Doesn't sound right to me, call your doctor. Focalin XR 10 mg seems like a high starter dose. When we tried it, my daughters dosage was 5 mg. We tried it only for a few days. My daughter didn't like it and we switched her back to the Ritalin LA.
I agree call the doctor. 10 mg seems like alot to start. My son 9, started on 5 mgs and was actually doing pretty good on it 10 was the target dose. He stopped taking it before we could get there but the first few days were very wierd and hyper and he could not shut up for a minute but then it mellowed out.I have a daughter that is 4 1/2 and was diagnosed with adhd/odd about 5 months ago. I just started her on Focalin XR 10 mg in the morning and the first day it was like she was trippin or something, she was laughing at everything. Second day was ok she was focusing more when I tried to work with her with learning books and her behavior was great, she was asking instead of just doing. Day 3 she has became really clingy to me is complaining of stomach aches and is fearful of everything, things a child normally would not be scared of. She complained of her stomach hurting on all days of using Focalin XR. Today Day 4 she goes to her fathers b/c we are divorced and he called because she was flipping out that she needed me and she was scared. I dont think im going to give it to her tommorow. Is any of this normal. This is her first time on medication. I want her to feel good not bad My 9 year old just took his 1st dose of Focalin XR yesterday and did complain of stomach problems before bed. This concerns me. but he did GREAT otherwise. What a difference form him being off for the last 3 weeks. He took for 2 then stopped. The doc said the stomach thing is worth it. We are looking at a new doc. 3 weeks to go.New to the forum, but very concerned about my 5 yr old daughter (38lbs w/ clothes on) being prescibed 15mg focalin xr as a starting dose for her "excessive daydreaming". She has never been on any medication and when the doctor failed to do any type of evaluation and just pulled out his scrip pad I thought I would check into it on the internet. The dosage seems to be excessive! I didnt even fill it after I read up on it. Couple days later the teacher sends home a note telling me how well she stayed "focused" and completed her work in a timely manner. WOW. I wonder when I should tell the teacher she isnt taking it. I dont know what to do. I surely dont feel this doctor should be treating children, and the teacher should not have pushed me so hard to medicate...especially when my daughter doesn't cause a disturbance in the classroom. We're talking Kindergarten here.
Doesn't this sound like 3x the amount she should have been given to start? Any ideas on what would have happened had she consumed the meds at that level?
I absolutely would not medicate without a proper diagnosis.
Take her for a psych evaluation.
This is just not right. How can a physician medicate without any evalaution? They did nothing?
I agree a full diagnostic testing is in order. How a doc can write a RX(which is 3x's the normal starting dose) without an eval is just WRONG. Get a psych eval and have a child psychiatrist medicate if possible. They have more experience than pediatritians do. I would absolutly NOT give that medication until you know.
Series of events:
Kindergarten Teacher emails me a couple times insinuating that she may have a condition because she cant stay on task. She would start her assignment and then stop and stare off in space/daydream. Teacher tells me..."there is medicine for this"
I set up a "preliminary" appointment with the physician here in town. He asked her what school she attends. She replied "kindergarten". He thought that was enough evidence to set up an evaluation for the next week. The so called evaluation wasn't any different from the first appointment. I expected a couple hours of testing using activities or at least checking her heart rate. WE WERE IN AND OUT IN 10 MINUTES with a prescription for Focalin xr 15mg. I am so dissapointed that they would do this to a child without thorough evaluation.
oh boy, that is really too bad.
Dont even give them another call. Find a new doctor and start over. Your child is 5, you have plenty of time. Do whats best.
If school asks just thank them for bringing their concerns to your attention and that you are working with her physicians on a full evalutaion and appropriate plan. In the mean time, they can give her a little extra attention to keep on taks with cueing.
Thanks for the help...I felt very unheard! I have been wanting founded opinions.
I am just not convinced she needs medication at this time. To think that if I didn't have access to the internet I could have administered that dosage has scared me half to death. Thanks again. And for other parents I have determined that 85% of the feedback on this medication was more negative than positive. Side effects seem likely to outweigh benefits. Best of luck never the less.