Hi my son who is 12 years old has been on Focalin XR 3 years (we did change from 10mg to 20 and now are at 15mg.) he has went through every tic imaginable eye blinking, eye touching, throat clearing and nose blowing and even trich (hair pulling) we do take med breaks and we just had a med break at Spring Break he did so well off his med that I sent him to school the following week unmedicated because home and school are two totally different ballgames as far as focus, attentiveness and all that. I emailed his teachers at the end of the unmedicated week and got bad reports from all of them with the exception of his band teacher who thought he had a great week.
I hated to put him back on the med so I called his Dr. and asked about Strattera because my son doesn't want to take his med. he says he's not "social" on his med and he thinks he doesn't need it. So Dr. said to wait till summer and we will then try Strattera.
Oh weight and sleep has been an issue too he is never hungry on his med. and has weighed 70lbs for 3 years. As far as sleep he doesn't fall asleep until after 10pm and that's taking med. at 8:30am.
Hope this helps
I love to tell people how she does, because, as with all meds, Strattera is not for everyone and kind of gets a bad rap!
To me on Strattera, she still has ADHD, but now it's manageable. We still see some symptoms, but her personality comes though, and we dont have any of the ugly side effects she had on every other med she's taken. She is even keeld all the time, no ups and downs.
soccermom my daughter developed trich on Concerta and recently it cropped again on a trial of Provigil. Every other stim caused all kinds of "regular tics". She's been on Strattera since November........no tics, good appetite, normal personality, good sleep.......good luck, I think you'll be happy. No med would allow me to let me daughter suffer from trich..........it was AWFUL.Diane,
Thanks for the reassurance regarding the Strattera! I can't wait till summer so that we can get him started. I hope we get as good as results as your daughter has. Please keep me posted on how she is doing so that I can be well informed before I start him on the Strattera.
Thanks Again!
My 8 1/2 yr old son has been on a trial of this med for a week. Has been on clonidine (1.5mg, at night) for a year. His tic (sniffling--alot!) has diminished alot with the clondine, but that med does not address the impulsivity, staying on task, etc. Hence the focalin. The first week has been great, he has been on spring break and under my watch. It's off to school tomorrow and I have decided not to tell his teachers at this time about the change. We have noticed slight hand tremors off and on. Loss of appetite. But overall, it has been great and we see a totally new side of our son. Want to know about others experience with this drug. If there are adverse side effects (tics, moodiness) when did they manifest? I am trying hard not to get excited about current results and be realistic. This is a wonderful board for parents and has helped this newbie tremendously.