Stopping Strattera, on to Focalin XR | ADHD Information

I took the first dose on Thursday... only 5mgs Didn't feel much. I skipped taking any meds yesterday as I was sick. Today I tried 15mgs about 45 minutes ago and waiting. I'm getting a slight headache but I don't know if it's from the meds or my allergies that I'm suffering with this week. I figured I'd go from 5 to 15 and if it's too much I know to drop down to 10, or go up to 20 if it's not enough. 

Hi ShawnB:

Pls let us know how the new meds work out.  I was on Strattera unsuccessful also so I am interested to see how the new ones work for you.  I had all the side effects as well with Strattera and I felt terrible while on it.  I cold turkeyed too!  I was fine.  I think my body thanked me for stopping Strattera.

Hi shawn,

Go to http://www.focalinxr.com/index.jsp and print the coupon for a free 30 day trial of the xr. You will probably find the effective dose to be about 1/2 the dose of the metadate. My kids both do well on focalin and no side effects. The oldest had sleep issues for a few weeks but that has gone now. The doc said that the side effects tend to be less with focalin because it is only the centrally active dex form of methylphenidate, but the rebound could be harder. We never saw this.

good luck and hopefully this will be your med.

I'm SOOOO Happy that my Psych realized today that Strattera IS NOT for me. He thanked me for being so patient and riding out the BAD tidal waves of side effects with little at the beginning to ending up with no benefits.

So, he's starting me on Focalin XR and for me to stop Strattera cold turkey (he said it was ok to do?) We'll see But I figure.. all I've had was bad side effects from it, how could it be any worse?

Anyway... He wrote a script for #30 pills of 5 mgs, for me to start at 5 and work up until I hit the desired dose and to then call/come in and pick up a months worth of the proper dose. What he gave me could either last 2 weeks, or 1 depending on how much I need.

But.. I need to drive back to the Dr's tomorrow morning because he forgot to put the "XR" on the script and the pharmacy was all out of the regular IR. I know he meant for it to be XR because he mentioned  it should last around 8-12 hours and to only take it once a day.

Anyone have an comments/input about how they've done on Focalin XR? I've tried the Metadate CD as some of you may remember (when I shouldn't have I know.. but it seemed to work well, and so I'm hoping this will be equivalent or better than that)
Thanks Vickie, my Dr gave me a voucher on the back of the script for the first 30 pills free. Picked them up this morning but haven't tried it yet. I'm glad to hear your kids both do well on it with no side effect.. I'm so sick of side effects! I hope this is the med for me too.
My Dr said I could up it the next day if I needed.. but then again, I'm an adult and most Dr's are a lot more cautious with med increases with children.

I'm on 20mgs now and it does seem like it's helping, but not 'enough'. So, I'm waiting for the nurse to call me back to see if we need to change the meds because of the strength of Focalin XR or if he'll up the dose any.

ShawnB, how quickly did the dr. say to increase the dose?  My child's dr. wanted him on the same dose for 2 weeks before increasing.  We could tell on the 1st day if it was the right dose for ADHD control, but the dr. wants 2 weeks on the meds for the body to adjust and for any side effects to show themselves.