Hi~ my son is almost 7 and has been on Focalin for probably 8 months. We have had to increase his dosage to 20 mg a day, and have seen so much improvement in his schoolwork and behavior. But we are seeing more negatives too- he has been having increasingly bad tics (started as eye blinking, then eye rolling, and now has added head-jerking.) Since it's winter break, we reduced his dosage to 10 mg a day (with his psychiatrist's blessing). The tics decreased but were still present. The past few days my son has had a stomach virus so he hasn't had any meds for 3 days (still occasional tics, btw.) Anyway today I started him back on meds since he is feeling okay. Two hours after he took his first 5 mg, he started eye blinking a lot again and complained that his eyes were feeling weird.
We do see the psychiatrist on Friday, and I'm waiting for a call back from her today. But I thought I'd ask here as well--
I REALLY am uncomfortable with his tics and his eye complaints, of course! So I wonder about taking him off focalin and trying a non-stim. We've tried Stratera in the past but it did nothing. I don't know what other non-stims are out there, but I am afraid nothing will work. The focalin worked wonders for his behavior, school concentration, ability to interact with peers, etc. I am scared about going back to square one... but I feel we have to.
He's been on Concerta in the past as well, but it increased his stuttering to an unacceptable level.
I don't know what to think/do at this point. How likely is it that a non-stimulant will work well for him? Normally I'd be okay with reducing his dosage of Focalin, but with him complaining about his eyes this morning, I'm very concerned. Any thoughts, advice, etc. is appreciated.
Thanks for your thoughts, Nancy :)
On Concerta, my son's stuttering increased a lot. I don't remember any tics per se, though.
We saw the psychiatrist yesterday and she was able to see the eye-blinking thing a lot, though he didn't head-jerk while there. She switched him to Adderall XR, which we started today. So far he's had no head-jerking, but is having the blinking (to a lesser frequency, but it seems more intense-- instead of 5 blinks in a row we get one or two intense blinks.) and some facial twitching. I don't know how long to wait on the tic issue. It's also hard because we're unsure of what dosage to give. We're supposed to start with 5 mg, and if we don't think it's enough today, to increase it to 10 mg tomorrow. With school starting again on Monday, this is pretty stressful!
I agree stopping the meds completely will bing about so many more issues at school, socially, etc. It's so hard to know what's best. My husband wants my son off meds totally, but acknowledges it would make things very difficult. Then he brings up homeschooling, which I wouldn't mind, but I really feel school is so good for my son-- especially socially, which is a piece he NEEDS!
Thank you again for your response and thoughts. I hope that you will express your concerns to your son's neurologist in regard to your son's difference is behavior on and off meds (that's another concern we had with the Focalin-- Joe would be almost zombie-like at times, not the happy-go-lucky kid we know!)
I wish that I had the answer for you, but I totally understand how you are feeling. My 8yr old son has been on Daytrana for 2 years. And yes, the school improvement has been dramatic. However, we recently had to consult a neurologist when he developed a vocal tic which fortunately passed after a few weeks. I am sure it will re-occur at some point. Anyway, we always take him off meds over school breaks and the neurologist agrees that it is a good idea. But what is bothering me, is I now realize that while he is on Daytrana he is so shy and anxoius adn unnaturally quiet. Off of meds he is so happy and comfortable in his skin and so social. This breaks my heart and I am reluctant to start meds again. I was thinking perhaps a switch to Concerta? But I am not convinced that anything will change in terms of these side effects. Did your son tic with Concerta?
Quitting meds completely will bring a whole new set of issues with schoolwork and self-esteem.
Well, I know this wasn't very helpful but let me know if you find an good solution.
Nancy612