Anyone have/had a child on Focalin XR? Update post 18

[Mermaid02]

My son takes Focalin XR and it works well for him.

 

[Pembo]

Kristy, I mentioned before that my ds was very moody on Focalin XR. Don't give up!!! We love Concerta at my house. Our psychiatrist said it is a "very smooth" drug. Good luck on this bumpy road, I'm right there with you.

 

[packetminnie]

My DS(9) was on Focalin last summer. He was very whiny and anxious, he suddenly developed a fear of daddylonglegs in the middle of a camping trip. We put him on Daytrana patches at the beginning of the school year and the change is fantastic. His grades have risen astronomically. Last year he tested as a beginning reader, now he is testing on the sixth grade level. Before Focalin we tried Adderall. It worked ok but it wasn't consistent. His teacher would try to plan tests around the early afternoon because she said he was most focused during that time. Tests in the early morning were always bad. On the plus side there were very few side effects with it. With the Daytrana he has loss of appetite. He will hardly eat anything while the patch is on. It is all trial and error. All children react differently. My neighbor's son doesn't have the loss of appetite but he also doesn't have as good a result but he has been on Ritalin, Adderall, Straterra, and now Daytrana and this has been the best result for him.
Next summer we plan to try Straterra to see if his appetite improves.

 

[rkwells]

Bumping in hopes of getting some more feedback on Focalin.

My son, 10, just started meds about 6 weeks ago (ADD)...Started out on Adderall. We had to lower the dose down to 10 mg with-in a week because of stomach ache. It works very well for his focusing issues but after a couple of weeks on the lower dose I started noticing a late in the day "crash". He becomes very moody and emotional.

The doctor is switching him to Focalin XR. From what I have read of this thread so far Concerta seems to be working for alot of kids without the side effects. Anyone else have an experience with Focalin they can share??

 

[Pembo]

rkwells - I posted previously that ds was on Focalin for two years with great success but as we had to up the dosage and then tried Focalin XR the moodiness crept in. I was very worried and we thought he was developing a mood disorder but it was the drug. We switched to Concerta and things are great. The psych also suggested Ritalin for the evenings to help keep things calm through bedtime. I was surprised that by being on Ritalin he was able to fall asleep faster.

Best of luck to you.......