I hope you are weening him and not pulling him straight off. You should consult your doctor on this. There is another active topic on this issue but it is not from someone on the meds for two years, her daughter had been on it for only a few weeks.
I take focalin xr and have trouble if I ingest too much caffeine with it. I aldo blink my eyes now, but rather than being directly related to the focalin xr it's a developmental OCD behavior used as a coping mechanism.
You definitely want to discuss this with your doctor as soon as possible, he's very young and that's low does focalin it should not have that affect.
The irritability/emotional stress is understandable.
I would call his doctor ASAP. I would wait before I heard back from the doctor before I gave the med to him again.
He may need an increase or another med.
Have you tried concerta? My son had trouble with adderall xr. he could NOT handle it.
Please call the doctor ASAP
Please post an update. Something is going on!!
Thanks for the advice, I have called his Dr. and I've been referred to a childhood psychiatrist. As far as th weaning him off of the meds, he only takes them when he's at school so if he's sick or it's a weekend he's not on it. This same episode happened a few months back when he was sick and had not taken the meds because of missing school and then he was out for the Christmas holidays. My husband reminded me of this last night, the only difference is, he did not have the motor tics just extreme stress and irritability, after a few days of being back on them he leveled off and he's recently had the flu so he missed school for almost two weeks therefore not taking his meds. However he hasn't leveled off this time and has the motor tics. He was an extremely stressful child before he was diagnosed with ADHD and we had a hard time finding a medicine that worked for him until Focalin xr, he's so sensitive to the stimulants that we had to gradually introduce him to it and he still doesn't take a full 10mg dose, we break open the pills and divide it by half. The doctor prescribed 5 mg but it really didn't have an effect so she upped it to 10 mg but it was waaaay too strong so I asked about dividing the 10 mg and trying it and as crazy as that sounds it worked so that's what we've been doing for 2 years. At first I thought we should try a different med all together but his doctor was adamant that this would work so we kept at it and now she's as exasperated as I am and referring us to a psychiatrist to see if he can help. I believe that our psychopharmacologist is a psychiatrist. I hope all is well. Hang in there and keep trying, you will find the right one!!I take focalin xr and have trouble if I ingest too much caffeine with it.
My son also takes Focalin XR. Last week he bought a "Milk and Coffee" flavored bottle of milk from a vending machine before an after-school class....what a disaster!!! He was crying at 10pm," Mom, I can't fall asleep!" Then he woke up with a nightmare about bugs crawling on him. No more caffeine for him, EVER!
My son has cycled through a few different types of tics while on FocalinXR. They usually reach a peak and then subside. Our psych tells me that they will usually disappear around age 10. He's 10 and a half now and just started a breathing-type tic, so I'm concerned that something might start that doesn't go away. We're seeing the ped next week, then we'll address the issue of a med break with the psych. We also haven't increased our son's dosage for more than a year.
I hope you find some answers.
BPQW39884.3253125trixila, you sure know what you are doing. Great job on raising your son! My very best to you and your family. You are a wonderful mother!! I am also impressed with his bio mom for informing you of the possibility of adhd, godbless her!!
Hi, my 9 yr old son has done well on 10 mg focalin XR. His tics (sniffing, and now a new one-facial grimaces, are sporadic) have not escalated like they did on strattera. He takes 1.5 clonidine at night to help him sleep and supress tics. We adopted him at birth and were pretty much warned he would have adhd by his birthmother. In school, he maintains but continues to be a mild behavior problem.
Rebound effect is not every day. On the days he has chess club after school or other after school activities, we give him a booster dose of 5 mg. I try really hard NOT to give him this dose if he is at home and just doing regular homework, he is in 3rd grade.
Have you looked into an anxiety med? I hate the thought of adding another med to any child's pillbox, so of course talk to your dr about this. Hang in there. Prepuberty for boys today is no walk in the park...
My son was on this for 4 years. He is almost 7. He became very depressed and emotional. It also wasn't lasting the "longtime" as it was suppose to do. He was taken off it and put right on normal focalin and has been doing SO much better on it. You also need to find a doc that will listen to you - you know your child better then they do!