daytrana patch | ADHD Information

I just have to ask why you are sticking with the patch if it is bothering him so much?Oh boy good luck. We are doing the balance of treating co-morbid anxiety and ADHD. It is nt fun. I can totally get we're you are all at.

jade23 and Diane V -

what is co- morbid anxiety? My ds is almost 7 and has ADHD, uses 15mg of Daytrana patch and I also think he has some anxiety issues? Can you describe for me some of the symptons?

Thank you!

my daughter gets so worried about things it interferes with her ability to have fun. Perfect example, yesterday we were at the beach, she was playing in the water her 5 year old sister and 5 year old cousin were in the water with her. She was so worried about them going out too deep or tipping off their tubes she wasnt even enjoying herself. There were 5 adults sitting right there with all the kids, she wasnt responsible for them. Including myself and her both her cousins parents. She tries to control every situation, that is part ADHD, but a BIG part anxiety. She wont get her face wet so she is afraid to go under water after like 9 YEARS of swimming lessons. It is so bad about her face getting wet she barely washes her face and showering and washing her hair is just a nightmare...........I could go on and on...........

anxiety is excessive worry that interferes with your day to day life.

Diane V39268.55OMG!!! That sounds like my son - he won't go outside to play because he is afraid of the bees, if there is a spider near my front door he will NOT go in unless I go first and then he is practically jammed up me at the same time - more recently someone told him a scary story about the bathroom and "candy man" or "bloody Mary" being in the bathroom and now he will NOT go to the bathroom with out me or my husband???? I have anxiety issues (not to this extent) and I have suspected he has them also!!!!!! THANK YOU!have him evaluated by your psych. If you dont use a psych get one. Many stimulant meds can increase anxiety. When my daughter is anxious her ADHD sympotms are worse and vice versa, you need to address both.After too many unhappy side-effects on oral meds and watching them lose effectiveness in just a few short months, we're waiting to start the patch. We're waiting because the first time the doctor said "redness" and "rash," my son's anxiety kicked in. I've reasoned with my son...offered incentives that even I couldn't turn down. We've been back to the doctor's office. The RN showed my son how to apply the patch on himself (the nurse)...offered one to my son, and my son hid behind a chair and started meowing (that's how he lets us know that he's anxious). So, instead of convincing him to put on the patch, we came home with a script for an anti-anxiety med (we've never chemically treated his co-morbid disorders - only unsuccessful therapy until now). Hopefully, he'll feel better about the patch by the time he starts the next school year. He needs something different.

My daughter is 11 and was recently diagnosed with ADD. I've known she's had it since pre-school but because she was overly bright and doing well in school everyine thought I was crazy. Life at home was hell .... and we were spending hours doing 20 minutes of HW, calling everyone in town cause she couldn't write down the HW, copying her books ... you know the drill.

Well the patch has been a miracle drug. We saw a difference almost immediately.

Here is my concern ... does everyone need to switch drugs at some point? why do they stop being effective? do the kids build an immunity to the drugs?

One last thing ... she is generally a sweet loving, low keyed kid ... since Daytrana we are also seeing "agrressive" outbursts before the patch takes effect. She growls and barks and frightens me.

HELP - I am having trouble with my son's patch staying on with the new batch I just purchased. I made sure that the expiration is 2009, but with this batch they are a little hard to peel and they do not stay on at all. I see alot of you are using "paper" tape. Can someone explain to me what paper tape is? I keep the patches in the frig but I think I saw where some put them in the freezer, is the freezer better? Also, where is the best spot to put the patch. I have tried his hip, his lower buttocks and it still comes off. Any advice would be appreciated!! When it does stay on it is wonderful, so I will try anything to keep it on. Thanks!!

Poor baby hiding behind a chair it breaks my heart what our kids go through. I think it's very lame of the doctors to tell the side affects like rash in front of our kids. I usually tell my son to stay in the waiting room with toys for a while and I speak to the doc. first about the problems we are having. My son is still on the 10 patch due to the rash and I think now he needs a higher does. Like you said after a few months it's not working as well. My son scratches all night long I know now because we are temporarily renovating our house. WE have been renting an apartment and our son has been sleeping in our room. He scratches that spot all night long I can't stand hearing it I feel so bad for him. I keep jumping out of bed trying different creams. Before this I didn't believe him that it itched him all night. His rash is not as bad it seems the skin in that spot gets dry and tougher and it's not so bad just a lot of scarring but it must itch quite bad still. I'm hestitant to try the higher dose now. My son now gets really angry in the monrings before the patch kicks in and he refuses to get dressed, stop watching t.v. get ready for camp you name it, it's a huge fight. My husband and our are just lost as to what to do. When he was in school I was getting up at 6 am. to put it on now he goes to camp at 10 so I've been getting up later. Today I put it on at 7 and he was a bit better. Plus I think the whole apartment move and all has upset his routine and he needs routine so much. I'm praying the contractor keeps his deal and has us back in the house before school starts. I don't think my son has any anxietys just a really bad temper more and more oppositional every day. We are really suffering with it.

What I love about the message boards is that we can all learn from each other. And that people are free to post without retribution.

PLEASE let's not judge each other. These boards have helped me tremendously.

I had trouble with the patch sticking and started to tape them. Shire says NOT to do that ... but honestly I found no difference in my daughter. Then someone on the board suggested large waterproof band-aids. We switched to those and they are working GREAT. Although I have never been able to find them at Walgreen's like the poster suggested because they are alwats sold out. I wonder if there is a run on them by Daytrana users.

I have read that MANY people put the patches in the freezer. I have NEVER tried this. But should I get another bad box ... I will give it a try .... nothing to lose.

My question now is about prescription plans. Does anyone have one of those plans where they need to order medicine 3 months at a time througn the mail? If so what success are you having with the Daytrana patches because they are a controlled substance?

We are sticking with the patch because he has never been able to swallow any pills. He has a strong gag reflux and refuses pills, liquids, sprinkles with taste he just won't/can't seem to take them. On the good side he has never taken any medications other than this patch and he seems to recover from illnesses without any medications. He has never even been able to take antibiotics and fortunately he doesn't get sick often. I have tried buying the cake decorating pieces to try and get him to swallow and he even refuses them. It's a big problem because if the patch gets too bad for him we will have no optoin so I am still sticking it out unfortunately.

oh boy the poor little guy (and poor Mom too). I VERY well remember those days. It certainly gives you more options when they can swallow pills, it took us quite a while to master that too. They didnt have the patch so we managed with sprinkles. If I mixed it she never knew. I'd even give her ice cream in the morning if I had too. It may be worth just trying again something you can open and mix I mean.

Debby, how long has she been on it? Quite often children are great at first then once they adjust to this new found "clarity" they osrt of get symtpoms back and the dose just needs to be adjusted up. If you are seeing more aggressive behaviors while no meds in system try to keep track of it, this may not be the best med for her.

Diane V39269.0951157407

I am reposting this in the hopes that someone can help me.

I TOOK MY BOX BACK TO THE PHARMACY FIRST, AND THEY CONTACTED SHIRE AND SHIRE IS REIMBURSING THEM FOR EXCHANGING THAT BOX OUT FOR ME... I HEAR SOME PHARMACIES ARE NICER THAN OTHERS... I ALSO KEEP MINE IN THE FREEZER. THE 2ND BOX I GOT THIS WAY HAD 2009 EXP. ON IT AND I HAD TROUBLE WITH THEM TOO, BUT I PUT THE WHOLE BOX IN THE FREEZER AND LEAVE THEM THERE..... I JUST GET 1 OUT DAILY AND I HAVE HAD NO MORE TROUBLEAT ALL... THATS WHERE ALL THE PATCHES GO... TRY THAT, ALSO HIS SMALL OF THE BACK IS A GOOD PLACE. MY SONS WORKS WELL ON HIS HIP. GOOD LUCK...

Queenie,

Thanks so much for your advice! I will put the patches in the freezer and I never thought of the small of his back, I will try that. Today the patch stayed on the whole 9 hours, but that is very unusual. When it does stay on, he is like a different child. Thanks again for your help.

YOU ARE WELCOME.... I HOPE THIS WORKS FOR YOU ALSO. MY SON IS LIKE 2 DIFFERENT PEOPLE WHEN HE HAS NOT HAD HIS MED. I LOVE THIS PATCH, IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF WORKING OUT THE KINKS.... KEEP ME UPDATED.. SHIRE WILL SEND YOU A CARD FOR REPLACEMENT PATCHES IF YOU CONTACT THEM. THEY ARE GREAT WITH FEEDBACK.The Daytrana patch should not be kept in the freezer, it is stored at specific room temps. If it isn't working that's probably why, the freezer kills them.My doctor actually told me to keep them in the freezer but I have not. When I had one bad batch Shire asked me where I stored them and I told them in my dresser drawer. They said that's what they want to hear so if you are trying to get reimbursement I wouldn't say the freezer. They told me they don't know what affect freezing them has on them. My doctor did say to put them in a zip lock baggy but like I say I have never done that. I think if a box is good it should not have to be kept in a freezer. My theroy arbout all the bad patches is that I bet they get hot in trucks during shipment and it ruins them. I mentioned that to Shire and they said they never thought of that and it's worth them looking into it. If the patches are not sticking it might have to do with how much a child perspires during the night. I always wash the area with Aveno body wash and let it dry well before i apply the patch. It stays on very well as long as it is dry and always make sure there are no creams on the skin if you do put cream on at night. I DISAGREE TOTALLY WITH THE COMMENT ABOVE, I HAVE STORED THEM IN NUMEROUS PLACES, BUT THE ONE PLACE THAT KEEPS THEM FROM HAVING BACKING PROBLEMS IS THE FREEZER, WHEN I CONTACTED SHIRE, AND THEY SENT ME THE CARD, I TOLD THEM I HAVE STARTED KEEPING THEM IN THE FREEZER, THEY SAID THEY WOULD HAVE TO LOOK INTO THAT,IT DIDN'T SEEM TO BE A PROBLEM. I AM HERE TO TELL YOU IT DOES NOT KILL THE PATCH, BECAUSE THEY ARE WORKING ON MY SON, IF IT KILLED THE PATCH THEY WOULD NOT BE WORKING. I JUST WAS TRYING TO GIVE EVERYONE SOME ADVICE THAT I KNOW FIRST HAND WORKS, AND FOR MY SON HIS RASHE FROM THE PATCH HAS STOPPED WITH THE USE OF SOLARCAIN BURN RELIEF ALOE EXTRA GEL, I BUY IT AT WALBART,IN THE BANDAID AISLE.IT IS A PAIN RELIEVING GEL WITH LIDOCAINE IT SAYS INSTANT PAIN RELIEF , COOLING MOISTURIZING ITCH RELIEF... I PUT IT ON EVERY NIGHT AFTER HIS BATH, EVEN WHEN THERE IS NO SIGN OF MUCH RASH... I TRIED NUMEROUS OTHERS, EVERY CHILD IS DIFFERENT, BUT THIS IS WHAT WORKS FOR US...

Queenie, typing in all caps is considered Yelling. It also makes the text harder to read.

sorry, i was not yelling, i do not know how to type, so it's just easier for me to do one or the other...... i was just passing on my opinion.....and what seems to work for us, i just hate it when people say something and state it as a fact when it is only hear say or assumption...My son has been using the patch for the past 2 months on and off. I keep seeing anger in mornings before i put his patch on. He has huge imature tantrums over getting dressed or turning the t.v. off. It's definately worse than if he has been off the patch for 3 days or so, then he is more stable and not so up and down. I also see him very emotional and on the patch, and he wants to talk to us non stop in a very slow manner. ...very unusual for him. I'm worried, will this go away? Has anyone else experienced seeing this behavior?

And he doesn't want to eat all day and says his stomach hurts all day so he has to talk quietly. I think i need to talk to the doctor about this. I was hopeing it would get better after a couple of weeks on it w/out stopping the med's...about getting the patch's sticky black stuff off, i just used olive oil or baby oil to rub it off. it takes a little rubbing to remove the lines.

And my son's patch has never come off easily. but every child's skin is different. he takes a bath every night usually and doesn't use any lotion after a bath, unless it's for the redness and swelling ...poor kids.

And he's worn it many days swimming this summer and no problems falling off at all and it still works.

: )good luck
Well, What I stated is fact, it is clearly labeled on the box to store between 59-86F. I was told by a Shire Psychopharmocologist( one employed by Shire and overseeing the med trials which lasted 8 months) during the med trial to NOT store them in the freezer.

I know that it does say that on the packaging,I also have spoke w/shire,it is true that it says not to store at yada yada temp. but, I also know that what I am doing has not affected the way it works on my son, and the backing releases w/out any trouble... maybe they will restudy this and determine that the coldness doesn't hurt. You seem to be very aggrivated, by my comment, and I hate that this bothers you so much.... if you go back and read through you will see I am not the only person to mention putting them in the freezer, do you get this aggrivated everytime you read something you dissagree with? I am sorry this has bothered you so.

yes, ..it works perfect, i cut them into forths, just the right amount for him! and i love the small size, it's less painful for my son to take off. but i think we need to keep it quiet...i'm afraid the co. might catch on and stop making the patches, and i love them!

and yes, a couple of days after going back on the patch, my son was scared about swimming in the lake while boating, b/c he said he was afraid of the fish. He had never said that before or cared that much. I took the patch off right then and he swam about an hour later w/no problems at all.
I think when the dose is too high, kids act more emotional and different than their normal behavior.

and FYI i have never had any problems w/patches not sticking, even after he swims they're still on... : )kbee39279.6542708333The company cannot suggest anything that was not specifcally tested and proven safe and effective during the clinical trial. They would be violating the law if they were to do so. I have seen a post by someone who was in the clinical trial and they cut the patch during the trial.With my son, he takes it off all by himself while in the bath, he is 8... if there is trouble, I give him olive oil I am sure any type of oil woold be fine. I use the bandaids everyday I just buy the freds brand heavy duty fabric I use the extra largr, they work just as well as the bandaid brand and they are only .25 for 10.they are a lot cheaper and they never have come off or even peeled up on the edges.I would rather do this than take a chance with them coming off. as for the solarcaine, we only put it on at the end of the day, after his bath. oh.... has anyone seen side effects like being scared or anxious over insects or stuff like that?this started about a day after starting the patch. my son was getting terrified of flying insects more so than normal, his aunt also has chickens, he was and always has been scared of them, so we made a deal w/him, we told him he could choose 1 thing to be scared of, and we would leave him alone about that 1 thing,but, he needed something to help him through this... he chose the chickens to be scared of, so everytime he started freaking out over the small things like insects, we would simply ask him "is that a chicken?" and we'd leave it to him, to work through it, he has come to realize he was terrified over everything, and since we started that he is not afraid anymore. his auntie came up with that, and even though it sound silly, it worked... he realizes that he was over exaggerating his fears... just thought I'd share that...I tried to do a search but it didn't work. I was wondering, I know the manufacturer says NOT to cut the patches in half, (of course they're going to say that, they would lose money if people did that) but has anyone done this? I ran out of her summer dose patches, and used the higher school year dose patch and cut it in half and it worked wonderfully.

I tried the large waterproof bandaid over the patch and so far it has worked. This bacth I got has been terrible. The sticky comes off on the peel off part and the patch has probably stayed on maybe 2 full days of all the days I have put it on my son (without the bandaid). I know I went through 5 patches in 2 days. Also, I made sure that the batch I received did not expire until 2009 but it still has been terrible. I calle Shire and the person I spoke with was very nice and cooperative and they are sending me a coupon for 40 patches. Hopefully, this batch will be better. I do have a question for the people who do use the waterproof bandaid. What is the best of way of getting it off without it hurting so much?

Thanks to everyone here for all your help and advice.

LSUbanks

kbee, I pm'd you. Vickie, yeah, I know what you're saying. They can't ok it if it hasn't been studied. I understand that and sympathize with that. But I do think they would rather have someone pay for two months rather than one. It's only natural, pharmaceuticals is a business. It's just right now for our family, the copay is so darn high, and even is a big difference to us. (Sad but true...) We're right in that middle group that makes too much to qualify for any assistance, but the copay hurts. At least we're not having to pay out of pocket. I am really thankful for that.

And I am thankful we discovered the patch, and that it was manufactured in the first place. DD has been on Concerta and Adderall and Daytrana is by FAR the best. It doesn't seem to have the same side effects and DD is finally sleeping at night! Yay! Still need to work on putting weight on her, but so far, so good.

Regarding cutting the patches I tried it twice and my son had very bad days at school and one day at home and he just was not himself. I decided that maybe there is some problem with cutting the manufacturer does say that there is a vein in the middle of the patch and if you cut it the meds. may not disperse the same way. I'm not sure how true this is but it scared me the two times he was just so moody and nasty. As for the fears of bugs my son is not afraid but I think I mentioned one time before that he gets all weird and focused on flies. He stands by our window in the family room slapping the widow trying to kill them. He also went on a beach trip with his camp and spent a lot of time trying to find sand crabs. So much so that he never made it into the water. Outside he will be searching for ants and when we take walks his head is down the whole time looking for bugs. But his thing is trying to kill them not that he's afraid. I tell him it's mean to hurting living things but he just can't seem to stop himself. I really don't like it but I guess it's not a huge thing. As for getting the bandaids off we just pull them slowly and that burn ointment I started using is great for getting rid of the red by morning. As for throwing up my son never threw up, he basically eats some breakfast but his lunch almost always comes home. When it doesn't it turns out he gave it away to some other kid. He will turn down chocolate cookies and at camp many days he does not drink hardly anything. I've had to tell his camp counselors to watch him at lunch and I told them to tell him he has to drink. One day he came home with all of his lunch, his two juice boxes and his water bottle. I usually offer him dinner with us and he's not that hungry but then around 8:30 p.m. he gets hungry and will eat so much some nights I'm shocked how much he can pack in. He will ask for fish and then a hamburger and ice cream. He has lost some weight since the patch so I give him whatever he wants. I do feel bad when he says his head aches or his tummy just hurts pretty often. But I feel he makes up for it when he can eat so I guess that's the best we can do. It upsets my husband quite a bit and he keeps asking me if we can give him a break from the meds on the weekend. Any time I've tried it he is unbearable to be around.My son is taking Daytrana and threw up one day after having the patch on (20 mg.)all day. He didn't drink much water all day. ...I think i heard that throwing up is a side effect of being dehydrated. The medicine did hurt his stomach and I know it was too high of a dose too from his reactions on it, he wasn't himself.
That was also the first time he ever threw up in a long time. But he had only had the patch on for a week after stopping for three weeks.
We lowered the dose WAY DOWN and he is himself but w/impulse control and great listening!!

My 15 yr DS has been on Daytrana for about 2 months. The first batch of 10 mg were very difficult to peel. The 15 mg, I have had no problem with at all.
I think that exposure to high heat is responsible for the adhesive problems people have been having. The Fed-eX van that transported the 10 mg patches to my pharmacy was VERY hot that day.

I have found that refrigerating them DID help with the backing problem, but I definately noticed that the patch was not as effective.
Some have complained the the patch does not stay on and some say they have had no problem with this. I think this may depend on the child's skin. Each person is different. Some have oily skin. Some sweat more, etc.

However for those who do have a problem with keeping the patches secure on the hip, here is a asuggestion: My DS doctor gave me a script for a box of 100 6 cm x 7 cm Tagaderm HP Transparent Dressings.
These are clear sticky patches used in the hospital to tape down IV lines and surgical dressings. They adhere extremely well and don't cost a whole lot. My son can swim, bathe and sweat and the patch stays put. Only a couple of times has the Tagaderm started to loosen at the edges, but that was due to his clothes rubbing against it. Just be sure to place the patch BELOW the waste line of underpants to prevent this.
Be aware however, that the Tagaderm may increase skin irritation and residual adhesive. The use of any type of oil removes the sticky residue and Benadryl cream helps a great deal with irratation.
Also, because Daytrana takes up to 2 hours or more for it to start working, my DS doctor has prescribed 10 mg of Focalin to be given at the same time as the application of the patch. This way, after a half hour or so, the Focalin has kicked in and by the time it wears off, the Daytrana is working.
We do not take weekends off either, because it seems that the upset stomach and irritability is due to withdrawal. He experiences none of this if given 7 days a week.
The Daytrana has been a God send! The slight irritation and residual adhesive is well worth it!
Sleep was an issue, but 3 to 6 mg of Melatonin or 25 to 50 mg of Benadryl works great. Although I don�t recommend the Benadryl every night, it is good for those nights when the Melatonin doesn�t seem to be quite enough.

His appetite has always been affected when taking stimulants. He eats a large breakfast in the morning and I allow him to eat as much as he wants after supper when the patch has worn off. Even right up until bedtime. He hasn't really gained any weight, but he hasn't lost any either.
My only concern is that some days it seems as if it isn�t working for him. I am hoping this just means he needs to increase to the 20 mg.
Has anyone else had this experience and did an increase solve the problem?

Sorry for this being so long, but hopefully it helps answer some of your questions.

Tasmaniak,

I am so sorry you experienced such an awful day. That woman who said those things could have chosen a way to be more helpful if she was going to stick her nose in. I know what you mean about worrying that people will think you're trying to kidnap them.

maybe the problem is that the dosage is not high enough? What would he do if you just held him? Or did he just go so limp that you couldn't even get your arms around him. I just feel so bad for you both. Adhd really really sucks sometimes. And people not understanding makes it so much worse.

Thanks everyone for such heartfelt replies. It just makes me feel a little
better knowing that I'm not alone.
I know God doesn't send what we cannot handle - however I feel like I'm
in some terrible undertow that's sucking the life outta me.

The doc changed meds and said "respirdol"?? He said temporarily to get
him over "this hurdle in development" and then we could try removing
and see what happens.
Anyone's preschooler on this? If so, how is it?

He has these meltdowns and it's really tough. Yesterday was a little
better...no meds too....but everything can change from minute to minute.

I had to pull him completely out of preschool at this point.

I'm pooped!

Thank you, thank you for your help and if you can think of anything else
to divert him in the middle of a meltdown...I would so appreciate it.

He goes completely limp and it's hard to pick him up -- because once I
try to - then he's super strength kicking and screaming. Very hard when
I'm only 104 pounds and he's 41 lbs. He's so strong for a three year old.

God Bless all of you!

Claudia (mom to Tasmaniac but loveable, Sean Paul)

TLCsmom,

I totally agree with you on taking care of yourself first...Paxil is what helped me get through the first 5 yrs of his life at least from about 2 on to 5...I mean I had a total nervous breakdown in my dr.s office, he didn't know what to do with me. And I would find time when he went to sleep at night to just mellow before I'd spend time with hubby then go to bed...It's the only way I could remind myself I'm not crazy.

I also can relate on the advice too...We went through all the standard disciplines except for my dad's old school "knock em on their butt"...He actually went so far as to tell my son(8 at the time, last year) that he doesn't need medicine and all he needs is to be knocked on his butt once in a while when he acts up...I had a few words to say about this when I found out and my husband told him if he ever laid a hand on him he would never see him again...My dad, needless to say, listened well because him and my son have a very close relationship and he doesn't want to ruin that.

All I can do for you Tazmaniak is tell you what worked for us, it may or may not work for you.

I feel for you. Some of my sons behaviors were not quite as extreme as you describe but close many times. I think, looking back, he was always different and I can see a pattern. I used to say his terible twos lasted 3 years. 3 and 4 were the worst years and having everyone from the lady at the grocery to family and friends giving advice did not help. All the things people told me would work did not. They told me to put him in time out. YEa right. That was a nightmare. Some basically told me if I'd beat him, he act better. Uh huh. He had tantrums and often for no good reason. He would not allow you to walk away ( and still has issues with this if he is mad). He would follow you around and continue the tantrum. He coud throw one for hours which people told me wouldn't happen if he was ignored. He just never followed the patterns we were told others did. He crawled out of the crib every night at 9 months and never slept more than 2-3 hours the first 2-3 years.

All this siad, he was advanced early on and did save most of the bad behavior for his family. The day care actually loved him and he walked, talked, clibed, etc. early. Also had huge vocabulary and knew all the words to kiddie songs early. Then at 4, he started k4 with high expectations and things fell apart. We were military, moved alot back then, introduced baby sister around that time, etc. and he never could handle it.

I just never knew about ADHD. No one suggested it even when I called mental helth on base one day when he was 4 begging for help. They evaluated me instead of him. Couldn't be anything with him....had to be all me. You know? I'm sure I could have been better but.....

I don't know what your answer is. For us, having a more regular routine with Dad home more and Mom working less or not at all as right now, helped alot. Having a dx helped somewhat also becasue I was able to get more help from people instead of bad advice. Now I still get bad advice from well meaning people but it's different now. Getting him on a med that worked, was the biggest help. It took a psych doc to finally help us with that and me becoming as educated as I could about ADHD. Once wee found a med that worrked, most of the school issues he had had in k4-2nd stopped almost completely behavior wise anyway. He still strugles with disorganization and forgetfulness which makes classes more difficult but he doesn't get in trouble and has not since 2nd grade. He is about to start 6th. The regualr routine with mom home and dad on a regular schedule and not moving for 3 years, helped him so much. By 2nd grade the behavior issues were better and were ok at school but then he failed 2nd grade. We started meds after that and now he passes with A's amd B's and a few C's here and there.

He may be reacting strongly to something that has changed in his life or something he doesn't understand. There are so many factors that can effect children. I thought I would go out of my mind during those years, but I feel like there is morre help out there even just 7-8 years later. I hope you find someone who can help you evaluate the whole picture. I had to figure out so much alone. If nothing else, find someone you can talk to who doesn't feel the need to tell you that her kid would never be allowed to act that way. lol My husband was no help back then but maybe yours is different. I guess what I'm saying is make sure you take care of yourself mentally and physically as well so that you have teh strength to deal with your child and love him through all of it. Stims may not be for him or a different stim might be the right one. Don't give up.

Oh....that Walmart scene brought back memories. It helps me remember that things can change for the better.

Tantrums like that are definately not fun. I'm sorry that you had such a hard day. 3 1/2 yr. olds can be like that when they are hipper active and want independence. My son was like that too. And I was very calm and patient w/him and would say i know you don't want to go but it's time to leave and just keep saying it over and over and try to stay calm and not get angry, which just made it worse. (Now with my second child i was not so patient anymore) Or just try to ignore it...if you can in a safe place, car or home. But if you can; leaving imediatly when they have a tantrum is a lesson too for them. They learn that that behavior won't get them anywhere or any attention.

I wanted to say have you tried or heard of the Feingold Diet. My son has ADHD (not too hyperactive) and it really helped him not have strong outbreaks or tantrums when he didn't get what he wanted. It made him more stable. All the junk they put in foods these days are awful for kids growing bodies and growing brains! The diet has no Artificial colors, artificial flavors and preservatives. So just eating healthy foods, our whole family eqts it too. They'll send you a book of groceries in your area that are o.k. to buy and other information to get started. The hard part is candy,cake and fast food, but i still slide and let my kids have that once in a while ( i do notice a difference the day after he eats something bad; he gets more angry).

You might also want to try changing his medication or wait until he's older (if you can handel it). I wouldn't think he should be acting so hyper while on the medication if he is ADHD. He would be calmer. Especially trying the medication for the first time. Do you think he has something else and not ADHD?

good luck,
i hope it gets easier and you find something that works.

P.S. try reading the ADD book by Dr. Sears, it really helped me! (it's about ADHD too)Dear Tasmaniak, my son was very much like you describe your son at that age too. My son is now 7 and he is on 10 mg of Daytrana now for 4 months. He did rage more in the beginning when we started it so I feel there is an adjustment period you have to get through. As for problems in preschool we had that too although he was never expelled but I'm sure they were happy when our time there ended and he went on to elementary school. Try to find a preschool that has smaller class sizes if you can. It also helps if there are teachers and aids because there are more eyes watching your child. My son used to get caught in preschool before he really did something bad. Such as one time he pulled another boys glasses off and was just about to step on them when a teacher grabbed the glasses out of the way. I was so upset and embarassed at least the glasses were saved. It's hard because other parents hear those things and think your kid is a monster. As for the parking lot tantrums I too suffered that. I did the thing also like the other mom said of just walking on if he did that in a store. Of course in the parking lot you can't just walk away it's too dangerous. But often at parks he would scream and have such a fit when it was time to leave. I would strap him into his stroller and he would be kicking, biting, hitting you name it. I would be so shaken it was terrible by the time I got out of the park. And I too worried people would see the struggle and think I was hurting him. So don't feel alone other mom's have had kids like that too and they are extremely hard to manage. Plus even some kids without ADHD have bad tantrums and eventually outgrow them. Also don't take him to places like Walmart or the grocery store. I just cut that out as mcuh as possible I shopped on weekends when my husband could watch him. And don't take him to restaurants either because it's just way too stressful. You limit the places like that I know you suffer not going out as much but it's worse to go with a child that acts like that. I used to say if I just stayed home all day with him and never went anyplace he would be pretty good but I had to get out sometimes. My son now is better and I tell you they do get better with age. My son had more troubles when he started kindgergarten before he got on meds. He just started the meds and he just finished 1st grade. If I could have found a doctor like you have who would have prescribed something at an earlier age I would have. Mine would not do it and my pediatrician would just tell me it's his temperament and I needed to figure out how to work with him. Thanks for nothing to him. I took him to two different therapists and I tell you I am not a big fan of therapists. In our case I spent a ton of money and it really didn't do much for him. As for me it was some help to have someone to talk to about how I felt. You see we adopted our son and I just so often felt like I did not know what we had gotten ourselves into. Plus I wondered what type of birth parents he had and what mental problems they may have had. Now that we know it's ADHD and we have the meds he is doing better in school and at home. He still has tantrums even at his age but he understands about earning things like t.v. and getting them taken away. At such a young age as your son it is much harder to tell. I did try the diet thing too but not to a large extent I did not see any improvement. I used to find that if I hugged him instead of yelling at him when he tantrumed that it would really help. At first he would push me away but then he would stop fighting and screaming and just cry in my arms and just sob and sob and then he would get better. I did find that getting him into preschool really helped you need someone to help spell you off a bit. Also baby sitters if you can afford it I know though that when a kid is so difficult they are hard to come by. I also found that my son was better with some babysitters than how he treated me, sad but true. Many quit on me I'm sorry to say though he's hard to like. I always say the difference is we love our kids and baby sitters are there to make the money and teachers too. I say try the meds and see maybe they can give him a little higher dose. My son is still quite awful in the morning and getting to school on time is such a struggle. Please believe it will get better slowly but surely. I used to have to sleep in my son's room on the floor to get him to sleep and if I made any noise leaving the room he would start screaming. He controlled me like a puppet it's sad to say. My husband was almost no help and family members do not believe in ADHD they think it's some big fake made up excuse for not being a good parent and letting our kids be brats. You need to make it on your own and don't worry what anyone else thinks. Get your doctors help and talk to a therapist for you to get through this or go on this chat line for support. Do you live in Los Angeles by any chance because I do and would meet you if you like to talk? One last thought it always helps my son to keep him on a regular schedule. Like wake up same time go to bed same time, dinner same time etc. etc.That all sounds all too familiar!!

I think i heard respirdol is for bi-polar disorder and ithas strong side-effects such as making you gain a lot of weight?? ...but check on it, do a search on-line.

..take one day at a time.

p.s. maybe try giving him a choice if he stops his tantrum he will get a special reward(go look at the fish in Walmart).
And/or talk to him about it before you go somewhere, if he is good then he will get to get something or go somewhere special.
I think the more you give him a sense of control over what happens the more he will want to be good. And give him choices:
"____ ,you have the choice to sit here in the car (and have a tantrum) or sit quietly in the shopping cart and get to pick out a special reward or treat after, what would you like to do?"
just an idea...of course i can never remember this when i need to!

good luck! ...and if nothing else, there's always a glass of wine and after his bed time to look forward to at the end of the day. and the more patient you are w/him the more proud of your self you will be at the end of the day.

my now 5 year old daughter (no ADHD), behaved this same way at 3. Maybe not all the kicking and biting, but was terrible with tantrums and awful in stores. She also did that flopping thing.

I also stopped taking her. The advice of saying if behave we can do this is great, but it may not work witha child this young. They are little too young to grasp that. You can start just doing it. The days he is good, make a HUGE deal about it give hima treat, like seeing the fish or going to the park or whatever. That will make an impact. But they cant always grasp if you do this then you will get this as a reward. At least it did not work my with my daughter.

As for the flopping, if he's just doing it to get a reaction ....walk away (unless you are in a parking lot ). If you need to him to, say, go to his room or get up in a parking lot, literally pick him up by his armpits and say walk to the car, or your room or whatever. If he flops again, just pick him up, put him on his feet and point.....DO NOT TALK. You may have to do this 20 times the first few times, but dont cave in, dont argue, dont even talk, just keep picking him, putting him on his feet and point to wehre is supposed to go (you've already told him where to go the first time). He will stop doing this if he cant get you into a fight. This is about control. Dont give it to him and never back down. The key is to set the rule and then calmly stand firm. Even if he kicks you, dont react. If he absolutley will not walk, pick him up let him yell and scream, put him wherever, in the car or his room or wherever you decide and he will be safe. Tell him you will not do anything until he stops. He'll stop eventually. Leave the room or stand outside the car until he does. If he comes out, put him back......remember no talking. After he's done, then explain this behavior is never acceptable and this will happen every time he behaves that way......and do it.......every time. It is a lot fo work, and takes some time, but well, well worth it.

I feel for you, I did not go anywhere with my daughter for years. I also walked out of many stores and restaurants. Now she can be in public and we enjoy her. As I said she does not have ADHD. Your son has his meds to help him, but he still has to learn whats ok and what is not, all the meds to is help him to do this.

Good luck, with time and patience you will get past this.

Hi everyone...
Well today ended up being the day from HELL.
I took my son to Wal-Mart and as we were leaving he had a meltdown -
and this is with his 10mg daytrana patch on. I'm thinking this thing isn't
helping.

He had such a severe meltdown in the parking lot - I mean, kicking,
screaming, hitting - and then laying smack dab in the middle of the
parking lot. Every time I went to pick him up he would fall limp....and it
was almost impossible for me to get hiim up. I finally tried to just talk
nice and calm to see if I could get him into the car - but the minute I tried
- back to screaming bloody murder. I think people were looking at me
like maybe I was some weirdo trying to kidnap him... :(

Some old lady walked up to him and said, "Little boy - you are rude and
disrupting the entire parking lot!"
That did it - I told her to not speak to my son, that he had a behavior
problem and that she best not say one more word to him". She kept
rolling her eyes and mumbling something under her breath --
at this point I was in tears.

Finally got him into the car - only to get him home and have the entire
thing happen again at bedtime. I am so afraid that a neighbor is going to
call the police or something when they hear all this yelling....I don't know
what to do anymore.

Anyone else have ANY suggestions? I'm so desparate - and I'm feeling
ancient and tired.

God Bless all of you...and thank you for your notes....they truly help.

ClaudiaWhen my 9 yo son had his meltdowns during toddler years I took advantage of the fact that he is terrified of being away from me and I would just walk away and act as if I were leaving. I went so far as to walk out the store doors one day, still with him in my sight but he didn't know that. Now that he's older he does not have them much and he actually tries to control his impulsive behavior. Also when we were in the car and he would start up, my daughter(now 16) and I would make like we were hearing a sick cow or a cat singing in the back seat and comment on how aweful it sounded and such and he always ended up laughing...This goes back to taking advantage of their ability to be easily distracted. Also if you find something that REALLY grabs his attention use it as a treat and as punishment...As in if he is being really good he can have whatever it is or watch whatever it is and if not then he doesn't get it(and if he throws a fit walk away don't encourage it by arguing out of it, it never works believe me). I don't know how your son is but mine always had a fascination with rhymn and repetition...Even now we still play rhymn games and we all take turns singing on road trips. Have you tried coffee? I don't know if it really works to calm hyperactivity but my son thinks it does...He'll tell you that too...Just a small bit about 1/4 cup with the rest being water a little bit of honey and a little bit warm. He also likes the Sleepy Time tea(grocery store) and BeCalm(healthfood store) drink mix. There is also a supplement that my mom used to buy for him when he was a toddler...I can't remember right off what it is called it was something ADD I'll ask her if she remembers. He took it for a long time and it seemed to help the mood swings...Kind of like how StressTabs work for adults. I'll message here when I remember it. I'm confused lately with all the different daytrana patch locations on here. Is there someone who can consolidate them? I never remember which one I was in last? Anyhow, just wanted to say I moved my son up to the 15 mg patch on Sunday after 4 months on the 10. He has been so quiet and moody on the 10 I was thinking the 15 might help. Instead he was almost comotose the whole day and my daughter said he reminded her of the movie On Flew Over the Cooko's Nest because he was so unusually quiet and just sad looking. We both felt so bad to see him like that. Plus he has not been eating lunch at all and we all feel bad to go out to lunch and he just sits there looking mad and sad. Anyhow, on Monday I cut a 15 in half even though I was worried to do that. Well, I have to say it made a huge change he is now much happier and not too over the top quiet. He is not focussing on bugs and flies as much now and his camp counselors told me he was so involved at camp in the sports and had really nice behavior. I'm going to keep trying to do this. I'm wondering though if I should just tell my doctor he's O.K. on the 15 so he will keep giving them to us. I hate to lie to him but my doctor does not like the idea of cutting them. I think that cutting the 15 is giving us 7 1/2 and I think it seems much better for him. Plus if I cut the 15's they will last me twice as long for a month. I'm not trying to cut costs as much as give my son the dose he needs. I wish they made a 5 mg. Then I wonder if he needs such a low dose maybe I should just try taking him off. that's exactly what i've been doing, like i said before

, sorry for repeating myself, but i cut the 20 mg into 4th's and it's perfect and once it starts to not work or be enough, i cut it into thirds. And if that stops working(back to his old impulsive ways) then i found if he doesn't take it for a couple of days, then it works again! So his body has to keep adjusting to it once he starts again. At first i didn't want to stop on weekends b/c i thought his body would never adjust to it and eat normal again. but then i heard that they never eat normal/enough again anyway. So I would rather have him catch up on eating on the weekends. And just use it for school days. He has gotten so skinny, and it looks like he's lost bone mass and muscle density and that scares me. But he is growing taller w/taking breaks over the summer.oh i forgot to mention, i wouldn't tell your doctor b/c they are not suposed to allow people to misuse medication, especially controlled substances. He could get in trouble if he agreed to give you a perscription knowing you are going to cut it...

Good point, kbee. That would be fraud if they prescribed 15 but knew your ds was only really taking 7.5. Not to mention I still think there is a conspiracy that the drug companies wouldn't like us to be saving money.

I am so frustrated. I just got home from dd's psychiatrist's appt. She didn't want to put her on anything that would stimulate her appetite. I could understand not wanting to put her on an antipsychotic, but the one Chasesmom told us about, periactin, is actually an antihistamine. She wouldn't prescribe it, said if she's having that much trouble eating, we should try a different stim. I was like, "She's got no appetite on ANY stimulant...do you get it??"

I saw dd's pediatrician and she was happy to Rx it once she did the RESEARCH on it and realized that she'd been prescribing it to other patients for migraines and studies showed it helped the appetites in kids with Cystic Fibrosis. So she prescribed it and DD's appetite improved tremendously. She gained 5 lbs in one month for crying out loud. She also had swimming classes and her patch was coming off so I was glad I was secretly cutting the 30 mg ones into 3, which 10 mg is what Psychiatrist wanted her to take anyway. So she was convinced that dd gained weight b/c of decreased dosage on daytrana, didn't seem to want to admit it was the periactin. I told her she didn't have an appetite on the decreased dose of 10 mg, but did once we added the periactin. And I told her I'd been cutting the 30's into 3 since they were falling off during swimming...sorry but I can't afford to pay Shire for 2 or 3 packages a month b/c their product doesn't do what it says it's supposed to do (Stay on during swimming or in bath or shower). I don't have that kind of money. She said it's only falling off b/c I'm cutting it but it was falling off when I used the 10 mg patches too...I really do not trust that the doctors aren't in the pockets of the pharmaceutical companies.

I don't really know what my point is, other than I don't feel listened to, I don't feel that she understood all the work that went into getting dd to gain 5 lbs, she was still unhappy that dd is just below 5th percentile. It's like, her dad is 5'5, I'm 5'5, do you think that has anything to do with it??

Chasesmom, thank you so much for recommending the periactin. It's been a god send and I wonder if I should just ask my pediatrician if she'll monitor my dd's ADHD. She has a kid with ADHD herself so she know's our situation.

Sorry to go on...in summary, keep cutting the patch IMHO, and try the periactin, it really works.

I've found that by using paper tape over the patch, it doesn't come off in swimming, etc. It's almost the same size as the pach so it doesn't show anything more. My daughter swims all summer, and it works great.

I've never had a problem with her eating, I do notice during the day she isn't as hungry, it usually hits about 3:30 or so. She eats a good breakfast, fruit/milk at lunch and then a meal at 4:00 and again at 8:00. We don't take the patches off until 6:00 or so.

Penny

Thanks for all the replies I'm thinking of maybe trying to take him off on weekends like some suggested and maybe even the rest of the summer. He too has lost so much weight I was sad to notice his bones sticking out above his waist as I had never seen before. My son is very short and has always been stocky and looked like a cute little kid with broad shoulders. So now that his bones are sticking out if just doesn't seem right. How large is the periactin my son can't swallow pills but maybe we could try if I can get the doc. to give it to him. I too might start going to my pediatrican too because I don't think we need to keep going so far back to the psychologists office. Plus we get a different doc. every few months because we go to UCLA and they have fellow ship students seeing the kids. They are overseen by a psychologist but that guy is now changing too. I didn't really care for him anyhow. To all the mom's using tape for swimming please try the bandaid brand waterproof bandaids. They work like a dream and are really hard to remove after swimming. It's easier on the childs skin than tape too. And the doctor that told someone that it's coming off during swimming because she cuts them is big time wrong because they come off either way. I had a bad 15 today the backing would just not come off without pulling all the adhesive off. I hate it when I lose a whole one. Hi there....I am new here and just watned to put my two cents in about Daytrana....We had tried everything for my son long acting, short acting everything out there we tried...he metabolized everything to quickly. Then Daytrana came along...what did we have to lose? Well let me tell you it has been a God send! My son has been on it for 9 months now and it works AMAZINGLY!! The rash that it caused concerned me at first but after about 3 months of use it no longer caused any redness on his skin at all! My son is a water bug and I have never had a patch fall off in the water yet! If you feel the patch is the right choice for your child but worried about redness I suggest waiting it out..Like my son the redness may completley go away. If you have any questions for me feel free to email me at schwartz26@yahoo.com! Good luck! Oh by the way It does take a long time to work so my sons Dr has given him a short acting form to take right away in the morning....been working like a charm!schwartz2639257.6896412037

To Queenie: I have had an experience with bad patches lately too. I took the first back to the pharmacy and they did give me another box. That box was just as bad and back I wen to the pharmacy. They were not so nice the second time and said they could not take it back. I noticed that both boxes had expiration dates of November and December 2007. I phoned and told Shire the whole story and they were good enough to send me one of the credit type cards they give for 40 patches. I lost 10 so that was pretty nice of them. I'm not sure how many times they would do that though. I changed pharmacies and got my next batch that was expiration date in 2009. That one made all the difference. Did you notice that the bad patches are the ones with the folding line straight down the middle rather than the diagonal ones? I've decided next time I go to pick any up if the date is 2007 I will refuse them and go to another pharmacy. I filled try to get the whole 30 in one box too because when you get 3 boxes of 10 instead you have a bigger chance of getting older ones. I asked Shire why they don't take the old ones off the market and they said not all of them are bad. Sorry I don't have the number handy I'm moving this weekend and I have my paperwork in a box some place. If I find it after I move I will write it in here. Maybe try searching the internet for it.

MY SON IS ON THE 30 MG AND THIS BATCH I JUST GOT 2 DAYS AGO IS A TOTAL NIGHTMARE I HAVE NEVER HAD THIS TROUBLE BEFORE!!! I CALLED THE PHARM. AND TOOK THEM BACK AND THEY CALLED SHIRE AND THEY GAVE ME A NEW BOX... I WENT THROUGH 5 PATCHES AND NONE OF THE BACKINGS WOULD COME OFF, THE GLUE WOULD START COMING OFF W/ IT, I TRIED RUBBING THEM I TRIED PUTTING THEM IN THE FREEZER, WELL, GUESS WHAT??? THIS BATCH IS DOING THE SAME THING.... IT IS VERY AGRIVATING, WHAT DO I DO? HE CAN NOT KEEP MISSING HIS MEDS, I DO NOT KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO? THIS IS THE ONLY MED THAT REALLY WORKS WELL WITH HIM TOO. HELP ME PLEASE, AND IF YOU HAVE THE # FOR ME TO CALL SHIRE MYSELF LET ME HAVE IT,PLEASE THANKS... AND YES I ALWAYS APPLY WATERPROOF BADAIDS, JUST FOR MY OWN ASSURANCE, I GUESS. THE PATCHES ARE SO EXPENSIVE, I FIGURE A LITTLE BIT EXTRA FOR BANDAIDS IS BETTER THAN LOSING A PATCH A DAY... AND IT NEVER HAS HINDERED HIM...

I have had problems with patches that expired in 2008. I only accept boxes now with expiration dates of 2009. I check them BEFORE I pay for the medication.

Shire is aware of the problem.

The official datrana website is www.daytrana.com ... and here is the contact info

U.S. Headquarters

Shire US Inc.
725 Chesterbrook Blvd.
Wayne, PA 19087-5367
Toll free: (800) 828-2088

Patients and caregivers

Call the Shire Customer Service Center toll free at (800) 828-2088, option 1;
M-F 8:30 am to 5:30 pm ET.

Healthcare professionals

Clinical inquiries: For further clinical information on Shire products, U.S. healthcare professionals may call toll free at (800) 828-2088, option 2, or send an e-mail to medinfo@us.shire.com.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE # THEY ARE SENDING OUT THE CARD FOR ME... NO I HAVE NOTICED THEY ARE STILL THE DIAGNAL ACROSS BUT THE EXPIRATION IS 02/09 MAYBE THESE ARE JUST THE OLDER ONES... THEY SAID THEY ARE GOING TO EXPEDITE THESE TO ME... THEY WERE SO POLITE TO ME...

I've noticed that the 30 mg are a nightmare to use. My daughter was on 50 mg during the school year (30 & 20), and now down to 40 mg (2 -20) during the summer. I did have better results on the 30 when they were cold, but this last batch of 20's if I do put it in the freezer it doesn't stick as well and definately comes off when swimming. Will definately try the paper tape idea.

Never thought to check the expiration date, will do that with the batch at the end of the month.

Penny

If you tape and intent to go swimming ... make sure you use WATER PROOF TAPE. I use the paper tape for normal use.

I think it is easier for Shire to send out the FREE CARDS ... then to recall the bad meds. Bad meds = bad press and I bet most people don't complain. So they risk the occassional free card.

We received 3 months worth of patches in the mail this week. So the Insurance companies are sending them out. The package required hand delivery and a signature because it was a controlled substance.

I was worried about the heat problem ... the patches were shipped from Alabana via US Mail during some of the hottest days in New Jersey.

But suprisingly the backings are fine. No problems at all. And the expiration dates on the boxes are April/May 09.

some people are using periactin. We never used this. The only appetite stimulant we ever used was Remeron and that was for both sleep and appetite. No side effects and helped with sleep, but I dont think it did a lot for appetite. My daughter has always lost weight on every stim and only gained when we went off them. She stopped stims in early June and has gained about 7 pounds.

I have a 9yo son who has been diagnosed with ADHD since he was 5...This has actually affected him since his toddler years. In less than a year he went through 3 different meds before we settled on Adderall xr. Through the next 2 1/2 yrs his rx climbed to the highest dosage of adderall xr and got to a point that even that did not work...My son has a problem with quickly building resistance to meds as does his father. At this point the dr recommended we try the (New at the time) daytrana patch. We started with 10 mg, then went to 15mg, ten days later on to 20mg...The latter helped my son show improvement but not satisfactory...

My son and I were on our way to his dr appt after 10 days on the 20mg...I told him he may not be able to use this patch and that we may have to go back to oral meds and find one that helped him...His exact words were "Please beg the doctor to try the 30mg on me, I do okay at home but I need a little more help at school." What could I say, I was struck into silence with the realization that he himself actually noticed a difference. So we tried the 30mg and he is a totally different child. Yes he still gets fussed at once in a while at school...but his focus is amazing.

The patch is very easy to use now that they've worked out the kinks(tabs being difficult to remove). Apply to a different hip each morning(I find around 5:30am a good time)...Completely cover with your hand for 30 sec.s make sure the corners are stuck down good...That's it...We take it off around 4pm. He can now put on and remove it himself but I still do mornings for him so he can sleep a little longer. He does still have to take Clonidin .1 mg for bedtime to help him go to sleep. This med may not be for everyone but it definitly was the answer we were looking for...In almost a year of use his ADHD appt score sheet went from 47 down to 19.

Has anyone heard of anything we can give our kids to give them more of an appetite while on the patch or other ADHD meds?Diane Hi - our doc. does like you say she gives us 3 months perscriptions filled out in advance but she won't refill over the phone we need to drive to UCLA for that. I also have to take him in every 3 months at least to speak with the doc. To everyone having troubles with the patch staying on swimming I too have found the waterproof bandaids to be wonderful. I buy the Large Water block plus Band-Aid brand. My son has been using them now for the past week and they stay on and really keep the patch clean and dry. He even went on a beach day with his camp last Friday and I expected it to be all messy and covered with sand but it stayed completely put. In fact we still had a hard time getting it off. Yesterday I forgot to put the bandaid on him and we were going to a pool. We just left our apartment and I said oh we forgot to put a bandaid on your patch and he said I did it mom. I was shocked I said let me see and he showed me sure enough he had gotten it on great I was so amazed and happy that he's accepting it he's only 7 so I thought that was great success. Also I found another cream that really gets rid of the red rash overnight it's called Scar Zon burn gel it's made with greet tea and really for burn relief or kills bacteria and it accelerates wound healing and helps eliminate scars. It's been the best thing I've tried. I did try the solarcaine but that did not seem to help in his case. Question for people using the solarcaine do they put it on before the patch? I tried that and it was oily and the patch would not stick to it. I also tired putting it afterwards and it did nto help with the rash in his case. Thanks

My son just started on Daytrana yesterday. Didn't eat lunch or dinner, just drank water. Threw up around dinnertime and again around bedtime. Does the nausea/vomiting lessen as they get used to the medication?

My school nurse recommended that my daugher drink LOTS when she went on the patch. It helped with the headaches and nausea ... both of which passed. I find if she doesn't drink a lot she gets a headache.

That said ... her appetite is way down ... and drinking lots of water contributes to filling her belly and not eating.

It is definitely a process that you need to work through. Don't give up ... it took more than a week until she was fine on the meds. On some boards I have read that it can take several weeks.

Thanks for all the info for Shire, I am deffinetly going to call, this box has an exp date of sep 07 it is HORRIBLE. I have had bad boxes but usually putting it in the freezer makes it work ok, however this box is just really really bad.

I would definately call Shire about that bad box they are just too expensive to waste. Plus I found the ones that did not stick well did not seem to give my son the full dose of medication. We have had good success with my son swimming with the patch on. He has gone swimming now 7 times with it on and it has only come off once. I just press it down better than usual when I know he has a swim day and it stays on. He only swims for an hour at camp so perhaps that is why it stays on. But he did swim at few times at a pool with us and it stayed on as well and that was for at least 3 hours. I just rub all over it well when I put it on. He has been complaining that it stings when I put it on lately so I'm a bit worried about that. I think we also need to go up in his dosage he has been at 10 mg for 3 1/2 months now and it doesn't seem to be working as well. He is really oppositional lately and I know it doesn't really help for that but he has been so bad since school has been out. Maybe it is because he has been allowed to stay up later. We are renovating our house and have moved into an apartment so it's hard on all of us in a much smaller place. I sure hope our house gets finished in the 2 months the builder promised.

After reading this for some time I see many of you have the same trouble as me with the acting out in the morning....My sons Dr prescribed him 10mg of ritalin for the morning and it kicks in really quick as the patch seems to be quite slow. Been working like a charm...by the time the patch starts to work the short acting Ritalin pill has worn off.I wish mjy son would/could swallow pills but he won't as I wanted to do that too with the pill in the morning. I did ask that question to my doctor and he wouldnt' even try it. He said that even if he would swallow it he won't prescribe that. He said it takes at least a half hour to kick in and it's better if I just get up early. He doesn't like doing combinations of meds. I may try to find another doctor this one is so rigid. He won't even give me some pills to try to see if he can swallow them. I had asked if he'd prescribe the patch and another med in pill form so I could try it and if my son won't take the pills I'd still have the patch. The doc. said no because it's wasting the insurance money. Man he's tough.

To the person cutting patches ... l know several folks doing it without seeing any effect. Serach around google for cutting daytrana .. or other similar searches and info may come up.

My daughter also did not swallow pills. We started practicing with tic tacs. We limited her to about 10 a day. We promised when she could swallow them without spitting up she could have her choice of toys.

Then we moved onto m&ms ... using the same incentive.

But the meds that we have ... tic tacs were about the same size.

My daughter is on the patch. Mt dr. gave me low dose focalin (sp?) to be used either early in the am on a big day (like standardized testing) or in the pm (like when we put the patch on at 7 am but she needs to behave until 11pm or so like a girl scout trip).

It is trial and error. I know lots and lots of folks have more than 1 type of prescription. I think your dr is being unreasonable. Certainly may not be acting in your best interest.

These meds are certainly not an exact science. Just read the boards. You need a flexible dr that will work with you over time.

I just wanted to say my sons stomach and head aches went away completly when we lowered his dosage, you might want to try that.
And that's a good idea about adding other meds in the morning b/f the patch kicks in.

Claudia,

My son is 4 years and 2 months and was "officially" diagnosed with ADHD at his 4 year checkup. I've known it since the time he could walk.

Thankfully, my pediatrician is AWESOME and agreed that he needed meds. He cannot swallow pills, and the metadate CD and Focalyn we tried made him throw up in addition to other odd side effects. In a last ditch effort, I tried him on the patch. I was sure it wouldn't work b/c I knew he'd just take it off while at daycare when I wasn't around. We've gone through a few days of this, but after 10 days, he is now leaving it on all day. It has been a miracle. He's not having the agression side effects that he did on the oral metadate CD. He did throw up four times the first day and had no appetitie, but he's been fine since that first day. It has made a HUGE difference for him in a short time.

He was having sleeping issues before he started any ADHD meds, and is now taking Clonodin (sp?) before bed. It is a tiny pill, and I am able to crush it and mix it in with a little Diet Coke (his favorite). He hasn't caught on that there's anything in the Diet Coke and him getting a good night's sleep on a regular basis helps all the way around.

Hope you find a balance that works for him. (And for you!) :)

PS: Check with your local county educational service center to see if they have a preschool program for kids with special needs.

My son has a speech delay and didn't qualify with that alone last fall, but now with the official diagnosis of ADHD in addition to the speech delay they have agreed to re-evaluate him.

I've gotten over the stigma of not wanting him to be in a class for kids with special needs, but I'm hoping with intervention at a young age it will help prepare him for kindergarten and learning to read and write. (Have already decided he will have to wait until age 6 to start kindgarten despite being in preschool/daycare full-time since age 2 b/c I work.)

[QUOTE=tasmaniak]Hi..
I'm praying someone can help me. I have a 3 1/2 year old boy who is literally a little tasmanian devil (thus my username, tasmaniac! :)

My doctor already prescribed 10mg of the daytrana patch...but don't know if I should really give it to him.

have any of you experienced really bad ODD and ADHD in a child this young?
It's terrible.
He is pretty soon going to be out of his second pre-school. He cannot seem to handle his frustration and will kick, bite, scream, spit, yell, etc....when he is told to do something he doesn't want to do.
:(
I'm so lost...and sad....
I want to do what is best - and if I keep him home, it's so boring for him.
Any suggestions???

They should have more preschools out there for kids with this kind of problem.

Please, anyone give me some advice or words of encouragement...
I feel like this is the longest toddlerhood of my life - he is 3 1/2 and I feel like it has already been 20 years!
:(

None of my other 3 children were ANYTHING close to this.

Thanks!

Claudia

[/QUOTE]

I knew when my son was a toddler that he was ADHD...Climbing out of his crib at 10 1/2 months, escaping every lock in the house(even climbed on chairs to try to reach the bar which was at the top of the sliding glass door) and every car seat we bought except one finally... but his doctor did not want to put him on anything until he started school and I def did not want my son on drugs I was in denial about the meds and didn't want him being drugged down so when it got so my nerves could not take anymore I was put on Paxil(that helped)...He was overly difficult in mothers-day-out and daycare, although his daycare had more creative ways to handle his behavior(they took total advantage of his distractive tendency). We ran out of babysitters...It was hard to find someone to watch him for us even though we didn't need anyone very often. When he was around 1 1/2 we found out the safety lock did not work on my van where you have to have the break in to put it into gear...He climbed out of his carseat and put it in gear and almost pinned my neighbor between the vehicles before I got to the gearshift(no keys left in vehicles after that)...Before he was 4 he already got into the medicine cabinet top shelf twice and drank a whole bottle of benadryl each time...Both equalling 4 hrs at a time in the hospital to monitor him...Inhaled gas fumes from a container sitting out while daddy mowed when he was around two,thought it was a big straw I guess(no more chemical containers left out)...Around 4 felt out of his treehouse from six feet up on his head another visit to the ER...Then right before we moved at around 4 1/2 he was climbing on his swing set and fell and broke his arm...Our last trip to the ER for a while. When he started school is when he started meds at his new ped's advice. Good Dr. was very careful with dosages and trials. He is now on 30Mg Daytrana as per my earlier message. Dr. suggested I put him in public school instead of private...Said he needed the stimulation of socializing more so than one on one teaching.

Hi..
I'm praying someone can help me. I have a 3 1/2 year old boy who is literally a little tasmanian devil (thus my username, tasmaniac! :)

My doctor already prescribed 10mg of the daytrana patch...but don't know if I should really give it to him.

have any of you experienced really bad ODD and ADHD in a child this young?
It's terrible.
He is pretty soon going to be out of his second pre-school. He cannot seem to handle his frustration and will kick, bite, scream, spit, yell, etc....when he is told to do something he doesn't want to do.
:(
I'm so lost...and sad....
I want to do what is best - and if I keep him home, it's so boring for him.
Any suggestions???

They should have more preschools out there for kids with this kind of problem.

Please, anyone give me some advice or words of encouragement...
I feel like this is the longest toddlerhood of my life - he is 3 1/2 and I feel like it has already been 20 years!
:(

None of my other 3 children were ANYTHING close to this.

Thanks!

Claudia

I ALWAYS knew my daughter had ADD/ADHD. Most of the doctors/specialists thought I was crazy.

While I can't give you any advice .... my BIGGEST regret was waiting until she was 11 to put her on medication. By then we were nearly divorced, she had low self esteem and was failing in school and my son was a mess.

While medicine didn't fix everything (which is why we are also in therapy) our lives are 1 MILLION TIMES better with her on meds.

Also wanted to add that I've been reading so many scary posts about bi-polar disorder. Would the Daytrana help a kid with bipoloar or would you see no difference?

i think he's got ODD -- but all of this bipolar stuff scares me.

Thanks...

Claudiamy son takes 0.1 mg of clonidine for sleep... its a MIRICAL!! lol the pill is very small, I'd say smaller than the little emoticons on the side of the reply box... it could easily be placed in a spoonful of food and swallowed. Or try placing it on his tongue very far back in his throat and giving him a large drink.

This is my first post ... so forgive me if I do anything wrong.

My 12 yo daughter started on 10mg patches ... nothing. We went to 15mg and she is a completely new kid.

In the beginning we had some patches come off/curl up. She became obsessed with the condition of her patch. IShe was so distracted that the school nurse put tape on it.

I know the documentation says don't tape it and I know that the Dr told us no one else they knew of was taping the patch .... BUT we see NO DIFFERENCE in how the medication is working.

We have been taping for 4 weeks. Use 2 inch paper tape.

Today is her first day swimming. I couldn't find 2 in waterproof tape so we used 2 strips of 1 in waterproof tape side by side. My concern is that the waterproof tape is very thick and may irritate her skin. A friend suggested buying large waterproof bandaids/bandages.

Is anyone else besides me taping the patch???

My son has been on the patch for over a year and the patches have only come off when he swam - I have never had to tape them, normally, under everyday circumstances they adhere very well to his skin, when removed they leave a red rash where the patch was applied but by the next morning it is gone....we have been very lucky - the patch works very well for us!!!So do you think they will mail it then if it's considered a controlled substance? If it works out please let us know because I would love to order it that way and save the money. I just think though that they won't send it unless mabye it's sent by fed ex or something. My doctor can't even fax the prescription to me I have to drive all the way to her office to pick up the prescription and it's quite far.joejoesmom we never used Daytrana, but our doctor will mail me our prescriptions through the mail you could ask if he'll do that, or if I did pick them up he would give me two or three months of prescriptions dated ahead and I would just keep them in my wallet so I had them. Just a thought. Wont save money, but will save time. Another option is sometimes they'll write the script for 60 days so you can hve them filled that way. Again doesnt save money, but time. I do a lot of mail order prescriptions, but never for the stimulants.yes, that is what i'm going to do, i just recieved the forms i requested from my insurance company(USAA). They insured me it would cost for a 3 month supply. All i have to do is get a 90 day subscrition written and send it or the doctor can fax it directly to the insurance co. It seems so easy and convient and i love the cost! 3 months worth for the price of 2!

P.S make sure the ins. co. sends you the form for the mail in prescriptions or the form the doc. can fax in, don't ask about what ADHD medication they have for the mail in, i spoke to someone the first time and they got confused and told me that was a controlled substance so it couldn't be ordered.
Good luck! Hope it works for you!I agree with Debby let's all get along here we need each other. As for ordering them through the mail I think they can't be since they are a controlled substance. I asked Shire if they could just mail me some new patches instead of the card and I also asked if they wanted me to mail the bad ones back and they said no so I'm thinking they can't be mailed but I could be wrong. I say if the freezer thing works do it. I haven't found a need for that the bad ones I bought I did try putting in the freezer and that did not help. Note to Kbee what you describe about your son in the morning with the t.v. and not wanting to get dressed is my son too. I do think that he has gotten worse in that area with the patch but then once it kicks in he's better all day long than he was before. I know the mornings can be very stressful. I guess for me I think the good side during the remainder of the day outweighs the bad. Sometimes we can forget how difficult they were before meds I think too. Recently my sons camp counselors approached me and told me how much better he has been doing in camp this summer. He's gone to the same camp the past few years and they even said they see a huge improvement since winter camp. He started his meds just after the winter camp. I like to send him to the same places because he needs the consistencey anywhere we can get it. Also regarding t.v. in my son's case I think too much t.v. makes him worse and also if he plays with his little leapster too long or computer games. I think he seems to have an addictive type of personality with that sort of thing so we try to set good liimits. I love the tip about the solarcane I will definately try to find that and also the waterproof bandaids. I agree, I want to get along, I know we are all suppose to be here for one another, and that's all i was trying to do, pass on info. that works for us, we also have to always keep in mind someone at the other end, maybe having an awful day already, and only needed a little advice,I myself LOVE this sight, I have learned so much!! Thanks for all of your help.

Yesterday about 2 hours after putting on the patch my daughter was complaining that it itched and hurt. This had never happended before. She was in such agony so we removed the patch. For some reason her skin was purple, not red. It was not a new box so I am baffled.

I went and bought the solarcaine stuff. Put in on ... gave her a shower.

Today things were back to normal. No problems wit the patch.

Thanks for the solarcaine tip ... I will continue to use it as it seems to help with the skin irritation.

Why does he need the other drugs. This is our first meds. so I don't understand when kids are on so many different ones. What does the Abilify and the Clonodine do? Try benedry for the itching.

Joejoesmom,

The Clonodine is mainly for sleep. If he does not take it he will stay up, literally, all night. The Abilify is something we just started about 3 months ago because of his severe mood swings, outbursts and defiance. So far, so good so I have no complaints at this time. I just hope he continues to do well.

I forgot to say benedry cream not the liquid med. I think the patch helps with mood swings and defiance pretty good for my son. But after about an hour or two when it wears off he does get defiant again. What time do you give the Abilify and is it a small pill? My son can't swallow pills so I'm interested in how small some of the pills are. My son does stay up late it's awful because then he wakes up really sleepy and grumpy. He used to be asleep by 8:15 p.m. no later and now he's awake chatting in his bed till 9:30 or 10:00 every night. How big is the Conodine for sleep? ThanksClonidine and guafacine are blood pressure meds that help with ADHD symptoms like, hyperactivity, defiance, impulsivity, sleep and weight issues. They can be used for just sleep or to have a med on board 24/7 to help when the stim is not in the system. Both of these are small and can be crushed. There is a long thread called Tenex on this board with more info.Momto3boyz how is it going this week? Just curious how he's doing. My son has a new side affect the whites of his eyes are red a bit by the end of the day. Especially last night he went to a baseball game with our neighbors and I left his patch on so he would do better with them. It's not often that I've let him go out with people at night especially. Well when he came home he told me his tummy hurt really bad all night and he wanted to leave but our neighbors son did not. They stayed the entire game and he did not get home until 11:00 p.m. He ran to the bathroom and had to do a big bowel movement so I think that was probably the big problem but I felt bad for leaving the patch on. I don't think I will let him go out with people that long again at night especially.

Hi I'm new and my DD was just dx with adhd yesterday, and I have a question about the patch. Does it fall off easily? My child's doctor said he would not prescribe the patch because if she touches it, it would fall right off. How sticky are they? Is he telling me straight? Sorry for so many questions, but my pharmacist had never heard of that happening. Thanks

Donna*

From what I understand they are much like a large band aid, and hard to get off once they are on. There have been some adhesive issues, problems getting the backing off, but Shire has been pretty cooperative about replacing the problematic patches.

Look for a thread in the medications forum called "daytrana anyone?"

It is discussed in depth in that thread..

Thank you so much. Sorry, I should have looked there.

Donna*

No problem, if you cannot find it, I will search for you. The many forums can be confusing at first!

My DD has been using the patch for about a year, and we have never had one fall off. In fact, it hurts like a bandaid or tape when you pull it off.During the clinical trials we had to rate the dhesive, on a scale from 1-10, I gave it a 10, it sticks like duct tape!

Who diagnosed? A Psychiatrist would have known alot more about the patch and the adhesive it uses. I know ours did.

It's important to cover the patch with your hand for 30 secs after you apply it. Something about the heat from your hand helps it stick better. Tell your doc you want to try it, don't take no for an answer. His reason for not prescribing it stinks.

Thanks to everyone I appreciate it. She was seen by a psychiatrist, and he was really against the patch for her age group (4 1/2 ) He made me believe she would bother it. He prescribed methlyn suspension 5 mg. for her, and today was the first day we tried it. It wore off after about 5 hours. There was some improvement with her listening skills and calmer behavior. Do they give samples at the doctor's office of the patch? I would still like to try it since it is time released, and we definately need that for the days she has gymnastics later in the afternoon. Thanks!

Donna*

I think that there may be a card that you can take to the pharmacy with a prescription to get some starter patches.

You can always give another dose for long days, or ask for a quick acting, shorter lasting (2-3 hours) dose...I got a 10mg tablet to keep on hand in case Chase has too much homework to get through by the time his meds wear off, or if he doesn't get started in time....it starts working in 10 minutes and wears off after 2 hours or so.

Perhaps a slightly bigger dose would last longer as well. It is good you saw some improvement, now all you need to do is find the best dose.

My son, 9 1/2, was recently dx w/ ADHD and we started the patch 9 days ago. He tried the 10 mg for the 1st week but that seemed to make absolutely no difference, other than that he began having trouble falling asleep, sometimes taking him 2 hours to fall asleep! Yesterday we bumped it up to the 15 mg patch and again I am still not seeeing much. The adhesive is fine. The patch doesn't come off. In fact, it is so sticky that today I went through 5 patches just trying to get the backing off. My doctor thinks my son will need 20 mg (patch), so if there is no change this week, we will increase it again next weekend to 20. I am frustrated with the sleep thing and I had hoped this drug would be working by 10 or 15 mg, but I guess he may need more and we will just have to wait and see. [QUOTE=donnajay6]

Donna*

[/QUOTE]

HI, Add Hyperlink

MY GRANDDAUGHTER IS ON DAYTRANA PATCH AND IT DOES NOT COME OFF EASY. SHE ONLY WILL TAKE IT OFF IN THE TUB OR SHOWER. WHEN YOU PLACE IT ON THE HIP (OR WHERE EVER) YOU HAVE TO HOLD IT DOWN ON THE CORNERS. I THINK THE HEAT FROM THE BODY MAKES IT STAY ON. YOU JUST HAVE TO MAKE SURE THE CORNERS ON STUCK ON AND NOT CURLED UP

hi...new here.and new with the patch..how come it takes so long for the patch to work?????what are you to do while waiting for it to work..i have a 23yo..very hyper..lost here..

Thanks everyone! I'm telling you the patch is sounding better all the time. The methlyn works for a short while and then she is wild again. Our son is on concerta 54mg and has no drop off, it is gradual, but DD wont take pills so I'm going to have to insist the doctor give us the sample trial offer. I feel so guilty having to do this with a 4 1/2 year old, but she won't sit still in preschool and they want to kick her out. That is hard for any parent to hear. Thanks again you guys!

That;s what we are here for...keep us posted on her progress!I think the concern that she would bother it (or it would bother her) is something that's easily answered by doing a trial. I thought the same thing because my ds is picky about the tags in his clothes and how everything feels. We've had no problem with the patch. I think part of the reason is that it's covered up and out of sight (out of mind). Try it and see. bump

Thanks for the info. I just called the company. They are sending me a card for 40 free patches. I will have to get a new prescription, obviously, from the doctor. That can be a problem for some parents. My child's doctor is pretty good about writing them though. The company did offer some suggestion about how to release the backing from the adhesive, but they didn't work for me. I've heard that people mainly have problems with the 10mg patches. Does anyone know if the 15, 20, and 30 mg patches are easier to use?

Melissa

My son was on the 15mg and it was easier, however the dosage was too high so we put him back on the 10mg and have not had many problems with the backing. It seems to be improving.

I sure hope it gets better. I tried everything I know to do with the patches. They all stick though. Maybe I got a bad batch. I'll cross my fingers before I get the next set. Thanks!

Melissa

Hi! My 6 year old son has been on Daytran now for 5 days. We are having problems with the backing pulling off the medicine. I know other people have had this problem. Has anyone found anything to prevent this from happening or have any suggestions? I actually think I sent him to school the first day without any medicine left on the patch. I noticed that the stupid backing wouldn't come off easily. When I pulled it off, finally, almost all of the sticky stuff came off with it. At the time, I didn't realize that the medicine was in the adhesive. The teacher told me that my child stood up the entire day. He couldn't sit in his seat. I felt so bad. Has anyone found anything that helps?

Thanks,
Melissa

mswanson502

Sometimes I have had batches that the back does not peel off easily - If you call the pharmacy or the manufactuerer (number should be on the box of the rx) they will send you a coupon for a free refill. Most of the time they do peel off very easily. I also fold at the crease several times before I begin to peel it off to try to get it to lift a little.....good luck.

[QUOTE=Kelly H]

Megan is starting to feel sick, too. She complains almost every day of a sore stomach. And I've heard from other parents who've seen this, and one day Megan told me, (though I've received no note home) that she's been actually falling asleep or laying down at the lunch table! My daughter has LOTS of "H" in ADHD....this is VERY unusual. But, although I was loving the patch, she said that it's very very itchy. She did have the raised welt for a few hours and then after that it was just a red welt that would disappear within a day or so...but she's starting to refuse to want to wear them. And she's only 7! Soooo...I guess I'll be calling the doctor Monday about starting her on some type of pill.

I found no problem with the stickiness of the patch. I got a 40 free sample card (which is what we're still using as we just started on the medication route) from my doctor. She actually gave it to us as I didn't know it existed. If your doctor doesn't have them or won't give you one, see if you can contact someone at the company who manufacture's Daytrana, tell them the problem and maybe they'll send you one. I've read other threads through here that people who wasted quite a few due to the backing issue called to complain and were sent the cards in the mail. Can't hurt to try!

[/QUOTE]

what dose is she on? Could it be too much? We had to cut back on my son's dose that has helped his stomach aches and also the sleepiness or "zonking out" as he calls it during the day

She was only on the 15mg patch. But because of the itchiness, we took her off of it and now have her on 10mg of Adderall XR and that seems to be working REALLY well. I got a note home today (at my request) from her teacher telling me that she's definitely listening more and asking for help when she needs it. Her reading skills are getting WAY better, too. My ds is on 30mg and I've only had problems with the backing once or twice. I'm sorry you're having problems finding the right meds, but stick to it and everything will come together. Good luck!

My son has been on Daytrana for several months - His has NEVER fallen off - it is very, very sticky - more so than a band aid

Hello, We are new to the Daytrana patch. Can anyone tell me how I go about getting this debit card for the 40 free patches? I would really appreciate any info anyone could share. Also, has anyone had any problem with their children vomiting. My little one would get sick in class everyday.Her Teacher never knew when she was actually going to be sick, so she put a trash can by her desk. And sure enough about an hour and a half later she would get sick right there in the classroom. This was really embarassing for my dd. I just hope that this is going to be better. My dd is not hyper. She is the exact opposite. She seems as if she dissapears into herself for 5-10 minutes at a time. This is very frustrating for her and her Teacher. Well, Thanks for listening.

but she won't sit still in preschool and they want to kick her out.

been there done that except he actually did get kicked out but they told us it would definitaly be ok to leave our younger well behaved child. WHATEVER

Anyway the patch has been a godsend. Ty started on 30 mg due to his extreme ADHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHD and was on it for several months and we have recently got to lower his dose to 20, we will see how it goes. That would be a nice change though to decrease instead of increase all the time. I wonder if anyone else has had to decrease.

Hi all, I am new to the forum and have been reading the threads on Daytrana for a few days . Here is our story ..... 8 year old DS was dx with ADHD when he was 5 . We tried Adderall but my child was an emotional basket case .....cried and seemed depressed when the meds were wearing off ......so I stopped it after only about a month or 2 . Fast forward 3 years ..... He hasnt been on any meds and I swore I would never put him on any but he has been getting increasingly worse ....hyper,social inappropriateness,and disruptive during school . I have heard so many good things about DAYTRANA that I had to give it a try !

Today is day 4 on Daytrana 10 mg and I have some questions ........ my DS seems very quiet .almost withdrawn . I can notice a definite time ( about a hour or so after taking the patch off ) where he seems sad,angry ........ but not NEARLY like he was when on Adderall ,and that seems to last for a hour or 2 and then he seems fine. he has been complaining of not being able to fall asleep but then he does and sleeps most of the night .

Today was his birthday party and he should have been so happy ! His patch fell off after swimming ....and then he was sad/angry for a few hours and then just played with his new toys by himself for hours ( after everyone left ) Verrrrrrrrrrrrry quiet . Should I be concerned ? does it take awhile for him to adjust to the meds ? Will this get better ? I am VERY hopeful that DAYTRANA is the right med ......and want to stay with the lowest does possible , and want to stick with the patch ...........but i want him to be HAPPY ! It kills me to see him so sad . Anyone else experience this ??

OH .......and I am having a HORRIBLE time with our first box with the med sticking to the backing !!!! any other tips ? Called Shire and they are sending me the 40 patch card ......but some days I used 5 patches to get 1 that peeled right !!! ugggghhhhhhhhh

My son had extremely quiet and withdrawn days on patch. I was told that could happen if under or over medicated. But to also give it time to straighten itself out if it would. I am with you it hurts to see your child sad. All I can say is we have been on it for months now but we started at highest dose and have come down to 20 mg and this is working for us. If his continues I would definately talk to dr about it.

Peeling the patch off totally sucks, but i am getting better at it. ours is diagonal cut and i bend it back and forth a few times, that seems to help and not get it too hot. Lets us know how it goes

Yes, my ds gets more shy or reserved when he is on the patch. He is on
Daytrana 15 mg. It is great for him, but I don't like when he gets the "deer
in the headlights" look. We tried the 10 mg, but it wasn't enough. He also
has some anxiety and I believe that the meds make it worse. However, he is
doing well in school and has friends. It keeps him from being too silly and
impulsive with his friends. However, he has friends that are ADHD (non-
med), and non-ADHD friends. They can all get silly together and play more
physically (wrestle, etc.). I think it's just 5 and 6 year old boys frankly. The
boys all seem to act the same way in his Kindergarten class, except for
maybe one or two that are more calm.

Thanks, I will try that

You would think that if he is having those reactions that its overmedicating but maybe not ?? how do you tell ?

MY SON IS ON RITALIN LA 30 1 IN TH MORN ALONG WITH A METHYLIN 20 THEN @ LUNCH HE GETS ANOTHER METHYLIN 20 AND A CLONIDINE0.1 THEN @ 4 O'CLOCK HE IS SUPPOSE TO GET ANOTHER CLONIDINE . I AM CONCERNED CAUSE IT JUST SEEMS LIKE SO MUCH. AND HE JUST RECENTLY STARED HAVING THESE TICS FROM THE RITALIN AND THE CLONIDINE IS SUPPOSE TO HELP WITH THAT.... I AM JUST ALL CRIED OUT OVER THIS . I WANT HIM OFF THE RITALIN AND METHYLIN, BUT IT IS THE ONLY THING THAT HAS EVER WORKED. HE IS ADHD/OD BUT I AM NOT WANTING HIM TO SUFFER WITH TICS CAUSED BY MEDS... WHAT ABOUT THIS PATCH HAS ANYONE ELSE'S CHILDREN EVER BEEN ON SO MUCH THEN SWITCH TO THE PATCH? PLEASE POST ME SOME ANSWERS OR SOMETHING I AM FEELING SO DISCOURAGED AND ENRAGED ALL IN ONE...

queenie071103 -

I would definately recommend the patch - My son started on Adderal XL, then Metadate and finally the Daytrana patch - he is on 10mg. I notice him rubbing his eyes occasionally and I think that is a side effect but it is not too much. We added focalin without success...so he is only on the patch and I love it and recommend it. He probably could use a little something else - his biggest problem is in the morning he is inattentive until it kicks in (about 2 hrs after application) I now am trying to put on the patch 2 hours before school so by the time school starts he is ready. Is it a perfect situation - NO - but a big improvement and the sometimes emotional/arguments that happen in the evening when the med is wearing off we deal with and comfort him and he gets thru it...I usually let him watch a video or some tv while this is happening then he can focus on that and unwind. then dinner, homework, bath.

Good luck and just keep working at it - you will get it right -

Are you getting meds from pediatrician or psychiatrist?

PSYCHIATRIST BUT I AM GOING TO TAKE HIM TO A PEDIATRICIAN AS SOON AS THEY CAN WORK HIM IN... THE PSYCHIATRIST DOES NOT WANT TO TAKE HIM OFF OF WHAT HE IS ON, BECAUSE IT IS WORKING,,,,YES IT IS,,, BUT I DO NOT TRUST THESE TICS, THEY SCARE ME AND I DO NOT WANT THEM TO BECOME WORSE. AND TURN INTO A WHOLE OTHER ISSUE, YA KNOW WHAT I MEAN???? THANKS FOR ANSWERING... I APPRECIATE THE HELP.

I am new to these boards and my 13 yr old son was just recently diagnosed for the first time with ADHD. He started the daytrana patch (smallest dosage) 3 days ago and we are amazed at the positive difference that it has made.

It seems to be just enough to help him with his concentration and ability to focus at school. Also, he no longer has urges to get up and walk around in the class or fidget like he used to. The patch comes off at 5:00 and he has no trouble falling asleep at his usual bedtime of approx 9:30-10:00 pm. So far, so good.

Also, we have noticed no problems with his appetite (if anything, he is eating more, which is great as he used to not eat much and is very active with sports so it was a fight to get calories in him). Since it's so early, I'm not sure if the increased appetite has anything to do with the Daytrana or if he's just going through a growth spurt.

Hello all,

My son is on the 15 patch and I have frequent problems with the medicine peeling off. When I put the patch (out of the wrapper) in the freezer for 5 or 10 minutes it seems a bit easier to peel. I have a question for all of you. Does anybody feel that their child is more socially withdrawn/shy when on the patch? Kyle is primarily lacking focus, but did not exhibit any social problems. But being on the patch really seems to make him very hesitant to jump into social situations. I'm thrilled with the improved school performance but a bit sad to see him more on the social sidelines than before.

My 8-y/o has ADHD and ODD and is on the 30 mg patch (started with 5, 15, &20). The 30 is much easier to apply, but the tape marks that remain are difficult to remove. Does anyone have any tips for that? She doesn't like to bath every night. The patch remains on all day and she usually takes it off when she gets home from school. This makes her feel a little more in-control of her medications. It does take a long time to begin working, but her teacher loves it! I am concerned about swimming this year. She has gone swimming once, and it did fall off. We were about an hour from home and she became enraged on the way home in the car. I am sure she will not want her friends to see the patch on her when she wears her suit this summer, so I am concerned about this as well. Has anyone applied it to areas other than the hip?

Both of my oldest daughters have used the Daytrana patch. We have used the 10, 15 and 20 mg strengths and have had problems with the backing sticking on all three. Our doctor suggested putting the patch in the freezer for about a minute before we apply it. That definitely helps, but sometimes even then it is still a little sticky or comes off unevenly. I usually hold the patch on for at least a minute instead of the recommended 30 seconds, and we have not ever had a problem with them coming off.

My middle daughter appears, however, to have developed a fairly severe allergy to the adhesive. Her red welts last for weeks and crack and bleed. As a result, we rarely use the patch on her anymore, even though we looooooooooooved it. Our doctor prescribed a steroid cream for the welts, but we decided that her misery over her skin outweighed the benefits she was getting for her ADHD.

We have put the patch on the middle of our daughters' backs and thought it worked the same there as it did on the recommended hip area.

The age issue is based on the age of the kids in the clinical trials. Trials usually are done for the target patient population, and since most ADHD is diagnosed between 6 and 12, this is the target for the first trials. After aproval, the docs can prescibe to anyone. Doctors can and do prescribe meds "off label", this is the practice of medicine. Studies have shown that methylphenidate (the med in the patch) can safely be used in kids 3-5. There are 2 current ongoing studies of methylphenidate in pre-schoolers, so this is continuing to be addressed.

http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/search;jsessionid=BE0DD1EC7 469884B3D2F974B8B6F7862?term=adhd&submit=Search

I hope this helps.

Try alcohol and a connton ball to see if you can get the sticky off when you remove the patch.It seems to works well with bandaids and tape after the doctors do test and things.I would like to have the phone number for shire to call them the next time i have a problem.Can you give it to me.please

gloriaf -

Have you ever read the insert for Daytrana? i was told that Daytrana has not been tested on children under 6 years of age and that the FDA does not recommend it for children under 6 years of age? Who prescribed this for a 4 year old?

Also, I use alcohol and then babay oil and then rub with my fingers the sticky residue left from the adhesive.

And - Shire's phone number is also on the insert for the Daytrana or call you pharmacy, they should have it.

The number for Shire is 1-800-828-2088

Mom0611, I searched for that and couldn't find a chat room. Do you know where it was?

melissa

Try this: specialeducation.suite101.com/discussioncfm/1964OOPS! I meant: www.specialneedseducation.suite101.com/discussion.cfm/1964

2boyz13

I will ask the doctor age the age when i go back to the next apt.I never new this and i want to thank you for 5 all of your help.If it should not be used on children under 6 i will ask and get to the bottom of it.The doctor i am taking him to spealizes in adhd plus has 2 kids of his own with this problem as well.

gloriaf39170.519837963

Our 13 yr old son has been on the daytrana patch for 1 week now. He is participating in a 13 week clinical study, so we're getting the meds, diagnosis, monitoring, etc all at no cost. The first week they had him on the lowest dose...10 mg patch. A 39% decrease in his ADHD symptoms was recorded. This week he's been bumped up to 15 mg patches, which should help even more. This is the first time our son's been diagnosed, and the first time he's ever been on meds. The patch is great. It is sticky, stays on even in the pool. Our doctor recommended that after removing the patch, to apply a lotion that has olive oil in it (we found a lotion like this at a natural foods store) as it's supposed to be the most soothing. He's had no problems other than a very slight irritation where the patch used to be. So far we are very pleased with the Daytrana patch.

For those of you that are using Daytrana, you can do a search and go to Daytrana Patch Chat and chat with other parents using Daytrana. I found this really helpful when my son was on Daytrana. We discontinued it because it didn't benefit him but I found this "chat room" very supportive. Good luck... we are now trying focalin...mswanson502, thank you so much for the offer, I did get the free months supply many months ago so they probably wouldn't let me get it again free, but that is so nice, and I am sure there are many parents dealing with the same issue so they could benefit from that. I did get a two month precscription from his doc, he also suggested calling pharmacies because costco and walmart are cheaper. I'm going to call and see. I also called emailed daytrana and they are planning to have some kind of help for us soon but it is still in the works so we shall see. Thanks so much, for the message and offer, all you guys are great. If I get any more info on daytrana I will post it on here. I think for my son it is the only way to go. As far as the appetite, my son doesn't get hungry until about 6pm. and he is skinny. so I am glad to here that many kids are eating more. I love daytrana because the morning are no longer and nightmare. Thanks guys.My son who is 7 has only been on the patch for 5 days now. I found it hard to put the patch on the way they tell you to. They say to pull one part of the backing off and sitck it to the child's hip and then the other side off. I tried pulling all of the backing off and just sticking the whole thing on at once and that works much better. I was getting my hands into much more when I tried it the way they said because the second half wouldn't come off and it was scratching his leg and he was all fussy about that. If you ask your doctor the makers are giving a card that covers for 40 free patches. My insurance is refusing to cover it has anyone gotten it covered? Cry

I'm fighting with them to cover it because my son can't and won't swallow pills or chewables even. The cost is 0 per month pretty unfair after how much money the insurance has gotten from us over the years.

Does anyone have a child who used to love sports and then stopped enjoying them once they were on the patch? My son refused to go to his baseball practice today and he sat and played with small toys instead. He's 7 and has not played with those toys much for about a year now. He normally loves all kinds of sports and is burning to get outside all day and play. Today was a real shocker for me and although it was nice to see him focus and sit still and play quietly for a change I felt sad to see the happy sports boy missing today. I hope it's not for good. Does anyone find that their child's personality changes so much it's kind of sad? I feel like we've gone the meds. route to please his teacher. Is it usually teachers who push the med. issues? I am feeling really guilty and sad to be drugging him now. Do others feel that way?

Joejoesmom39178.8942476852Do you do 2 10 mg patches? I'm thinking my son probably needs to go up to 15 at least. We tried it for 2 days though and he said the patch was so scratchy and I happened to be helping in his class and took the patch off for him one of the days. It's just bigger and that's more problem with the small area on little kids and if they get any rash too. His looked better today I made sure to use the baby oil right away when I removed the patch and I did both sides again. He's really having trouble though falling asleep it's almost 9 now and he's still making noise not falling to sleep. Last night he didn't fall asleep till 10 and he wants me to stay in his room the whole time. It's exhausting I have my lap top in his room and I use it till he falls asleep.

Tayn is actually on 50 mg (a 30 and 20). She was on 63 mg of Concerta plus 10 mg in the morning of ritalin and 10 mg in the afternoon, she also was on 1 mg of tenex/guanfacine. The concerta only lasted about 7-8 hours, and if we did more we would see her become a zombie. These patches have been a godsend, she is like a normal kid in school, and in 5th grade that's when kids with "issues" start to get teased, etc. We started out at 10 mg and then ended up going up daily until we found a dosage that worked. I know this summer I will bring it down, I'm looking at 40 or 30 mg. Taryn's patches come off between 5:30 -6:00. I notice if it's later than 6:00 she does have more of an issue falling asleep. She does take 2 mg of guanfacine and benadryl to fall asleep, she also has lots of allergies, and spring is not a fun time for her.

I've made sure that the patch is right on the hip bone, under the underwear where it shouldn't rub her.

Daytrana has also been wonderful for my daughter. She wears 30mg 24 hours. She takes Clonidine 2mg at bedtime. We worked up to that dose, and now she is asleep within an hour and has not problem getting up in the morning. Have you checked with the Dr. to see if it is possible to increase the guanfacine. You may also want to look at the benedryl. Even though the common side effect is sleepiness, for both me and my daughter it causes insomnia and irritability. Medications can have a different effect depending on the person. Just a thought. I hope you can find a solution that works for her.

I notice that also on my daughter. It is especially hard for us since she needs to wear 2 patches to get the correct dosage, and is allergic to most adhesive tapes. So I don't have much rotation room. What I do at night is have her soak in the bathtub and then put the aveeno extra dry non allergic moisturing lotion on the spot where the patch was (we actually use it on her whole body at night to calm her down). By the next morning everything looks fine.

I don't want to stop using it because like you she has received glowing reports from her teachers since we started using them. She is able to function now in the normal classroom without hardly any help from the aide.

My son has now been on the 10 mg for 3 weeks going into his 4th. This morning I notticed that he redness had not got away in one area. It was where some of the adhesive had remained. I took the patch off before we went out and he was with a baby sitter last night. I didn't use the baby oil to get all the adhesive off so I think that's what happened. But it's still pretty red and almost cracked looking in a line where the edge of the patch was. I am so worried that he will end up not being able to use it. He has had such glowing reports from his teacher. It hasn't helped us as much at home but then the majority of problems were at school. I am praying it will be better by tomorrow.

I am glad to hear that some of your kids acted "wierd" the first few days. Yesterday was my daughter's first day on Daytrana...according to her, she aced her EOG test!! BUT>>> this morning she was, for lack of a better word, "LOONEY"! She was spacey, like she couldn't grasp the concept of getting dressed and combing her hair...it took her an hour to do what she usually does in 10-15 minutes.

Last night, she didn't want to eat much supper..so I guess that it will really curb her appetite. She is about 25 pounds overweight, according to her height and age...mostly baby fat, I think, so her Doc said that a little weight loss will be okay, but we will have to monitor her. I am just amazed at how quickly this form of medication works! It took her a couple of weeks to really see results when we tried Concerta....and Straterra.

As for the irritation from the patch, she did fine. This morining we applied the patch to the opposite side...and the side we used yesterday had no trace of a patch! My husband is at home with her in the afternoons (cause I work) and he said that there was no problem removing the patch. Hopefully her body produces just enough oils to keep it from sticking too badly....I do know that if the skin is dry that it will stick worse. I know that it needs to stay on all day, but if the skin is overly dry, it will be harder to get it off. So I recommend applying a light lotion after removing the patch every day, if you are not already doing that. My dad used patches for pain meds and had a hard time. Once I told him to keep lotion on the spot where he applies it (when it's not on, of course), it was better...and less irritation.

Just wanted to give a report on how my son is doing on Daytrana.
He has been on it about a 1 1/2 months. He will be 9 soon. He gave me a great deal of trouble in the mornings taking his medication in capsule form, so I wanted to try the patch. He, of course, doesn't like change so was against it. After about 5 days he was loving it.

We started out on 15 mg - absolutely no effect. It was very had to get the backing off, almost impossible. It seemed to be very hard to remove from his skin and left a red mark that didn't disappear till the next morning.

We moved up to 20 mg - Some effect, still not great. It was easier to remove the backing. still some irritation.

Now we are on 30 mg - Works much better. Easy to remove backing. Slightly red in patch area when removed. Seems to clear up quickly. His teacher says he is still distracted in school, so we don't have the right dosage yet.

This med definitely takes at least 2 hours to work if not longer. I put the patch on him at 6:30am while he is still sleeping. He has to be at school at 8:30. I think I'm going to put it on at 6:00 since it seems like it takes more than 2 hrs to be fully effective.

The main problem I have is that he has the adhesive glue left from the perimeter of the patch. he won't let me near him with alcohol to try and remove it. He won't even let me try lotion. He just scrubs at it with a wash cloth while in the tub. That doesn't remove all of it. I will try the olive oil. Maybe I can get him to do it.

He removes the patch at about 4:00 when he gets home from school. I still need to give him an evening dose of focalin to get his homework and other activities done.

I know it is supposed to work for 2 hours or so after you remove the patch but, after about an hour he needs meds.

Thanks to all of you for your tips. I'm wondering has anyone found the olive oil to be better than baby oil? I've been doing the baby oil and it does remove the left over adhesive but I'm wondering if it's causing more irritation. I do find bathing him in aveno helps a bit too but he's pretty rashy looking again tonight on the side from yesterday still. I think he scratches the side that doesn't have the patch the next day and causes the rash. I'm going to try the diaper rash cream suggestion because I've been using my 0.5% hydrocortisone cream and I think I shouldn't use that too often on him because I've read it thins the skin. As for the suggestions of getting up earlier I did try that in the beggining and he was so darn angry with me waking him up earlier than usual and then he told me off later on about all the sleep he missed. I'm afraid also that I'm bad in the mornings myself I have trouble waking and even with an alarm I keep hitting the snooze. I'm working on that one still myself. I may ask our doctor about trying some sprinkles in the morning. Do the children taste the sprikles? Do they have a medicinal taste? Also I don't know if I can get him to eat yogurt or apple sauce every day but it's worth a try. Today was terrible in the morning he was so opposiitonal. On the up side his teacher came over to me at the end of the day and I was expectinh to hear bad news. She said he was amazing all day and that he was so focussed and well behaved in Science Lab and she just sees him taking an interest in everything in class so much more. That was wonderful to hear plus he was given his Cat 5 testing in the resources room all this week and they let the kids take a break and play chutes and ladders or other games for a while so that is wonderful. I'm sooo happy I got a 504 even if that's all we get. He also did get his own desk over by where the aid sits. Note to Masd-- my son acted the way you describe your daughter in the first few days. We saw a big change around day 4 or 5 on the patch that was more positive. Plus he is not having such bad rebound affects this week I'm hoping that will keep improving. The stomach aches are bad some days and barely there others. I'm not sure why that happens.

my daughter did not taste her medication sprinkled. There were days she wouldnt eat applesauce or yogurt either, it works with oatmeal. And, hey call me a bad Mom, but there were days I used ice cream................desperate times call for desparate measures...............she's WAY to thin anyway

. Whatever works!

to masd:

If you DD does well in school without the medication why are you medicating her? No judgement, just wondering. My 6yo son was diagnosed last year and we are currently on the patch and LOVE it!! Sometimes coming down off the meds is stressful - he gets argumentive and irritable (not all the time, just some days). I just TRY to exercise my patience and help him thru it.

Also - I take a cotton swab with alcohol and rub on the adhesive and then I use baby oil and then I take my finger and rub it and most of it comes off - I don't do this everyday - he bathes everyday and I find after a few days the adhesive comes off - I am lucky in that it does not bother him. WHen we first take the oatch off the area is very red but by the time he wakes in the morning it looks normal again (just a little adhesive still on the area - if I haven't gotten it off)Ok day 2 BACK on Daytrana... all is well! He complained of a tummy ache, but last time he was on it, the tummy ache seemed to lessen after a few days. He is doing so well on this, I hope he doesn't suffer tummy aches all the time. I found the suggestion of freezing or refridgerating the patch for a few minutes before putting it on does really help take the backing off. He's on 10 mg so I have a 4 spot rotation, front and back of each hip. He gets most of the adhesive off in the shower and whatever is left I just rub some lotion into it and by the time the 4 days has passed and I need to use that spot again, the adhesive is gone. He gets slightly pink when I first take the patch off, but within hours, you can hardly tell where it was. Cross your fingers it stays this way!! This is the kid who got hives from Johnson & Johnson baby wash as an infant LOL He has really sensitive skin. Question fo liveandlove. Did you stop the patch before due to tummy aches or a rash or something else. I keep finding thngs change from day to day with it. Some days my son says his tummy hurts and other days he seems O.K. with it. He says he can't eat his lunch very much at school due to this but he eats way more now for breakfast then ever before and he eats a good size dinner plus maybe some ice cream later on. So I think he's getting enough calories I do think the tummy thing improves my husband and I were heart broken in the beginning with all his tummy complaints but that has really lessened. My son is 7 and has been on it 1 1/2 months now. He's only on 10 due to the fact that he does get quite a bit of rash. From what I'm hearing here most kids don't get a rash to the extent that my son does. He finds it itchy and scratches it and the redness in each spot last longer as we go with this. It usually takes 3 days for the redness in a spot to disappear so I move it around quite a bit. I've even put it down on his leg area below the hip area because I needed a clear spot away from the rash. There are no open sores so I'm hoping if I can just keep varying the area we will be O.K. I'm thinking of trying the back as someone said they hear one pediatrician suggested the middle of the back between the sholder blades. I did have bad results both times I cut patches down smaller I think it released much faster into his system so I don't recomend it even though I've heard others found no problems doing that. I did get up earlier today and put it on and he accepted it but I guess it wasn't early enough. His class was getting ready to do testing and he was really wild and would not settle down. I think he acts worse with me than he does with others sad but true. Even with my promise that we would rent a video tonight he was barely holding it together.

Ok guys, we are starting the patch tomorrow! My son is currently on concerta, 72mgs, however we were not getting the full time from it. It wore off around 2/3pm. So his doc decided to have us try the patch and he'll keep taking his guanfacine, 1 mg.

So Saturday morning he will wear the 15mg patch. Any suggestions/advice etc???

I hear and read great things about it that I hope this is for us as well.

Thanks,

Beth

There was also a post about using Flonase or Nasanex (can't remember which) and spraying it on to the spot before applying the patch, allowing it to dry first....somehow that was supposed to ease the rash/discomfort issue...

I am a mother with 2 children on Daytrana patches, my son is 12, has tried every pill from age 5 until Daytrana became available, his primary dx is OCD with secondary dx of adhd, my daughter is 15 and girls are just so different with this adhd stuff i guess i was in denial until about 3 mo. ago that she needed something, the dr started her on the 10mg with my son, both have gone up to 15mg and daugher just went to ped today and went to 30. The patches are a miracle drug to me even though we have had literally 100 patches (10mg) that over a period of 6 months were defective and shire replaced with 40 free patch cards. When we went to 15 mg. the backs came off easier, they are getting progressively easier with each prescription. Hope the 30s are easy. I was amazed how my son could go from 72mg of concerta to a 10mg patch and get even better results, amazing results. We have no insurance and this is a costly endeavor for us but well worth it because they are doing so well on them. The ped we saw said another dr is telling his patients if their child picks the patch alot that they can put it between their shoulder blades on their back, we have always done well with the hip but have some redness they never complain though. I put the patches on them around 4:30 a.m. (we leave at 7:00a.m.) so they can be ready for their day. Does anyone know of a target date of that assistance program from shire? I would be greatly interested.

Thanks for this forum, it is nice to read about other people going through the same things i have for 7 years now. Our kids are not bad, just need some help.

Aus10........have you heard about the card you can get from Shire for one free month of patches? I called Shire b/c I was having trouble getting the backing to come off properly. So, they sent me a card for a free month's supply. I dont' know if the cards are transferrable or not, but I have one that I don't need. Does anyone know if it's transferrable?

Melissa

Aus10.......I just looked and the card is transferrable.....if you need it, email me at mswanson502@yahoo.com. I can mail it to you. You could probably also get one of your own.

Melissa

My son was on Daytrana for about 3 weeks with weekly increases and we had the crying fits with him too. I eventually took him off because in addition to the meltdowns, he couldn't fall asleep at night and the medication didn't even seem to be helping him that much. My son is 9 and he also LOVES sports. I didn't notice less of an interest, maybe because it was too cold to play outside when he was on the Daytrana. A while ago I had posted some information regarding a forum for parents who have their kids on Daytrana. It is called Daytrana Patch Chat. LMK if you want the specific web address. My son just started taking focalin and I am noticing less side effects.

Also, it's important to remember that our children may seem "worse" in one person's eyes than another. It all depends on what a teacher or another adult may expect of the child and what THEY can handle, so the fact that your son is liked so much by one teacher, and has a difficult time with another, is not necessarily a relection of your son. Maybe his teacher really isn't a good fit for him.

The other thing is that in regards to your doctor making negative comments in front of your son, that really would have made me mad as well. I just posted something in the discussion about focalin (in this forum) regarding how upset I was with our psychiatrist, but I am trying to accept that I will not find a doctor that has all the attributes or criteria that I would like. However, if I continue to have problems, I will switch. You may also consider finding another doctor in case you decide to do the same. Good Luck.My daughter has been on Daytrona for 7 months. It has been wonderful. At first when removing after 9 hours, she was all over the place within an hour. He told us to keep it on 24 hours. Works like a charm and she is easier to wake up and more alert during the day. On the days she takes it off herself, then we give her focalin in the am at the same time as the patch. Daytrona takes so long to become effective, focalin works fast and wears off about the time the Daytrona kicks in. I also have ADHD and take Daytrona, it has been a godsend. I tried several meds before, and Daytrona is the only one that is continuous and does not have the rollercoaster effect of the other meds. Also, since I keep it on 24 hours there is no sudden drop off. (I also have no problems sleeping)Anyone ever have a box of patches easier to apply than before. I've struggled pretty much since October with getting my ds patches on - some days were better than others and i've used many of the suggestions on here to get them on. Well, I picked up my son's monthly prescription and this time, the back peels off flawless - I mean absolutely perfect each and every time. I thought the first one was a "fluke", but there's only about 8 left and so far it's been consistent. Did they change anything with the adhesive that anyone knows of? I'll be real disappointed to pick up next month's prescription and have to struggle again!

joe joes mom,

yes my son is 10 and has been on the patch for 6 month adhd, he always loved sports and now doesn't want to get involved in any sport. Baseball was his passion, not this year though. I take him off the patch on weekends and he does play outside with friends. He does get very weepy in the evening and crys quite a bit. Other than that I really like the patch for school. I ty to take it off him once the homework is done. about 4pm. I know how you feel because you kind of see and very sad person where there used to be an overly happy one. It hurts me heart some times and scares me sometimes, but I know if I don't get him through school. There will be more to deal with. good luck keep in touch. I did ask his doc about the sadness and it is a side effect, weepy and sad. Try taking it off sooner maybe. Good luck

Thanks for this reply. I'm sorry to hear this you know I did ask his doctor about taking him off on weekends. The doctors' reply was why make your life misreable and he said that right in front of my son. My son is only 7 and he did't catch on to what he meant but I was shocked and felt like saying he doesn't make my life misreable. He was walking out his office door when he said it. Anyhow, I just chock that up to one more annoying comment from someone else. Today though a friend from school dropped by with his dad just by chance that my son would want to go bike riding with them. He did not want to and insted wanted to play indoors with toys. It went fine but I was surprised that he who loves bike riding so much would pass that up. Plus we played ball for a while outside earlier and he wasn't into that either. It's kind of like having a different child. Then tonight when I said it's time to get your bath and get ready for bed he had another huge screaming crying fit like he has been having since the patch started. He gets like that about 1 - 2 hours after I remove it. I'm waiting to see if things improve in any way next week at school. If not I'm not so sure the cure is better than the condition. His teacher is the biggest complainer about him but I also take him to a homework club after school 2 days a week and that teacher has nothing but positive things to say about him. She can't believe he has troubles in school because he is so good with her. my son is on daytrana and it does not fade away until two hours ofter he takes the patch off. so you may want to ask you doc about it...

my son also is very withdrawn when on his patch but if off he is so hyper some most other kids treat him badly. and that hurts seeing him sad cause he does not know what he has done to them to be treated like that. we have lowered his dosage recently so i am hoping he will not be so withdrawn and become more active in a good way with others. but the patch is the only med that worked for him without severe mood swings!!! so good luck and prayer with you

Sad to say after yesterday being so good today was not good. I put the 15 mg patch on this morning while my son was asleep. It was larger and I had a hard time figuring out where to put it. When he was at school I stayed to help in the class as I do every Tuesday plus I wanted to see how he was since it was his first day on the 15 mg. Well he was pretty wild but then so was the entire class. Sometimes when I'm in there I think they all have ADHD he really doesn't stand out more than many others. But anyhow, he came to me after about an hour and half saying that the patch was so itchy and he had been scratching it. He said he couldn't stand it anymore and he needed me to take it off. I took him outside and looked and it looked fine but I did notice I had put it pretty far back on his hip so he may have been sitting on it more like on his buttocks a bit. So I took it off and we went back in the class. He had a really good day at school in fact for the first time in ages he was on green all day and the Principal gave him a book which thrilled him. So now I'm just not sure what to do. We have our follow up with the doc. tomorrow. I have no more 10 mg patches left and my pharmacy takes 2 days to get them in. I'm thinking of cutting the 15 down a bit. I've read how some people do it and have no problems while others say not to do it. Not sure maybe I should just skip it and tell the teacher it's on an see what she tells me about his behavior. LOL

aus10 -

I have Carefirst BlueChoice (hmo). I felt the same way about the capsules we sprinkled - I wasn't sure if he was getting it all or not...he would only take a few bites and then complain about the texture (he could feel the granules of med)...anyway - I love the patch............it is a good fit for us - not perfect but a good fit!!!! Good Luck.

My ped gets free coupons for a 30 day supply....ask your ped or psych if they could offer you one every third month or so because of the cost you pay for your RX...maybe they will be willing to do that.

I also called Shire and complained about the backing of the patches because I had a set that the backing wasn't coming off easily and the adhesive (medicine) was coming off with the backing and they also sent me a coupon for 30 free patches - I just had to get the rx from the dr to accompany the coupon...you could try that too and maybe at least get one free month.......good luck....if I hear anything else I will post here!!!

The backs are hard to get off of some of the boxes we recieved from the pharmacy.I took them back to the pharmacy and had them replaced.They seem to come off during the day on my sons pullup.He is 4 and wears pullups so i put a big banaid of top of the patch now.I also put the patch in the fridge about 10minutes before each use to make sure the back comes off smooth.I had to return the box of 15mg that i got.I could not get the backs off at all.They do take a while to start working.I hope the company can figure out the porblems with the backs of these to make life easier on the consumer.We started out with the 10 mg and we are now on 15mg.does anyone have the contact info for the shire company if i have anymore trouble with the backs coming off i would like to contact them. gloriaf39169.5967361111joe joesmom, maybe your son is on too high of a dose. my son is 10 and is on 15mgs. sometimes i think it might be too high , but in time i think it has less affect, he started with 10 and it just wasn't enough, and has been on 15mgs for at least four months and it seem to be much better as far as the weepiness and such. as far as the hard to get the patch off the backing i had big problems with the 10mgs but not too much with the 15mgs. although I would never let my son do it, we would be wasting hundreds of dollars in patches. Yes, they are so expensive, my son wont take a pill, tried that for 6 months, this is my only option I really wish they would lower the price. I did contact daytrana and they emailed me back to tell me there is an assistants program in the works, I hope it comes soon, before I am broke. also the teacher has alot to do with the attitude of the child. In third grade we had the hardest teacher in the school. he was miserable everyday. This year we have a wonderful positive teacher, those kids are so intutiive! next year ask other parents and teachers and request a positive teacher, it makes a HUGE difference in attitude. This year my son is so happy with his teacher, never once heard one negative comment. She also emails me and me her she is great. I hope you can get that perfect teacher, but like I told my son last year, we can't always get the teachers we like, that is life, and we have to learn to deal with different personalities. good luck!aus1039181.7942708333Thank you to all of you for these amazing tips and knowledge. This is such a wonderful site I think parents know more than doctors about children. We had a good night tonight we went to the math tutor/homework club who said my son was wonderful in her class again and got all of his work done. Then we came home he cooperated for dinner and he played with toys for a while and actually stopped when I asked after telling me a long story about the GI Joes. LOL But still he went to bed nicely no crying or fussing. His teacher said today that he did better than usual and he was pretty happy when I picked him up. Tomorrow our doctor wants to up his dose to 15 mg so I hope it won't make things worse. He has also had less pains in his tummy and he ate a big breakfast this morning, not much lunch and some dinner so I'm happy with that. I tried putting the patch on a little earlier today while he was still asleep. Unfortunately it didn't kick in before we left the house so we were once again late for school but his behavior wasn't too bad. Regarding the comments about how some patches work better. I'll see tomorrow if the 15's are worse or better than the 10s. I noticed on our boxes that they were made just over 1 year ago and I wonder if that makes a difference. My doctor had also told us to put them in the refridgerator which he said helps to get the backing off. But I want to ask him again about that when we go back in this Wednesday because the box says not to let it get any moisture. Maybe since they are sealed in the envelopes the moisture can't get in. I will recheck that one though. I find it much better to pull all of the backing off and then apply it. For some reason the second half doesn't come off well I find once it's on their skin. Also thanks to whoever gave the tip about baby oil to get the sticky residue off afterwards. That works like a charm with a little rubbing not too hard. My son's red area was a bit elevated looking tonight I hope that won't be a problem so far he says it doesn't hurt and no rash. I do have eczema on my finger tips and it has gotten worse since applying these patches. I asked my doctor about it and he said he had never heard of the Patch for ADHD. LOL Maybe when we get a bad box of patches we should all start phoning the manufacturer. Perhaps they would get things right then. I also was able to get my insurance to authorize coverage of the patches by having my doctor write them a letter stating that my son has never been able to take or hold down any form of pills or liquid. This is true he has never even taken antibiotics and always gets better. We have tried them all but he always gets sick or refuses them. So we've had a good day here. I'm also interested in the comment about leaving it on all night doesn't that make it harder to sleep? I'm finding it takes my son longer to fall asleep.Glad to here you had a good day with daytrana, I wouldn't leave it on all night until until talk to the doctor, my son has such trouble sleeping, taking it off at 4pm or 5, it could loose its steam after time but you might be in for a very long night if you push it. 15mg is much easier to peel, taking of it still leaves a mark but I dont make it like a major thing and my son isn't bothered by it, trust me if he was bothered by it I would know, as I'm sure you would be too. Hope it works well. Good luck

my son has been on the patch for 6 months and seems to really be a positive move for him. He does have the sadness and weepiness when it wears off. Sometimes when he isnt wearing it on weekends,he can be immpossible to deal with yelling and crying about small issues. I really want to know what other people are paying for the daytrana. I pay 126 a month and that is with insurance. I haven't heard anyone else complaining about the price. does anyone have any tips for me. Daytrana is the only answer for us because he refuses to take the pill. Its just killing me financially. I plan to take him to the pediatrician instead of the phscyiatirst, but his ped doesnt precribe daytrana.

Your ped can prescribe it, usually with an order from the psych, or a letter of diagnosis.Also, we have noticed no problems with his appetite (if anything, he is eating more, which is great as he used to not eat much and is very active with sports so it was a fight to get calories in him). Since it's so early, I'm not sure if the increased appetite has anything to do with the Daytrana or if he's just going through a growth spurt.

I wonder if daytrana is helping him be more aware of his body and his hunger. I noticed that when my ds started Ritalin, he was more aware of pain and discomfort, whereas before he was oblivious to pain.

aus10

I live in Maryland, I also have insurance and I pay .00 for Daytrana 10mg. I think metadate is in the same family as Daytrana and I think that is a generic form, however it is not a patch - it is a capsule you have to sprinkle on yogurt or something like that and they can swallow - do not chew or crush - ask your dr about that - it worked pretty much the same as Daytrana for my son - maybe that will be cheaper for you - also call your insurance company and ask them if they have any suggestions on how you can get it cheaper (maybe it is an rx that has to be pre-approved)....good luck!

thanks for the info on the ped, I am going to try that psyhs are very expensive. and 2 boyz13 thank you for the info. Unfortunately my son refuses to take a pill, so my only option is the patch. I tried sprinkling in yogurt and it is more trouble than its worth. Most of the time he gets half the meds. I did email Shire and told me they are looking into a discount program in the future so I am hopeful there will be something soon. Until then i will pay for the meds and hopefully my ped will prescribe the medication. WOW 35 for Daytrana, he is on 15 mg I have united health care 126 what is your health care?

I'm very worried we may need to drop the patch. My son has developed a rash from itching it and he won't stop. I let him be patch free this weekend and we noticed that he did way better at baseball he seemed more into the game. Plus it was so great to see him out riding his bike for ages instead of staying in the house playing with leggos till he gets so tired and frustrated. He just seems so hper focussed on the patch. I'm not sure what we will do it really helps for school he has been out of trouble in the play ground since he's been on it. We got our 504 plan but I'm feeling like his current teacher may just ignore it. What to do next I'm just not sure.

Well we never used it on Sunday. Just gave him his concerta and had a regular day. There is no way I could wait 3 hrs for it to kick in on a school day and then remove 9hrs later. We would be putting it on him at 5:00, then having it removed around 2-he'd still be in school and have to do it himself.

I am also concerned about the rash. Hubby and I are hoping that they will continue to work on the patch so that it gives a quicker release start. I went to the website and joined the stick group. I will keep reading any new information on it. I would love for it to work, but to start quicker and not leave a rash. I also like how it goes right to the brain, without the liver being involved.

Until then, I think the concerta is going to be increased!

Beth

Bethann,

It looks like because there is no conversion from other meds to Daytrana and it is expected that less Daytrana is needed than other methylphenidate forms because of the delivery system, the company says to start all patients at 10mg and titrate up weekly.

http://www.daytrana.com/HCP/HowPrescribe/Default.aspx

That really makes it hard for kids to switch when life is going on.

I am amazed that we see a pyschopharm. and he started us off at 15mgs, not 10mgs.

thanks for the website. I will try it again with him tomorrow and expect 2-3 hr delay in it taking affect.

Thank you for the info!

Ashley complained of a stomach ache today and seems lethargic. She came home from school and wanted to lay down (!) so I removed the patch early even though I was planning on doing the full 9hrs. I hope this is normal behavior, this is only her second day on it. Other than that she seems to be fine behavior wise, and a lot of the negativity that she started showing while on the Adderall is slowly going away. I hope it stays that way.

Tina
Sounds like there are alot of new Patch users out there lately. My son has been on the 10 mg for 3 months now. Answer to Momto3boyz my son complained about one of his legs the first few days. Strange thing was it was always the opposite leg from the one the patch was on so I'm not sure that had anything to do with it. Either way it went away after a few days. The stomache problems were pretty bad for the first 2 weeks and we almost quit the patch. But he got through that and now only complains once in a while about it. He eats quite a bit at breakfast I think not much lunch and then small dinner but often around 8 asks for more dinner which I oblige him. We have not been able to go up in dosage due to the fact that his redness/rash stays for around 3 days. I move the patch around but the only 2 times I tried the 15 mg. he got such a big red rash I stopped it. We noticed big changes in him the first day but he had never been on any medication before that. He is still doing very well on the 10 and today he even got a note from the teacher that he helped another student with her math problems today. That is astonishing considering the fact that he was going to a math tutor 2 times per week before the patch. We have stopped the tutor over this last month because he has been agreeable to do his homework (well better than ever before at least) and he's not having trouble in math now. His reading has really improved too and he no longer goes to the office or gets into trouble in the play yard. I keep praying the rash will not develp into something more. Last weekend he had a huge Science project and I decided to try the 15 it really helped get the project done but then that darn rash was so bad I went back to the 10 the next day. We got our first box of really bad patches last week. I noticed the expiration date was 2008 and the bend in the patch was straight across not diagonal. I tried 2 patches and could not get the backing to come off at all. I marched back to CVS and showed them the problem they returned them for me and gave me a new box today. I looked at the new box when I got home and that one also has an expiration of 2008 and the bend is straight across. I will try them tomorrow but I find the ones with diagonal bends and expirations in 2009 seem to work perfect. I think the 2008 patches are all defective perhaps. I will write you all tomorrow and let you know. CVS told me they have no control over what expiration dates are sent to them by the manufacturer. I have never put them in the fridge although my doctor suggested putting the unopened boxes in there until we use them. I have started getting up early like 5:45 a.m. to put the patch on and that has helped with my son's behavior in the moring. As much as I hate to do that it does help. The only problem I notice now is that he doesn't want to eat as much in the morning for breakfast when I put it on early and today he said his tummy hurt but he had to present his Science project so I think he was worried about that. He's 7 years old.

We are on day 5 of the Daytrana patch, and it isn't helping ANYTHING. If anything, she's worse on it. Her psychiatrist added in 2.5 mg of Methylin in the morning, and this is the first morning she has taken it. Otherwise, on the DAytrana she has reverted to behaviors she never exhibited before--extreme distractability, looking right at me and kicking something over and over to get a reaction, etc.

How long should it take for the Daytrana to kick in? I think she either needs more or to take something else, and will email her psych. on Monday, but I'm looking for some reassurance. Most of the negative posts on this thread regard skin, and that doesn't seem to be DD's issue. BUt the behavior!!! ARGH.

Well ds took it 2.5 hrs ago and I just removed it and gave him his concerta.

He has baseball pictures, a bb game and his sisters dance recital. He is a mess!

It is as if he has taken nothing!

He also knows it. Unfortunately he has been in trouble or crying for 2.5 hrs.

We have a call into his doctor. I would NEVER send him to school with this dose patch. He would certainly end up in trouble with teachers and the kids. That is not fair to my son!

I have nasonex myself so I'm going to try that on the spot I put it on tomorrow and let it dry like you say. I'm desparate to find something to help with the rash. I really don't want to stop Daytrana as I feel we have no alternative since he can't/won't swallow any form of meds. As of tonight he has 5 different square spots that won't go away and he is scratching it all the time now with some very read spots that might be the start of excema. I might even try his back instead tomorrow I feel so desparate to keep this working. I also feel he needs more than 10 mg but that patch is larger and will make the rash even worse. As I told the doctor some relief is better than none. It sure takes too long though to kick in, today he had his picture day and baseball game and he refused to go. We said O.K. fine don't go. Then his coach phoned and spoke to him and he decided to throw on his clothes and go. It's too bad he is so atheletically talented but I see his attitude is going to really get in his way with sports as he grows up coaches won't stand for that type of behavior. To Masd -- my son reacted strangely in the beginning too and I almost stopped it because he had worse mood swings. I think it does take a while to really start working. I also read that Daytrana doubles in strength as you use it after about 2 weeks. I have no idea how that is possible or if it's true but it definately started working better for my son after the first 2 weeks I say give it more time before giving up. To Bethan it does take at least 2 and in my sons case 3 hours to kick in I find for my son. Once it does though it does work quite well.

Hi there Joejoesmom, so it takes at least 2-3 hrs?! What time do you put it on for school days?? I hate to have him go to school and get into trouble. My son is on 15mgs and is very HHHHH and impulsive.

Oh and once I gave him his concerta 1 1/2 hrs later, he was so much better. He went to baseball with another family. He was fine. We live in such a small community and he has been so labeled. I would love to continue for other families to not see any of his ADHD behavior. I truly think they have forgotten, or even cut him some slack!

I'll try again sunday and will put the patch on much earlier!

Thanks for your response!! I was totally lost!

We have been trying to use the 10 mg Daytrana patch for a week. Every morning we have gone through 3 patches to get one to finally peel off. Both parents have tried it with similar results. This morning we gave up and used Concerta again. Our daughter is on 36 mg which has not been enough.

We have always given her the daily dose an hour before she needs to get up. We have found with Daytrana that 1 hour isn't enough. She's a bear early on.

We will talk to the dr tomorrow to get the 15 mg patches. I hope that they release better than the 10s. We have tried 2 different boxes of the lower dose. Both were hideous in their failure to release off the backing. It does make one wonder why Shire is having such a difficult time using a delivery system which has been effectively used for many other medications.

My 6YO DD was diagnosed with ADHD in February, and we started meds in March. We gave up on the Daytrana today and are seeing how DD does without medication. Yesterday we decided that she's worse with medication than she is without it. On the patch, she alternated between distracted and hyperfocused, with nothing in between, and her moods were unbelievable--near-constant tears, breakdowns about nothing in particular, just awful moods and frustration. Poor girl.

I have only had real trouble with one patch out of the 5 we have used. DD's psychiatrist asked me about that, and he said he had spoken with a VP or something at Shire, and that they had switched manufacturers because of the problem. Weird that it would be so hard for them to get them manufactured.

I am so disappointed. We had seen initial progress on the Focalin, but it was wearing off WAY too soon. I am going to ask the psychiatrist if we can try two doses of Focalin. He might say DD needs more than 10 mg of the Daytrana, but wouldn't we see SOME kind of improvement with even a dose that was too low? The changes we have seen are all negative--moodiness, frustration, etc.

My dd is on adderall XR 30 mg which is a pretty high dose of adderall. We tryed Daytrana in the fall for 10 weeks. It wasn't the best for her but I did learn some things. It definitely took about 3 hours to kick in so we gave her a short acting focalin with it in the morning. That really helped with the mornings. She did need the 30 mg patches. Her skin was fine for the first 2 weeks and then she started getting HORRIBLE rashes. The longer she was on the patch the worse the rashes became. We put hydrocortizone cream and benabryl cream on everynight and rotated spots but the rash was still bad and lasted forever. When we finally went back to adderall it took 4-6 weeks for the rashes to totally fade. Another problem we had was that she could not fall asleep no matter what time we took the patch off. And lastly we found that the effects of the patch gradually incresed all day so that she was the most focused late afternoon/evening rather than at school. WE had tryed concerta too. I think adderall is just better for her than a ritalin based drug but for others I know the daytrana is a godsend.

Hope this helps!

Well they waited to do the water play part until 12:30 and we leave at 3 so that way when it came off, it was still in affect for awhile. This afternoon is no fun but at least he is at home with me lol

Hi Elliesmom: I have to say I found it hard to remove the backing as they say. I find that if I take only one side off and press that on him and then try to pull the other side off even if I pulled it up first I still can't get the second half off sometimes. I suggest in the beginning to remove all the backing just try really hard not to get your fingers on too much of it. Then press the whole thing down and hold your hand on there and even smooth it out. You just have to try not to drop it or it will curl up and you will lose the whole thing. I experiemented today and put it in the middle of my son's back just above his underwear line. When he bent down it pulled up so I was able to have him keep bending and I removed it and put it a little higher and it still stuck. I looked at it after a few hours and it's lose a bit at the top but it seems to be working and he is not complaining of the itch. His hips are so bad right now with rash and marks I just can't put it there. I'm praying today on Mother's Day that this will work. To the mom who asked about how early I get up I don't get up too early I just deal with the difficultites but they are many. It really does not kick in until he's been at school a few hours but the whole class he's in is really hyper so it's not so bad. At least by recess when he had most of his problems it has kicked in and he does fine. To the mom who already gave up on the patch because her daughter had mood swings I'm telling you my son was a mess for the frst two weeks I was so ready to quit but since we have no alternative and his doctor suggested we keep trying we did. It has been working pretty well I wish we could go up a does but with his rashes I'm holding back. As I told his doctor some relief is better than none. Happy Mothers day to all the mom's out there who work so hard for our kids to get them through these tough times. We love our kids more than most I think because we love them desipte all the difficulties. So our kids are not perfect we still love them. That is my theroy on why teachers complain so much about our kids, they don't have the love for them to perservere like we do. Smile Tongue Wink That's it I'm done off to play ball, ride bikes whatever keeps him happy.

My son has been on the patch 3 months and he only has been swimming once with it on. It did come off and was stuck inside his bathing suit leg. I'm worried that if he swims at camp over the summer and it comes off what if it gets stuck on another child. I'm wondering should I tell the camp about his patch or just not say anything I don't want them to say he can't attend. Has your son's school said anything about that? If he swims early in the day could you just not put the patch on in the morning and ask the teacher to put it on after he swims and is all dry? My son is 7 so I have taught him how to take it off himself however I've not taught him how to put one on. You are right the price is ridiculous my insurance covers only a very small amount. Perhaps if you call the manufacturer and tell them it comes off during swimming they may send you the credit card for some free ones. They sent me one because I complained about an entire box that I got that was bad it was 2008 expiration which should be good but the backing was impossible to get off. I even tried putting it in the fridge. One thing I've tried for the rash which helps my son is to take the adhesive off with olive oil rather than baby oil. The baby oil made his rash worse you might try that it's a natural oil. I've also found that benedryl cream helps with the rash because I think in my son's case he's a bit allergic. FYI I tried putting one in the middle of his back one time. It pulled up a bit because I put it too low just above his butt and when he bent down to pick up a toy it came off a bit. I was able to re-position it and it stayed on pretty well all day. Like you I didn't want to waste one. My doctor told me the manufacturer recommends the hip but my doctor said if we try other areas she can't advise us to but she doesn't feel it would be harmful. Did you read one other post a mother puts it in the center of her childs shoulder blades so she can't scratch it. I also may consider a new place like the upper arm on my own because my son's rash does get pretty red. I have not been able to go up in dosage due to the rash. The day I put it on his back he seemed to be getting the dosage because his behavior was as if he was on the patch. The only problems he had happened when I put one of the bad ones on he was very tired so I think he was not getting the full dosage. I also tried lower on his thigh and that seemed to work too. It's up to you if you want to try another spot but I guess if there was a problem the manufacturer would not take responsibility for it if something were to happen. I also agree the birth control patches can go in different spots and so can the hormone patches. My 12 yr old son is on 30 mg Daytrana Patch and it has been wonderful !! The only side effect he has is it makes him itch and sometimes he will stratch so hard it will come off. Any suggestions on how to stop the itching??? It did come off in the pool the other day, but I expected that it would. Besides that, I am very,very pleased with the patch. I don't see the rebound effects like I did with his Adderral. He is also on 5 mg of Abilify and 2 mg of Clonodine. The past couple of months he has been like a different child and I couldn't be more pleased. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the success we have had continues. Of course he still has his "moments", but doesn't all preteen children, ha.

[QUOTE=Joejoesmom]I'm guessing if your son was on Ritalin he was on a higher dose. My son has been on the 10 mg since March 3 and I saw a huge difference the first day. Things did change though he had huge rebound affects for the first 2 weeks and then that all straightened out pretty well. The thing is he goes back to his usual hyper uncontrollable self after the patch has been off for 3 hours. So bedtime really is very bad. I put him on the 15 two days and the rash got so bad we stopped. However, we noticed even better results on the 15. I notice though that things change as time goes on. I do feel he could use the 15 but at least as I told the doctor some help for us is better than none since he can't/wont' swallow pills we have no other choice. I bet your doc. will try you on a higher dose. I wouldn't give up if I were you though the ease of the patch is great when it sticks well and such. I complained to the manufacturer about another box of 08 expiration dates that won't stick and they are mailing me another 40 patch card which is great. I had to toss the entire box our pharmacy would not exchange another one for me. They said they have no control over what dates they get. So now I'm going to try another pharmacy because i think the one I've been going to has old ones in their stock or something. Not sure how all of that works. I'd say give it more time and try to get him up to the 15. I was told in the beginning that we would not notice any changes with the 10 but I think we did like I said because he has never taken any other meds. before. [/QUOTE]

Dear JoeJoesmom,

The first batch my son was prescribed would not stick either and I also could not get the pharmacy to exchange them. They were also very hard to peel and more seemed to stay on the peel off part than on the patch itself. I went to another pharmacy for the second prescription and they have worked fine.

LSUBANKS

lsubanks39249.5521296296Well my son has been on daytrana 10mg for a couple months now... He's doing really good! The only problems I have are with the patch itself and how it affects his skin and stay on or not. I had posted about the redness... The spots stay VERY red and irritated for days... I'm trying hydrocortisone and aveeno cream now, we'll see how it goes. However, I think I need to wash his skin in that area in the morning before I put the patch on. I think there is still some lotion on him and the patch has been coming off a bit easier than before. Today it came off completely while he was at daycare, he has no idea when it came off or where it went. It usually comes off after some time in the pool, but since our "pool time" is usually on weekends or afternoons, it has never been a problem. Fridays now though are "water day" at daycare and in the morning... I'm afraid his patch will come off and he'll have a terrible day. I just can't afford to send extras in case one comes off! I can barely afford ONE per day! His teacher joked that he'd just put duct tape over it before water play. lol I'd consider it if his poor skin wasn't already so irritated! So does anyone know why it can't be placed anywhere other than the hip? Like birth control patches for example can be places just about anywhere... It would be nice to switch it up a bit.

Today is my son's 1st day on the patch.He is on 10mg.He has been on Ritalin LA 40mg in the morning and Ritalin LA 30mg in the afternoon like around 2-2:30.His DR wanted to see if the patch would work better for him since his Attitude is bad.She said she could not give him any more Ritalin LA b/c his heart would beat faster then what it is now.

My ? is how soon after you start the patch do you see a difference in your child?So far today I have not seen anything.He is complaining of his stomach hurting and his legs.I know that he can get a stomachache, could the patch affect his legs?

The patch should go in the fridge or freezer (i put in freezer) for about a minute or two - works very well getting the backing off......

Daytrana has been a blessing for me - My son started aout at 10mg has been on that dose about a year we just increased to 15mg...a blessing!!!

Give it a full two weeks to "get the kinks out"

Good luck!

Thanks all! I just put the first patch on (15 mg) at 6:30 since she has school at 8:30. It was so easy to get the backing off, I was worried about that but it was easier than a sticker since it was already split down the middle. I am worried as it is her first day on it and she has school. I will let you know how it pans out.

Tina

2boyz13: My Ashley is a redhead too.

TinaMarie39231.2820601852I always inform the teacher of any changes with his meds so she can watch for anything unsual.....I am sure she will be fine!!!

I don't know about the fridge thing. I leave them room temp like the doctor said. I do know that there can be a difference in how sticky they are according to the expiration date.

My daughter's first prescription (we're still on) was for 15mg daily. We had the coupon card to get 40 patches. They gave us a box of 10 (starter box) and a box of 30. The starter box's exp. date was for 2008. The box of 30 exp. date was for 2009. The 2008 patches are nearly impossible to use. The 2009 patches peel straight off, no problem at all. We have been using the easier ones...needless to say.

Her doc said to start with one patch, 15 mg. per day...that isn't enough. So we use one 15mg on each hip per day. This is great!!! Even my parents said that she is so much better. It does, however, make her appetite go away, almost completely. I have to make her eat when she has two. But our doc says that as long as we can get her to eat a little, it should be okay. She is a little overweight anyways....not to say that we use it as a diet pill, but to us, that's a little bonus. I hope I don't sound mean, but we have struggled with her weight for years (she is a stress eater, like myself). So, I guess we'll have the doc to prescribe a 30 patch at our re-check appt. next week.

Hi momto3boyz -

The patch takes about 2-3 hours to kick in (at least for my son) - I would give it at least 3 consistent days to see if you notice a different. Today could be a bad day for him no matter what he was on....I have never heard of it affecting your legs...stomach - yes! Good Luck!

We are going on day 4 here and I have not seen a difference in my son.He tells me he wishes he was back on his Ritalin LA.

I'm hoping by Monday that we will see a difference in him but if not on the phone with the DR.'s office and see what she has to say.I think most likey she will have him go up to 15mg on the patch.

I just want him to get adjusted so we are not having a bad summer break.

I'm guessing if your son was on Ritalin he was on a higher dose. My son has been on the 10 mg since March 3 and I saw a huge difference the first day. Things did change though he had huge rebound affects for the first 2 weeks and then that all straightened out pretty well. The thing is he goes back to his usual hyper uncontrollable self after the patch has been off for 3 hours. So bedtime really is very bad. I put him on the 15 two days and the rash got so bad we stopped. However, we noticed even better results on the 15. I notice though that things change as time goes on. I do feel he could use the 15 but at least as I told the doctor some help for us is better than none since he can't/wont' swallow pills we have no other choice. I bet your doc. will try you on a higher dose. I wouldn't give up if I were you though the ease of the patch is great when it sticks well and such. I complained to the manufacturer about another box of 08 expiration dates that won't stick and they are mailing me another 40 patch card which is great. I had to toss the entire box our pharmacy would not exchange another one for me. They said they have no control over what dates they get. So now I'm going to try another pharmacy because i think the one I've been going to has old ones in their stock or something. Not sure how all of that works. I'd say give it more time and try to get him up to the 15. I was told in the beginning that we would not notice any changes with the 10 but I think we did like I said because he has never taken any other meds. before. When Daytrana first came out, I considered it for my son. Then I thought about having to wear a patch every day and how it would affect his skin. I don't think we will try Daytrana for fear of irritation and he does great with his routine now of Metadate CD 20 sprinkled and tiny 5 mg Ritalin tabs at noon. Your doctor is very wrong about it not sticking. In fact sometimes it is quite difficult to remove I hold my son's skin down and pull slowly. Don't make the mistake I made the first day I thought it was best to pull it off fast like a bandage and it really hurt him. I felt sto stupid for doing that perhaps no one else is that. It can be difficult to pull the backing off and I had one just roll right off recenlty as I was putting it on but I had so much trouble getting the backing off that I ended up touching it too much. Sometimes the corners peel back a bit over the course of the day but that does not cause it to come all the way off. I have taught my son how to remove it and wash his hands in case he finds it way too itchy. I don't really want him to start doing that but just in case I think it's important for him to know how to do it. We are still using the patch and still getting some rash. I'm hoping it won't get so bad that we have to stop because it really does help him so muich at school. I sure wish it kicked in faster though because one of our biggest problems with him is getting him out of bed and to school on time. He is so oppositional when he wakes its' very distressing. I'm going to speak to my doctor about maybe trying something that is faster release. The problem is still his difficulty swallowing pills and tasting the meds. joejoesmom, we added a 5 mg of Ritalin to my daughter at one point as soon as she woke up to help her until her long acting med kicked in. That may be an option for you. The short actings start quicker. Maybe it could be sprinkled in yogurt or something to avoid swallowing.

Hello. This message is for Donna, you wrote:

***** Hi I'm new and my DD was just dx with adhd yesterday, and I have a question about the patch. Does it fall off easily? My child's doctor said he would not prescribe the patch because if she touches it, it would fall right off. How sticky are they? Is he telling me straight? Sorry for so many questions, but my pharmacist had never heard of that happening. Thanks *****

Well, I just started my daughter, 10, on this patch this morning. I have to say that it was Very sticky and I was barely able to peel the backing off of it. It rolled up on the edges a little, but once it was on, it was on! You just press it for 30 seconds and it sticks just fine. I think that this is going to be what we have been needing!!!

My daughter hates to take pills orally because of the taste. So, this was perfect for her. Our Doc said that she had seen very good results. In fact, she told us to use Olive Oil when removing the patch so it won't hurt her skin. The way it sounds to me, your Doc is not a fan of this medication for some reason. I'd try again!

Good Luck! I'll let you know how it did today!

Joejoesmom; can you get up early and put it on before he wakes up? That is what I plan to do with my daughter. She usually gets up around 7:30 and we put it on her this morning at 8:00, right before we left to take her to school. I just read a little while ago that it takes 2 hours to take effect. I think I will try to set the clock for 6:30 and put it on her so that by the time she gets to school and gets to work, she should be good. We are trying to avoid taking anything orally if we can, she hates to take pills.

Today was her first day with the patch. We hope we have little irritation. AS I posted above, my daughter's Doc said to remove it with Olive Oil to help prevent irritation. Hope it works, we are gonna try it.

Good Luck!!

My 6-YO DD started Daytrana yesterday, 10 mg. I woke up at 6:00 to put it on. I followed all of the instructions from this thread to get the backing off, kept my hand on it for 30 seconds to a minute, and adhered very well all day. Last night when I removed it, I was very careful to get all of the adhesive off with baby oil. Then I put diaper ointment over the red patch. I applied the diaper cream again before bed and then this morning. The spot from yesterday is still visible this afternoon, but just barely. I just this second finished removing the adhesive from today's patch with baby oil.

DD had eczema as a baby and toddler, but it hasn't been active in a while. I'm hoping she won't have a bad reaction to the patch, but it's definitely a possibility with this sensitive skin!

Off of the mundane and on to the more important part--I can't tell yet how the medication is working. DD doesn't ever have trouble at school, medicated or not, so her teacher can't tell me much. She seems very happy this afternoon, pretty even tempered (unusual), and is happily playing by herself.

masd,

It may be that she had an easier day and so is not so stressed from dealing with school and a disadvantage. My oldest has few problems at school and her teacher does not know the difference, but my oldest is happier and less stressed at home with the meds because she is not struggling so much to do well.

I have a friend who did the putting patch on her son before he woke up. It worked GREAT!

I can't tell what the Daytrana is doing, to be honest. My daughter was calm today, for a while, but she alternated between this weird (for her) tranquil state and utter distress. She was more distracted today than she has ever been.

I don't know if this means Daytrana won't work for her or if it is just that this is a period where her body is getting used to the medication. Focalin did not cause her to act this way. I think she has been more distractable today than she was without meds.

We see the psychiatrist tomorrow for the first time, and I'm hopeful that he will be able to help us.

It is very interesting to read all of this. My daughter is going from Adderall XR 15 mg to Daytrana 15 mg, starting tomorrow and I am trying to prepare myself for the change. I am so grateful to have found this place!

Do you know if you can just store the patches in the fridge to make the backs easier to remove or should they stay at room temp and just put them in the fridge for a few minutes before application?

Tina

Our pyschiatrist told us from the start it took a long time to kick in and to give a short acting focalin or ritalin in the morning. That really covered the morning and saved us from getting up too early......

I wanted to share how excited I am my son has finally had a great response to the Daytrana Patch only 10 mg. I'm crossing my fingers can this all be too good to be true. He did so well at school yesterday that the principal gave him a book for making a great new effort. Then yesterday at home before he had to go to baseball practice he was playing with tons of toys. They were all over the floor and I told him it's time to clean up and go to the baseball game. I was getting things ready to go and he suddenly ran uptairs and said can you clean up the rest of my toys. I went to see how little I thought he would have cleaned up and every single toy was picked up. I told him that's so amazing there is nothing left for me to clean up and what a great boy and wonderful job he did. He enjoyed his baseball although my husband and I both said he seems like a different Joseph because he seems so much more mellow. He remained agreeable all night even after th patch was off and just did so well. Than again today he had his baseball game. I held off putting the patch on until we just left for the game. He was his amazing self in the game got 4 players out and was the star of first base. He was good all day long and did a water color painting and wrote his own song with his guitar. Last night he also wanted to start a science project that is not even due at school yet. I'm hoping he's not becoming a bit hyper focused but when I thought so last night I pulled the patch off and again so today. Can this be true someone pinch me.

My daughter's physician has worked closely with Shire, so I would not recommend leaving it on 24 hours without talking with your doctor first. Although it has been the best option for us and works great. We also have cut patches in half, and it does not affect it. They make them all the same way, with the same amount of medication. This is why the higher the dose, the bigger the patch. So by cutting it in half, you are decreasing the dose in half. My daughter has always had difficulties sleeping. Before meds, on meds, med changes. She used to take 3 to 4 hours to fall asleep and occasionally she would stay awake all night. A few months ago, we tried Clonidine. She is asleep within an hour, does not get up in the middle of the night and much happier person in the morning. I hate giving her an additional medication, but the alternative was not working, and she was not really getting much sleep.

Does anyone have concerns about the size of thier child. My daughter is 9 weighs 49lbs and is 48 inches. People mistake her for a 5 yr old. Doctor says she is fine. She also took marinol for about 2 years to increase her appetite. She eats normally now, but just seems so small. She has always been around -5 to +5% ranking for her age on the growth chart since she was about 2 months old.

For the person whose doctor made the inconsiderate and rude comment about medicating a child on the weekend. I think a better way to say this is why would you want to do that to your child. The medication allows them to focus and be more in control of themselves. Why would you not want that for them on the weekend as well. We all know we are not medicating our children for anyone elses benefit, rather to allow them this tool to put the brakes on so to speak.

I have to tell you I did cut one of the 15 mg patches last week and my son had a very bad reaction that day. He was mean, angry and threw such a huge fit when we got home from school it was one of the worst I've ever seen him have. But then the doctor said the next day to keep him on 10 and now he's good.

The reason I asked the question to him about taking my son off the meds on the weekend is that I've read about many parents doing that. The thing is my son's personality is so very different with the patch and although we love the focusing parts the quieter side of him is very strange to see. After having a child who seems so happy go lucky and wild all the time it's weird to see him much quieter and not as social as he usually is. We never had too much trouble with our son at home at least not that we would seek out medication for. As for school though that has been a different story so I have to say that for the most part we are medicating him for his school success. It seems that when he is around so many other kids he just gets out of control and can't stop talking, clowing in class or getting his work done. When anyone tries to stop him it's like he can't even hear them. With the patch so far that has really improved.

As for size my son is not that small so I'm not sure about that. He is 46" tall and 56 lbs and 7 years old. He's kind of stocky and I was actually starting to think he might be getting a bit heavy so if he eats a bit less I think he will be fine. My son didn't eat hardly at all the first 2 weeks he was on the patch now he seems almost back to normal. He even went and got a strawberry yogurt today and said I think I'll try something new it's good to try new things. In the past he would never agree to try strawberry yogurt. He didn't like the yogurt after all that but at least he tried something new.

I have another question if anyone is here. My son wet his pants at school on Friday and then again today. His pants were soaked to the bone today. He has not wet his pants in years. Has anyone else notice this as a side affect to the patch?my son hates tags too, i dont know why they say put it on the hip, I do think that on the back would be the same. If it isn't red, I would think that maybe it is a complaining, thing. which my son does on a daily basis taking the patch off. minute later all is forgotten. I would make light of it, and see if that goes away in time. unless he is really uncomtortable ofcourse! just make sure you change the side of hip daily.

good luck!I read that one parent had put the patch on her daughter's back due to irritation on the hip. Has anyone else found a site that works just as well. I'd like to hear if anyone else has had success with that. I want to find out if an alternate site woudl be just as good. I did phone Shire and they said they do testing all the time on that sort of thing but they did not have any other place to tell me at this time. I want to have a back up plan because my son complains it gets itchy while he is at school. He has no rash or anything it looks fine but I'm thinking maybe another area of the body would bother him less. He hates tags in clothes too.

My 11 year old daughter started 2 weeks on the patches -- we started at 15 mg -- and had to boost her within 2 hours to make it through the day. Through trial and error we are now on 50 mg. One 30 and one 20. They are applied right on the hip bone, because absortion there is the best. Anywhere else it doesn't work as well. Her teachers at school can't believe this is the same girl as two weeks ago. They could bairly get her to sit through a class, and now she sits, listens, participates, etc. We leave it on until approximatley 5 or 5:30, then take it off, it lasts about 1 1/2 hours after they are taken off. My daughter does have an issue with adhesive tape, but doesn't seem to have these bother her. She didn't like the pills, but loves the patches since she can see how they calm her down and she can focus. Havn't noticed anything with sports issues, did go through some anxiety issues the first week; but that isn't unusual for her at all, was just something different to be anxious about. I have an issue with the 20 mg patch, and adhesive, the dr told me to put in freezer for a few minutes and then use a tweezer to make it through the adhesive. I have also found they stay on better when her body is warm, so I do it right when she is about to get up or right after she gets up, and keep her warm for about 10 minutes after they are applied. So far I love them, I do notice a little more of the lack of eating during the day, but we make sure she gets a good breakfast and then a good meal at night.

Penny

To the people having trouble with the backs of the patches, the 10mg seemed to be the worse to me, i went through 2 full prescriptions with none working, and my pharmacy wouldn't take them back, said it was shire's problem and i would have to talk to them, they said the shipping was the problem, said it was getting too warm in shipping and adhering to the back. anyway, shire relaced them but i still think it's a defective product and the pharmacy should have been able to take care of it. The 15mg seemed to be better for me, now my daughter is on the 30mg patch and i went through 6 patches and none worked so i just gave up and put 2-15mg on her, they seemed to do fine. I have found the mornings to be better for us if i put them on around 4:30 a.m., we leave around 7 a.m. Takes atleast 2 full hours to start working.

My daughter has been on for 2 months and for us it's been the best 2 months ever. She is on a high end doseage 50mg (20 and 30), so I don't have much rotation room. I am very careful when removing them, put in the refrigerator and then use a tweezer, which works. At night I put Euricyn dry skin cream on her patches and that takes care of the rash. I know our dr told us today that it should be a red patch when it comes off, otherwise it wasn't working. That's why I wait a couple of hours for the cream, by morning everything is clear (and this is from a girl with eczema. It takes 2 hours to kick in and we use 10-15 mg of rytalin in the morning to cover that. Put on at 6:30 am, take off 3 hours b4 bedtime. She takes 2 mg of tenex about an hour b4 bed, and goes right to sleep. So the patch is on at least 11-12 hours. Once it's off it barely lasts another hour. But compared to having to take 63 mg of concerta plus 15 mg of rytalin in the am and 15 mg 2:00 in the afternoon plus 1 mg of tenex in the am, she is on a lot less.

Penny

To those having trouble taking off the backing.....I've found that putting them in the frig. helps alot! Since I've started, I haven't lost one. BTW, we are on the 10 mg patch. Some say that it delays the medication, but it takes only 1 1/2 hour - 2 hours to start working for my son. I make sure that I put my hand over the patch for about a minute to warm it up.

HTH~
Michelle