Focalin--?? | ADHD Information

Wish I could give you more encouraging feedback on our experience with focalin but unfortunately, it didn't work well for my 6 yr old. We started him on 10 mg of the extended release and, while he was able to function much better in kindergarten, we didn't like the 2 hr. period during the day when he would seem so flat and disconnected. But because the teacher kept raving about his improved behavior we kept him on it. His appetite was very diminished, and most days he wouldn't touch a bite of his lunch or his drinkbox. After a few months, it started wearing off after 4 or 5 hrs. so the medicine was increased from 10 mg to 15 mg. With the increase, his anxiety worsened, and he would sit and pick the skin on his fingers till they bled. Next we tried adding the tenex, and just 1/2 mg. in the morning caused alot of crying in class, and he fell asleep  so deeply on the bus ride home that I had to actually carry him off the bus. Needless to say, we stopped the tenex!

We decided to take him off his medication 10 days before school ended. His side effects weren't going away, in fact they were getting worse, and he had lost 3 lbs in 5 months (he's thin to begin with).  He seemed to have lost all the joy in his personality. Not to say he was zombie like, but he just didn't seem happy. He told me one morning that he didn't like taking his pill because it made him "feel boring" (guess that's a 6 yr old's way of saying sedated). The teacher was VERY unhappy with our decision, and I don't know what next year will bring. I'm not ruling out medicine, but he just needs a break now. But I do know if and when we put him back on medicine, it will NOT be because the teacher wants us to!

 I do know there were a couple moms on the board who's kids started focalin around the same time our son did, and last I heard things seemed to be going well for them. So, just because it didn't work for us, surely doesn't mean it won't work for you!  I wish you the best.

We have tried so many meds it is crazy!  We were on welbutrin and tenex, this helped with anger swings but the tenex would make him so tired and if we took it at night we did not see the "good" effects of it at school.  So, we are trying welbutrin and focalin.  The first day on focalin was a little scarey, he was dizzy and about 2.5 hours after taking it he had no ambition to do anyting and stared off into space.  5 hours after taking it he had the effects you would want, but I did not like the first few hours.  I have also ready so many bad effects of focalin that it scares me to death!!  A few years ago we did have success with conerta but after being on it for about a year it was not working because they would not up the dose due to him not gaining any weight and then we started having major aggression issues.  so we went a year or so on nothing but that has put him behind in school....Oh, my ds is 12.....I was hoping some of you could share your expierences with focalin.  I am just wondering if I should go back to conerta.  Even after we took him off the concerta we had aggression issues, I think I may have assumed it was the concerta but it was not....BUT I worry about the weight issue as well.  I was hoping focalin would not have the same wieght issue, but I do not want my boy staring off and being a zomba...does it get better after you take it for a few days???Hi! I haven't been on the boards for a while,but I know many of you from
sharing info, and Kathleen and I have lots in common with our little guys
which we've shared! I just want to add that my son started out on short
acting Focalin in Dec. We had lots of positive results, but were concerned
about the peaks and valleys of wear off. We were encouraged to try longer
acting meds. First Vyvanse ( disaster!) and the Focalin XR. With the XR we
had the same zombie issue AND we weren't even getting the positive
results we had with the short acting pill. On top of which he had no
appetite and terrible angry rebound when it wore off. It only lasted a
couple of weeks. We thought we'd stop meds for a week to regroup and
get a new baseline, but he was not able to control himself at all in school
without meds. It was a wake up call how much he needs them to function
successfully, even though it had only been a few months using them. We
felt we could go back to reg Focalin because compared to the other 2 we
tried, that had been most successful with very few side effects. When he
went back on he was back on track! For whatever reason those extended
release pills did not agree with him, and he's thriving on the reg Focalin.
There is a small window about an hour after he takes it where he gets a
little subdued, but it's improved over time, and is now where near being
like a zombie. His appetite has leveled of, and we've figured out when to
give him the next pill so that he maintains that evenness that the
extended formula was supposed to provide. Having said that, we're going
to experiment with the patch over the summer for few reasons, but I know
that if it doesn't work we can go back to short acting Focalin and feel
good about it. Our docter said that some kids actually do respond better
to the short acting pills, and there is no reason you can't go that route if
its working. good luck!We must listen to our kids especially when they are on these meds...I appreciate your feedback and that is what I did not like about it was the fact that he just sat there staring into space.  We are trying just the focalin today and not the focalin xr and seems to not have any bad side effects...but we will try the xr again next week....he was playing with some cousins today and I did not want him just sit there and stare at them today...