Focalin vs Ritalin?
Hi new to board and excited to get feedback about many things!Just started with Focalin for our 5 1/2 yr old. It has been great so far- got
thru some initial side effects pretty easily,and teachers are very pleased with
how well he's doing. I know if " Not broken don't fix it" BUT i recently heard
that Ritalin was good for language processing as well as ADHD symptoms.
Wondering if we should switch since he has defitcits with expressive and
pragmatic language as well. What is the fundamental diff between focalin
and ritaln? I thought they were the same. Anyone heard about either of these
helping with language issues as well? Thanks!My son (11, adhd) has been on Focalin XR for a couple years now. He started out on Ritalin, but it lost it's effectiveness too quickly.
Ritalin is methylphenidate, Focalin is dexmethylphenidate; they are closely related, but different enough to work differently in the same person.
My son hasn't been diagnosed with a language disorder, but he definitely struggles with expressive language. His meds have a very positive effect on his language skills- in fact his ability to tell me about his day sequentially and in a way that made sense and did not leave out large chunks of info and important details was the first thing I noticed when he initially started meds. I haven't really noticed a difference in this ability since being on Focalin versus the Ritalin.
Personally, I prefer not to mess with meds that are working, but the idea of meds helping language processing is interesting. I might have to look into it, for curiosity's sake. Where did you hear it?
Thanks for response! So funny because I just hung up with teacher to get
the weekly report- our second phone call since he started- and she said
unequivocally his language has improved! I'm definitely NOT going to
mess with anything now. Another glowing review after second full week
on meds, and the most important thing to me is not that he's sitting still,
but that he's happy, more aware of what's going on, relating more to the
kids! I'm crying as I write! It's so interesting to because he's on a super
low dose- 5 mg am and 5 mg broken up into 2 doses 31/2 hrs apart in
the afternoon- and it's doing the trick. He was severe ADHD and
impulsive by the way, so I thought he'd need more than that, but so far so
good! A friend's doctor had mentioned the langiage and Ritalin
connection, but maybe as you said they're close enough so that either do
help with language- its certainly helping him!
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