We saw the child psychiatrist again today with Carter. I had to bring in questionairres that my mil and I filled out on him. She had me fill out another one on bipolar and I had to bring one home that is about 10 pages long. She is not sure what exactly to diagnose him with yet. She talked to us about ADHD, bipolar, Aspergers, and Autism spectrum. I am glad that a diagnoses was not made rapidly and that she is looking at all the different scenarios. He is nearly 4 years old so that is adding to the complication. The dr. wants to start him on Tenex at night for 2 weeks and then morning and night for 2 weeks. She does not want to put him on a specific med until she is completely sure of his situation. Has anyone else used this medication? I am so afraid of side effects since he is so young. Any help would be great.

For background on Carter read any of my other posts. Thanks

Hi stacey,

sorry I have no clue about meds, but just want to say I'm glad to hear that the drs are being thorough. I hope they can figure this out for you soon. I took my 5 y/o for some ADHD tests a couple of days ago, and he showed signs of mild ADHD, but the dr said that these test results can not explain all of the problems that he's having. Now he says that he's an alien from another planet and that his father and I came in a spaceship and stole him from his real parents. How does one even respond to that?

Anyways, we're going back in a week to start looking at other things. Just wanted to say good luck, and let us know what you find out.

Tenex (guanfacine) is a blood pressure med that is used off-lable for adhd, defiance, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and sleep issues. I can make a person sleepy, which usually gets better as the body adjusts to the med. We started my youngest on 1/2mg at night and then added 1/2mg am the increased by 1/2mg until we got to 2mg am and 2mg pm. The increases were every 4 or more days and always had the increase at night first so that she could get used to the med. She is on this, risperdal and focalin (during school) and does great. Here is some helpful info:

http://www.peacehealth.org/kbase/topic/detail/drug/hw164961/detail.htm

http://www.askdrjones.com/2006/11/07/tenex/

http://www.shire.com/shire/uploads/press/shire/GUA21-GXRApprovablePressReleaseFINAL62107v2.pdf

Mental health diagnosis of conditions like bipolar or schiz in young children are extremely difficult to make.

Pediatric Psychiatry acknowledges this too.

For ME, I'd have to consider also the seriousness of using something like Lithium on my toddler, when the diagnosis is very uncertain. (e.g. narrow therapeutic window, blood test with needles can scare kids, toxicity issues)


I am generally pro-medication, but I'd have to wonder here, if it were MY CHILD.

(You make your own child's choices of course).

Clonidine is another BP drug they like to try for behaviour issues.


Sensory Diet:
Also, some kids get worse behaviours with high stim (bright lights, loud sounds, tags in clothes) -- e.g. stuff like high functioning autism, aspergers or SID (sensory integration disorder). They literally can PERCEIVe that the bright lights or loud sounds are at 200, not "level 10" volume. (Their sensory system overwhelms them.)

I'd try making my kid (or elderly parent with dementia behaviour issues) a Snoezelen Room!!!