I thought it was too good to be true, and it is. Focalin XR was the first medicine we tried and after an initially somewhat bumpy beginning, things seemed to smooth out and were going wonderfully. Fast forward from 4 months ago...now it seems to be wearing off after about 5 hrs so his afternoon kindergarten behavior reports are reflecting that. He also has been telling us that he just doesn't "feel right" but can't explain how or why. He seems sad alot of the time. And he has now developed an obsession with his fingernails which he bites to the point of bleeding. We tried putting on that awful tasting stuff on his nails that's supposed to help biters, but he becomes even more obsessed with biting that off. Could this be considered a form of a "tic"? Verbally he sometimes now struggles to get his thoughts out, not really what you would call stuttering, but stumbling over words.
Anyway, we have an appt. tomorrow with his psychiatric nurse practitioner and of course I will listen to her advice, but was wondering if any of you experienced parents out there have any suggestions for me. I'm afraid to up the dosage because of his recent behaviors on the focalin and am thinking it might be time to try something new. The Daytrana patch is something I was thinking of suggesting but since it is in the same family as what he is now on, would there be more of a probability of him having the same adverse reactions? Any other thoughts from anyone about possibly keeping him on the Focalin but adding something to tone down his obvious anxiety? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
One can react differently to medications in the same family. My daughter has done well on Ritalin LA and Concerta - but didn't like Focalin XR. It's usually tough to get much out of her, but she was pretty clear about no liking Focalin XR. She also didn't like the Daytrana patch - but I think that was more the hassle factor than the drug it's self.