Thank you Vickie for the explanation... very interesting.
We were taught that if it is a time released that if you break it in half that it won't last as long because it releases little bits at a time, my son is also on a time release one and they told us not to split them in half, and they did also tell us nothing like grapefruit juice or anything another thing they told us was don't give either of our kids sudifed or actifed with any of their meds because it can counter act with the meds.
My sons meds wear off too quickly in my opinion. Some days he is fine others not so fine. He takes metadate and I open it and sprinkle it on applesauce, maybe like you guys said he is not getting all of it. Any ideas on how to get him to swallow it whole????My doctor told me today that with the time release capsules (my daughter takes them too), that you can break it open & put it on yogurt or ice cream or something & that it will still work the time release (beacuse the capsule itself disolves very quickly anyway). He did say you can't crush or chew them, that is what messes up the time release. He also said no juice w/citrus. She was actually able to swallow it anyway. For easier swallowing, instead of drinking from a regular cup use a water bottle filled less than 1/2 full. That way they have to automatically tilt their head back & the pill goes down easier.....go figure! Good luck to youMy son can't swallow pills yet either. Was told to do the applesauce bit but he doesn't like applesauce. So I open it up and put it in a bit of water and suck it up with a medicine dropper and give it to him. He takes a sip of juice or milk afterwards to help swallow it. I am going to start teaching him to swallow it. Heard that you can use mini m&m's or cake sprinkles til they get the hang of something that small then move to the capsill.In most cases, if you break open a time-release capsule, it foils the time-releasing. If you want a steady release of meds and not to have to take pills, try Daytrana. It's a ritalin patch and it's given us some wonderful results. Se the Daytrana threads on the meds board, especially, "Daytrana Anyone?" I'll bump it for you.I've put it on a slice of wheat bread with peanut butter (high protein) and low carb jelly. I've also given it to him in low carb yogurt and low carb apple sauces. I truely try to offer it in a variety of ways.
Vickie could you explain what you mean by giving a high fat breakfast may lower peak blood values? Thanks.
My son was tested by his psychiatrist. He found that my son had reactive hypoglycemia. We worked with a nutritionist and she suggested the items above for us as the doctor and her determined that my son needed a high protein low carb diet on top of a low dosage of Foaclin XR.
4myson,
From the original blood studies of the short acting focalin, they found that a high fat meal with the med caused the med to not get absorbed into the blood and the amount in the blood at the peak blood level was lower than it was when taken with a low fat meal. They then extrapolated to assume that the same may occur with the time released form but they did not actually test it. This is not as likely as the chance of chewing the little granules, but I thought it should be thrown out there for consideration just in case.
So, after our great news yesterday, now this.
I picked up M this morning to go to see the psych. M seemed very subdued to me....real quiet, talking and playing but not very interested or animated in anything. When I dropped him back off at daycare, he then did start playing with the other children and was more animated.
Then, I get a call from his 4K teacher - he had a rough afternoon. Many of the impulsive behaviors were back again. Hugging, fidgeting, singing while everyone was reading - she hasn't seen these behaviors for a long time.
Is it possible that by breaking open the capsules, that he is somehow messing up the time release portion? He cannot swallow the pills. The pharmacist said that you cannot chew the contents or it messes up the time release.
I am wondering if he got all the med early in the day, and not enough in the afternoon???
Do you think he might have chewed the med with the applesauce? It does sound like he got it all at once and then it was out of the system too soon. You might try agian tomorrow and see if the same thing occurs (that would give you more information to work from). Is he off tomorrow for veteran's day so you can keep an eye on him? What I found in the prescribing info was that Focalin XR has the same blood profile as taking 2 immediate release focalins about 4 hours apart (including the ups and downs). The prescibing info also says that a high fat breakfast may lower the peak blood values.
We just started on Focalin XR last Sunday, but our Dr did say if ds was unable to swallow the capsule, we could break it open, but it probably wouldn't last as long. Surprisingly, he hasn't had any trouble swallowing the pills, though, so I don't have any personal experience to share.Thanks for the citrus info. He mostly downs it with milk. But am going to start on teaching him to swallow the meds soon. Been preparing him for the change telling him he won't taste the nasty stuff if he swallows the capsill. He isn't chewing the granuals because I watch him swallow it.[QUOTE=Aaron'smom] He takes a sip of juice or milk afterwards to help swallow it. .[/QUOTE]
You should never give anything with citrus in it within an hour before or after taking a stimulant. The lessen the efficacy of the med.