Long acting Meds | ADHD Information

My 5 year old is on Focalin XR 10 mg and has been doing great on it, until it wears off. At first he had horrible rebounds such as crying constantly and temper. We upped his meds and that went away but now he is just uncontrollably hyper when it wears off. I mean worse than ever before. Its almost like since he was controlled all day, that when it wears off, his body just lets go and goes nuts. Focalin only lasts about 8 hours. I have heard of giving a booster in evening, but he cant sleep as it is, so thats out of the question. What I am wondering is, are there any meds that are long acting and build up in the system and work all day? I hate to change meds because the Focalin works so well during the day, but the horrible evenings just arent worth it. He needs to function at home also.
This is so stressful! New symptoms pop up out of nowhere each week. At least he is eating better. I thought I was starving him to death the first couple of weeks!

It sounds like he needs a booster in the evenings.  Him being even more hyper after it wears off is probably also rebound.

Did he have trouble sleeping before meds or is the trouble sleeping related to the meds?

If sleeping is the only issue then you could ask your doctor about adding Tenex.  It is prescribed in conjuntion with stimulants to help counteract the side effects (like not sleeping). My son takes it for other side effects and it works well.  Also, you could try Melatonin at night to get him to sleep.  It's an over the counter supplement that my son's doc has him on.  I give it to him about 15 min before bed and it makes him calm and drowsy.  He goes to bed without a problem.

The other option is a switch in meds.  Some stims are worse for sleep in some kids than others.  My friend's son couldn't sleep while taking Adderall but when he switched to Ritalin it was much better.  Also, many times the problems with sleep get better after the first several weeks.

Good luck and keep us posted!