axm2816,
I answered your post on the "Parents" forum.
My 11 year old son took one Focalin XR 10 mg yesterday and ended up in the clinic for two classes nauseaous (sp?) with a brutal headache. Headache lasted until he went to bed last night. Ended up giving him 10 mg adderall today. Had high hopes for the focalin and maybe the regular one will work for him. Not seeing psych until 12/22. Have to tough it out with the Adderall--son says it doesn't do anything. Ony two 1/2 weeks of school left til break---yea!!!!! CarolynI'm so glad you are finding success Lewsfam!!
It certainly sounded like something simple to alieve - and glad it was just that.
For others having continued upset - I suggest checking on a med called dicetel. I use it for occasional cramping and upset - usually I have it half way between eating a big meal and final digesting. It's like colic - my muscles spasm the opposite way of the intended direction. Dicetel is mild and calms the nerves (I think they call it a calcium absorber - supposed to stop the chemical signal of muscle flow or settle it somewhat. Best part - only side effect known is flatulence - they even gave massive amounts to animals and found no overdose or any other effect! That was a first for a med that I've seen!
My 7 year old daughter was recently diagonsed with ADD, no hyperactivity. She just couldn't focus at school. (since Kindergarten, but I finally decided to listen to the teachers). The Dr put her on 5mg on Focalin XR once in the am, M-F, no weekends. The change was immediate, she is now making 100s on tests and doing wonderful, however, her stomach hurts so bad from 30 minutes after taking the meds till about 11:00. We've tried w/food w/o food and send a snack to school for mid morning. We tried giving the meds on weekends, but her stomach seems to hurt even worse. The stomach ache seems to be the only side effect, other than that, she's not complained. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks ~KL
That's interesting, because Focalin is a refined version of Ritalin that is supposed to cause fewer side effects. My 12-year-old son has been on 15 mg Focalin XR and has experienced no side effects, except for mild loss of appetite at lunchtime. Of course, every med affects every child differently and any stimulant can cause the side effect of a stomachache so your daughter's reaction is not particularly unusual.
A couple of thoughts -- have your tried giving her 2.5 mg short-acting Focalin every 4 hours instead of the 5 mg Focalin XR (which lasts 8 hours)? I don't know if it will make a difference, but it may be worth a shot. Or have you considered trying another stimulant like Adderall (not in the Ritalin family) or even a different Ritalin product? You never know how your child will react until you try. (And unfortunately, medicating for ADHD is a trial and error process.)
Good luck! Please keep us posted on your progress.
Thank you so much. We have an appt. with the dr today and I ask.
My 11 year old son had stomach aches when he first started taking his focalin xr. I gave him a bigger breakfast and it didn't seem to help. However, I've noticed that the stomach aches went away with about three weeks. My neice takes concerta and had stomach aches for the first few weeks, then none.
My son has more mood swings with straight carbs, so I scramble him eggs with no butter and make turkey bacon and wheat toast, that kind of thing. On Sundays he said he was having mood swings during church. That's the day my husband had been giving him an all carb breakfast. We added protein this past Sunday, and no mood swing!
Glad your daughter is feeling better. Thought my experience might add to others.
Thanks,
Koko
Glad to see that she is doing better!! Thanks for letting us know. We did go to the doctor and now I feel a little silly. As she had lost a 3 lbs. the first week she started the meds, the doctor said to give her a high protien diet because she is so skinny to begin with. So we have been making her a wonderful breakfast of bacon and eggs or sausage and eggs and the like. Well, I got really lazy of the T-giving holiday break and she ate toast and ceral . It didn't even hit me that she wasn't complaining of her stomach hurting. When school started back I thought she needed the protein to "stick to her ribs" during class so went back to the high protien. Which is when she began complaining again and I guess I noticed it more becasue I felt so guilty for making her go to school w/an upstet stomach. The doctor looked at our diary we had been keeping and said she thinks all the protein and GREASE did not sit well with her stomach. She also said to wait 15 minutes after she each before giving her the pill. So she has had cereal, pop tarts and cinnamon toast and her meds 15 mintues later and HAS NOT COMPLAINED once. I truly hope the food is the reason becuase she is doing so wonderful with this medicine. Her self confidence has improved so much too, she thinks she's one of smart kids in class now!! I will keep you posted!!! ~KLewsfam7--how did you make out with doc the other day? My son's doc is putting him on Focalin XR and we will be starting Monday. Trying to get prepared!!! Thanks