We are struggling to know whether we have the right dosage/med for my son.
He started on 5 mg of Focalin XR a week ago last Saturday. His teachers general observation was that he was definitely more focused and attentive - but that his body is more hyper. Like he will be paying attention and focusing, but his body can't stop moving.
Is this a normal transitional thing? Is the dosage too high? We tried 7.5 mg and it made the hyperactivity worse, so I took him back to 5mg.
How are you supposed to know? We had called the dr. last week because the first few days he seemed to develop some loud/yelling behaviors at school. She suggested that maybe the dosage was too high and we should try 2.5 mg. But then he had a couple good days, so we thought it was just a transition. She also told us originally that 5 mg probably would not be enough due to his age (5) and weight (50-52 pounds).
How are you supposed to know? What are they supposed to be like when they are on the meds? He also seems to be more hyper in the afternoon at 4K than in the morning at daycare 4K. That was why we thought maybe a higher dose because maybe it was wearing off too fast.
Or, is it possible that this is just the wrong med?
I would say that the meds should lessen hyperactivity and increase focus. With your doctor's guidance, you should keep adjusting the dosage until you can find a therapeutic level. At this point it is probably too early to say if it is the right med or not. Welcome to the roller coaster ride of med trials! It is probably going to take some time--months--to get the right med combo. Good Luck!We are seeing a pediatric Psychiatrist for his meds - we go back to her on November 9th.
We will see how today and tomorrow go. At least he does not seem to be being aggressive to his friends, or a problem on the bus anymore, which were two of our main concerns right now. He doesn't have homework yet, so that is not a concern right now.
It could be the wrong med or dose. If you do not get the desired effects after giving the med a chance, it might be time to move to another med. Everyone reacts differently to these meds; the good news is that there was some good results and something to work from. What kind of doctor is your son seeing (just asking because pediatricians do not have as much experience managing meds as psychiatrists and neuropsychs)? Hang in there and keep working with it.
Before meds, we discussed with the psychiatrist what we expected from the meds (I was not too concerned of hyperactivity at home; but attention at school and through homework was our main treatment goal). My daughter's psychiatrist told me that there are so many ways to taylor meds to a child's individual needs; it just takes time and effort to get there. We use concerta (which was not quite enough) and added guanfacine (Tenex) to augment the concerta since we were at that time reluctant to increase the concerta due to weight issues (now resolved).