My son started on Focalin XR last december and we noticed the lower dose was not much help, but there was still plenty of rebound. He was like a different child as soon as we upped it to the 20mg pill. I found myself constantly checking on him the first couple of weeks because he was actually engaging in quieter activities like reading for the first time.
The appetite thing is probably the most common side effect- at least it's the one that people complain about most. It does get better with time. I think it took about a month for my son to start eating normally again (normal for him anyway). I try to get a good high calorie breakfast in before I give him the meds and we've pushed dinner back until 6:30/7:00 when he's hungry again.
I am the mother of a 9 year old gifted boy with ADHD and Adjustment Disorder with anxiety/depression issues. Just started FocalinXR at lowest dose(5mg) 4 days ago. Not noticing much change yet other than his mouth can't stop once he comes down off the meds. I guess that's not too bad. He doesn't eat much(57 lbs) or sleep, so we increceased his Melatonin from 2.5 to 5 mg and that seemed to help. Just concerned when we increase to target dose of 10mg. FocalinXR. Hope to find some others to converse with and get some good info. I have been watching the board for a couple of weeks now and decided to join. Looking for good info.