My ds has been on 30 mg of Focalin XR for some 2 years now. He is now 9 years old. Last fall he developed heightened aggression and opposition in the evenings, so the dr. put him on risperdol 2mg. It seemed to reduce the aggression somewhat, but he put on too much weight. We kept him on it until last month when I noticed that he was becoming more aggressive during the evening hours coming off his focalin. He is now on clonidine and it does not seem to help at all. His mood swings ar more intense and his 'meltdowns' come faster and reasoning with him and getting him to mind never happens at all now, except when he is on the focalin during the day. The family is tiptoeing around him so as not to set him off. Now even the focalin is wearing off earlier in the afternoon.
I have seen a real change in him after he started the focalin and I know how much it has helped him at school and at home on weekends, could he just be getting used to the meds and the combination is not working for him now? I have a good friend who is a psychiatrist out of our area and often rely on her to guide me when talking with my son'd dr. She thinks we should try adderral and possibly tenex for the aggression in the evening. I will talk to the dr Thursday to ask to make the change.
Is this common and how have others dealt with this?
It sounds like a med change may be the way to go, if not an increase in dosage. Is he in counseling in conjunction with meds?