Hello. This is my first time here. I found your question about Focaline. My 5 year old is on that med. It seems to help but there are days that he still has issues focusing (the past 3 weeks i am seeing it more, or his teacher at pre school is telling me more). I am still in the trial stages of how much of a doseage he needs. He started at 5mg but that didnt seem to make much of a change. I now have him on 10mg, but like i said he is still having some issues. He has not had any side effects that i know off.
My questions to the mom's and dad's out there is what else can i do to help him focus in school. I cant be over him to help him and it is frustrating. He is so smart when he is focused. He amazes me with what he does know reading, math,... but like i said it is only when he is at his best.
I am getting tired of all the negative stuff that i hear from family and teachers. I realize that it is a struggle for him. I feel that i have had the same issues my whole life. But i dont see a need to med. my self now.
We tried Focalin a year or so ago. It worked for a while but then started to wear off.
We then switched to Metadate and it seems to be working well..
I'm sure every kid is different. He may just need a higher dose.
myangel
The periactin is for appetite. When my guy was on concerta, he had zero appetite, and he is a little guy to begin with. Once the periactin was added, his appetite came back, and he ate like he should. For some reason, many doctors are reluctant to prescribe it, but it really works. We added the guanfacine for other issues, but it is said to aid in weight gain/appetite as well. My ped said she had never seen it do that, but Chase gained 3 pounds last month for an all time high weight of 58 pounds at age 10. To be fair, we also switched to ritalin LA just after Christmas break, so I am not sure if that contributed to the weight/appetite being better. He much prefers the ritalin LA to the concerta.
Every child responds different to every medication - Focalin has worked well for my daughter, but after a little more than a year on it, we may have to change because the teacher says she is much less focused than earlier in the year. In fact, we recently tried the Daytrana patch which did nothing for her. I do believe her appetite improved some while on it. I also found that I could not dose her on weekends - that helped her gain weight. Madi's is nonattentive type - like you child's. We have ups and downs. Every school year I hear the same - "can't stay focused, etc..." I've found most teachers to be supportive once I sit with them they see how hard we work at helping her. It is SOOO frustrating. I do believe that she has become better able to remind herself to focus as she has gotten older. She knows she is ADD and has to work to focus in school. She also has accomodations, like front row seating, etc... I've been up front with her about her ADD and her need for medication and I think that helps.Hello all, my ds went to his Dr. yesterday and we switched his meds to Focaline. Has anyone had success with it? He was Dx with ADHD at age 5 and after several different meds, Concerta 36 was what was working somewhat from age 8. He is now 10 and is no longer getting the benefits of Concerta plus he is extremely moody, very aggressive and verbal. Kinda a mix between Bipolar and Tourettes. We did try Risperdal several years back but stopped because of severe reactions to his personality.
Yesterday we talked about Focaline, Tenax and Wellbutrin as possibilies but Dr. wanted to try Focaline alone first. We started 10 mg which did nothing, Today we went to 15mg. We'll see his school report.
Anyway, if anyone has any input let me know,thanks.
Brokenhearted
I have not had any experience with focalin, but I am sure that many parents will chime in and fill you in on the med.
I did want to say that adding the guanfacine(tenex) has really helped in my son's aggressive/angry/moody tendencies. I am glad that your doctor is keeping that med in mind for future reference. It is also good that your doctor is only intorducing one med at a time. My doctor said the same, that it is best to change one thing at a time, so that you know how each med affects them seperately before you start combining meds and side effects.
Good luck with the focalin.
Dear chasesmom,
Thanks so much for the response, sometimes you need to take a break from dealing with people with typical kids. I noticed Chase is on Periactin, is that also for the ADHD? I hope you don't mind me asking.
Just wanted to add that my 6 yo son was/is on Focalin and we were very happy with it. I have the same thought as others about it not lasting very long though -- he has been on it for about 4 months and it is only lasting about 3 hrs. per dose (5mg) We are switching to Daytrana, which I am told takes about a week to begin working, but once it does it is terrific -- keeping my fingres crossed.
Other benefits we noticed with Focalin were not as bad decreased appetite (when he was on Ritalen he never ate!), also not as "moody or weepy". I was sorry to see its effects begin to diminish -- He was student of the month after the first month on it!!!! WoooooHoooo!!!
Best of luck to you!
My DS was on Focalin for a tad bit over a year. It started to be more ineffective. We had started him on 5 Mg XR, Then went to 10 Mg XR in the morning. We then had to add a regular 5 Mg in the afternoon, and in Oct. we had to add a second reg. 5 Mg in the later afternoon. The med worked fine and really helped him out. But as he grew, we (DH and DR.) found that he just began to grow out of either the med itself or the dosage. We have started the Daytrana patch after much deliberation.
Now I am not advocating a change in meds. here. Focalin was a great help! DS is 6.5 with the "big H" in ADHD and the Focalin was the first med he was prescribed and it was a 180 degree tun. Just observe your DC and adjust as needed. We have found, this ride is a lot of TRIAL and ERROR. Best wishes!
punkin' s mom39133.8756481481