My 6 year old son is on regular Focalin. He takes 7.5 mg twice a day, which was an increase from 5 mg twice a day nearly two weeks ago.
He has an eye blinking tic, which was pretty bad at first but has calmed down (it's still there but not as bad.) Since he is still having them, is the Focalin the wrong med? Should he be tic-free, or...?
Second question- When he first had his dosage increased, he was almost TOO subdued. Things got better after a few days, he was calm but still himself, and his stuttering seemed to get better (he stutters in the middle of words, it's like his brain moves too fast for his mouth.) Then the meds seemed to stop working as well again- he's more hyper, more emotional, stuttering again, etc. I REALLY don't feel comfortable increasing his dosage again (I know 20 mg a day is max dosage.) I guess my question is, how is he supposed to act if the meds are working? I want him to still be him, but with first grade starting in a few days and his psych going on maternity leave, I really want to make sure I ask the right questions when we next see her (Monday morning.)
He also has a diagnosis of PPD-NOS (mild) so I also don't want to be unrealistic about how he "should" be. Any thoughts? Thanks.
Is he on any other med? My son has been on clonidine for 18 months. It can act as a tic suppressant. He started on 5 mg of focalin XR in March, did great, remained on 1 mg of clonidine at night. We upped to 10 XR mg three weeks ago. So far, the only tic to emerge is a slight increase in his pre-medication tic--snififng. And it is very mild. Forgot, he did twirling at night; stated it felt good and he could not help it. This stopped after a few months. Take a look at the rebound effect also. When the drug stops working, the symptoms of adhd can really jack up. The first few times we experienced this was very upsetting, I was unaware of it when we started medicating him.
We did see an improvement in my son with the focalin. He has mild adhd, innattentive type, also a sensory integration disorder (sensory seeker). We tried Strattera (designed NOT to cause tics)--it was a nightmare. New and strong tics like extreme facial grimaces. We stopped after three weeks and switched to focalin XR and have been very happy. My son is 9 and very skinny--no appetite problems though. It sounds horrible to make your kid a guinea pig, but most parents go through 4 trials before finding the best medication.
Every med will work differently on every kid. Ask others if they notice tics (do not specify what they should be watching for). My son on this med was able to concentrate much better in school, and his impulsivity diminished (the clonidine helped with that as well) We did not witness a huge personality change. I would observe his frustration levels with homework to help determine if the meds were working. I was also on high alert for emotional meltdowns. Good luck.
Thanks. His blinking tic is noticible, but it's decreased. I'm thinking Focalin just isn't the right med. It's like he builds a tolerance for it. The same thing happened with Concerta. (He's been on Concerta, Strattera, and Focalin. Concerta nd Focalin both helped at first, then he seemed to build the tolerance. Strattera didn't help at all.) He's not on any other med right now. Thanks agin for your thoughts :)