Please HELP!!!! | ADHD Information

OMG, I so desperately need help right now! I have 2 sons, ages 9 and will be 7 next month. My 9 yr old was diagnosed in April 2007, and started on Focalin XR 10mg. My 6 yr old was diagnosed in October 2008 and put on Focalin XR 5mg. The 6 yr old has been on that same dose this whole time and is still doing wonderfully. He begins to lose focus by the end of the day (in the evening here at home, around 5ish or so), but pays attention in school, follows directions, listens, great grades, doesn't even have to work all that hard to get those grades.

My 9 yr old, however...He started 10mg in April 2007, and in Sept or Oct of 2008, was upped to 15mg. This worked well until May of this year, when we began to notice that he was having more trouble paying attention and getting things done in school. Being that it was mere weeks (like 2) until school got out, we weren't really sure if the problem was the meds or just typical "I wanna be outta school", so we decided to let it go and see how things went when school started in August. Well, he's been in school 3 weeks, and I feel like I went through a time warp and am back in the days before April 2007. He has no focus, at all, in school. He's forgotten his homework twice, and today when we went back for, his teacher told me she stood there and looked him in the eye and told him 3 times to put it in his backpack. His homework, which should only take 30-40 minutes takes him 1-2 hours, depending on how many times he needs to pee, get a drink, tell me this, tell me that, get distracted by his brother, and so on. Now...yesterday morning, he had Friday's homework and Monday's homework (they assigned it even though it was a holiday) and he got both days done in an hour. This was within minutes of taking his med.

The grades he is bringing home are atrocious. He's bringing home Ds and Fs, and he is fully capable of better.

I know he needs to see his doctor about getting either his dosage upped or a different med, but here's the problem: I just filled his prescription, and being the type of drug it is, insurance will not cover it again until the end of this month, and I can't afford to pay for it out of pocket - it's over 0 for a 30 day supply! But...if he continues on this dose and with this behavior for the next month, his grades will be so bad that his first report card will be nothing but Ds and Fs, and I can't have that. Not only will it hurt him academically (if he doesn't learn now, he'll have no base to build on when they get to the harder stuff), but it will also affect his self-esteem and his will to do the work. He's very easily demotivated. If he sees the bad grades, he'll just feel like it's a waste to put forth the effort.

I don't know what I can do to help him get through until the end of the month when he can get on a higher dose. I found some herbal stuff that helps with ADHD, and tried the boys on it over the summer. Over the summer, when combined with the meds, it helped, but trying him on it now, it doesn't seem to make a difference.

Homework time has shortened slightly by me letting them play outside for about an hour after school before tackling it, letting them burn off some of that excess energy that builds up from being in a quiet classroom all day. And really, the evenings, I could deal with myself until we can change the meds. I can handle it. But it's in the classroom that just isn't working. And the school wouldn't let me sit in class all day with him, even if I wanted to, and besides, I feel that would be more disruptive to the class at large, and possibly do more harm to my son by having his mommy there to hold his hand.

Does anyone have any advice, suggestions, anything that I could try that might help us out here?
Have you checked w/insurance to see if they will cover a new prescription if the script has changed?  I know we have had a change within the month & insurance covered it before.  That is definately a tough one to answer.  Hello this is my first time on here and I have a 10 year old son thats been going through this roller coaster as well. My son takes concerta and tenex for his AD/HD. We had so many problems in school. Do your children have IEP's? We finally got an IEP for my son and now he is in a special education class with only 5 to 10 kids in the class. We didnt get into this class until the end of 3rd grade and he is at the start of 5th. It has helped sooo much. I cant believe that they wouldnt let you sit in with him, that makes no sense. I understand the distraction but maybe they should be helping you with other options. My son along with his AD/HD was also diagnosed with major depressive disorder and major anxiety disorder. Maybe you should look into another type of medication. I also have no insurance and this past year with his treatment he was getting his meds along with that but it has ended. I just found out you can contact the maker and they offer a patient asst. program with meds.  I just am waiting for the app to come...... hope you find the help you are looking for I know its a battle sometimes.  Luvmykids0240429.3986689815Does the doc have some free samples he/she can give you?