping much better now. Except when he eats tomatos. :) Something about the tomatos makes him just jumpy and restless and he tends to have insomnia. So he gets white sauce on his spaghetti and pizza unless there is no school the next day.

I know it sounds weird, but taking the artificial stuff out of our diet has really helped.

Bekka