focalin xr | ADHD Information

My son was just recently changed from Concerta 54mg to Focalin XR 20mg. Anyone have any comments about this medication. I had not heard of it until now so I would appreciate any comments from anyone whose child might be taking it and what type of experience you have had with it. You might want to do a search on this board under focalinXR or focalin. My son (12) takes 15 mg. It is not designed to last as long as Concerta during the day - about 8 hours, depending on the person.

Focalin, like Concerta, is a form of Ritalin. It is supposed to only be one side of the molecule used in Ritalin - the effective side. This is supposed to help reduce side effects. For some it does. My son had a few stomachaches in the beginning. Since it only lasts 8 hours for him, I give it to him as he walks out the door for school, to maximize the effective time at school.

One reason we like it is my son is hungry at dinner time, so he has not lost weight.

Now my son always said that the meds did not do anything, even though his dad and I saw a big difference, and his schoolwork improved a great deal. Yesterday he forgot to take the med and he realized how much it was helping him. He had a math test, and he only got four problems done out of 25. Fortunately his teacher understands and is giving him more time.

Hope this helps!
Yes, thank you, every little bit helps. I must agree I have noticed that my son is also ready to eat at dinner time for a change. Hope all goes well with your son and thanks again.

My son is taking Focalin XR for 1 month now and his attention span has improved drasticly, we can see it take effect within about 5-10 min. Mothers day I was able to sleep until 9 so when I got up I gave it to him. He had been running around the house like a mad man and within 10 min maby less he was sitting playing with blocks in his room. His teacher said she sees it also, hes 5, only in pre-k but its full day. In the past month I think I might have gotten maby 2 bad reports from his teacher as apposed to 4 a week. His eating habits have changed alittle but Ive been letting him eat small meals all day. Hes been doing really well, the only thing that hasnt changed for the better, maby worse, is his mouth. Hes so fresh. So far, Im very happy with the meds. Im watching out for anything bad and havent seen anything yet...I stress YET. Good luck!

My 8 year old son is taking 10mg of Focalin. In the beginning, he seemed like a new kid. He was so compliant, nice (a little too good) my husband thought he was being sedated which bothered me. Now, a month later, I feel like it wears off by the time school is over even though the Dr. said it would last 12 hours. I think the teachers say he really improved but I'm not so sure I see a big difference at home. Maybe he needs more?My 13YO son switched from Focalin to Focalin RX about a month ago.
Focalin helped tremendously with his focus. He raised his grades from Ds
and Fs to As & Bs. Of course, he also switched schools which no doubt
enters into the equation. He was so relieved to switch to the RX because
now he doesn't have to go to the office to take medication at lunch time.
And he feels the same on it. He does get some nosebleeds and facial tics.
But he got those with every medication he tried.

I thought it was funny that Ritalin worked well for my son years ago, but Focalin seemed to have no effect at all.

My son is 14 and has been on Focalin XR and Focalin for 4 months. It is the third medication we have tried and it has been the best one for him. He takes 30mg of the XR at 6:30am and then 10mg of the regular Focalin at 4:00pm so he can get homework done and he can focus, eat and sleep without a problem! We tried Concerta and Adderall before and the side affects were horrible so we switched and so far so good. Good luck!

My doctor tried changing my son's med from 72 mgs of concerta to 20 mgs of focalin xr. I got a call from the teacher that my son was totally out of control and she didn't know what to do for him. So she sent him outside with the ass principal. I said i will call my doctor. I ended up not giving him that medicine and going back to concerta. Whats good for another child might not be good for your child. And vise versa. I have no clue why that med did not work for him. It totally back fired on him. Also stratera did to. So you have to see what works best for your child. Good luckMy son had dry mouth and vomiting on Focalin XR. He so far has only mild stomach problems on Concerta. Every kids different. nekochan38878.3828587963Snowbuny, either your son is having a bad reaction to Focalin, or if this type of aggressive behavior (thowing blocks at other kids and stabbing forks into a child) occurred prior to Focalin, you may very well be looking at a disorder beyond ADHD. This behavior is over the top for ADHD. Has your son been evaluated by a board-certified child psychiatrist? If not, that should be the first call you make in the morning.

Well, just like rdmom3, my son has now practically become immune to this drug. I have been saying for a few weeks now that he has been doing great, as of last week end I was wrong. I noticed he was acting alil bonkers, I kinda blew it off. Then wen. at school I happen to say in passing to his teacher when I dropped him off that I think his med. isnt working as well. She says "yeah we think so too...he was throwing blocks at everyone and about 5 kids came up and told us that he hit them and he was doing head stands on his cot at rest time..." she went on and on and I stood there growing more angery, not only at my son for his behavior but at the teachers for not telling me. I ask every day when I pick him up how his day was, if there were any problems...and I got nothing. I was mad. Come friday, I pick him up and his class was on the playground when the assistant teacher came up to me and told me that during lunch he took his fork and stabbed a boy in the hand I asked him why he did it and he said the kid was bothering him...WHAT THE HELL? He then proceeded to cry histerical for about 10 min. in the parking lot because I told him he couldnt bring a catapiller in the car and home with him. I ended up breaking down and crying this morning because I couldnt take it anymore, I couldnt even look at him in the face. I cant get that picture of him taking a plastic fork and sticking someone with it.

Needless to say I will be calling his doctor in the morning and adjusting his meds, we have an appt. in about 2 weeks but I dont think I can last that long. I am pretty pissed at his teachers for not telling me earlier, that IS why I ask, I do really care what goes on all day with my son at school. Only one more week and we are done with that school, we enrolled my lil guy at another preschool.

Hes also diagnosed ODD, I called his doctor this morning and she increased his meds from 5mg to 10mg and we see her on the 20th. He has a major impulse issue. I have no idea how to deal with that. His school isnt much help with it either. His class is like a zoo. This morning when I dropped him off, kids were sitting on the carpet throwing train tracks, trains and legos. My son was sitting at the table drawing in his notebook. I am talking to his counsilers tonight to see if they can help. I'll let you guys know what happends.

Hello .. I am new to this. but i have a boy that is 10 years old he has been on concerta for 4 years.He has been on 54 mg.the whole time ..I still have so much trouble out of him at school and any other activities.. I am more worried about his health and the future prob.. he might have .I am starting to hear concerta is causing heart attacks in the kids taking it .. any one who has any info on that please ..