My son is on Focalin XR 15mg, once a day.. as everyone says, its great for a few hours.. He is so hyper in afternoon and night. If we go out to dinner, he always ruins it for us, embarrasses us, ect. I am wondering if anyone has had their child on this drug for a few years or more? or is the drug too new? I want to give him an afternoon dose, but I am afraid of long term side effects or whatever. Also since he started it, he has some mean tendencies that he never had before, like he is mean to other kids and talks mean about them. He never used to do that, he is 9 and I cant let him play outside unsupervised because I am afraid of what he will say or do.. Has anyone else experienced this?
It sounds like he may be having a bit of rebound as the meds wear off or is just having trouble with the ups and downs of medicated vs unmedicated. Ask the doc about a second dose. You will have to balance things like eating (if he is having appitite suppression, sleep issues and a later rebound). Some people even sleep better when the meds are on board at bedtime (calms a busy mind and lets it sleep). My youngest sleeps better with meds, so an afternoon dose is a posibilty if we were to need it.
If you and the doc try the different ways to taylor the focalin to your son's needs and are not happy with the treatment, you may need to try a different med like daytrana (the patch). If this does not give satisfactory results you may need to augment with guanfacine. It takes time to get the best treatment for an individual's needs but is is worth taking the time to get the most out of the treatment.
Focalin is just one part of methylphenidate, so the long term effects would not be expected to be any different than regular methylphenidate.
Ditto Anise. My son was having some rebound issues (crying, frustrated, said he felt different) about 7-8 hours after he took 20mg XR in the morning. We now give him 5mg short acting Focalin after school for home work/sports/etc and it has done wonders. It has never affected his appetite and rarely interferes with sleep.
For me, the afternoon dose of Focalin made ALL the difference in the world. Just amazing!! Don't be afraid to try this if your doctor ok's it-- it can be a miracle. :)
My son was a bit more aggressive/angry on the concerta (isn't it funny how they all react so differently to the various meds?) but ritalin LA has been wonderful for him....
Ask about one of the other long lasting time release meds....concerta, ritalin LA, metadate has a time release I believe...I would find one he tolerates better if I were you.
I totally understand. My daughter tends to rebound from her Focalin. 10mg Focalin xr followed by and afternoon dose of Foclin 5mg. Although she still rebounds, it is lees of a rebound than when she was on Adderall. Focalin seems to help better with her impulsiveness/behavior issues, but the Adderall seems to help her more with her classwork. The patch did not work for her as she would take it off. I can definitely feel your pain on the whole meanness and behavioral problems. I often have to sit in the truck and color with my daughter while attending my son's baseball practices. It's not really fair to him, but I am so tired of the whispering and constant looks I get from the other moms. Not to mention the constant chasing and desperate searches to find her if we do get out.I have been told that if a child is unsuccessful on the medication they are taking, then either the dosage or medication needs to be changed. It doesn't sound like focalin xr is helping.
I would call my prescribing doctor ASAP and mention the change in behavior. That is NOT right.
My son became angry, mean, etc. on adderall xr. He eventually "lost it" in front of the pediatrician. He immediately took him off of it and started concerta.
Now my son is happy and successful. He has been at the same dosage for over 2 years now. And has never acted like that again!
Call the prescribing doctor ASAP!!!
My son has ADHD -Inattentive type. He was on Focalin XR 10mg for about eight months during the school year. He did well, except for a loss of appetite (but didn't lose weight even though he was eating less) and headaches/upset stomach for the first couple hours after taking. The headaches eventually subsided, but he always told me he had an upset stomach right after taking it. He went off the med during the summer, then started back up in the fall of the next school year. Within a few months we noticed he started making funny verbal noises (tics). Then came eye squinting and eye rolling (physical tics). We immediately stopped taking the medicine. One of the warnings of this med is that if there is any history of Tourettes Syndrome not to take this medicine. Well, there is no history of it in our family, so I assumed it was causing him to have these tics. I took him to a neurologist who checked everything, and suggested that I keep him on Focalin XR and counteract the tics with Prozac, and said that the medicine doesn't cause the tics but can bring it out. I'm not convinced. After a few days of stopping Focalin XR, the eyerolling stopped and after a couple weeks the verbal tics stopped too. Now he is not on any meds but we are doing neurofeedback therapy which seems to be helping. We also found something to get him to go to sleep at night (Melatonin-an over the counter supplement). What a good thing that is! It's amazing the difference that a good night sleep has made. We also took away anything with high frustose corn syrup, artificial anything, and I try to buy mostly organic. Limiting "screen" time (computers, TV, etc) makes a huge difference as well. It really messes with his focus. Also about 10-15 minutes of sunlight in the morning before school (better if can get a quick walk in too) has helped. He's not 100% but we're making it work the best we can and seeing progress every day.It is possible that the dosage is not right if it is wearing off too soon in the afternoon. I also believe that our doctor said that Focalin XR only seems to last about 8-9 hours, where some of the other meds last closer to 12.
I would definitely contact your doctor to see if a change in meds is needed.
My son is also on Focalin XR 15mg. I noticed alot of what you are saying when Korey 1st started taking it, until we got him at a higher dose. He was started at 5mg(even though Dr knew he would need more, but we both wanted to start slow) I am still contemplating going to 20 mg. I see it wearing off at about 2:00 or 3:00 and he takes it at 8:00 but we don't have major problems when it wears off now, or atleast to the extremes. He just can't focas, becomes alot more hyper and gets frustrated easily. I would give his Dr a call and go from there. I would suggest maybe increasing the dose and see if that helps. I know it did for my son, but every kid is different. How much does your son weigh? Korey is 7 and on 15 mg but he is very tall for his age(4ft 7in) and weighs 58lbs. You said your son was 9 so I am wondering if he has a high enough dose. Also how long has he been taking the focalin? Also we have not had problems with him being mean to other kids per say, just that he gets more angry at other kids when it wears off. He goes to the Dr Thurs for a routine med check, I can let you know what she says about Korey if you would like. Let me know what you or your Doc decide too.
Also my son takes meletonin at night now and it does seem to help his anger/frustration during the day since he gets a good night sleep. Is sleep an issue for your son? Sorry to be so long winded. Take care.
I just came across this forum. It is nice to talk to others about children with ADHD. Cameron just turned 7 and he has been on Focalin XR 15 mgs, once a day. He started on them at the beginning of the school year (5 mgs), was bumped up to 10 mgs after 2 weeks. The teacher said she couldn't control his behavior in the classroom so a trip back to the Dr where she bumped him up to 15 mgs. After less than a week on it Cameron complained of headaches, and he got aggressive, bullying classmates and also at the afterschool program. This isn't the same loving little boy I once knew. He also said one day this week he had a hard time breathing and his "heart felt funny". I am concerned he is having some type of palpitations with the other above mentioned side effects from the meds. I know this particular med hasn't been out all that long so all I know is what I read on the paper given to me from the pharmacy.Hi talwomn0507,
You mentioned you took your son to a neurologist. Do you suggest that? Are they more knowledgeable about adhd then the pediatricians?
My child's been on Focalin XR since July 2006. We've slowly increased the dose by 5 mg at a time. Once we crossed 20 mg (if my memory is right), we started seeing it last much longer into the day. It started working 20-30 minutes after taking it, and it would start wearing off 10 hours later. The full effects weren't gone for 12 hours. After 10 hours, the appetite would come back and he'd make up for eating little during the day.
If you don't want to deal with an afternoon booster dose, you might want to ask your dr. about increasing the dose and seeing if that helps you get coverage for the number of hours that would work better.
Regarding the meanness, is that happening when the meds are otherwise working well, or is that after they've worn off? If it's while the meds are definitely in his system, you might want to try another med.