What is going on? | ADHD Information

Sounds like you are in good hands.  Everyone does react differently to these meds.  Good luck finding the right combination.

Joy
my 6yo adhd dd just started 1st grade.  she is on 35 mg of straterra, she has been just wonderful at home but a complete nightmare at shcool.  not focusing, walking around class, out bursts, is doing little to no work.  after talking to her dr we decided to add 5 mg of Focalin xr.  it worked wonders, she is socalizing, doing her work, listening, teacher notices amazing results, after about 10 days her old habits are coming back.  we decide to increase dosage to 10 mg and now she is worse, not paying attention  in class, screams in class, has to had to leave a couple of times for disruptive behavior, she also is not sleeping well, (wakes up from 2 to 5 am) dry mouth, and is over focusing on her nails.  i don't know if i should increase the meds to help with behavior and attention or decrease them to help with sleeping.  does any one have any insight as to what is going on and what i should do.IMO she needs a switch. Sounds like the dose is too high. It seems at the 5 it wasnt enough, but the 10 is too high. I'd probably use a different medication. I think that it is too high because she is focusing on her nails, but i don't understand that part where she can't stop the poor behavior.  i would have thought if it was too high she would act like a zombie.  nope. Well that can happen, but also symptoms can get worse. My guess is it's too high and/or just the wrong med, it's not just the hyperfocusing, she's not sleeping, the dry mouth, you're seeing several side effects. Your goal is symptom relief with minimal to no side effects.i never new that it could make symptoms worse.  since focalin is based on methalphenadate, do you think it might exclude this entire drug group from even working?not at all. Each medication is different as is each child. The delivery form is different also. For example you may take regular release Ritalin and have side effects or no symptom relief, but switch to Ritlain SR or Ritalin LA and be great. You just don't know.How long has she been on Strattera?  If takes a while to build that up in the system and is more likely to cause dry mouth than the Focalin, I believe.  We had a horrible Strattera experience, so I am biased, but it sounds like you need a total med review.  Is the doc a psychiatrist or pediatrician/GP?

Joy
we started the straterra in june and built up to 35mg over about 8 weeks.  we didn't notice any side effect with the straterra.  it does wonders for her mood and behavior at home, her thoughts are more complete i absolutly love it.  she just can't stay really focused on it at school.   we deliberatly waited to get the straterra in line before we started the stimulant.  she has only been on the focalin for about 3 weeks and these symptoms only started when we increased to 10 mg.  she is seeing a child psychiatrist, who i really like.  we switched to her in may and she came highly recommended.