My partner tells me it has helped with by symptoms, but it’s hard for me to tell. One thing you won’t get from it that you do from stimulants is that burst of morning motivation. Constipation can be an issue for some people. I don’t miss the side effects of stimulants though: easily getting stuck on the wrong thing depending on timing, the evening crash, etc.

I take Clonidine ER which is very similar to Guanfacine for treating ADHD (blood pressure medication that is an alpha-2 adrenergic agonist). I also take stimulant-based ones on top of it during the day.

I requested Clonidine specifically to help me sleep and take it in the evenings; my dose is very sedating. It’s my understanding that Guanfacine tends to be less sedating; it’s not as aggressive on the c(p)ns.

Does it help with my ADHD? Yes-ish. It’s calming and slows my brain and body down. My end of day crash can be pretty rough, and the Clonidine eases a lot of the mental scatteredness that I go through. If I’m stuck looking for something to watch, play, etc, it saps my brain enough and allows me to pick whatever it is I want to do to end my day. I would assume a less sedating version of what I take would be moderately effective for day time attention issues. I’ve seen people have success with both for their symptoms, but I’ve also seen it not click for people.

You will probably need to log your blood pressure for a few weeks when starting just to make sure it’s not dipping you too much.

Both guanfacine and clonidine did nothing but cause a rapid heart rate, slightly lower blood pressure (I already take other medications for my BP so that’s covered) and make me have to pee six or more times every night. It wasn’t for me - I get along much better with my Adderall XR with smaller dose of Adderall XR (we have no Adderall IR in Canada and doctors here are not keen to prescribe IR dextroamphetamine) in the afternoon.