My son took clonidine for a while for his tics and hyperactivity. It helped a great deal with those issues, but does not help with the concentration/attention problems.

If you do go the clonidine route, I highly recommend the patch form over taking it orally. Orally is fairly short-acting and so the kids have alot more problems with sleepiness after they take it and, then, rebound hyperactivity as it wears off. The patch worked consistently well for about 4-5 days for us (as opposed to the 7 that is advertised).

Apparently, a lot of children have trouble with skin irritation from the patch form but it was never a problem for my son. The problem we did have with it was constipation. I didn't realize that it was the clonidine causing it until we stopped the clonidine.

Hope this helps....

My son's doctor explained to me, that Clonidine can be given with a stimulant in the morning. Clonidine given alone makes a child sleepy and is often prescribed for sleep problems to be taken in the evening. But in combination with a stimulant like Ritalin, the Ritalin counter-effects the sleepyness. In other words, I would not give Clonidine only, but combine it with the stimulant.