Re: Thoughts on Intuniv

[Guest guest]

My daughter takes it along with Vyvanse- she has high functioning autism and

severe ADHD. It has helped her but she is older and did not start taking it

until she was 14yrs old. She could not make it throught the day without her ADHD

meds, I have tried to not have her take meds but she really needed it and she

does so much better with them. The doctor gave me a good analogy- She is as

smart as everyone else but she is swimming with a backpack full of bricks on her

back so she has to swim twice as hard to keep up- the medication lets her remove

the bricks.

I will tell you my friend's son (he is 8rs old) who is also high functioning and

ADD took Intuniv for a while but it made him very emotional and he had to stop

taking it. My dd also takes prozac to control her moods so maybe that's why it

did not effect her in that way.

I am also a teacher of students with autism and I have seen many kids not do

well on the stimulant medications, but it does work for some.

For my dd it took a lot of trial and error (and tears) to get her to where she

is now, and she is stable and getting straight A's.

Hope this helps,

Thoughts on Intuniv

>

>Hi all!!

>

>My six year old daughter was recently diagnosed with ADD in addition to her

standing diagnosis of autism. Her doctor was leaning heavily toward Ritalin,

but I am incredibly wary of stimulants for young children. After arguing with

me for some time about it, he finally wrote her a prescription for Intuniv. I

have really resisted medication, preferring to treat DD from a holistic

standpoint, but I feel like my back is against a wall regarding school. While

my daughter is doing fantastic from a social standpoint, her grades are

suffering from her lack of focus.

>

>Anyone out there have any thoughts on Intuniv? Have you used it and has it

worked well? I've read a lot about it but I am more interested in hearing first

hand testimony from parents.

>

>Thanks everybody!

>

>Christie, Mom of Ava - 6 years old, Autism and ADD

>

[Guest guest]

Horwath wrote:

> She could not make it throught the day without her ADHD meds, I have tried to

not have her take meds but she really needed it and she does so much better with

them. The doctor gave me a good analogy- She is as smart as everyone else but

she is swimming with a backpack full of bricks on her back so she has to swim

twice as hard to keep up- the medication lets her remove the bricks.

>

>

Great analogy, .

Since we're talking about bricks, you might find this link interesting.

It's the best explanation I've ever seen that describes the realities of

living with a chronic illness or disability.

http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory\

-written-by-christine-miserandino/

Best,

~CJ

[Guest guest]

The thing that finally convinced me to try stimulants with my child (which have

been a God-send) is when someone told me “You can always try the medicine and

if you don’t like it you can stop.†I don’t know why I hadn’t thought

of that before. So now when the doctor suggests a medicine, I look at the

side-effects list and if they’re things that will go away if he quits taking

the medicine (like anxiety or weight loss), then I strongly consider them. Good

luck!

From: Autism_in_Girls_and_Women

[mailto:Autism_in_Girls_and_Women ] On Behalf Of Horwath

Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2012 8:23 AM

To: Autism_in_Girls_and_Women

Subject: Re: Thoughts on Intuniv

My daughter takes it along with Vyvanse- she has high functioning autism and

severe ADHD. It has helped her but she is older and did not start taking it

until she was 14yrs old. She could not make it throught the day without her ADHD

meds, I have tried to not have her take meds but she really needed it and she

does so much better with them. The doctor gave me a good analogy- She is as

smart as everyone else but she is swimming with a backpack full of bricks on her

back so she has to swim twice as hard to keep up- the medication lets her remove

the bricks.

I will tell you my friend's son (he is 8rs old) who is also high functioning and

ADD took Intuniv for a while but it made him very emotional and he had to stop

taking it. My dd also takes prozac to control her moods so maybe that's why it

did not effect her in that way.

I am also a teacher of students with autism and I have seen many kids not do

well on the stimulant medications, but it does work for some.

For my dd it took a lot of trial and error (and tears) to get her to where she

is now, and she is stable and getting straight A's.

Hope this helps,

Thoughts on Intuniv

>

>Hi all!!

>

>My six year old daughter was recently diagnosed with ADD in addition to her

standing diagnosis of autism. Her doctor was leaning heavily toward Ritalin, but

I am incredibly wary of stimulants for young children. After arguing with me for

some time about it, he finally wrote her a prescription for Intuniv. I have

really resisted medication, preferring to treat DD from a holistic standpoint,

but I feel like my back is against a wall regarding school. While my daughter is

doing fantastic from a social standpoint, her grades are suffering from her lack

of focus.

>

>Anyone out there have any thoughts on Intuniv? Have you used it and has it

worked well? I've read a lot about it but I am more interested in hearing first

hand testimony from parents.

>

>Thanks everybody!

>

>Christie, Mom of Ava - 6 years old, Autism and ADD

>

[Guest guest]

Sorry, I'm a lurker, Just wanted to add my 2 cents here:

Kendra is 8 years old, Lower Functioning with ADD (possibly ADHD) , and Bipolar,

through trial and error we have come up with a medication regimen that works

really good for us:

Metadate

prozac

Depakote

We have had to bounce around the numbers, but they have worked well for her, she

went from basically silent, to full sentences, to functioning with picture

boards, and computers, and we are making progress with potty training...

From: Autism_in_Girls_and_Women

[mailto:Autism_in_Girls_and_Women ] On Behalf Of Cassandra Zupke

Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2012 8:16 PM

To: Autism_in_Girls_and_Women

Subject: RE: Thoughts on Intuniv

The thing that finally convinced me to try stimulants with my child (which have

been a God-send) is when someone told me “You can always try the medicine and

if you don’t like it you can stop.†I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of

that before. So now when the doctor suggests a medicine, I look at the

side-effects list and if they’re things that will go away if he quits taking

the medicine (like anxiety or weight loss), then I strongly consider them. Good

luck!

From: Autism_in_Girls_and_Women

<mailto:Autism_in_Girls_and_Women%40yahoogroups.com>

[mailto:Autism_in_Girls_and_Women

<mailto:Autism_in_Girls_and_Women%40yahoogroups.com> ] On Behalf Of

Horwath

Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2012 8:23 AM

To: Autism_in_Girls_and_Women

<mailto:Autism_in_Girls_and_Women%40yahoogroups.com>

Subject: Re: Thoughts on Intuniv

My daughter takes it along with Vyvanse- she has high functioning autism and

severe ADHD. It has helped her but she is older and did not start taking it

until she was 14yrs old. She could not make it throught the day without her ADHD

meds, I have tried to not have her take meds but she really needed it and she

does so much better with them. The doctor gave me a good analogy- She is as

smart as everyone else but she is swimming with a backpack full of bricks on her

back so she has to swim twice as hard to keep up- the medication lets her remove

the bricks.

I will tell you my friend's son (he is 8rs old) who is also high functioning and

ADD took Intuniv for a while but it made him very emotional and he had to stop

taking it. My dd also takes prozac to control her moods so maybe that's why it

did not effect her in that way.

I am also a teacher of students with autism and I have seen many kids not do

well on the stimulant medications, but it does work for some.

For my dd it took a lot of trial and error (and tears) to get her to where she

is now, and she is stable and getting straight A's.

Hope this helps,

Thoughts on Intuniv

>

>Hi all!!

>

>My six year old daughter was recently diagnosed with ADD in addition to her

standing diagnosis of autism. Her doctor was leaning heavily toward Ritalin, but

I am incredibly wary of stimulants for young children. After arguing with me for

some time about it, he finally wrote her a prescription for Intuniv. I have

really resisted medication, preferring to treat DD from a holistic standpoint,

but I feel like my back is against a wall regarding school. While my daughter is

doing fantastic from a social standpoint, her grades are suffering from her lack

of focus.

>

>Anyone out there have any thoughts on Intuniv? Have you used it and has it

worked well? I've read a lot about it but I am more interested in hearing first

hand testimony from parents.

>

>Thanks everybody!

>

>Christie, Mom of Ava - 6 years old, Autism and ADD

>

[Guest guest]

Exactly! Every child is different and responds to meds each in her own way.

Prozac works for your daughter, but made mine sad and teary, so we

switched my dd to Luvox which works much better for her.

We've tried different meds, different dosages, and when my dd is

functioning well we know we've hit the right combination. Since she reached her

teens, we've had to keep adjusting for the effects of hormones and we're still

working on that.

There just isn't going to be one answer that fixes things for everyone, or

forever. We've found it's a process, that has to be monitored and changed

every couple of years even when it's working well. In the long run, my dd

has made continual progress, and no one who knew her in pre-school could

possibly believe she'd reach where she is now.

Sandi (Houston)

In a message dated 2/20/2012 9:25:05 A.M. Central Standard Time,

paganmom2003@... writes:

Sorry, I'm a lurker, Just wanted to add my 2 cents here:

Kendra is 8 years old, Lower Functioning with ADD (possibly ADHD) , and

Bipolar, through trial and error we have come up with a medication regimen

that works really good for us:

Metadate

prozac

Depakote

We have had to bounce around the numbers, but they have worked well for

her, she went from basically silent, to full sentences, to functioning with

picture boards, and computers, and we are making progress with potty

training...

From: _Autism_in_Girls_and_Women _

(mailto:Autism_in_Girls_and_Women )

[mailto:_Autism_in_Girls_and_Women _

(mailto:Autism_in_Girls_and_Women ) ] On Behalf Of

Cassandra Zupke

Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2012 8:16 PM

To: _Autism_in_Girls_and_Women _

(mailto:Autism_in_Girls_and_Women )

Subject: RE: Thoughts on Intuniv

The thing that finally convinced me to try stimulants with my child (which

have been a God-send) is when someone told me “You can always try the

medicine and if you don’t like it you can stop.†I don’t know why I

hadn’t

thought of that before. So now when the doctor suggests a medicine, I look at

the side-effects list and if they’re things that will go away if he quits

taking the medicine (like anxiety or weight loss), then I strongly consider

them. Good luck!

From: _Autism_in_Girls_and_Women _

(mailto:Autism_in_Girls_and_Women )

<mailto:Autism_in_Girls_and_Women%40yahoogroups.com>

[mailto:_Autism_in_Girls_and_Women _

(mailto:Autism_in_Girls_and_Women )

<mailto:Autism_in_Girls_and_Women%40yahoogroups.com> ] On Behalf Of

Horwath

Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2012 8:23 AM

To: _Autism_in_Girls_and_Women _

(mailto:Autism_in_Girls_and_Women )

<mailto:Autism_in_Girls_and_Women%40yahoogroups.com>

Subject: Re: Thoughts on Intuniv

My daughter takes it along with Vyvanse- she has high functioning autism

and severe ADHD. It has helped her but she is older and did not start taking

it until she was 14yrs old. She could not make it throught the day without

her ADHD meds, I have tried to not have her take meds but she really

needed it and she does so much better with them. The doctor gave me a good

analogy- She is as smart as everyone else but she is swimming with a backpack

full of bricks on her back so she has to swim twice as hard to keep up- the

medication lets her remove the bricks.

I will tell you my friend's son (he is 8rs old) who is also high

functioning and ADD took Intuniv for a while but it made him very emotional and

he

had to stop taking it. My dd also takes prozac to control her moods so maybe

that's why it did not effect her in that way.

I am also a teacher of students with autism and I have seen many kids not

do well on the stimulant medications, but it does work for some.

For my dd it took a lot of trial and error (and tears) to get her to where

she is now, and she is stable and getting straight A's.

Hope this helps,

Thoughts on Intuniv

My six year old daughter was recently diagnosed with ADD in addition to

her standing diagnosis of autism. Her doctor was leaning heavily toward

Ritalin, but I am incredibly wary of stimulants for young children. After

arguing with me for some time about it, he finally wrote her a prescription for

Intuniv. I have really resisted medication, preferring to treat DD from a

holistic standpoint, but I feel like my back is against a wall regarding

school. While my daughter is doing fantastic from a social standpoint, her

grades are suffering from her lack of focus.

Anyone out there have any thoughts on Intuniv? Have you used it and has it

worked well? I've read a lot about it but I am more interested in hearing

first hand testimony from parents.

Thanks everybody!

Christie, Mom of Ava - 6 years old, Autism and ADD

[Guest guest]

That's great, Sandi! Same is true for my daughter. It's incredible how far

she's come!

> In the long run, my dd

> has made continual progress, and no one who knew her in pre-school could

> possibly believe she'd reach where she is now.

>

> Sandi (Houston)